front room spoon carving - part 1: axe

** sorry no audio on this one at the moment due to the dispute between music companies and youTube - it'll reappear as soon as I can remake it with new music ** Robin Wood demonstrates his skills with an axe to carve a cooking spoon. Carving this way is a very accessible hobby; the tools are very reasonably priced, the raw material is everywhere (yes, it grows on trees!) and there is no need for a dedicated workspace... Robin carves in his front room in front of the fire!

For more details of Robin's work see www.robin-wood.co.uk

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• spoon
• carving
• bushcraft
• ray
• mears
• traditional
• craft

[liamg1995]

Is the wood that you are using green or already pretty dry?

Liam

[robinturns]

sorry for slow reply, the wood is fairly green. I like to carve as green as possible when I rough spoons out then we let them dry and Nicola finishes them dry..see the fourth video.

[TheBushcraftBoyz]

Wow you really like making spoons - must eat a lot of lumpy porridge! Is the gransfors swedish carving axe any better than any of their other small axes - everytime i see them being used it doesnt look as if the extra toe and heel are used that much?

[robinturns]

sorry for the slow reply, yes the carving axe is the biz and I do use the tip a lot particularly as I refine the form before going over to the knife. Learning how to use the tool well is more important though I am very happy using a £2 car boot sale kent pattern axe too.

[karlsefni01]

Very good axe technique. I have never seen a chopping block like that before. Interesting

[robinturns]

Thanks for that. The legs of the chopping block are fixed with a tapering dovetail which is a common joint used by woodworkers in North Eastern Europe for fitting legs to benches. Very fast to make, effective and you can easily remove the legs if you want to transport it.

[woodpoacher]

@robinturns How do you dry your roughed out spoons? I'm looking for a good way to avoid cracking. I've been using a plastic bag, flipping it inside out every day, but I don't like it because it can get a little moldy. Do you have a method you like?

[CanItAlready]

I actually prefer the actual audio to a music soundtrack for videos like these, but there are websites that make music available for free if it's for personal use. I've used a couple of tracks from incompetech(dot)com. He only requires that you include a credit for his music. And TPTB at WMG don't get to see their company's name mentioned on yet another video.

[T3hJones]

To bad the sound is blocked, can you upload it again with sound but no music please? :)

[spamel]

My God! They've disabled the sound Rob! What has the world come to? Just checking this out again for a guy who has joined one of the forums, he's interested in carving so I've pointed him towards your vids. i can't think of a better person to learn from, even if it is only video!