Spoons!!

[Burnt Ash]

What is it with this spoons business?
I have whittled and carved all sorts of things for outdoors use, but a spoon isn't one of them. Now don't get me wrong: a spoon is a handy thing to have ...when you need one. I usually have one (or a few) in the circumstances where such a thing as a spoon is required. No doubt, in extremis, I could fashion some sort of a scoop that would serve the purpose if the need arose. In fact, if the need really arose, I'm certain I could turn out carved spoons along with the best of them. Call me arrogant, but I have that confidence in my abilities. Nevertheless, I have NO intention of carving spoons just for the sake of it. I just don't see the point.

I have this rather surreal picture in my mind's eye: the plane has crashed in the jungle, hundreds of miles from anywhere. Nearly everyone is dead. Carruthers pipes up: "Williams has bought it; so has Jones. Come on chaps, Steady the Buffs. I know ....let's carve some spoons!"
Yeah, right!

Burnt Ash

[Lithril]

I think this comes partly back to the difference between survival and bushcraft. Survival you're getting by, bushcraft you're living comfortably. Carving spoons uses a range of techniques and skills. How else are you going to eat your Rabbit Stew or nettle soup?

[leon-1]

I think that it is partly due to the amount of different types of cut that are used when carving a spoon, they are generally just a good way to practice your carving for that reason.

As you have said the end product has a purpose and can be re-used rather than being an ornament, which apart from its asthetic appeal serves very little purpose.

Arrogance aside, my first spoon turned out very well indeed, but I have seen many people whittling away until they have a toothpick. Just practiceing by carving a spoon allows you to get a feel for it and the types of cut that you use for most carving. :-)

[RovingArcher]

Whether it's the knife you're practicing with or choosing the proper piece of wood, perfect practice makes for perfect results. With that in mind, I can see carving a whole 8 piece place setting, or a firedrill, etc. Myself, I'm a chopsticks kind of guy and slurp my soup from the cup. :nana:

[Gary]

Spoon carving, apart from being a craft with 'the craft', is as pointed out used as a way for instructors to monitor and teach students carving techniques, save knifemanship, wood selection etc - it also gives the student a material item to take away from the course.

I also use it as a test peice for evaluating a new knife as if I can control the knife well enough to carve a spoon I can control it for all the tasks I will ask of it.

Spoon carving, like many things, has been elevated to a semi mythical statious in a way, due to it being seen by views of certain TV programmes screened here in the UK.

Finally, there is a fun side to it (god I sound like a geek!) on a lazy day I like to play a game (sounding even sadder!) where I set my mug to boil on the green heat and then carve the spoon with which to stir it once its ready. It is good practice and a reasonably good spoon can be produced - of course I dont bother with the bowl after all this is really only needed for eating not stirring.

OK now I realise how sad I am, I'm off to find a friend and get a life :roll:

[boaty]

Hmm, is GreenHeat really slow, or do you make spoons really quickly?

My water would have boiled away by the time I'd finished one of these:

http://boaty.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/together.jpg

[jakunen]

I wondered the same thing.
Then...
As Gary points out (and I do in the review of the course I did with him) it is a great way to get to grips with the skills of handling a knife.
And in a survival situation, you know how to carve a spoon which will obviously be useful preparing and eating food. And know that you can safely handle your knife which may well be your key to survival.

One simple task that fits into both spheres.

Surprisingly, for such an apprently simple, basic and minimal thing, I got a great sense of satisfatcion at having completed my first one.
Just need to finish my Mulberry wood one now...

[Gary]

:o): Greenheat will heat my brew in about 7 mins!

I dont mean carve the spoon from scratch - selecting wood ect.

Usualy I will have found spoon wood en-route and split it with my knife before reaching my brew stop.

So carving usually only means shaping and as I say I dont bother with a bowl - said spoon is a pratical thing, just spoon shaped, but it is a good practice for making proper spoons.

These are spoons with no sanding or fuss involved and once used they are returned to the woods from whence they came.

I like to leave it resting in the crook of a tree as a gift of thanks to the trees for suppling the wood and to the wild wood spirits for allowing me to visit with them.

