Green wood carving with a focus on spoons, kuksa cups, bowls and boards. All handmade and ready to enhance your kitchen, cottage, or cabin. . . . Check out my work on Etsy: www.etsy.com/ca/shop/BigBearWoodShack
Just found ya today and subscribed after watching several videos! I've already learned a lot and picked up some great ideas to try out with my carving. I'm glad you're talking about taking care of our bodies as we carve so we can keep carving long term. A spoon carving and kolrosing instructor friend of mine makes it a point to have us do stretching breaks together in class and I really appreciate that she does that. Very helpful to hear about how each tool can contribute to a more efficient and enjoyable carving experience! Also makes carving more accessible to folks with chronic pain who struggle with the repetitive motion strains involved. I love that spoon carving can be done anywhere with a sloyd and a hook knife, but as I continue on my spoon carving journey I'm finding it super helpful acquiring some new tools here and there to fill in different gaps in my process. Being able to clamp spoons and use a drawknife recently was exciting! I've definitely had some days where I carved past the point my body wanted me to and regretted it. Learning to avoid that situation. Thanks for the video!
Hey my man! Thanks so much for your kind words! I appreciate you reaching out and sharing part of your green wood journey as well! Thanks for being here! Cheers!
Thanks so much! So this spoon was black walnut wood, but sap wood, so it is lighter in color. I wanted something richer and darker, so I baked the spoon in the oven for about 30 mins at 400°C. I burnished the spoon first. After baking, I applied some mineral beeswax, food safe, of course, while it was still hot. That allowed the oils to penetrate the wood deep and add luster. Hope that helps!
Good day Big Bear, I have been in spoon carving journey. Thank you so much for your encouragement. I like what you shared about your tools that each one has a story. You have a story and relationship with your tools and your craft. These you shared deeply encourages me to develop such a relationship in my tools and in my journey for carving. This inspire me in facing challenges in my journey. Thank you so much, blessings.
Thanks so much for your interest! Because you asked, I will drop a video very soon on the tools used, following grain direction, and how I hollowed out the bowl. Cheers and thanks! Stay tuned!
I go back and forth between a few axes but keep coming back to Robin's because of the weight and bevel angle. I feel it bites better for me. My go-to is my Jason Lonon carver.
Great video. I'd love to learn more about storing/saving greenwood, billets, etc. Feels like almost all the videos I see go from log to spoon in one go, but I don't usually have that kinda time as a beginner.
Great question! My goal is to show all of the small and menial tasks that lead up and further progress a carved spoon. I will usually keep billets in the freezer after processing, either wrapped in a plastic bag or on their own (because they don't sit long, I carve often) They're are many techniques in preserving wood, depending on climate and environment. I tend to leave my billets in a pile in my shop or outside in the winter, and freezer in the hotter months. If it's a sensitive wood that I would like to carve wet, than I soak the billets in a bin of water as I carve them. If they sit for a day or 2, change the water out. Hope this helps!
Great question. You can actually achieve a bowl without any hooks or gouges. A small straight knife, carefully spiraling the desired hole can get you there, but could potentially be pretty rough. Watch the knife tip for small cuts through the bowl. I have known carvers that will take a straight knife like a Mora 106 and bend it using hammers, pliers and such, to create a curve in the blade to allow for hollowing shallow bowls. You'd need a knife you're willing to sacrifice really. Hope that helps a bit!
@@bigbearwoodshack thanks but I actually carve all my spoons with a knockoff of mora 511 by Stanley and getting hook knives or round gauges is quite expensive an availability is near to none in my country
I pride myself in taking a more traditionalist approach and using hand tools over power. I find it takes more patience and skill. The craft I study requires zero power. Thanks
@@bigbearwoodshack yeah but imagine how many spoons you could turn out with a duplicarver. I was at a decoy show once and all of the vendors were mad because one guy there was running a duplicator farm. They wanted hundreds for their decoys and he was selling his all day long at $20 a pop. He told me he made them out of old telephone poles and pilings. They looked good too.
Fortunately, I don't need to stress about speed, quantity, or anything to do with money. I find more value in the journey, the experience, sourcing materials in nature, and slowing down to seek fulfillment in woodcraft. There will always be someone who is undercutting the "competition" for financial gain, popularity, or accolades and great for them, whatever the motivation. I have nothing to do with that personally. Thanks man
@@bigbearwoodshack I hear ya. Power tools take you on a journey too. They're just a different conveyance. You could go across the country on horseback or in a jet airplane. Either way you're traveling. One way you'll just arrive a lot sooner.
@@bigbearwoodshack Agree, I prefer having someone talk as I personally learn more with the explanations. Also your humor's great, I got real chuckle from the croc speed/stab holes.
Hey, thanks so much! Very appreciated, my friend! More videos are dropping later this week! I'm on the wood hunt and looking for birch, more maple, and hopefully CHERRY!!
It is tough trying to find a great angle to display how the carve goes. Viewing head-on is fine, but the camera angle, I found, let's you see my line of sight which is super important in creating a symmetrical spoon. Thanks so much!
Cheers my friend! It sure does. It takes much practice. A quote from a famous spoon carver is that "You get the knack for carving spoons after about 300". 😂 I'm definitely over that number but in honesty not by much. Maybe 400 or 450 at this stage of the spoon journey.
Keel is something that I used to struggle with. I leave "meat" on the blank to carve my keel out better with a straight knife until my desired thinness. Definitely had many fails leading up to developing a carving system. Cheers!
