10 Essential Spoon Carving Questions Answered | Andy Spoons

[@scottlaf1]

Hey Andy, I'm relatively new to spoon carving. Absolutely LOVING IT!!! I particularly appreciate the comment on not worrying about how long it takes : ) I'm down to the better part of a day but I do hope to get more proficient. I can tell that I'm not getting the axing stage as far as I could which then requires an inordinate amount of time with the sloyd. I'm super stoked to be heading to the Spoonfest in England this summer (I live in Washington). Thanks for your kind, clear and friendly style!

[@andyspoons]

Hey there Scott, wonderful to have you here! Really happy to be a part of the journey mate, great to hear you are heading across to Spoonfest, no doubt it will be an inspiring time 🙂

[@wortheffort]

You really are kicking butt on your content lately.

[@andyspoons]

Very cool of you to say, cheers!

[@philiprogers8620]

Thanks for the information! Appreciate you making the craft seem accessible to those of us still working on our 5 day spoon, ha! Would like to see more about that burnishing step.

[@andyspoons]

Noted! I'll set up a video about it soon 🙂👌

[@MarshallProtsman]

I second this!

[@davidgleason2519]

I’m working on my 10 day spoon.

[@beullele2783]

Thanks for this video, really instructive 👍

[@andyspoons]

Happy to hear that! Feel free to share it with folks you think it might help 🙂👌

[@owbyoutdoors]

Thanks for this, a lot of Qs answered as a beginner!

[@eclecticwinds]

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

[@whittler0507]

Very well done young man ..Making a living carving is a rare thing ...Just enjoy it ..Thank you for sharing

[@LucOne4000]

Thanks for the video, keep going !

[@andyspoons]

Thanks for watching! 🙌

[@flokrau2300]

Thanks a lot Andy! Very informative! 😊

[@andyspoons]

My pleasure!

[@Vince-ml9gw]

And thanks for an awesome video and channel! ✌️🤩

[@andyspoons]

Thank you for being here!

[@sc00zy]

Thx for this useful information Andy.

[@andyspoons]

Plenty more where that came from, thanks for watching!

[@brandonperez2267]

Tree service dudes are usually cool and happy to have you lighten their load a bit.

[@andyspoons]

Absolutely!

[@kayagorzan]

That’s how I got my supply too. Shame that I don’t really know what wood I got

[@DaveCollierCamping]

Outstanding information

[@andyspoons]

Thank you so much!

[@zone1content]

Thanks for the video! I am interested in seeing grain pattern relatet content.

[@andyspoons]

Fantastic, I will absolutely set up a video covering just that 🙂

[@yuhsieh3106]

THANKS Andy

[@andyspoons]

Thank you for watching!

[@babababababaabbaababababa]

Great vid!

[@glennryzebol4472]

I just bought a spoon carving kit off Amazon. Beavercraft spoon carving kit. It has great reviews and included the sloyd knife, hook knife AND a chip carving knife. also included is a leather strop, some polishing compound and it all comes in a nice leather case thing and all that costs only about 60 bucks. It's also quite sharp and ready to carve with. Highly recommend.

[@andyspoons]

If it gets you carving, it's the right tool to have! Steel quality wise though, you get what you pay for, so you will certainly need to be sharpening those tools a lot to keep them in shape

[@biophiliac9]

First, thanks for all this great info Andy. I’m curious, after you’ve found green wood, how long does it stay green for? I hear you can freeze wood or store it in water, but I’m curious if you don’t. I.e. someone says they cut down a tree a few weeks ago; is that worth bothering to work with? Some guidelines here would be great. Thanks!

[@andyspoons]

Great question! So the wood shifts from green to seasoned over an indeterminate period of time, the trick is to leave the wood in the longest lengths of log possible so that you slow the moisture escape as much as possible. Once you have split the log, that's when you can think about freezing/soaking/plastic wrap to hold in the moisture. I will post a longer video about this soon!

[@markluke8447]

Hi Andy, enjoy your videos and appreciate you sharing your insight in this video.

[@andyspoons]

Thank you so much! I'll be sure to post a few more of this style video in the future 🙂

[@stefand1614]

I just found this video. I have questions about the dryness of the carving wood. Do you only carve green wood? It is hard to carve dry wood! How do you keep wood green/ moist enough to be carveable? If you are given a log of green wood, how long can you keep the individual pieces of wood laying around before they go to dry? How do keep them moist? How do you keep your work-piece you are working on moist if you need to put it away for some time?

[@andyspoons]

I answer all of these questions quite often over on my Instagram, I highly recommend checking my page out!

