Spoon Carving 101

Yesterday the temperature was 12 degrees below zero[ F.] and windy, wind chill factor was anywhere from 30 to 45 degrees below zero. What's a homesteader to do? This one threw another log on the fire, put a old Santana tape on, and made a big pile of wood chips. I like white birch for my occasional bouts of spoon carving. When ever I take a white birch for fire wood I try to split out some pieces with nice straight grain for this purpose. Wooden spoons are a nice item to have on hand. Ann already has a good supply so this one will be set aside for a gift or as a barter item.I make all different sizes. This one is one the big side, 14 inches long, just right to serve up that big pot of stew cooking over a open fire.
 I have to put in a disclaimer here, I am not much of a wood carver so don't take any of this as gospel. I do my initial shaping with a machete type thing that is made to prune Christmas trees. It is light and very, very sharp.This pic shows a roughed out spoon, the piece at the left is how it looked when I started.

After I have the rough shape I want, the bowl has to be carved out. I do have a few carving chisels and use these round ones to make the bowl.  I then start smoothing every thing out as much as possible with a knife. I use a box knife for most of it since they are razor sharp and I can simply change the blade if it gets dull. They do make special curved knives for carving stuff like the bowl, but I don't have one. Once every bit is as smooth and even as I can get it, the work starts. I only use one grit of sandpaper,100 grit.

I don't like courser grits since they leave bigger scratches I have to get rid of later. If there is a very rough or high spot I use a rasp to feather it out. I try to keep every thing symmetrical and all the curves long and smooth. Once I have it all sanded smooth I go over it with very fine steel wool. The steel wool not only smooths it  out but will catch on any point that is not flat. I then resand that area and try it again. The last step is giving it a good soak in a pan of warm mineral oil. I let them set in that for several hours to overnight. It will soak in deep and protect the spoon from moisture for a long time.