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...