Empty Freezer Challenge

Our freezer was old and starting to break down, so we decided to buy a new one. The only trouble was how to deal with a drawer full of frozen wood.
So I had to take the wood out and make spoon blanks that can be safely dried and then finished later.

This is the result of two weeks of carving: left to right 4x apple, willow, plum, hawthorn and walnut.

Here are some other things from the freezer stock: an olive pebble, a plum pebble, a prospective shrink cup from maple, a plum server and a walnut spatula.

And finally some spoon blanks from fresh green wood: 2x hornbeam and 1x ash.
Now just to finish them all.

Hawthorn Wood

This spoon is not a result of pruning fruit trees, nor of forest trees broken by windstorms. I've cut a hawthorn bush almost as big as a tree. It was almost dry and in the end I could use only two pieces because of insect holes. This is the first piece.

Hawthorn wood is harder and denser than most fruitwoods (just a guess because I could not find hawthorn in the wood database). But I think it is also one of the most beautiful.

The Last Cherry Spoon (for now)

This was the last cherry spoon blank I've had in the freezer since last winter. At least I think so - I would love to find some forgotten piece there.
Cherry wood is quite soft and easy to carve compared to other fruitwoods. Even the kolrosing on the handle was unexpectedly easy. Only the sanding took longer than usual because softer woods are more difficult to polish properly.
The original design is by @Frejlonnfors, but I changed it a little.

Lastly, here is a picture-puzzle for you: find a spatula on the picture below!

Common Fig Wood

The last samples of wood that I received from Croatia, have been waiting for their opportunity for almost three years. They were two fig branches, gnarled and blackened at the ends.
I wasn't able to find any information about fig wood, maybe because figs naturally grow in areas where people speak neither English nor Slovak (I don't count those few poor trees tormented with cold weather that grow here). But then I found one website selling exotic lumber and I learned that fig tree can be used for carving and moreover it was a preferred material for panels to paint on in the middle ages.
So when I finally split one of the fig branches, I discovered quite hard and unusually yellow wood. It smelt very unusual, too - as if someone left fresh figs in the sunshine too long until they petrified. It was quite difficult to choose a piece suitable for a small spoon. The wood contained insect holes and little cavities around hidden knots. But in the end my stubbornness won.

Christmas Presents

Handmade gifts are the best... but there is a catch in making them. Sometimes they turn out so well that you would really prefer to keep them.

This is a salad fork and scoop from plum wood.

This is a coffee spoon with hook from lilac wood (this time I sharpened the knives really well, so the carving was no problem).

And finally, everything together for scale.
Tomorrow I will let them go.

Peach Spoons and Other Things

I've carved several things since the summer but I always forgot to take pictures. These are two peach spoons for commission.

The spoon below was originally also a part of the commission, but I liked it too much and decided to keep it.

 

I got a small plum branch from a colleague who is learning to carve and so I carved this little spoon from it (design by Spångossen):

Lilac, Second Try

I was tidying the cellar recently, so I also went through my stack of dry wood and I sorted out all cracked and knotty pieces. I found a few lilac branches and carved a new spoon. My first experiment with lilac wood is documented here.

Maybe I got used to green (and much softer) cherry wood, so dry lilac was a bit of a shock. But the hard work paid off. I don't know any other wood so unbelievably smooth after polishing.

There was a small knot on the bottom. It could be avoided, but the spoon would have to me much smaller, so I rather left it there.