I was in awe after the first skew chisel pass. That shiny finish it leaves is mindboggling. Thank you for this very clear and we'll paced instructional video. Have a lovely day.
Haha sure takes a few years to not break out in a sweat when you pick up the skew chisel. It’s the chisel that can leave the best or worst finish in a fraction of a second. Many thanks for the comment.
Such a pleasure to see the spoon emerge without any power involved, using centuries old mechanics and skills. Makes the finished product , somehow, timeless in itself . Thanks for that .
cant wait to use my lathe it was a gift 7 years ago, I retired this year and am ready to move house, one with a workshop, not a pole lathe but still a lathe, great to watch you work Ben
Really interesting! It's amazing how you can get such a clean and smooth finish with the pole lathe quickly! I've never tried wood turning (mainly because I've never had the opportunity, don't know how to make a pole lathe and don't have the money to buy one) but this video was was still super educational! Thanks for the video!
Do you have access to some scrap wood, a sapling, and some rope? Should cost you twenty bucks, tops, to make one. And that's if you have to buy everything.
Love your videos. Just wondering if it would not be easier to round the handle and at the same time leave the spoon end as a whole egg shape which would be easier to turn. Then finish the spoon end on the shave horse using a draw knife to flatten the egg on one side and then use a spoon knife to hollow it out. Or am I talking rubbish???
I always turn spoons, except I split it down the middle and make two solid spoon blanks ready for finishing rather than wasting extra wood. But wood that isn't pine or eucalypt is hard to come by here. :(
Hi Ben, what a great video, and you make it all look so easy. I was wondering if you could tell me what make and model you knife was that you have in the video.
Hi Charles many thanks for the comment. No problem that was my 4” woodlander in AEBL stainless steel. Makes a great all weather Bushcraft knife. If you would like one let me know. cheers Ben
Yes you can do it that way too. In fact I made a tool to split it in three so you can get three spoons out of one blank. You do have to finish the handle more but the back of the bowl is done and the overall profile. This method does give you a truly finished handle and profile too the bowl of the spoon, plus you can crank the bowl too. Glad you enjoyed the video. cheers Ben
Have you ever carved anything from pear wood? I’m having serious difficulties with it because it’s so hard and grain all directions. Even with razor sharp tools extremely challenging and bad tear out. Any pro tips?
Sure Pear and Apple make lovely items but the grain can be very hardwork. Often you have to try and work across the grain to avoid the tear outs. I find that if you work it while green and leave slightly oversize you can just refine the shape when it had dried out. Often resorting to a little sanding on the really difficult bits of grain. Hope that helps best of luck.
