Which wood for spoon?

**Gumbob** · 20-12-2005, 19:49

Hi,
My son and I are planning to have a go at making our first spoons over the festive season. Are there woods that are better than others for this and if so what ones? Also, we will not be using hook/spoon knives so any advice you can give will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks..Gumbob

ps. Will post pics of the finished article (as long as they are not too bad like)

**leon-1** · 20-12-2005, 20:54

I don't thik that I have a specific favourite, but I started with Birch, it does work pretty well and the spoon came out pretty well also.

In the articles section here there is a good tutorial on making spoons. I know that in the article JP uses a crooked knife to do the bowl, but you can also use a coal to burn the bowl out and then sand it or if you have wood working gouges you can also use them before sanding to its final finish.

You can hollow a certain amount out using a normal knife, but work steadily and don't try and take too much out in one go, have fun

**Wayne** · 20-12-2005, 23:43

Just remember if your going to use the spoons for food to use a non toxic wood and seal it will a food safe oil. Fruit woods make very attractive spoons.

If your going to burn the bowl your going to need plenty of patience.

**Tor helge** · 21-12-2005, 08:01

Aspen (poplus tremula) was the wood of choise when making spoons and bowls in earlier times (at least in Norway).
The wood don`t transfer unwanted taste to the food.

I haven`t used anything but birch

to make spoons and cups, so I don`t know how aspen is to work with.

Tor

**Galemys** · 21-12-2005, 08:42

Originally Posted by Gumbob

we will not be using hook/spoon knives so any advice you can give will be greatly appreciated.

I cannot claim that I am an expert on this topic but for my first spoons (out of sycamore wood) I used a bow drill to form the depression. Use a hardwood as spindle and keep adding sharp sand to increase the friction. Don't spin to hard; you want abrasion, not an ember

.

Tom

**Gumbob** · 21-12-2005, 21:12

Thanks for the replies all. Much appreciated.

Will let you know how it goes.

Cheers...Ian

Ed · 22-12-2005, 06:37

I find birch can be very tough on newbies to carving, especially when dry, it can be hard and solid (so very durable)... I really love carving softer 'fruit' wood like apple... I find it carves like a dream

Ed

**shadow57** · 22-12-2005, 11:30

I used cherry for my first spoon and it works really good. Not to hard and not to soft. I got the cherry from a branch that had been snapped of by the kids at school. Recycled I suppose

**Landy_Dom** · 18-01-2006, 14:20

I have been looking at starting a spoon too

I got a stonking piece of Hawthorn.......... any good for the job?

I also was wondering about how to carve the bowl as I don't own a crook knife.

What else makes good carving projects from about 2" round hawthorn?

Dom.

**Biddlesby** · 18-01-2006, 16:50

Lime is a fantastic wood for a first spoon, being very easy to carve.

**ditchfield** · 18-01-2006, 22:58

Hawthorns hard as anything. I used willow for my first spoon. Cuts like butter even when bone dry.

**Mooney** · 18-01-2006, 23:08

yea hawthorn = nasty
my first spoon is sittin in front of me n was made out of it, its like a rock to carve and quite brittle.

the green stuff is quite hard aswell

**Burt** · 18-01-2006, 23:12

I used a bit of ash for my first ever spatula for stir fries..thought it would be simpler. then made a spoon from the same bit. it's not great to work with as the grain runs in oppsoite directions along the length & the knife skps/splits. once you get round that and take it easy. it went on to be a fair result. I use both in the kitchen, they are nice and strong. Just need to keep them oiled or the grain rises and you get splinters until it settles down.

**Laurence Dell** · 18-01-2006, 23:20

I second that on the Hawthorn

and I would say that you really want to be starting with a piece of wood larger diameter than 2 inches because it is best to split the wood lengthways down the pith first. Then work with one half and carve it down to the required dimensions.

**wolf** · 18-01-2006, 23:23

Originally Posted by Biddlesby

Lime is a fantastic wood for a first spoon, being very easy to carve.

totally agree,its great ..

