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Do you love wood-crafting and wondering how you can get started with crafting? It’s always a joy to make things out of almost nothing but a log of a tree! Carving a wooden spoon is one of the most commonly practiced woodcraft. It is so popular because, although it has a directed way to make one, all the scope for show-off your creativity is still there. No matter how good or bad you are when it comes to creativity, you always have the possibility to make a good wooden spoon. Once you become an old hand in it, you will be able to craft beautiful wooden spoons.
Here, we will talk about how you can start making wooden spoons and how you can get better at it.
1. Get the right tool
Whatever you make or do, you must get the right tool to go with. It is a given for anyone who does wood crafting to get the tools that fit for the job. The very first thing I want to talk about is a Hook knife. Specially designed hook knife for spoon carving is available. Hook knives have a curved blade, you can carve out the bowl of the spoon with it. A good japanese filleting knife will make your job easier. so, when you are getting a hook knife, be sure to get the best available in the market.
A carving knife should be your second pick. It will allow you to carve the spoon’s various portions easily.
There are many more tools to get. Like a hatchet, a hand-saw, Sandpapers, Marker or pen, Wood finish (Food-safe).
There are some power tools that can make your crafting more easy and save your time. you can get a belt sander, Scroll saw, table saw, Dremel tool. But these are optional.
2. Learn how to sharpen your tool
When you have some tools to work with, you must keep them sharp. Sharp tools are the most important part of the carving. You can take the tools to a professional sharpener who will sharpen your knives and other tools, or you can just do it yourself. You can do this in many ways. The most prominent and easy way to sharpen a tool is to use a stone. Although so many people find it hard to sharpen tools with stone, once you get it right, it’s easy and effective to go with.
You can get a good understanding of blade angles.
you can do it anywhere as it doesn’t require any big tool to sharpen a tool with a stone.
You can save a lot of bucks if you can master the sharpening with a stone.
3. Learn how to use the tools
Having a good tool isn’t enough to make a good craft. You have to master the use of the tools you use frequently. If you have a spoon carving hook knife, but you don’t know how to use it to make good carve, it is not going to worth the money you bought it with. You should practice a lot with your tools to get perfect on them. you can attend some classes or workshops to get some hands-on experience using several tools.
4. Don’t miss the safety precautions
Whenever you are working with any sharp tools or anything that can be dangerous to your body, don’t forget to take safety precautions. When you are doing any woodwork, Make sure to wear a dust mask, put safety glasses, wear hand gloves, wear the right clothes that fit the situation. Keep all your attention to your work while using any sharp tool
5. Be wise when to choose the wood
When you are choosing a block of wood for crafting a wooden spoon, make sure you are getting the right type of wood, that will allow you to play with it. Don’t pick a wood that isn’t capable of small crafting. Here are some of my suggestions to go with: Basswood, Pine, Cedar, Redwood, Fir. These are the softest type, friendly and convenient to carve in.
6. Prepare and clean the wood
After selecting the wood for carving the spoon, split it straight down in the middle and chope the core away. Do it with a hatchet. Clear out the buckle or the outside of the wood. Only the white solid part of the wood will left. Then clean the wood with the hatchet again. chop out all the excess material left on the surface of the wood. Remove all the bark with a small knife and you will get an almost smooth wood. Now round up the ends of the wood. Draw a shape of a spoon on the flat surface of the wood and it’s ready to be carved as a spoon.
7. Dry and smooth the spoon
After successfully carving a spoon, you have to dry it. keep it in a zipped bag with some dry wood pieces and leave it for 3-6 days. Within that time period, your spoon will be fully dry. Now it’s time to smooth out the spoon. Take a sanding paper, start sanding. You can use some electric sander. After sanding, give it a good finishing with a beeswax and oil.
