Excellent work, Tom! I am an amateur spoon carver. I think beauty coming with efficiency is a key for me for continuing this delightful and meditating activity. In your method, gauges, an inverted zig saw, and scrapers enable you to do that. I was especially very impressed by the effect a scraper can provide. I learned a lot. Thank you very much for posting such a great video! I look forward to watching the next!
Where would I be able to find or purchase those wood scraping tools you were using in the video? From the looks of it, they look like they serve a few purposes in making wooden utensils. smooth the surface and also compress soft spots or grain to save from accepting liquids. idk. either way I would love to know where you purchased those tools. thank you for sharing.
Hi Tom ! I’m new to this wood carving and I’m really interested. Would you please tell me tools that I need to get and you recommend “.i want to carve some beautiful spoons .. also how long does it take for wood to dry ? Thank you so much Luis
Hi there! I'm not Tom, unfortunately, so I can't really answer your first question but I can answer your second one! I'd say depending on where you live it may take longer but usually it takes at least a day or two to dry out, though, you can also try baking it if your careful and if it's not too big of a wood peice! Not as much of an expert on that one though. Take care and good luck on your journey!
Hey Tom, noobie here xD... I'm thinking about stealing some wooden planks from the construction site next to my house to make some wood spoons.. Is this a good way to start? I LOVE your spoons and the woody finish they have on the forks for salad. Is there any recipes they go good with? By the way Tom, great vids, I'll be subscribed and following for more of your content straight to my feed! -Aaron
Ham, any way you begin is good. The general rule is, green wood (freshly cut) carves the easiest. All wood hardens as it cures/dries. It also changes shape (warps) and can crack as it dries. Some construction grade pine gets VERY hard as it cures. That said, I work mostly with dried/cured woods, cut-offs from my other larger projects. I don't have access to a good supply of green wood. The key then is to use very sharp tools and leverage. I find Walnut and mahogany to carve about the same and while they are hard, because they are hardwood and fully cured, they carve very precisely. My videos on RU-vid demonstrate most of my techniques. A couple of them may feature Ash as the wood. Ash is also a hardwood. So this process is different from carving Greenwood and you will need good and sharp chisels and gouges. Also, a very good carving knife that you keep sharp with a good handle and a smaller blade to give you the leverage you need. Be careful! Keep your fingers behind the blades of the chisels, gouges and knife. You can use a bandsaw, scroll saw or coping saw to work your blank closer to the final shape of your spoon before you move on to the knife. Scrapers also work well for smoothing and shaping as does an abrasive sheet (sandpipers). I start with 80 grit and finish with 400 or 600 on mahogany and Walnut. I have only actually carved one spoon out of pine and the straight grain of the piece was very nice looking on the finished spoon.
I don't know that yellow pine or Douglas fir will make the greatest spoons, and I wouldn't use any treated woods but it's a start. I have carved spoons from pines, the softer wood and larger grain make splitting and tearing more of an issue. Actually, I find the harder woods, are more dense, with tighter grain and carve the best.Many lumber yards have a 'cut-offs' bin where you can get smaller pieces of hardwoods, even exotics for free or really cheap.
A virtue of Philosophy is that philosophy itself is a precursor to science and understanding. Science is but the urge to find the hidden truth of nature, life and the universe. Philosophy is the postulation of curiosity in the form of observation and question, the incarnation of the questions that lead to discovery and understanding. It is the love of wisdom. Science and Philosophy are aimed at the search for truth. And to understand the universe, man started with philosophy and brought forth scientific discovery and education and philosophy have been creative partners ever since.
