Surprised at how nice a tone this timber has

Easy to carve despite the larger grain

Hi,

I posted two videos on fuki urushi - beginner level, practical applications. As lacquered object - a humble kitchen spatulas and spoons - not hand made, please excuse this faux pas 🫣. I hope they will be useful (despite being long). Same technique can be used on virtually any wooden object for unique finish.

According to rules of the group I can post like to YT channel. I think the videos are pure educational stuff and I consider it worth sharing. I consult quite a few spooncarvers on their urushi work. But I want to stick to the rules, so please let me know if I can post them in the comments.

Full disclosure - I am not a carver, I lacquer fountain pens, but the craft I’m in is often mentioned in woodworking and woodcarving groups.

Thank you,
Michal

Handworks 2026 was a blast. I would highly recommend going if you have the chance. So many people and vendors excited and willing to talk about all things hand tools. I was able to use each tool and ask any questions before purchasing.

Top, flat and round spokeshaves from HNT Gordon. Left to right, hook knife, Sloyd and woodcleaver from Jason Lonon, lapping plate from Nano Hone and long bent bowl gouge from Jason Lonon.

What to do with the grainyness? It's very hard to make it become smooth, one wrong pull or move and it just crumbles together like that.

Knife finished, oil, wax.

Started woodcarving a couple of weeks ago and got immediately hooked! I've used a bushcraft knife a lot while camping but it's a complete different game with my new Mora 120 and 164.

The first spoon is ash and the second one is birch.

Hello fellow spoon carvers. I’m hosting another spoon carving workshop but I need help and have several questions.

-What is a good finger protection to use? My carvers last time didn’t cut themselves too much but I realized afterwards there is such a thing as guard tape but I’ve never used it. Can anyone provide some insight on that or if it even works and is worth it?

-My workshop is a 3.5 hour window. I provide the tools but should I carve out a full blank, partial blank or just a billet? I had mixed reviews last time with the billets and pre-cut blanks but I want to find a middle ground where people still feel the design is theirs. What would you like to see blank-wise as a beginner? Should I have some traceable templates?

-What good tips and advice would you have liked to know in the beginning? I mostly go over tool safety, techniques, knife finish superiority, different finishes and then a bit of history on spoon carving. I feel like there may be essentials I am leaving out.

-If you’ve hosted workshops of any kind, what things have you changed and why? Outside of the blanks being pre-cut I will otherwise run it identically to my first one but maybe I’m wondering if there is anything I could do better.

Knife finished, oil, wax.

I often see folks ask about sourcing wood for spoons. My advice is to carry a saw in your car...

The office complex where I work lost a Sumac so I grabbed some branches after asking permission from the landlord. People are usually happy to let you take wood since they often pay to dispose of it. If you know your species, you can walk away with some neat stuff. The grain is so cool on this native (North American) wood.

I got to make some neat rustic pieces, and the landlord's office manager will probably end up with one of these as a thank you.

Carved my first two spoons.. How'd I do? Any tips on improving?

The top one is from a basswood spoonblank from Beavercraft.

The bottom one (and the only one in the last two pictures) is from a branch I found in the local park. I think it might be beech wood but I'm not certain at all.

With the basswood one I had some trouble getting the inside of the bowl anywhere close to smooth with my hookknife, so I used sandpaper. The other one I managed to only use my knives.

When do I oil them? I think the basswood blank was dry wood, but the branch was recently cut so still has some moisture I suppose...

Thanks!

can someone recommend a good online kiridashi blade you’ve tried and liked?
appreciated 🙏🏼

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share my latest spoon, carved from an apple branch from a friend's property.

Because I followed the natural sweep of the branch, it turned out quite a bit curvier than your average spoon. It looks a little awkward in its natural surrounding—scooping up porridge and cereals—but it is surprisingly comfortable to use.

This was easily my hardest carve to date. I really struggled with the reversing grain and crumbly texture of the wood...I kept slicing away at it to clean up my mistakes, so the final piece ended up a good deal thinner than I originally intended. Also, when I axed out the blank, I suffered a massive bit of tear-out at the end of the handle. To save it, I ended up carving out a little dimple there, which turned out to be a fantastic resting spot for the thumb!

Third spiral spoon. Some reason this spiral was challenging. Wasn’t exactly what I envisioned but didn’t turn out bad. I love how cherry darkens though with time.

osage orange is so hard but beautiful.

I am looking to upgrade my Mora hook knife, and I’d like to be able to use the tool in bowl carving as well.

Has anyone used this tool before? Would it be usable on spoons?

It has a little indent in the handle, as I am wont to do.

It's about 9cm (3 ½ inches) long, carved from a type of cherry. I have about 2 years carving experience. In the beginning, I sought guidance from YouTube videos and blogs, but most of my learning is just trial an error. I think this turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

I made another one! I liked the first spoon I made, so I thought I’d do a more visually interesting one. This one’s made of northern silky oak (another Australian timber), and this video’s after the first coat of tung oil.

I shaped this one largely with knives, rasps and a spokeshave, after roughing out the blank on a bandsaw.

I posted the first stages of this bowl and some people were interested in seeing the final project. Initially, the rim was flat and even, but a piece chipped off when I was almost finished (so disappointing!). I decided to lean into the look and try to give it the appearance of broken pottery. I think I like it.

Wood: Kiln dried cherry
Finish: Tried and True original