Dave Western carves his take on a multi-bowled spoon
When I carve, some seriously wild stuff can, from time to time, cascade around in my mind. For instance, the following thought occurred to me: what would happen if the time-honoured Newfoundland expression ‘having a scoff”, English comedian Bill Bailey’s six-neck electric guitar and the tradition of double- bowled wedding spoon carving were to walk into a bar together? Well, if this little idea I quickly jotted down in my ever- present notebook is anything to go by, it might have resulted in something like this crazy multi-necked spoon.
In the beautiful and incredibly friendly Canadian province of Newfoundland, to ‘have a scoff’ generally means getting together with family and friends for a slap-up meal. It’s not ostentatious, gourmet dining, but rather a warm and festive get-together where whatever food is at hand is gathered up and prepared and a rollicking feast with music, singing and lots of merrymaking generally ensues. It is precisely the type of occasion where, in the old days, having your spoon with you would have been a very good thing indeed.
I wanted to capture the camaraderie and festiveness of this type of occasion and immediately thought of the double- bowled wedding spoons that were frequently carved throughout Europe in the old days and which were used by newly married couples to symbolically unite via the intimate sharing of a first meal. Naturally (or so I like to think), if two can share, surely even more can join in. And that is where the crazy multi-neck guitars belonging to Bill Bailey and several other famous musicians sprang to mind.
Unquestionably, if an array of necks can be made to work on a guitar body, then surely a whole load of spoon bowls could work equally well around a single handle. Thus was born my take on a ‘scoff’ spoon. Although I had mulled over getting really carried away and using eight bowls, it soon became apparent that the cross- handle grain orientation of the timber in these sections would result in a seriously structurally compromised stem and bowl. Caution was the better part of valour, so I removed the extra bowls and settled on six. After all, if six necks are good enough for Bill Bailey, then six bowls are good enough for me.
I don’t delude myself that a project like this is going to be everyone’s cup of tea (or spoonful of sugar), but this is a project that could be easily modified into a two-bowled wedding or anniversary spoon or a four- bowl spoon if you want to have some laughs around a fondue pot. You could go wild with the decorating and make a nice lovespoon with a bowl for each member of the family to hang on the wall, or you could just do it for the very enjoyable challenge of carving multiple spoons from a single piece of timber. I carve a lot of spoons and I must admit that carving this one was some of the most fun I have had in ages. I hope you’ll find it as entertaining and rewarding a challenge as I did.
Things you will need
Tools and materials
- Photocopied pattern and glue stick
- Saws: scroll, band, jig, jeweller’s or coping
- Small Japanese or gentleman’s size saw
- Bent knife
- Gouges: selection No.1, 1/2in and 1in, No.5, 14mm, No.7, No.9
- Miniature Japanese 1⁄4in gouge
- Straight knives 3⁄4in and 1 1⁄2in
- Scraper (curved)
- Files
- Small sculptor’s sized adze
- Drill and 3⁄4in Forstner bit
- Abrasive papers from 120–320 grit
- Linseed oil or similar
1 Although I made my version fairly large and kept the spoon bowls close to standard kitchen spoon sized, you could certainly scale this entire project down to minimise the volume of wood required. I suggest using a photocopier to reduce or enlarge the included diagram to a size you feel comfortable working with. I like to make use of a regular student’s-type glue stick to affix the pattern to my stock. I left the top of the ‘handle’ section flat, but you could put a dome or hollow into it if you felt an inclination to do so. Carry out any shaping before you glue your pattern on. Try to align the two central spoons so that they travel with the dominant direction of the grain. This will orient the spoons so that even the outer stems and bowls have a bit more structural strength than they would if the central spoons were aligned off the grain.
2 I made use of a scrollsaw to cut away the bulk of the excess material around the handle and the six spoons. If you lack a scrollsaw, you can also use a bandsaw or even an electric jigsaw. If you lack power tools altogether, you can still achieve the same results with some patience, elbow grease and a good coping or jeweller’s saw.
3 With the spoons all cut out and carving ready to commence, I made sure to draw lines showing me how much tilt I wanted on the spoon bowl and how much crank to have for the stems. I used 7/8in-thick stock for the project, so I had room to make the bowl taper down about 3/8 of an inch toward the stem and still leave 1⁄2in of stock behind for bowl shaping. I also wanted to leave some room for individual initial ‘lozenges’ where each stem joins the handle, so was careful to take this into account when drawing the gently curved stem which joins the handle.
