Spoon carving upgrade...

I thought it was about time I treated myself to a new spoon.

I chose a piece of seasoned Apple that had been sat in the yard for a year or so.

I used it for the first time this evening... 

A firm favourite...

J.

Spoon carving from Ralph Hentall.

Some special spoons for sale from master spoon carver

Ralph Hental.

Olympic and Diamond Jubilee Spoon

Olympic and Diamond Jubilee Spoon - Price 40.  This wood was obtained from the Viewing Platform of the Olympic Off Road Mountain bike course at Hadleigh, Essex.

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H.M.S VICTORY
Spoon.

 - Price £30. 

From his woodland workshop - Ralph Hentall, Traditional and historical Spoonmaker, has created from the Oak of Nelson's Flagship
'The Victory '

a "Sailors Fist Spoon".  

                                                                  

This style of spoon was used by sailors at the time of the Battle of Trafalgar.  Included with the spoon is a Certificate of Provenance

                                                                    

signed by the Lord of the Admiralty.

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SPOON CARVING DVD.

- Price £20.  

This DVD shows four spoon carvers:  Adam King - delivers a master class on how to carve your own Celtic love spoons.

            Ralph Hentall, Britains foremost traditional and historical spoon carver demonstrates chain link and figure of eight work.                                

Stuart King shows you how to make an eating spoon from a freshly cut hazel log, using traditional green woodworking techniques.

         Ion Constantin from Romania - skillfully makes a traditional Romanian eating spoon in under 10 minutes.

Drop me a line at.

firststeps@thewood.eclipse.co.uk

for more contact details.

Jon Mac.

Recent Kuksa and spoons.

I've been having great fun recently with my spoon carving folk art.

Happy carving folks....

Interested in purchasing my work ?

Drop me a line at...

firststeps@thewood.eclipse.co.uk

Enjoy...

J.

Stropping.

Spoon carving edge tools need to be sharp.

To be quite honest I am relatively new to using this type of stropping system.

I have always used a bit of end grain to sort out my foil edge after sharpening, or perhaps a leather belt with a para-cord loop at each end held taut between foot and left hand.

Sean Hellman introduced me to stropping compound and leather/linen backed boards back in the summer.

At first I was sceptical, but I wouldn't be without it now for studio use.

Sean is currently making these paddle strops at his workshop.

There are three different stropping surfaces to chooses from.
Sean includes a good lump of compound with the stropping set.

Simply run the compound block up and down the side you wish to use.

It's much like a crayon.

You need to sharpen your knife using your water stone, as normal.

Sharpen to as good a standard as you can manage.

Then simply run the blade, bevel as flat as possible, up the strop.

With the spine of the knife leading the way.

You don't need a lot of pressure, a light touch will get the job done...

Reverse the blade and come back down the strop with the spine leading the way...

Paddle strops £23.50  postage included UK only. 

Outside UK add on £3 for postage.

Sean makes these strops from wood turned on the pole lathe. 

There are three stropping sides, each covered with a different material , veg tan leather, suede  and cotton canvas. 

These are used in conjunction with a polishing compound.

The suede leather side has a bit more give in it and is great for axes and gouges.

You can purchase this strop including 150 grams of polishing compound for £28 postage included, UK only.

Outside UK add on £3 for postage

If you want a complete set that you can use on your hooks as well, then why not consider the

  Strop and slip set.

£32 plus £4.50 UK postage.

Outside UK £6 postage.

The complete stropping solutionConsists of :-

 4 sided strop, with leather, suede , bare wood and canvas.

A round leather strop for hook tools.

      Pink polishing compound for the strops, about 150 grams.

 4 flat and 4 round slips for hook tools. 1 of each 150, 320, 600, and 1000 grit silicon carbide paper.

Stropping leaflet, how to use and maintain the strop and slip set

All this for only £32 plus £4.50 UK postage. Outside UK £6 postage.

To order any of these items you can contact Sean Hellman at...

info.seanhellman.com

http://www.seanhellman.com/contact/

Happy stropping.

J.