[Hoodoo]

Nevertheless, I have NO intention of carving spoons just for the sake of it. I just don't see the point.


When I get in a survival situation, the first thing I do is carve a chicken.

http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/images/chicksak3.jpg

Chickens are a good souce of protein. Then I make chicken soup. While the soup is brewing, I carve the spoon to eat the soup.

:roll:

[MartiniDave]

Gee Hoodoo, I don't think I would have thought of that! :rolmao: :rolmao: :rolmao:

Dave

[RovingArcher]

Good bird there Hoodoo. I can see where in a survival situation that sitting down and getting a warm fire going, brewing up something hot and carving something would help the individual to calm and focus on what really needs to be done.

[bushwacker bob]

I gotta have a go at carving the famous Hoodoo chicken :super:
Blooming good in a survival situation :rolmao: :rolmao: :rolmao:

[jakunen]

So long as its not a VOODOO chicken... :wink:

[Gary]

Is that there chicken edible?

So thats the next phase - forget spoons lets see chicken pic's!!!! :super:

[TAHAWK]

So how does one sanitize the wooden spoon after using it to consume your chicken stew? Boil?

[Gary]

Very interesting question and one that goes back intot he history of spoons - the answer is too boring to comprehend in its fullest (jakunen will verify that as I give it on the greenhorn course) but in brief - as long as only you use your spoon i.e put it in your mouth no harmful bacteria will survive upon the wood.

Whether it is true or not I dont know but when I worked for woodlore one of the other instructors used to say that Ray had had tests done by the institute of medicine and tropical diseases in london and they found woods nature antibacterial properties protected it against harmful growths.

As I say I dont know if this is true but I have used the same apple wood spoon for the past 5 years and never cleaned it beyond the usual soapy water and it has never done me any harm.

[RovingArcher]

My wife and I use a set of wooden spoons for kitchen duty and have for a lot of years. They work great and clean up easily. They were made thick enough that even a few sandings over the years have left them in very usable condition.

[jason01]

Many, maybe all?? woods have antibacterial properties. Even real linoleum which I believe is partly made from pine sap is said to be naturally antiseptic! Thats also why wooden chopping boards are safer than plastic ones.

Interesting about your offering to the trees Gary, an old mate of mine always used to do the same thing with his spoon when we left a camp, I remember him leaving one in a cleft in the rock when we camped in a place with no trees :)

Jason

[Gary]

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v342/bearclaw/080804013.jpg

This is a blank of a spoon I carved this morning while my mug heated up - as you can see it's nothing elaborate but it is good enough for a brew - you could easily finish such a blank off later at your leisure. Start (splitting down the branch pre-selected enroute) to finish it took me 4.32 mins.

While being good carving practice on this occasion it also gave me a chance to evaluate a new knife (pictured) so I killed several birds with one stone.

As for giving the carved spoon back to the forest, I think this is a good and respectful practice and not dis-similar to the native American practice of leaving their wagan stick crane leaning against a tree so the Windigo spirit can not track them.

[Adi007]

What's the new blade Gary? :o):

[Gary]

its a knife im trialing for my trading post mate, carbon steel, convex and bloody good.

I'll stick a review on edged tools in a mo!

[stuart f]

www.yoxio.com/img/79473.jpg[/IMG]
Heres my first spoon,the piece of branch i started with was 3 feet long by 6 inches in diameter but i still managed to end up with a teaspoon :wink: .

[stuart f]

http;//www.yoxio.com/img/79473.jpg

[stuart f]

http://www.yoxio.com/img/79473.jpg
Heres my first spoon,the branch i started with was 3 feet long and 6 inches in diameter and i still ended up with a teaspoon :wink: .The heart in the front of the picture i carved from hazel and turned it into a necklace for my wife.

[robin wood]

Sorry to bring up such an old thread but it seemed relevant and interesting I found it in a search following Burnt Ash's comments on the kitchen spoon thread.