4 Before I cleared any stock, I made sure to use a small handsaw to make a pair of cuts into each of the six spoons to help terminate my clearing cuts as I shaped both the bowl taper and the stem curve. I used a small Japanese saw for this operation and cut slowly and carefully to avoid both overcutting and nicking the nearby spoons. Exercise real caution as you make these cuts – it really is easy to catch a neighbouring spoon and cause yourself some carving grief.
5 I used the same Japanese saw to cut away the bulk of the spoon bowl taper material. You can bash it out with a large flat chisel, or even with lower sweep gouges, but I found the saw was quick, efficient and seldom wandered off course or stressed the delicate stem with blow shocks.
6 Because the grain will wander substantially from the middle bowls to the outer edge bowls, you will notice a difference in the ease by which these tapers can be cut. Take your time and don’t try to cut them too quickly.
7 When cutting the spoon bowl tapers, it is easy for the saw to start tilting in one direction or the other, resulting in a bowl that is slightly askew to the stem. If you aren’t completely confident in your hand sawing, consider drawing a pencil line on both sides of the bowl using a measuring stick or tape to ensure consistency. Although this seems like a fairly minor detail, a couple of degrees of twist in the bowl really does make the spoon appear awkward and clumsily made… it is most certainly worth the time to make sure they are measured and cut correctly.
8 Make use of a chisel or flat profile (No.1 sweep) gouge to clear and shape the tops of the spoon stems. Again, aim to keep the tool flat across the stem as you cut to avoid shaping a twist into the stem. The absolute calamity of spoon carving is to have a handle twisting in one direction and a stem going in the other, resulting in an object that is more like a propeller than a spoon. Avoid the urge to bash off too much stock at one go and instead take a series of smooth, flowing shaving cuts that leave an even and clean surface in their wake.
9 At this point you should have six well- defined spoon bowls and six elegantly fluid stems that are all flat across their surfaces. Next, cut down some of the stem stock in front of the ‘lozenge’ beside the bowl. Clearing this area a bit will allow you to ‘raise’ the lozenge from the stem and then later raise the handle from the lozenge. I took it down about 3/16 of an inch so that I could later cut the lozenge down from the handle about 1/16 and still leave a good 1/8in of height between the lozenge and the bowl.
10 There are a couple of ways you can shape out the concave faces of the spoon bowls. I generally use a bent knife to carve my spoon bowls, but because this particular timber was pretty dry and quite hard, I opted instead to rough each bowl out with a gouge first. It was heavy going pushing the gouge through and I was worried that tapping it with a mallet might cause a break in the stem. To overcome this, I clamped each bowl to the bench, keeping the jaws of the clamp as close as I could to the actual bowl. This took almost all the stress off the stem and let me tap the gouge quite vigorously when required.
11 Then I tidied and dressed the bowl with the bent knife.
12 With the bowls hollowed and the fronts of the stems shaped, I moved on to the decorative text that borders the outer edge of the circular handle. I wrote ‘Who fancies a proper scoff” as a homage to the Newfoundland roots of my design idea.
13 I also thought that initials on each of the lozenges would personalise the spoon a bit more and remind users which was their bowl. Because I didn’t have any specific people in mind for this spoon, I just wrote ‘Eat, eat’. To engrave the lettering, I utilised a 1⁄2in flat gouge for the straight portions of the lettering, and a variety (in this case No.9 and No.7 sweeps) of gouges for the curved portions of the lettering.
14 Some of the lettering required some further touching up or a bit of work getting the serifs neat and tidy. For this, I found the tip of a small, sharp straight knife to be invaluable. I made use of a 3⁄4in straight knife that I kept razor sharp and finely pointed. The straight knife can also be pressed into service if you are short on suitably sized gouges.
15 Although you will have a bit more difficulty achieving the fair, fluid lines that gouges can achieve, good-quality lettering can be achieved using only a straight blade. Be sure to avoid the urge to cut too deeply and recognise that semi-circular cuts will always have a change of grain direction that you must be aware of to avoid pulling up any chips.
16 Once the lettering had all been completed, I turned my attention to the six little ‘lozenges’ that connect the handle to the stems. As previously mentioned, my original thought was it would be a good place for initials so anyone using the spoon would know which bowl was theirs. But having exhausted my imagination thinking this idea up, I got a bit lazy and just repeated the word ‘eat’ twice. You can initial them, put your own word on them or just leave them blank. Cut them down about 1/16in from the level of the central handle. They should remain about 1⁄4in proud of the stem and be as flat and fair as you can make them. I used a 1⁄2in, No.1 sweep gouge for this job.
