Here is another apple wood spoon, but with an apple tree design wood burned into the handle. I’m really enjoying making these utensils!
Tag: spoon
Flame maple
I found a piece of flame maple at a woodworking store and made three utensils: two spoons and a spatula. The “flames” in the wood grain really shine once the utensils are finished!
For these I hollowed put the bowls of the spoons first, then used the bandsaw to cut out the rough shapes. Then on to the band sander to get to the final shape. I used 120 grit sandpaper to remove the sander marks by hand, then smoothed with 220, then 400 grit. I wetted the utensils and let them dry, then sanded again with 400 grit. I then used a pencil to draw in maple leaves on the spoons and a dragonfly on the handle of the spatula, which provided guidelines for wood burning the images. Finally, I finished with four applications of food-grade mineral oil. I did not use olive oil because I read that olive oil can go rancid and effect the taste and smell of the food.
The spoons were Mother’s Day gifts (yup, this was awhile ago), but I am keeping the spatula!
Spoon two
I made another spoon! This time for my sister. I used more of the applewood, and it went a little faster this time (80 grit belts on my belt sander helped).
Spoon!
My Dad recently had a birthday, and as he has suggested that I get back into wood working, I decided to make him a spoon.
When I was younger I really enjoyed wood working and carving. Then kids came along and when they were young I needed to keep an eye on them, so I couldn’t disappear into the garage for hours. And bringing sharp objects into the house was a safety hazard (not to mention that the idea of having to clean up saw dust and wood chips inside unthinkable.) So I turned to more child-watching friendly options for creativity: crochet, jewelry making, and other things that could easily and quickly be put down to figure out why it was suddenly quiet upstairs.
The kids have been in school for many years now, but somehow I didn’t really get back into wood working. Turns out I missed it. Picking out a piece of wood and taking chisel and bandsaw and sander to it to turn it into something functional and beautiful is incredibly satisfying. I haven’t tried spoons before, but I will again! I took progress photos to share:
I cut a piece of applewood and used a fishtail gouge to shape the bowl of the spoon
This is after I used the bandsaw to cut away most of the excess. I wanted a flowing wavy shape to the spoon.
The back of the spoon after some time (and a few belts) on the belt sander.
Front of spoon after using the belt sander and following up with hand sanding.
After sanding down with progressively finer grit sand paper, I wet the spoon with water. The water helps raise the tiny splinters in the wood, and also gives you a good idea of what the final color will be.
After the spoon dried, I sanded again with 320 grit, I used a wood burner to make apple seed designs.
Back of the spoon with wood burned “apple” and my mark.
To finish the spoon I rubbed it with olive oil once each day for three days. I love the swirl of color in the wood on the back of the spoon bowl!
Critters and Craft 