[@Vince-ml9gw]

Hey there Andy, great Q&A. Definitely a helpful video. Up here where my wife and I live next to the Canadian border I have access to Birch so that is wonderful to learn it’s a suitable carving wood. I’m looking forward to learning a new skill and just enjoying some quiet no stress wood working. I have a small bit of Huon Pine a friend brought back from a boat building school in Tasmania. I’ve had it stashed away now for over 25 years…😂 maybe it’s time to make a small spoon out of it.

[@andyspoons]

Wonderful to hear! I would recommend becoming really comfortable with grain direction in Birch before tackling that Huon Pine. It is a magical timber, but it can be a masterclass on grain direction changes!

[@Vince-ml9gw]

Thanks for that advice Andy. Yes this bit of Huon Pine has a lot of sentimental value to me. But even more importantly the Huon deserves respect and recognition. I think George Nakashima’s book The Soul of a Tree gets to heart of it.

[@elim7228]

I would also def recommend a Shinto rasp. Inexpensive and simply brilliant.

[@andyspoons]

For handling I might agree, but I personally really don't like rasping or sanding spoons. You lose a lot of character from the process in my opinion

[@elim7228]

​​@@andyspoons absolutely agree about sandpaper. I use Shinto to do general shaping around the handle of the spoon or to flatten the blank, before moving to the draw knife and finally the normal knife. There is not a single spot with rasp marks when I'm done. In fact, my spoons are covered with knife markings. Nothing is polished.

[@curiousgeorge555]

thanks mate

[@andyspoons]

Thank you for watching!

[@elijahthompson3899]

The patina on that French press spoon is nearly as exquisite as the spoons themselves.

[@andyspoons]

It's a lovely little moment in my day, adding to that patina 🙂

[@elijahthompson3899]

@@andyspoons I understand, I’m about to have my pour over before the rest of the house wakes up. I can’t wait to carve my own coffee spoon. Thank you for the awesome videos!

[@Alberto1993]

Thank you for your work. Can I ask how i prevent the greenwood from cracking? I’ve finished a spoon using greenwood and now is split in an half😅thanks

[@andyspoons]

Letting it dry slowly is key, keep it out of the sun, try putting it in a paper bag with some woodchips, and give it time

[@frederikbruck5210]

On question #1, might be worth mentioning: Please keep in mind that some wood-species might be poisonous and you don't want to eat with them. For example, in my region: I could literally drown myself in cut-offs from Robinia, which is a great wood for making longbows, but even inhaling the dust from sanding that stuff (!) could possibly kill a child of 2-4 years within an hour.

[@andyspoons]

A very good point! Always do your research on toxicology 👌

[@stormilha]

Hey, apartment quarters over here. Can you tell more about your old setup? I've already got complaints from my downstairs neighbour :P

[@andyspoons]

Hey there! So first thing; become best friends with your neighbor 😂 if that is out of the question, figure out when they aren't home. The block itself was literally a footstool, a 6" square of industrial foam, and a small log. It is not safe, and I wouldn't feel responsible recommending it, especially if you are just getting started, but my main point here is you need to figure out some out of the box thinking (axe work in the back alley in batches, a friend's garage etc.) and do what you can!

[@bennysabrowski8625]

Hey Andy, i love your content. Been into spoon carving for a few weeks, and i love it! How long can I store my wood until it is too dry? I have cherry wood and walnut wood that was felled about 4 weeks ago. The pieces are quite large. Do you have any experience? Many thanks and best regards from Germany

[@andyspoons]

Hi there! Thank you so much for being here 🙂 so I would recommend sealing the ends with some sort of pva glue to slow the drying process, and then honestly you could leave it for a year! Keep it in the shade, and try to only take off a length that you can split out and work on quickly, as soon as you split the wood, it dries out incredibly fast. At that point, a bucket of water and some vinegar, or a plastic bag in the freezer is your best friend 🙂

[@bennysabrowski8625]

Hey Andy, thanks for the answer and for the tips! All the best for you

[@simianprince]

Excellent as always, but I have a nagging question that's been eating at me a lot as I delve further into spoon carving - what's the long term effect of axe and knife work on your wrists, elbows and shoulders? I'm noticing more and more experienced carvers talking openly about chronic pain they're experiencing and I won't lie and say it doesn't give me a lot of pause.

