It has been a busy month of making, finishing up projects and prototyping new ones. At the end of April, I went to Spoon Camp NJ for a day to hang out with other carvers. I met people from Texas and California and local folks too. We shared wood and knowledge while working on our own carvings. I brought gingko wood to share and took home some fresh butternut. I made this small eating spoon while chatting with the other spoon carvers.
While finishing up the plates, spoons and cups for Farm2ChefsTable, I found time to make a new cooking spoon to replace a worn-out, store-bought bamboo cooker. Because the client wanted a warm reddish-orange color, I used some black birch that I got from a local woodturning friend. Upon sawing it open, I found a lot of knots, which are problematic for spoon carving because of the density and grain direction change in the wood. They also tend to crack in the drying process, creating cavities for food to get stuck in. After cutting some blanks on my bandsaw, I found a piece where I could navigate around them.
Even though the wood necessitated a layout that included the sapwood and heart wood in the same spoon, I’m happy with the two-toned contrast it provides. After carving the wet wood and leaving it out to dry, a crack opened up in the handle and I decided to make it a feature. I have trouble giving up on a piece and starting over. I prefer to challenge my creative problem solving and let the faults point a path forward. I turned a walnut dowel with my lathe, drilled a hole through the handle of the spoon for it to fit and filled in the cracks with epoxy.
Here’s a look at the final spoon. Lately, I have been trying out a diagonal texture in the bowl of these flatter spoons and I like the linear movement that it lends to the form. In the end, it’s a unique looking spoon.
Coming up this Saturday, May 21, I’ll be demonstrating the lathe at the BAC Wood Festival in Ossining, NY. I will be making spinning tops and will have some on hand for people to try out.
Enjoy this spring to summer transition and I’ll write more next month!
