How to make a wooden spoon

Making spoons from the wood is a very exciting and engaging activity. It does not require some special talents, forces or investments. Everyone who has a basic set of carving tools, a piece of wood, and a desire to create something on your own can master the art of spoon carving in one hour.

If you are the one who is interested in learning how to carve a wooden spoon, here you can find all the information you may need to create your first spoon. Let us start from the very beginning and find out which material will fit better for the beginners, what tools are needed, where to start, how the process is going, and how to finish the very first handmade wooden spoon.

The material for the novices

Most likely you know that different wood’ species have different characteristics such as density, machinability, and grain. The color differs as well but it does not affect the working process. All the woods are divided into two groups: hardwood such as oak, beech or maple, and softwood like pine, cedar or spruce. However, it does not mean that all the hardwoods are hard in machining and vice versa.

The advanced carvers can use oak, hard maple or beech to carve spoons from but if you are new in this it is better to start from the softer material. Choose the white pine, poplar, basswood or black walnut.

The proper workpiece

The experienced carvers make the spoons from the twisted and bent branches. In most cases, those twists help them to create amazing and unusual spoons. But, such workpieces are difficult to process due to their complicated shapes. It requires strong skills to draw contours on them, to clamp them in a proper position, and to carve them.

Thus, it is highly recommended to start your carving experience from the rectangular piece of wood. Once you master processing such workpieces, you will be ready for more curved material.

The working tools

Depending on the kind of spoon you are going to carve, the material, and the shape of the workpiece, you may need:

• a gouge to form the bowl;

• a mallet;

• a spokeshave;

• chisels knives (straight and hook);

• a bandsaw.

Before getting down to business, make sure that the knives you are going to use are sharp. Otherwise, you risk getting a poorly carved spoon with many imperfections on it. Moreover, you will spend far more efforts in vain.

Now, when you have your tools in front of you along with the proper piece of wood and a strong desire to make your first spoon, you can start.

The detailed guide of spoon carving process

The sketch. First, you need to draw a spoon. You can do it directly on the workpiece or use a sheet of paper. Avoid drawing the elements that are too thin or too curved, leave them for the times when you get some practice in the art of carving.

It is better to start with the vertical axis that goes all through the spoon to ensure the symmetricity. Pay attention to the direction of the grain – it should run through the whole spoon. Then, create the half-contour of the bowl and the handle and flip it over with respect to the axis. Draw the inside part of the bowl (oval-shaped).

You have to draw a profile of the future spoon as well in order to understand how deep the bowl should be. Also, you will definitely need it when creating more curved spoons like serving spoons.

Carving the bowl (inside). Clamp your workpiece in the vise and start shaping the inside of the spoon-bowl. For this purpose, use the gouge. Start from one side of the axis and perform slicing cuts along it. When you reach the end of the bowl, repeat the same on the other side. Do not try to push the gouge too deep into the wood, be patient. If you need, use the mallet to make the process easier. Your strokes have to overlap each other to ensure the smoother surface. When cutting away the rough excessive material, move across the grain, but in the end, change the direction and the power of cutting. Light and slopping cuts will ensure the better results.

You have to carve out the material until you reach the inner contour of the bowl sketch.

Cutting out the outside contour. Once the desired depth of the bowl is reached, you can form the outside shape of the spoon. The best way to do it is to use a bandsaw. Just move the workpiece along the drawn contour. It is recommended to cut the back side of the spoon first, and then shape the sides.

After that, remove the excess material and smooth the sharp edges by using a spokeshave. Be careful when shaping the handle near the bowl (so-called “the shoulders”) to prevent cracks or any other damages.

Forming the outside part of the bowl. Clamp the spoon in the vise (with the handle) and take your straight knife. Make three big chamfers on the outer side of the bowl; two of them have to be on the sides and the third one is performed at the butt of the bowl. Then, continue softening the edges with your spokeshave. Always remember, that it is your spoon so the ideal shape is the one you like. Feel free to create any shape you want.

When shaping the outside of the bowl, it is important to check the thickness of the bowl on the regular basis. The outside contour is supposed to be similar to the inside one. As a rule of thumb, you can use a red flashlight to check out the thickness. Just put it against the outside surface and look at the spoon from the other side. When you move your flashlight in different directions, the light spot on the other side should be approximately the same at any point.

In the end, do not forget to form the even shoulders. You have to perform short cuts by using a spokeshave and a straight knife where it is needed.

Regularly take your spoon out of the vise and evaluate the shape with your eyes. Look at the spoon from the different points and angles. Make sure that there are no leftovers of the material on the spoon, and the contour is ergonomic. At this stage, you can remove any imperfection you see. Do it now because later may be too late.

Final processing. Once you get the desired shape of the spoon, it is time to grind and polish it. For startles, remove the traces of the tools and smooth the edges with the card scrapers. It is possible to use files instead for finishing the outer pars.

Use the hook knife to smooth the inner surface of the bowl. The experts recommend to move across the grain; the moves have to be shallow and light. This part takes some time and practice, so cut yourself a little slack and do not get upset if the surface will not be ideal.

Then, you can use the fine sandpaper to get finely polished surfaces. Polish thoroughly every element with long and gentle moves.

After polishing, it is expedient to apply some special non-toxic oil.

Never forget about safety: use the finger and thumb guard when working with carving knives and a saw.

The alternative way of making a spoon

Some carvers prefer making a spoon in the other way. They start by cutting out the outside contours by using a bandsaw. As a result, they get a spoon with sharp, squared edges and without a bowl.

In this case, the next step is to cut and round the edges. Those who have a lot of experience do it by using a bandsaw. However, if you are a beginner, it is strongly recommended to use hand tools, just from the safety perspective.

After rough shaping the handle and the outer side of a bowl, a spoon is clamped in a vise and the inside part of a bowl is being carved out with the proper gouge (the gouge’s size is being chosen depending on the spoon’s size) and the mallet.

Next, the spoon is being grinded with the files and card scrapers. If you like using electric tools, you can polish your spoon with an electric grinder and polishing machine.

The consequences of carving the first spoon

Once you finished your first spoon, your brain starts working in the other way. Since then, you will be engaged in this process, you will make more spoons; you will experiment with different shapes, materials, and sizes. It is difficult to stop when you understand that you can do better. And every next spoon will be better because your carving skills will strengthen.

If you like such option, then go ahead. Make the wooden spoons, grow up as a carver, and come up with the new ideas regarding the working process or design.