Calm Carving | A Standing Tea Spoon In Beech

I really enjoyed this project as the first Calm Carving session of the new year. I wanted to re-visit this shape, having made a few of these in the past. I knew that it would be a joyful experience and a great warm up on a cold January day. A big part of what I love to explore within my craft, wood carving and creating objects is adding a playful element of animation. The inanimate object conforms, it simply is in its pure and wonderful state. But the animated object adds an element of interaction that reaches beyond the idea of an object like a tea spoon. It is a mindful way to subtly increase the levels of tactility within the home. Incorporating these elements into my spoon carving has been a wonderful journey over the years. Here I carve beech, frozen beech to be specific... I love beech for its interlocking grain that beams with medullary rays as if the timber has trapped fragments of light. I love the pinkness of the tones and also the freckles. This beech log has started to spilt... the slight colour variation in the wood, it will soon dramatically change like lightening strikes though the grain. traditional wood workers have used beech for years in many projects and within furniture making. My knife glides through the wood with satisfying ease and I love the ASMR sounds that my camera microphone managed to pick up. I really hope that the mindful experience that I felt whilst making this video can also be felt through the screen. In light that the videos are inspiring people to make and try wood craft at home, I provide a few tips at the end of this video regarding spoon carving. I delve a little bit into safety and design elements too. I really hope that it helps if the content has ignited something in you that urges you to make! This year will be the 10th year that I have been making. It took me a long time to get to a level where I can read the grain and carve satisfying shavings with ease and without injury. Please take it slow and learn with caution and seek an in-person course in your area. Craft is a wonderful outlet and very mindful and it capable of providing a healing experience to ease life's struggles. As always, than you so much for tuning in! I really value your support and I look forward to brining you more videos like this! If you have any questions or comments or feedback, I love to read and answer them below or by email. I have many many more ideas involving an array of new hand tools and techniques and I am also trying to constantly better myself in capturing these moments to bring you the ASMR style calming experience that I feel when I am in my workshop with my hand tools, slowly making away. All of the hand tools in this video can be found in the video captions as I begin to use them. The wood is green, it's nice and fresh and provides a much easier and pleasant experience than seasoned hard timber. when the project is finished, I dry it slowly. I wrap it up in a tote bag of wood chips, a breathable membrane that extracts the moisture gradually so that the piece can match the moisture of its environment without splitting. I then place this in a dar cupboard away form sunlight and draft and heat and revisit the project in a week to two depending on size. I then add some final finishing cuts if needed and oil the piece with linseed oil - a food safe, curing oil that polymerises. I then wait a day or so before using it. I wish you all a happy new year and look forward to another year of making. - Samuel Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:20 Sawing And Splitting 01:02 Initial Axe Work 02:15 Forming The Crank 03:48 Designing The Spoon And Sculpting The Blank 06:18 Initial Knife Work 08:25 The Hook Knife - Hollowing The Bowl 10:19 Carving The Spoon 12:12 Finding Balance - Standing Spoon 12:38 Satisfying Detail Cuts 14:10 The Finished Spoon 14:32 Conclusion And Carving Tips 19:25 Thank You And Goodbye Tools: Axe - James Wood: Socketed Axe Head Knife - Nic Westermann: Slöjd Knife Hook Knife - Svante Djärv: Spoon Knife Hollow (compound) Folding Saw - Silky: Gomboy 240