17 After levelling the lozenge, you may find that some tidying work is necessary to clean up the area where the lozenge and the stem meet and to ensure a nice, fluid transition from the flat area around the lozenge to the sweeping curve of the stem. I used the same No.1 sweep tool to clean and fair these areas. With six stems to do, you’ll be well practised by the time you have done them all. Grain direction does become an issue, especially on the outer spoons, so avoid the urge to dig in too deep.
18 With the stems fair and clean, I opted to use the small 3⁄4in straight knife to chamfer off the edges and make them feel a bit softer. Again, the changing grain orientation on each stem can throw up some problems if you cut too deeply or from the wrong direction. I went for a fat 1/16in chamfer, which I think gives a nice look without being excessive.
19 The final job on the front face of the spoon is to give the bowls a good finishing. If you have made clean knife cuts and like the ‘off the knife’ look, then all you’ll need to do is give them a quick burnishing with a smooth stone, bone or piece of denser wood. If, like me, you prefer your bowls to be really smooth, then spend some time with a bowl scraper (or curved cabinet scraper) and/or abrasive papers.
20 If using abrasives, always sand with the grain and work through as many grades as you have access to that fall between approximately 120 and 320 grit. Take your time once you have committed and be careful to both remove all scratches and ensure you level out any low spots or bumps.
21 Having completed all the work on the front face of the project, you can begin the task of removing the back stock and forming a more elegant and flowing shape to the spoon. I began with shaping all the spoon bowl backs while I still had plenty of support stock left on the stems.
Again, I used a clamp to pin the piece firmly to a bench while I used a gouge to rough out the bowl shape. I began by taking fairly dramatic cuts to achieve the outline and then took progressively shallower and less aggressive cuts as the bowl took shape. Be vigilant and continually check you are not cutting too deep and risking breaking through the bowl. When the bulk of the stock was removed, I took the clamp off and used a 11⁄2in straight knife to final shape and refine each bowl. I then used files and scrapers to smooth, before running through the same regimen of abrasive papers as I used on the inside of the bowl.
22 The next big and somewhat nerve- racking job is to remove the stock from the back of the handle and to start shaping the backs of the stems. I used a small adze to rough out the bulk of the material from the back of the handle.
23 Then I used a series of gouges to clean it up and refine things a bit. I took care to protect the front face with a piece of carpet between it and the bench and clamped the piece to reduce the shock of the adze blows. I let the grain dictate the direction of attack when I was chopping with the adze and I was always aware of the possibility of a chunk chipping out if I relaxed my guard. If you lack an adze, you can achieve the same results with gouges and a mallet.
24 To ensure the spoon stems have a nice flow, use gouges and straight chisels to remove stock between the back of the bowl and the handle. Aim to follow the sweep of the stem that you established when you cut the front faces. You’ll want a flowing transition that runs smoothly into the back of the handle without any bumps or dips. Take your time and make your cuts shallower as you get closer to the final shape and thickness.
25 I also drilled a hole on the back of the handle to accommodate a small length of 3⁄4in dowelling that forms a little handle for holding the spoon when it is in use. I used a 3/4in Forstner bit to drill the hole and took advantage of a drill press to hold things steady. If you use a hand drill, I strongly recommend clamping the spoon to a bench and carefully marking your bit depth with some masking tape or felt pen so you don’t drill too deep and pop out the front.
26 As a bit of a counterpoint to the smooth and refined finish of the spoon’s front face, I opted to leave the back of the handle ‘off the tool’. I liked the dimpled effect the adze cuts left behind so spent some time and effort ensuring all the cuts were nice and smooth with no tear-outs and that they had a relatively uniform (but not mechanical) look to them. Getting an adzed surface right is a bit more difficult than perhaps it might appear at first blush, but it is definitely a surface finish that is worth the effort.
27 If you want to get really carried away you can further decorate the front face of the spoon with additional carving, lettering, inlays or fretwork… the world is your oyster. I opted for a couple of little black sealing wax dot inlays and some simple concentric circles that didn’t distract too much from the text. If I was feeling braver, I might have included some Celtic knotwork or perhaps a nice floral or acanthus border.
28 Finally, I gave the spoon a couple of coats of linseed oil to bring up the colour and provide some mild protection against the elements. In retrospect, I think 100% tung oil might have been a better choice, but the linseed will be fine… eventually. Walnut oil would also be good if you have no nut allergies to worry about. There’s also absolutely nothing wrong with leaving it entirely unfinished.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE WESTERN