Spoon.

[B.M.800]

So I got this hook knife and decided to put it to use one some lovely Canadian birch wood.

Made the guitar shaped one first, I split a slab off the big piece, it was thicker than what I wanted so I managed to get some practice on the small one. Its just a decorative one, it is pretty thin and its got a split in it. But still looks decent I think.

The big one is about 12in long. I still need to get some mineral oil and beeswax to finish it up.

Hopefully we go up to Canada again this year, I think it would be nice to sit around the camp fire carving out a few spoons. Makes me excited just thinking about it...

 

[souperman000]

Wow, those turned out really well! Good job.

I have a woodcarving kit, I should try and get back into it...

 

[landuse]

Very nice! Those spoons look great. Is the birch easy to work with? Is the wood dry or wet?

I have done a bit of wood turning on a lathe, and I really enjoyed it. I just did some lamps and bowls though.

 

[Orange Krate]

 

[landuse]

You kill me...

 

[B.M.800]

Wow, those turned out really well! Good job.

I have a woodcarving kit, I should try and get back into it...

Ide like to get some blades for carving, we got a lee valley catalog I might get something out of. They sell Mora knives, I hear alot bout them being useful for carving.

Though, unfortunately allot of those different blades can be quite costly. I might try to forge some of my own.

Very nice! Those spoons look great. Is the birch easy to work with? Is the wood dry or wet?

I have done a bit of wood turning on a lathe, and I really enjoyed it. I just did some lamps and bowls though.

I think it was easy to work with, the tree I got it from had fallen, but the wood was still good. Then I had the piece in my room for about a year and a half.

Defiantly easier to work with the the red oak piece I was using to practice on. Starting the bowl part seems to be the hardest,

Id like to try to make some bowls, need to get/forge some cutters to use. Though, I dont know how well our lathe would work for wood turning. Its an ancient metal lathe... Could probably do smaller bowls on it though.

Ide like to get some different woods to use, we hot a big basswood tree that we will cut part of it down. Then will have to lug some pieces somewhere to dry out.

My brother has an outdoor furnace, I could probably ask him to find a few pieces of some other kinds to whittle on...

Ide like to try to carve out a chain sometime...

Thanks guys.

 

[landuse]

When you cut that tree down, get the logs that you would like to use and paint the exposed ends with whatever paint you got laying around. This prevents the log from drying out too fast and splitting at the ends.

Or can also get a flat pan and melt a couple of candles in it. Then dunk the exposed ends in that. It does the same job as the paint, only better. There is nothing worse than making something out of wood, just to have it then warp and split on you. Try and use wood that is relatively dry. As soon as you have made whatever you want to make, then use some sort of wood preserver on it.

 

[B.M.800]

Ill keep that in mind. We have some cheese wax that might work for that.

Gona need to figure out where we can stash the pieces to dry. Dont really have room in the house, might be able to stash some of the smaller pieces in the attic... I guess the bigger pieces would have to make due in the shed(once I get it cleaned out finally)

Think it would dry out OK in a shed?

 

[landuse]

Think it would dry out OK in a shed?

Yeah, it will dry out fine

 

[B.M.800]

Excellent.
Probably enough wood in one of them trunks to lest quite some time. Hopefully I will be able to make good use of it, seems buying basswood its kinda pricy. Atleast the one place I looked... was about $50 for a few small blocks.

 

[landuse]

Excellent.
Probably enough wood in one of them trunks to lest quite some time. Hopefully I will be able to make good use of it, seems buying basswood its kinda pricy. Atleast the one place I looked... was about $50 for a few small blocks.

Yeah. I bought some blocks of wood for my dad a couple of years ago, and I couldn't believe how expensive it was. OK....it was exotic type stuff, but still

 

[B.M.800]

Yeah, I was looking at some wooden handle material for knife making, I was surprised how much they cost... Sure they were exotic, but still.

 

[devino246]

All depends on where you buy your wood. If you get it a Lowe's or WoodCraft, of course it's expensive. If you can find a good, local place, you can usually get small pieces on the cheap. You can also check online, like Ebay.

Here's a piece of cocobolo for $15, shipped: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cocobolo-Ro...t=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a7d84af17#shId

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocobolo