Long Spoon

   The most recent thing out of the shop is another long  spoon.  I have made a couple of these long handled spoons in the past.  The spoon is 18 inches long and perfect for mixing large pots of chilli, stock or stewed fruit.

 In some ways these spoons are a speciality item for the kitchen.  After all it is not often we make four gallons of chilli.

First I laid it out, and cut the rough shape with a band saw.  (a jig saw would have done the job too,

    This spoon started out as a piece of oak trim from a local farm house.  A few years ago I was contacted by a friend who had a friend that was over hauling a big ol' farm house.  I was able to go and get a station wagon full of mixed oak trim.  Some of the trim had been painted, some was splintery and good for fire wood and some was really nice.  The stain and/varnish sanded off easily and so the wood has been used for lots of things in many places.

 

  This long spoon is a lovely piece of that white oak  trim. Since the wood was a milled board this spoon is a machine made effort.  As a milled board  there is no advantage to working the wood with hand tools, there isn't much chance to work with the grain. 

  

    The wood showed a really nice grain and was as hard as stone to shape.  I used a belt sander and a Dremel tool with various bits to do much of the work.  Ultimately the final sanding was done by hand, 80,120,180 grit sandpaper and card scrappers providing  the final result. 

  I gave the spoon a quick coat of Hemp Oil and it is ready for the soup.

  I paid attention this time, it took about 2 hours of hands on time to complete this spoon.  If I were making several at once I am sure that I could cut the time, perhaps in half, I don't know.  If you go to a craft fair and someone is selling a nice spoon, made from nice wood it should easily cost $25.00 or more, I would expect that much for this spoon and I got the wood for free.  

  I was easy to make this spoon.  All it took was tools, time and experience.  Please buy wisely and support your   local  crafts people.

cheers ianw

ps. check out at years worth of spoons  

https://www.dailyscandinavian.com/365-daily-norwegian-wooden-spoons/

 

Long Spoon, and Another Cedar Project

 You don't know you need a long spoon until you get one and then wonder how you lived without it. Big pots of chilli, stew and simmering fruit all need a long spoon to reach deep into the pot's corners while keeping your hands happy and safe. 

  This one is walnut, finished with Hemp Oil. I shaped the spoon mostly with knives after roughing it out on the band saw.  Hollowing out the bowl of the spoon is a job for my Dremel Tool. I like using walnut for spoons because it is fairly hard and yet it is easy to get a glass smooth finish.

  We have several hand made spoons in the kitchen drawers now and it is surprising how often it is better to have a slightly longer, or stouter spoon at hand.

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  I have been working away with my found cedar. Yesterday another project emerged that suits found cedar.  This time I cut the strips on the table saw, I am leaning toward hand tools, but haven't fallen in totally. 

BOOT CLIPS revisited. 2014 March first visit.

  Winter has arrived and so it is tall boot season. 

  The boot clip is like a extra large clothes peg.  It keeps soft boots from flopping over, taking too much space by the door or in the closet.

   The design is two long pieces with a spacer in between. Once I got the boards cut into strips I used my hand planes to clean up and smooth the wood and a shop knife and files to round various edges. 

jack and smoothing plane.

  I think cedar is the perfect wood for these holders and it planes nicely. I'm making 6,  almost no noise and lovely shavings.  I have a Anant Jack plane with an up graded blade and a Veritas low angle smoother. (thanks Santa)  For a couple of years I was the Canadian Importer of Anant planes.  I always frond them to be good general carpentry tools.

  Time to think about some more quick Christmas gifts from the shop.

cheers ianw

  

Charcuterie board

  My most recent project did not require much skill, just much patience. My wife asked me to make a live edge charcuterie board.  I dug around in shop and found a slice of dry rough sawn ash.

  The first stage was to attack the slab with my hand power planner and my old 3 x 21 belt sander.  Both those tools remove plenty of material and make a mind boggling amount of dust.  The air in the shop was filled with dust.  Both my sander and planner are old models without any type of integrated dust collection.  I will replace them, if they ever break down.

  Once the rough shaping was done it became a job for random orbital sanders.  First I worked with 80, then 120 then 180 grit using up several disks.  Getting the board smooth with the sander was a multi hour production.  Once I got the surface smooth (ish) I filled the smaller cracks and let it sit over night.  The next day was more sanding with 220 grit and then another hour of hand sanding with 400 and 600 grit making the surface as smooth as glass.

  To finish the edges I soaked the bark in several applications of water based sealer and then the top got three coats of hemp oil.  Each time I flooded the surface and let the oil soak in before clearing it off and rubbing it in.

  Though it is not a project that required special skills I am really happy with the results.  If I can find another slab like this I think I will do it again.

  cheers ianw.

Another cat

  I love wood, and I really love wood with striking grain patterns.  My love of interesting grains in wood dates back to learning how to dress myself.  I was the guy wearing stripes and checks and thinking it looked good.  ( I tried to match colours but liked contrasting texture)


  That cat, is not a cutting board, it is too nice.  I hope it will find a home as a serving tray or just a decor item.  I fussed a bit to get the grain in the three boards to compliment one another, and am pleased with the result, if I do have to say so myself.
       
   The elm boards that I have to work with have tonnes of personality but give the planer a hard time and so there is plenty of sanding involved in getting the finish smooth enough.    

  Lately I have switched from wax to Hemp Oil as a finish for my boards.  The Hemp Oil is food safe, easy to worth with, smells nice and is Made In Canada, Ontario in fact.

Barn Red with Hemp Oil

four of the magazine boxes.

the shelf full of boxes

   I made nine boxes in total, this last batch and plan to make at least as many again. They provide really good solid storage for my collection of idea books.
  I put two quick coats of Barn Red milk paint on the most recent box, sanded it carefully. Cleaned it well with my tack cloth (the milk paint really raises the grain) and then rubbed a very light coat of Hemp Oil onto the paint. I am very pleased with the result, I would call it a semi-gloss finish.  Easy to achieve and easy to clean up after.
  Hemp oil is a new product that at Thetoolstore.ca, part of their new line of products from Homestead House Paints.  I really like working with the Hemp oil and am even more pleased to learn that it is a made in Ontario Canada product.  The hemp oil is also become my go to finish for my cutting boards. I  strongly believe that we should encourage the domestic  economy and when ever I can find a Canadian product I will but it first.