"What is it with this spoons business? I have NO intention of carving spoons just for the sake of it. I just don't see the point. Burnt Ash"

I guess there are different folk who are into bushcraft and hope we can all live happily together. Personally I don't think I am ever likely to be the sole survivor of a plane crash in a hostile environment though I can see the way that learning the skills to cope with that situation can be a good and empowering thing particularly since most of us live such dependant lives today.

Likewise spoons, I don't carve "for the sake of it". All my spoons go to homes where they are well used. I find that using tools and implements made by people I know greatly enriches my life experience, my life is full of objects and tools that have a meaning for me. From the feedback I get it sounds like many folk feel the same about my bowls and spoons. There really is nothing quite like giving someone a gift you have made yourself....if it is functional and beautiful so much the better. A well designed wooden eating spoon is a joy, it should fit the hand and the bowl as well as being pleasing to the eye and using the natural strengths of the material, it is far harder to get good than most forms of sculpture.

Spoon carving is the most commonly practised green wood craft in Scandinavia for many reasons, it requires only a few tools, no dedicated workspace and the raw material is free everywhere. It is quick and easy to pick up the basics but you can still be learning and improving after a lifetimes carving. Like knifemaking the best examples are works of functional art

This is not the only reason I do it though, as others have said it hones the skills, develops hand and eye and can be a delightfully social experience. We often carve with friends round a camp fire. here is a picture of a group of our friends carving at a campsite at Hells Mouth in Wales. I carved a spoon to flip eggs as we had nothing with us to do the job, we still have the spoon and it reminds me of the time we spent there.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/thewoods_album/carving-wales.jpg

"What is it with this spoons business? I just don't see the point. Burnt Ash"

Does that answer your question Burnt Ash? I am not suggesting everyone should do it just trying to show what I get out of it.

[John Fenna]

Well said Robin!
I had forgotten about thos thread - good one innit?!

[Tadpole]

The whole ‘spoon carving argument’ still amazes me, when people ask the point of carving spoons. I say to them, the object is not only to have a spoon at the end of it, it is to learn how to carve.
Mors Kochansky, talks about practicing carving and making a ‘try sticks’ which is a stick carved in such a way you get to practice all the traditional carving skills and needs, like a half round notch, a dovetail notch, a square hole etc. Now what is the point of that stick, as anything other than a decorative piece, well to me there is none, other than a way of showing others that you can carve set notches and joints.
Which in itself is a good thing, but most of the basic skills can be learnt from simply carving camp tools, a stool, a pot hanger, a spoon, and in the end that is what it is about. I know from my own experience that I tend not to practice things that I feel are pointless, practice carving a dovetail notch over and over again is boring, but making things that use a dovetail notch is not boring. Trimming a piece of wood so it is square, over and over again is boring, but making something that requires square wood is not. Whittling a branch to a point and then throwing it away and whittling another to a point is, pardon the pun, pointless at least in my eyes. Making a spoon rack, pot stand, or a spoon set teaches the hands and the eyes to behave, leaving the mind to concentrate on other things.
The point to spoon carving is not only the end product, however useful that may be, it is the journey from fire wood to utensil. It is what you make of it, what you put into it, it’s what you learn from the act of learning how to carve.

[gregorach]

Nevertheless, I have NO intention of carving spoons just for the sake of it.

Then don't. Simple. :)

[DoctorSpoon]

Making a spoon rack, pot stand, or a spoon set teaches the hands and the eyes to behave, leaving the mind to concentrate on other things.
The point to spoon carving is not only the end product, however useful that may be, it is the journey from fire wood to utensil.
I like that :approve: It's like going for a walk. I don't just walk to get somewhere or see something, although they are pleasurable by-products. When the body is engaged in physical activity, the mind does it's own work. I would never have got my PhD thesis written if it weren't for such activities!

[Burnt Ash]

I would never have got my PhD thesis written if it weren't for such activities!

You didn't get a PhD in spoon carving? :eek:

Burnt Ash

[DoctorSpoon]

:lmao: not really, although it was relevant. My PhD is in design and my research is about using multimedia to help the teaching and learning of craft skills. Whilst it hasn't directly helped my spoon carving, I've been using the outcomes of my research to become a better spoon carving teacher (I hope).