Street Find and Big Spoon

 People throw away the darnedest things.  As I was riding my bike around the neighbourhood on Sunday this garden tool box lay with the trash at the end of a driveway.  Now, admittedly is was not really much to have pride in as it lay.   I don't really know how a person could nail five pre-cut board together and get none of the edges lined up, but, so much the better for me.  I sprung the unglued pieces apart, glued them, lined them up and clamped the whole thing together.  I plan to sand it smooth; at least 400 grit: wood burn and paint garden type designs on the box.  

 

  The coloured leaf design works well as a pattern on light wood.

  The other project from yesterday was to fulfill as request. 

A 45 cm. spoon for stirring large pots filled with cooking fruit.  It has been a great year for pears and so we have pear sauce, jam and juice. Eva wanted a stout spoon so she could mix and coax a pot full of hot fruit while being far enough removed that she wouldn't also get cooked.

  I cut the spoon shape from a piece of 3/4 white oak on the band saw. I used a block plane 

and a palm plane 

very similar to this one to shape the handle.

Once the handle was shaped I used my Dremel tool with flex shaft to shape the bowel of the spoon. I have bits and burrs that I have gathered up and inherited to use with the Dremel, I wouldn't know what bits to recommend, but I do recommend having a Dremel or similar tool in every work shop. Often they can be bought with an assortment of bits included with the tool.  After all the shaping was done I used scrapers and sand paper up too 500 grit to smooth the spoon for final use.  Since the spoon will be soaked and boiled I left it unfinished.  White oak may take on some colour from the food but seems to stand up well in the long term.

  I picked white oak because it is less effected by water than many other woods. While digging the big spoon from the drawer I found it had many friends.

  That is just the spoon, spatula and spreaders that are used in our kitchen.  At least that many have been spread about various other kitchens around Canada, Sweden and Great Britain too. I like it when my work gets used.

 

Pochade Box - Small Size

  The third box in this series is my newest, but also the box that I think will get used for plein air  the most.  For several years I have carried a sketch book and pencil around with me.  This  small box is just about all I need for an 'everyday carry' art box.   5 x 7 inch water colour paper is cut to fit inside the lid. Also this size is flexible to use.

  Here is the box supplied for water colour painting. It has everything needed expect paper towels, the water brushes work quite well for field sketching. There are a couple of pencils and erasers, as well as a sharp knife and a straight edge in the box too.

 

 All that is needed is to substitute  Prismacolor Art Stix  and the box is ready for dry field sketching. Art Stix are basically  wood less pencil crayon colours. Twenty Four colours in the small box. Better than pastels for this use because they don't smudge and can be sharpened to a fine point.  

 To hold the lid open I re-enforced the hinge with leather. This way it is strong and firm without me having to add locking style hinges as on most pochade boxes.

  It is a re-used chisel box, remember when tools came in wooden boxes with box jointed corners? The chisels are long gone but the box was too good to throw away. It wasn't much of a shop project but, it needed to be sanded and the spacer put inside and the hinge modified, all things made easy with a wood shop in the basement.

   

9 x 12 Water colour and ink on paper'

"Fall Colours"

  I am working on a Christmas present currently and so can't post about it with out giving away the surprise. 

  Be thoughtful and Be safe.