Spoon carving knife holds movie.

It looks as if Spring may have a finger-tip grip on the Westcountry.
Since the winter solstice, we've had terrible storms, high winds and rain, one after another rolling in from the Atlantic.
We are hoping things will settle down soon.
Folks who live and work on the Levels have been underwater for months, so it was good to get out in the sunshine last weekend.
I've even managed to get out into the forest for a spot of spoon whittling.

I packed a bag and headed down toward an old abandoned metal mine not far from my home.

Just above the old mine I found a patch of woodland bathed in sun light, and a wind blown Birch tree.

I had earlier packed my Gransfors Bruk small forrest axe.

Not my favourite axe, and I use it little, but it stands up well to the grit and grime of the forest.

I chopped out a couple of useable rounds.

One with a slight crank or curve.

The other I would use as a mallet.

It didn't take a moment to carve a rudimentary handle.

Then a few wallops on the round I wanted to use for a spoon.

You can split rounds from one end, or ...

Lay the round flat.

I blanked the spoon out

Leaving the bowl for later.

And packed up for the stroll up the hill.

I wanted to have a walk about on the tops while the sun started to set.

The next day I spent some time finishing the spoon off.

Working the hook knife in a reverse hold, saves money on buying more hooks.

One of the fiddly parts of spoon carving is managing the grain direction change on the back of the handle. If you're not careful you end up with a rip or ridge where the grain from the bowl end hits the grain from the handle end. If you are carving a flat handle this issue probably doesn't arise.

But, as you know, I like a bit of curve on my work.

I've had a few novice whittlers ask how we can get round this.

I had a look at my Lumix G3 camera, and found that I can film movies with it.

Now I get a lot of satisfaction from my photography, but film making isn't something that rings my bell. However. I'm always up for a challenge, so I came up with this short movie.

The movie shows how to use two types of knife hold that allows the carver to change direction without changing the aspect of the item being carved.

Have a look, it's not too long...

Be careful with these holds, keep a sharp knife and sharp wits.
The thumb on top of the blade acts as a brake.
The end result ?

A nice Birch soup spoon for a friend up country.

A slightly deeper bowl than I've carved of late.

All in all a good carve

Thank you.
Enjoy.
J