Kuksa

This is a Christmas present for my brother, a kuksa from birch wood. I have to admit that it was really hard work for me...

I found a piece of blackened wood inside the blank while I was hollowing it. I didn't know how deep it could go, so I bored it with Dremel and high speed cutter bits, as if it was caries in a tooth. The black wood almost reached the bottom of the kuksa, but luckily there was enough healthy wood left on the bottom, so I could go on with hollowing.
It was easier to carve the outside and the result started to look like a kuksa at last. And then there was sanding, unbelievably lengthy and tedious work. I sanded the inside using 1cm wide strips of sandpaper fixed to my thumb or forefinger with sticky tape.
I added some chip carving decorations to the handle and I felt like I was starting to understand the process better around the 10th tiny triangle I've made. I finished the kuksa with a mixture of oil and beeswax, which forms something like a thick ointment.

The wood itself looks interesting, it contains brown strips, which are phloem inclusions inside the wood. This can happen for various reasons. Such birch wood is very popular for carving in Finland because the strips can form interesting wavy patterns.

Almond Spoon

I carved this small spoon a few weeks ago. But I could not take a good picture of it because there wasn't enough light. Today, at last, I succeeded.

The next picture shows the new spoon with a bowl and cup that I've made on ceramics class.

And one more thing now... a matchstick for scale. The background is a cardboard back of A5 sketchbook :)

Thousands of Little Holes

I tried to carve from the last piece of exotic wood mentioned in this post: it is "kostela" or european nettle tree.
The wood was quite hard and it took a lot of work to split it. But then I found that it contains a surprising amount of open pores that look like tiny holes.

Heartwood is less porous (it is visible on the left side of the picture), but I didn't have enough for a decent spoon. And a spoon from the porous sapwood would be like a sieve. So in the end I carved this nice foraminate pebble.

Unusual Plum Wood

I received a new plum log full of unusual colors. This is a spoon carved from the best piece. It will probably turn to brown later, but for now I can enjoy the beautiful grain pattern.

The first picture shows the spoon before sanding and oiling, other pictures show the finished spoon by daylight.

Inspiration by Dan Lawrence and Darrick Sanderson.

Applewood Spork

I created this spoon-fork-knife as a present for my sister after she broke her plastic spork. This one is made of apple wood.

The first piece of applewood that I selected for the spork had an ugly black crack on the worst place, where the side of the fork should be. So after cutting off the black wood I created this:

Apple Wood

My parents-in-law gave me lots of nice apple wood. I made eating spoon and cooking spoon blanks and put them to freezer - this way the wood stays green until the time when I need to carve it.

First I made this small eating spoon. Apple wood can be polished nicely, so this spoon is sanded and polished.

There wasn't much wood suitable for cooking spoons because the apple tree was a little crooked. It can be seen on this spoon...

Moreover the wood sometimes contains dark spots like this. I was slightly disappointed from this spoon, but Jarko says the spot gives it a rustic look :)

Spoon from a Bent Branch

In this post I wrote about a spoon from a bent willow branch. Now I made a similar spoon and this time I remembered to take pictures.

I began with this bent branch. It was still wet inside because I kept it in the freezer :) The picture also shows a place I found in the woods for splitting logs. I don't disturb anyone with the noise there and I don't have to worry about cleaning the shavings either.

I split the log open - it is harder than with straight logs, but it usually goes well.

I took the lower half because the upper one was full of knots. I cut a basic spoon shape from it.

This is the spoon blank after removing unnecessary wood. The branch was thicker than I needed, so I removed a few layers of wood.

Then I found a few hidden knots. Some of them could be avoided, some not. I wanted to throw the wood away, but then I saw the smiley face...

So in the end I just carved a smaller spoon than I intended.

Try what you can see in the pattern - a smiley with a big nose, a Cyclops, or maybe something else?

This picture shows two spoons from bent willow branches. The upper one was treated with oil about two months ago, the lower one is not oiled yet. Willow wood changes its color a little after oiling, but it is not as dramatic as with birch wood on the picture below...

Calamity Beech

We found some beech trees broken during a windstorm when we were walking in the woods. They were already sawn to pieces and prepared for transport (and the lumberjacks even created an improvised picnic table and two chairs using a chainsaw). I took one of the leftover pieces of branch for spoons.

The wood was green and full of sap. The carving was much, much easier than with dry beech. There were several interesting brown strips in the wood, but the spoon has only one brown line on the handle. Now I'm not quite sure if the line is a good decoration or not.

Chinese Willow

I've made this small spoon about a month ago. It is from Chinese willow (the corkscrew variant with twisted twigs and leaves).  The design is from the internet, but I don't remember the source.

The spoon is from a bent branch, so it is copying the bent shape exactly. I forgot to take pictures during carving, but I have a few more bent willow branches left, so maybe I'll write more about it next time.

Lumberjack's Spoon

I've made this spoon for my husband Jarko. It is carved from the stock of plumwood (no, I still haven't spent it all). Jarko wished for a more robust spoon than I usually make and he also wanted an inscription. I don't carve letters very often and it is quite difficult with such hard wood.
Don't ask me why I used this inscription... it's too complicated to explain :)

Stock of Wood

I realised that I've hoarded up a large stock of wood in my cellar, so I should probably do something interesting with it. I selected a piece of plumwood.

This is the finished spoon after oiling, together with an older spoon from the same tree. All the pink and beige hues will eventually turn to dark brown... but that doesn't look bad either.

Tool Shelf

Until recently all of my carving tools have been stored like this:

Then I bought a few planks and some screws and I created this:

Everything is well-arranged for now and I will add some improvements later...

New Pebbles

My collection of wooden pebbles has some new species of wood...

The first pebble is from a very old forsythia bush. Forsythia has a thick pith inside every branch and that's why this pebble has a hole in the middle.
I have always thought that forsythia (called "golden rain" in Slovak) is poisonous, but it is not. The name "golden rain" is also used for laburnum tree which is poisonous and people just mix it up.

The second pebble is from holm oak. It is not oiled, so the variable wood patterns can be seen better.

This is an offcut from almond wood with extra beautiful colors.

The last two pebbles are replacements for other two that I gave away. The upper one is from plum wood and the lower one from zebrawood. It is not sanded/polished because zebrawood with big open pores looks better that way.

Slide

I carved a guitar slide before Christmas. It was for my cousin Marian, who learns to play dobro (resonator guitar). This is the finished slide, I made just the wooden part:

Although I've never seen a guitar slide and I carved it only according to a picture from the internet, it seems to work just as it should. And it makes me quite proud.

Holm Oak

At last I've finished a spoon from holm oak that I mentioned in this post.

Compared to english oak, this wood is much harder, less porous and very difficult to split. Now I understand why it is used for axe handles. I had to hew it for a long time before it condescended to crack a little...
This wood has a very nice pattern from short rays and it works a bit like a holographic print: the pattern depends on the viewing angle. I wanted to make a picture of it, but the holographic effect almost disappeared after oiling because all parts of the pattern became more visible. But you can see it a little if you compare the two pictures here and focus on the ellipse pattern inside the bowl.

The design is inspired by Yoav Elkayam, who makes just the kind of spoons I like.