Moroccan Spoon Carving in Marrakech

While visiting Marrakech in 2016 we found the spoon carvers in the mountains. They work in teams of two to carve up to 120 traditional Moroccan spoons a day. One of the carvers showed us how they rough out the spoon blanks in the morning, before spending the afternoon finishing off. One carver finishes the outside of the spoon with a small adze, while another finishes the inside of the bowl with a curved knife.
The spoons are then transported into the city where they are rasped smooth and sold to tourists as souvenirs, or to the locals for harira, a traditional soup eaten to break fast at Ramadan.
See pictures of the finished spoons and the tools used here - www.jojo-wood.co.uk/2018/08/sp...

[@davidjames2145]

Absolutely staggering; that was borderline superhuman. I've watched days of spoonmaking videos and never seen anything remotely as amazing as that. Huge respect. 🙏 I feel so inadequate now.

[@Nightjar100]

Helps to put our precious arty spoons in perspective doesn't it? Pure function and necessity defining the form. No pretense or posing. Yes, it is master craft. And it is also numbing, exhausting, repetitive poverty at work.

[@Traderjoe]

I’ve been watching spoon carving for over a year now and their approach was radically different by utilizing the adze and the long handled hook knife. Amazing control and skill!

[@AandB1998]

A spoon carver myself. I've never seen this approach. Amazing! You can tell these guys have done this a time or two. Glad to see no one got hurt.

[@dontspamkoth]

I love the casual toss of the spoon onto the pile after it's done.

[@cameronrosen6910]

The degree of precision this gentleman has with a hand tool is incredible. How he's able to follow previous cuts at high speed and round out very fine detail all with a single hand tool, simply astounding.

[@billastell3753]

I watch this video every few months to keep me humble. These guys are soooo good!

[@KriegBoy]

And they all have 10 fingers. Amazing craftsmanship displayed here.

[@MrPickles6552]

Always wonderful watching the magic in the hands of someone who knows their craft so well!

[@ikust007]

Splendide tool control... I am totally humbled by them : they don’t have the luxury to do it for “fun”. They depend on their craft to survive . Bravo.

[@user-8fna3m0ga]

That's how money is being earnt in "second or third world", so that people in the 1st world countries could afford their spacious houses and luxury cars (by terms of poor countries).

[@billastell3753]

Alexander Markov I respectfully disagree. They are making traditional Moroccan spoons. They are in not supporting any foreign standard of living. They part of the local traditional economy. A few of these spoons may be bought by tourists foreign money. That is a good thing as it injects cash into their economy.

[@Earlyturtle]

Brilliantly informative video. I bought two of those types of spoons in Marrakech once and spent the journey back pondering how they were made.

[@nathangoodwin2976]

Now thats production! I was absolutely mesmerized!

[@stirwoodcraft]

That was both terrifying and informative to watch.

[@rickschuman2926]

If you are carving 120 spoons a day, 1. you have gotten past the nicks and cuts and 2. you don't have time to cut your self. ;)

[@GodsPoetryProductions]

Muscle memory

[@johnavery5384]

Speed and precision. Awesome

[@LordDragor]

Excellent craftsmanship. I wish I had the same skill with the adze.

[@KintsugiLibrary]

It is a very beautiful way to move tools! Thank you for uploading a very valuable video! !

[@zing913945]

A true master of his trade.

[@FoxyCAMTV]

Not expensive machinery....old is gold.

[@Traderjoe]

This is production level carving. Can you imagine what they do for their own pleasure? I would love to see what they make at home

[@kikkovalentino656]

تحية حارة للصانع التقليدي المغربي👍❤

[@GreenerGlens]

Fabulous - incredible skill & speed! Their feet put our bulky wooden spoon horses to shame.

[@FaerieFenergles]

Incredible control!!!

[@rickschuman2926]

When you make 120 of these a day, the artsy sort of goes right out of it. But, they are making a living in a way that the artsys can't. This is about hustle, not about a personally satisfying experience.

[@hegdespoorti]

Amazing skill

[@pabloginesalsinaozuna4372]

Obviously they are masters in spoon carving

[@jma5177]

O verdadeiro artista.

[@billastell3753]

As a spoon carver I've got to say this is an amazing video. Shows a different approach, using an adze instead of a hatchet to rough out the spoon. It looked like a curved adze was used for the inner bowl and a straight adze was used for the exterior. Would that be correct. And the long handle on the spoon knife, wow! I'd be afraid of breaking my spoon knife with that kind of leverage. Must be pretty good steel to hold up to that kind of pressure.

[@user-du2of3lh1g]

I have a similar adze and it's really good for roughing out!

[@shoutatthesky]

My mind is blown.

[@sb2261]

Incredible

[@abdelmounaimamadjar1904]

My father makes the spoon in Morocco, as are the chopping boards

[@jamesmiddleton6464]

This same video has been in my favorites for more than a year. I would love to get a close look and feel of the tools and watch in person.

[@kedhem1]

Incredible 👍👍👍👍

[@evanspivack2714]

Amazing control! He must have lots of experience to get that good.

