Spoon Carving

[keithlong]

Wanting to give a try at spoon caring, have a carving knife, just wondering if there is a special knife needed to carve out the bowl of a spoon? Any help is appreciated.

 

[CREID]

A scorp is nice to carve out the bowl with.

 

[TimS124]

For shaping the inside of the bowl, I like these:

Frosts Swedish Hook Knife 162


Frosts Swedish Hook Knife 163


Frosts Swedish Hook Knife 164 | Frost Hook Knife

You don't need all 3...just whichever one fits the size spoons you want to make.

 

[TimS124]

That said, you can carve the bowl with any of several different gouges, a dremel, and likely several other ways (depends in part on how deep you want the bowl to be, what tools you already have on hand, and how much budget you have to spend on new tools).

 

[dogcatcher]

I converted some old hoof knives I got from a local farrier. They were free or I would have bought a scorp. But I have used the Flexcut set and will admit they are easier and a better choice.

 

[TurtleTom]

you can even do it on the lathe, many do.

 

[TimS124]

If you do go with a scorp, you probably want one of the small ones. Mine is one of these which gets used for making Windsor chair seats and bread trays but looks to be much too big for spoon carving (unless you're making very large spoons):

Barr 4" Chairmaker's Scorp | Barr Scorp


You probably want one of pfeil's Swiss Made scorps like this one:

Buy pfeil Swiss made Scorp at Woodcraft.com


Or one of the many small sizes that Flexcut offers like this:

Flexcut Left Handed U Scorp 1/8" KNL21

 

[Curly]

I'd go in a different direction. I think a carving gouge works well. A #7 sweep or #5 or #9 if you prefer about 3/4 or 1 inch wide. Freehand, you choke up on it, holding closer to the edge and pivot and control with the thumb of the other hand. Always cutting away from yourself. With the spoon clamped to the bench you can work it with both hands or a carving mallet.

Pete

 

[KenV]

Peter Sellers has a nice YouTube show on carving the spoon bowl with a 35 mm #7 Hirsch gouge from Highland Woodworking. He uses a vise to hold the spoon blank.

There are several different carving styles for spoons, and especially handles with embellishments.

Get a carvers glove if you opt for a handheld style of carving. Avoids staining the wood.

 

[Chuck Key]

This is an interesting way to make one:

[yt]Lpb3A-YqVPY[/yt]