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In his book Carved Lovespoons Dave Western carves a traditional romantic gift
Probably the best known of the lovespoon carving countries is Wales. As the only country where lovespoon carving continues in an appreciable way – quite possibly due to the souvenir industry, which ironically has smothered inventive design and stylistic beauty – Wales is fortunate to have a number of excellent museum collections for study and a number of excellent practising craftspeople who keep the tradition alive and vibrant.
Welsh lovespoon carving was romantic, dynamic and somewhat eccentric. Nowhere is this borne out more clearly than in the broad handled panel-type spoons, which were developed by carvers seeking a more expansive palette on which to display their skills.
While not a strict historical copy, the panel spoon we are using as a pattern here is an amalgamation of several similar antique lovespoons and is an accurate representation of the style.
You will need
- Paper pattern and glue stick
- Axe, bandsaw, coping saw or scrollsaw
- Drill
- Straight knife – ¾in (20mm) or 1½in (38mm) blades
- Bent knife
- Small hand saw
- 150-grit cloth-backed abrasive
- ¾in (20mm) straight chisel
- Needle files
- Small hand scraper – optional
- Selection of fine abrasive papers
- Disposable paintbrush
- Clear Danish oil, or similar
- Beeswax polish
Recommended wood
Birch, sycamore, lime or similar light toned hardwood
Process
1. Welsh lovespoon is to start with a clear piece of timber, which measures approximately 4½in (115mm) wide x 14in (355mm) long by ⅜in (10mm) thick. If you are a beginner, you might want to use a ⅜in (10mm)-thick piece and avoid the swan-neck bend, which the following step-by-step illustrates. Photocopy the design shown; you can adjust the size to suit. I like to glue a photocopy to the wood and work directly from that. The paper helps you stay on line and it also offers a bit of protection to unworked areas.
2. A number of methods can be used to rough shape the lovespoon blank. If you have a scrollsaw to hand, that is the quickest and most accurate method. Alternatively, you could also use a jeweller’s saw or go ‘old school’ and rough shape with an axe – the choice is yours. If you do choose to use an axe, don’t forget to hand saw a couple of cuts into the bottoms of curves so that you don’t chip out precious wood you want to keep!
3. With the blank now shaped, you are ready to clear out the fretted areas you have marked out. Again, a scrollsaw is the quickest tool for the job, but you can use a drill to clear the bulk of material before cleaning the areas with a narrow straight knife. Using a variety of drill bit sizes will enable you to clear away a good deal of the unwanted wood.
4. While the piece is full thickness, clamp it securely to the bench and carry out the chip-carved bordering patterns. This is a simple knife operation, which may also be quickly done with a veining or V-chisel. If you use a knife, cut straight down on two sides, adjusting the depth of cut from nothing at the wide end of the triangle to about 1⁄16in (1.5mm) deep at the pointed end. Then turn the knife sideways and take a slicing cut following the depth of the straight cuts; this will pop out a neat and very effortless little pyramidal chip. Avoid the urge to cut too deeply at this stage. Leave the remaining paper on for now; this will act as a protective cover against any dirt and light abrasions.
5. After the handle carving is complete, it is time to begin shaping the bowl. Begin by cutting a shallow notch – approximately 1⁄4in (5–6mm) – to delineate the handle from the swan neck, then use a bandsaw, hand saw or axe to shape the top of the swan neck curve and the taper of the bowl.
6. If you are clever, you can peel the paper back off the cutaway and reuse it on the swan neck, or simply redraw the lines with a pencil. Shape and smooth the neck with a knife or chisel, then carry out the chip-carved pattern.
7. As you can see here, to clearly define the crest of the bowl, keep it slightly higher than the top surface of the swan neck.
8. I like to use both gouges and bent knives to hollow out the concave aspect of the bowl. With the spoon clamped securely to the bench, you can use a lot of force and remove material quickly with the gouges and then tidy up and finish the shape with the more delicate bent knife. If you use a bent knife, hold it with the fingers rather than across the palm. Exercise extreme caution, here. I suggest all beginners consider making use of a thumb guard.
9. For sanding, I use 150-grit cloth-backed abrasive torn into long, thin strips for both concave and convex curve shaping. To smooth the bowl, draw the abrasive under the thumb – cutting side down – and use the shape of the thumb to smooth out bumps or hollows. Don’t sand too long in one spot or you will create hollows. The same abrasive can be used to smooth and round-over edges
10. Once the bowl has been hollowed, it is time to carve the outside surface. A quick and accurate way to hand-shape this section is to make use of multiple chamfers. I draw out a series of chamfers, which I repeatedly halve until the bowl begins to become rounded. The bowl is probably the area where most carvers fall down. Many treat the bowl as something of an afterthought and leave it looking heavy and crude. However, even the simplest historical spoons show a great deal of effort went into the carving of the bowls and the vast majority are very elegant. The bowl is a crucial counterpoint to the busy handle and is an equally important showcase of your skill and determination as a carver.
11. The back of the handle can be trimmed to size and the back of the swan neck shaped. This can be done on a bandsaw or by hand. The black lines delineate the actual thickness of the handle and neck; the red line indicates where the back can be tapered to create the illusion of a thinner handle.
12. I like to finish the back with some detail carving and nicely tidied edges. Once the spoon is tidy, apply 3–4 coats of Danish oil – with a wet/dry paper sanding of 600 grit – on the third and fourth coats. Finally, give the spoon a buffing with some beeswax polish.