[@thanoshalo7102]

Very Impressive..you got a sub for posting this video!!!!

[@Handcarved]

thanks for vid!

[@balista9831]

it some times takes me days to finish a spoon !

[@karlnewman2829]

I think he has done this a few times ;) thank you

[@AdrianNeptune]

Unbelievable, I never seen to work a wood's object in this way. Wonderful!

[@stevena9512]

I would be called stumpy or numbs, if I did this job. Great control of the adze and carving tool.

[@Thomes-Maisling]

Incredible skill and speed. I wonder how many have lost appendages doing that over the years?

[@billastell3753]

Back for another look. Still soooo... impressed. I bet the workers compensation in Marrakech is really good! LOL!

[@dart70ca]

Very nice post. Did the hook knife have the blade offset at a bit of an angle and with the bevels up and inside? Looked like it to me but his hand was in the way most of the time.

[@berkman7040]

Maşallah SubhanAllah

[@TheUpsetter]

Uri Geller would be proud.

[@whateman12408]

Hauling Adze

[@rogerwalsberg]

I'd like to know how many spoons he's made in his career.

[@squintspalledorous3376]

About tree fiddy

[@jonathancruz12345]

Hi Jojo. Thanks for sharing. Do you know ejere i might avail of these tools particularly the smal adz + the scorp with the long handle please. Mucb appreciated. Jonathan

[@julianoalberto6582]

😲 legal !

[@assannamabdellah4845]

llah iziyn ssan3a

[@najatRihouniy]

❤

[@green_building]

Wow that is the most dangerous job i ever seen in my life.. very skillful woodworker 😯 and i noticed that their fingers are still complete😬

[@roubeaconwoodwork16]

Green Building Whats dangerous? Not very dangerous

[@ar55557]

At the end, you get soop with athletes foot aroma :)))😅

[@velascocastro8532]

waaaooooo👍👍👍

[@cengizcetin6950]

Hello from Germany.. .excellent video... can you tell me where in the mountains in Marrakesh you found these spoon carvers? Village name please? I want to visit them and I want to learn that kind of spoon carving...

[@aleksandralayh525]

good question, good luck!:)

[@Cosmic0Baby]

when you go to any shop where you can find these spoons in Marrakesh, just ask the shop owner and they will probably tell you where you can meet the carvers, if you really want to learn from them they will be happy to teach you, and by the way any master of wood or plaster or ceramic we call him in Arabic "Maalam" and it means master!

[@birdwatchingwithdrrajasaur4410]

👍

[@Consigliere1575]

What kind of wood?

[@juniorwhitefish]

I’m terrified for those toes.

[@user-kd4ml1zz4e]

随意之中见功夫！

[@ramonlafarga608]

What wood is?

[@Squeeeez]

Roughly 5min per spoon, 10h+ a day, every day of your life. This guy must see spoons in his dreams.

[@tailstalker]

What the hell kind of wood are they using for this? I've carved out of oak, basswood, pine, ash, and alder and cherry and this is FAR and away the most stable wood I've ever seen.

[@user-wv1wm7ny6t]

Orange tree wood

[@contadogiu]

Excellent. To all the people complaining about the feet: wash the damn spoon

[@josefjanssonchihab9973]

What kind of tree/wood is it? Does someone know?

[@user-wv1wm7ny6t]

orange tree

[@giausjulius4]

OSHA would have a field day

[@tomevans4402]

Nope was scared at all!

[@mttin7]

すげーな！おい。

[@tizio.qualunque]

No smoking

[@tangle70]

That was crazy fast and no one lost any appendages. What kind of wood are they using?

[@stoneymasonp8163]

Tom Angle maybe lemonwood

[@yerneedsry]

Just like peeling a carrot..lol

[@kerjenez]

Во дают !!!

[@EmilReiko]

The Adzes are intredasting, where to get one...

[@Jerseyhighlander]

www.kestreltool.com/adzes/ - Pacific Northwest style.

[@nauzeth.a.5955]

El chaval es un máquina pero cuando agarra el cucharón con los pies...no lo veo muy higiénico jajajajaja

[@user-be6bs7mb2c]

Опасный тип,

[@oc_villain3833]

Footastic work there,. ?

[@Jerseyhighlander]

Hey, my soup has a bit of a tang to it... Did that guy wash his feet before he used them to hold my spoon?

[@davidflaugher7340]

Interesting that a lot of people react negatively about someone using their feet but don't even stop to think that the hand could be dirty too. Think hope he washed his hand after his poop brake!

[@abebeaku8369]

@@davidflaugher7340True that, but feet march people to the outhouse. All i can do is envision the guy squatting on the hole without shoes, returning to the shop and taking that spoon into his feet.

[@Cristiangamer129]

Spoon machine

[@wilorrodriguez1157]

Más es huevada para lo que ase

[@laciihasz4734]

and all the local food tastes like stinky feet and dirt:) jokes aside, they work quiet fast and making some decent spoons.

[@sharpfactory3705]

Amazing skill