**jason01** · 19-01-2006, 13:59

I'm not exactly a prolific spoon maker but after making a few Ive set myself a little challenge to use as many different types of wood as I can, so far Ive used birch, beach, box, oak, yew, willow and plum. The willow and plum were probably the easiest to carve, the plum is particularly nice, lovely subtle colours in the grain and the same should be true for any English native fruit wood, I have some good pieces of plum slightly spalted as well after felling a small dead tree for a friend at Christmas. Lime is one of the easiest woods to carve but not very interesting grain. I also have a load of Hawthorn that I havent worked yet but I can see its going to be hard as nails and I have some olive which is also relatively tough. I would try whatever youve got to hand and dont worry too much whether it works out or not for your first one, also try carving it green, much easier and if you split it first it shouldnt check, once its spoon sized it will dry out in the house within a few days before final smoothing and oiling. In the past I always stuck to working seasoned wood but working it green "bodger" style has been a revelation, thanks to Eric

I usually tend to start with a piece 4 - 6" diameter and roughly same length as you want the spoon to be then split a spoon thickness plank from it or 2, draw a spoon outline on the plank, rough it out carefully with an axe and carve away.

**Klenchblaize** · 19-01-2006, 14:43

Originally Posted by Wayne

Just remember if your going to use the spoons for food to use a non toxic wood and seal it will a food safe oil. Fruit woods make very attractive spoons.

If your going to burn the bowl your going to need plenty of patience.

A list of "toxic" trees (or perhaps more pertinently the timber thereof) would be a good new thread by someone in-the-know. Just those to be found in the UK as a start?

That much of the exotic stuff used for knife scales can be nasty is the sum of my knowledge other than the obvious native candidates.

If this info is alraedy to be found as a 'post' or 'link' I appologise.

Cheers

K

**jason01** · 19-01-2006, 15:15

While you use "toxic" woods at your own risk, Im not convinced this is really an issue, Yew has been used for cups/spoons/eating vessels for centuries and I personally have no problem using it for spoons, I suspect you'd have to ingest a small log of yew to suffer any ill effects and I havent managed to inadvertently swallow down a hole spoon yet. Laburnum is probably another, nice wood though.

The amount of toxin on the surface of a seasoned and sealed spoon must be tiny if anything at all.

If you want to be fussy you probably should avoid anything thats spalted as well. I suspect theres more toxins in prepacked supermarket foods than an occassionally used spoon.

Breathing the dust while working woods is probably more of a hazard, cocobolo, spalt spores or any wood dust for that matter.

**Klenchblaize** · 19-01-2006, 15:34

Originally Posted by jason01

While you use "toxic" woods at your own risk, Im not convinced this is really an issue, Yew has been used for cups/spoons/eating vessels for centuries and I personally have no problem using it for spoons, I suspect you'd have to ingest a small log of yew to suffer any ill effects and I havent managed to inadvertently swallow down a hole spoon yet.

The amount of toxin on the surface of a seasoned and sealed spoon must be tiny if anything at all.

If you want to be fussy you probably should avoid anything thats spalted as well. I suspect theres more toxins in prepacked supermarket foods than an occassionally used spoon.

Breathing the dust while working woods is probably more of a hazard, cocobolo, lignum vitae, spalt spores or any wood dust for that matter.

This may be so but it would be nice to furnsih people with the info simply to enable a more informed dicision. Some folks laugh-off a bee sting - others die.

Cheers

K

**jason01** · 19-01-2006, 15:59

Heres a starting point, this table is reproduced on several sites, US based though

Woods

Uk based site

You may end up never using wood again!

**jason01** · 19-01-2006, 16:01

Heres a starting point, this table is reproduced on several sites, US based though

Woods

There doesnt seem to be much hard data about concerning ingesting wood as such, probably because its difficult to do!

**Klenchblaize** · 19-01-2006, 16:25

Originally Posted by jason01

Heres a starting point, this table is reproduced on several sites, US based though

Woods

Uk based site

You may end up never using wood again!

Not sure I want to work with wood again!!

**jason01** · 19-01-2006, 16:35

Thats weird, the 2nd link is on your quote of my post but not on my original post!

To minimise risk the best bet seems to be dont use power tools and dont sand, blades only

**jason01** · 21-01-2006, 14:05

I have come across a couple of historic references to folk being poisoned after drinking wine stored in yew barrels, and Roman soldiers dying after drinking alcohol from "yew flasks" so maybe the toxins in yew are most easily dissolved in alcohol.

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