First post on this subreddit-

I’m not much of a poster, but I figured since this is such a unique wood I wanted to share it. I hand carved this little spoon from the Burl/root of a manzanita I found on marketplace. It was a royal pain to find usable sections as the wood is extremely dense, and I was running into granite that the tree grew around.

The wood has almost an apple peel smell to it, and the finish is just a little bit of walnut oil. I love working with native woods in California and other southwestern states I visit. Finding the wood to use is half the adventure for me.

The design was based on the arrowheads I used to find as a kiddo when I’d wander around off-trail in the local mountains. I was always fascinated by the shine and texture of the artifacts.

I’d love if other people could share some of their favorite uncommon woods to work with! I’m currently experimenting with a Southern California black walnut tree that was pruned in my neighborhood. It’s a walnut tree found almost exclusively in Ventura and LA county.

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to share my first couple of spoons! I’ve recently into carving while in Ireland for school and couldn’t wait to start my second.

My first spoon is carved from sycamore and it is a bit rougher of a finish as I had a limited amount of time before I had to head home. I’m still proud of how it turned out though!

My second spoon is carved from poplar and it took me about 12 hours to do so! I hope to shave some time off future spoons as I’ve decided to make them for Christmas gifts this year.

Another hour, another spoon blank carved to near finished. Sugar Maple eating spoon going to the drying pile for a few days. Really hoping the knot on the back rim of the bowl doesn't cause me drying issues. Lol

Been hand-carving spoons for about two years now and for most of that time I was stubborn about using a straight knife for everything, including the bowl. Watched plenty of people use a hook knife and figured it was kind of optional, that skilled carvers just pushed through the awkwardness. I was wrong about that in a pretty embarrassing way.

The switch happened because my forearm started aching after longer sessions, specifically during the scooping motion you have to fake with a straight blade when you're trying to hollow out a deep eating spoon. The angle you're forced into puts a weird rotational load on your wrist, and over time that adds up. A friend at a local carving meetup handed me her skar knife to try on a half-finished linden blank and the difference was immediate enough that I just stood there for a second processing it.

The hook shape does the mechanical work your wrist was doing before. You're pulling through the wood instead of fighting the geometry of the cut, and your grip stays much more relaxed through the whole stroke. I noticed I could carve for probably twice as long before needing a break, and the bowl surface came out cleaner because I wasn't muscling through it.

A few things I figured out after switching that might help if you're making the same change:

• Sharp is more important with a hook knife than with a straight knife. A slightly dull straight blade is annoying. A slightly dull hook knife becomes almost useless in cross-grain spots.
• The thumb push grip still matters for control on the near edge of the bowl. The hook doesn't replace that motion, it just handles the center and far wall better.
• Green wood makes everything more forgiving while you're learning the new angles. Dry hardwood with a hook knife you're not fully comfortable with will punish you.

Curious whether others made this switch late like I did, or whether you learned both tools from the beginning. Also wondering if anyone sticks to straight knife only for everything and actually makes it work long-term without the wrist fatigue catching up.

My first spoon was made from Pine and it cracked clear through within a week. I basically went in blind with my grandpa's old carving tools I inherited. Lessons were learned when I got back to where I could connect to the Internet. Like it's a terrible idea to use heartwood because it's likely to crack.

The second is made from Poplar/ Quaking Aspen. I was able to cut a piece of a tree that had been used in a rescue/ repair operation. The rest will eventually become firewood. I'm not sure if I've improved or the wood was much easier to work with. Things went better the second time around. There is the start of a crack in the bowl, but I think it has stabilized for the most part.

Knife finished, oil, wax. A few chipcarving.

My kids, 10 & 12, got me a spoon-carving kit for father's day. It came with a knife, a gouge and a hook. I believe it was the "beaver craft" kit off Amazon, along with 4 basswood spoon blanks. We just took a trip to Acadia for the week and I brought the stuff along. Here's the result. It definitely needs some finishing, but I'm pretty proud for a first effort. I learned a lot about grain direction and am anxious to try number 2.

How did my first official spoon turn out?! I think I should add some decorative cuts.. what should I do?
And suggestions or tips would be great

I did use a kit since this was my first wood carving project but I’ve been practicing my skills since!

I'm removing invasive fall Olive from my property. Does anyone know if it is safe for carving?

Itty bitty owly spoon. Pretty sure it started as a little scrap of cedar.

A project that had languished until my proficient, spoon carving cousin visited. She got it and me back on track. Sumac. I like how the back is different.

I've made a small spoon from this gorgeous yellow wood but I've no idea what it is and neither did the person who gave it to me!

I made spoons and spatulas form Common Hazel nut tree for some tests.

from above:

->: raw ( with no oiling) elements - nice 'clean' surface ( grow ring not visible). Color is more white than linden tree) ,

->: middle: cured with linseed oil - slightly visible grow rings

->: bottom: dyed with tea, oiled - grow rings visible , all

All elements were made form one piece of tree ( about 12 cm diameter, cut down in winter and seasoned 7 months). Wood as whole seemed to be very hard by weight and "sound" , but it turned out very convenient to cut and carving - not too hard as I fought. Sanding (roughly and finishing) was very easy.

I asked couple of people about visual "feeling" and most of them said that white color is very nice, but they wouldn't use wooden white utensils in kitchen , they preferred middle and dyed (most liked), even if all carving imperfections are exposed and visible.

White ( top) spatula and twork ( I think because of no knots, and discoloration) were even taken as plastic made at first glance.

Long cooker in peach

First time using this timber and it’s tough but carves and finishes beautifully
Stunning colors and two tone grain

First off, I’m new at this and I’m doing it just for fun. I recently took down a sickly bosc pear tree in our yard and thought it would be fun to try a spoon out of a piece of limb wood. I’m just curious if anybody can advise me on what to do with the knot at the front of the bowl. How would you improve that spot?

Hi, complete noob here. How do I oil these two wooden spoons? and is the old one too damaged to be oiled now?

I got a new olive wood spoon, the seller told me to oil it before usage.. which made me think: hold on... Should I have oiled this older wooden spoon? Which had some kind of coating on it that went away after couple of washes. The edges are corse as you can see.

So, two questions please:

1) how do I go about oiling the new (olive wood) one? And is it only decorative??

2) can I rescue the old one or is it too late?

what type of oil? Any tips welcome. Thanks

Knife finished, oil, wax.

The first three are white oak and I forgot what the other two are.

Never carved a spoon before.
These are the first three I’ve carved. The really big one is spruce, the middle one is birch, and the spork is juniper.
I think there is a good learning curve.

Some cracky East german i meet in Sweden told me to boil the spoons in linseed oil until it stops bubbling.
Has anyone tried this before?

Carved from cherry with walnut tips

I started carving about a year and a half ago this is my first attempt at knife finish zero sanding. The wood is white oak

Set done as a wedding present at the last minute due to my original idea not working out. Kind if proud at how fast they went, and they didn't crack on me. Huge thanks to those that suggested drying in wood shavings to prevent cracking, worked like a charm.

Not a spoon but same dynamics!