[@andyspoons]

It certainly should give you pause if it's already a concern. I have worked in trades for almost 20 years now, so I deal with varying degrees of long term physical injuries. Axe work is an impact based process, and the knife grips definitely put strain on your wrists. I am definitely planning to post a video on some safe stretching techniques

[@davidgleason2519]

After just 2 years of on and off spoon carving (so I’m no expert), I’ve experienced the tightness of newly exercised hand muscles. Stiff, but no real pain, and I’m 65. I watched a video of an English woman who has carved spoons for years, if not decades, and is certainly older than I am. She could carve and carve with no fatigue. She must have built up seriously strong hand muscles. So, I think there’s some physical benefit to this work too -besides the calm and peace it brings to the mind.

[@simianprince]

I appreciate the encouragement David!@@davidgleason2519

[@elim7228]

The secret is in relaxed, yet firm grip. As soon as you tense - stop the work immediately, relax the muscles and then restart. If you're tense you can't do a pull cut with an axe (or a hammer if you do b- smithing)

[@tweetdezweet]

Usually injuries come from either overworking or a lot of repetitive movements. The latter is, imo, a concern for craftsmen. But that can be countered, again imo, by doing exercises to counter issues that might pop up. I do archery and that's basically a mix of repeating the same motion over and over again while putting quite a lot of strain on muscles and joints. But those can be countered by strengthening the muscles and protecting joints by using proper technique. Most physiotherapists would be able to figure out preventive exercises you could do based on your motions without knowing anything about the craft our sport you're into.

[@danielreid3447]

Many spoon carvers say walnut oil is the preferred oil for finishing. Don’t nut oils go rancid quickly? Should we be putting that on food contact surfaces?

[@andyspoons]

I don't use pure Walnut oil myself, so I can't speak to it's longevity, I use a mix of walnut and carnauba wax, there are some great documents on the Real Milk Paint co. Site that cover the safety data of food safe application

[@danielreid3447]

@@andyspoons Theynoffer a cutting board oil which seems a reasonable oil for wooden spoons that will get a lot of use. What do you know of that product?

[@andyspoons]

I use the Wood Wax for my own work, but I know that RMPC take pride in being a safe and environmentally conscious company

[@hananeibenamar8381]

Will I be able to use commercial wood, since I cannot find fruit wood, like beech wood

[@andyspoons]

Beech is great! Like I mentioned in the video, just try what you have access to first!

[@andyspoons]

Hi there, Beech is great for carving! Can you tell me what you mean by "commercial" in this context?

[@revbharvey5046]

"My first spoon took about five days" YES!!! Me too 😁

[@williamniven2021]

New subscriber here. Thanks for your awesome videos. In this video, you show a high-end carving axe. Can you tell me the brand?

[@andyspoons]

Thank you for being here! That axe is a collaboration between "The Woodtamer" an Australian green woodworking tool store, and "The Farmers Forge" an Australian blacksmith 👌

[@20Hikecdt23]

Would Basswood work for a spoon?

[@andyspoons]

It's a little too soft for spoons

[@saraservant]

Burnishing rod?? Do show and tell... Thanks

[@andyspoons]

You can use a piece of marble or smooth metal or as long as it's harder than the material

[@20Hikecdt23]

Pecan tree wood?

[@andyspoons]

Pecan is great!

[@20Hikecdt23]

@@andyspoons Thanks. I have seen it reviewed and I live in TX. I think it might be handy to my location. Thanks for the good videos b

[@syang1116]

good point is no sanding,,,

[@andyspoons]

👌

[@elim7228]

Re the ax- do yourself a favor. Pick a GB Swedish carver. You won't look back. No, it is not too expensive. It is worth every cent of its price.

[@andyspoons]

While it is absolutely worth the money, it's also very much out of some people's reach. It always pays to have options 👌

[@elim7228]

​@@andyspoons I understand the price might sound too high. But, it's way better to start with something designed specifically for carving. Because it will allow you to develop proper technique faster. For me, I was initially using a GB wildlife hatchet and Hults Brook camping axes, and it was a total waste of time (and money). The hatchet was sold so I could purchase the carver. Which brings me to the second point: should the person not like it - selling GB carver is not a problem. People are always on the lookout for that axe.

[@andyspoons]

A fine point!

[@dccreations1361]

Great video but who honestly thinks they could do this as a full time job!?! Lol

[@andyspoons]

What a strangely unprompted obnoxious thing to say 😂

[@dccreations1361]

@@andyspoons it's a weird question to ask someone. It was unexpected to see you answering a question like that is all. Obnoxious? Wtf lol

[@andyspoons]

There are plenty of full time green woodworkers, just because you don't know them doesn't mean they don't exist. Why else would I be answering the questions if no-one asked?