December 20th, 2021
I love making euroracks and pedalboards for my clients. It’s a lot of fun and very rewarding. Every once and a while a maker must make something so useless that the art of making is the only function it carries. I was cutting the holes for some power sockets for a custom oak eurorack and ended up with an 18” piece of beautiful 3.5”x0.75” hardwood that would probably go to waste. Perfect for a large wooden spoon!
With no experience in wood carving, utensil design or cooking, I got started by tracing a serving spoon onto my stock oak. The trace was pretty poor since the spoon did not sit flat; this shows in the final product. Second step: scroll saw spoon silhouette. My trusty Delta made it through slowly but surely. If anyone knows where I can find a good bandsaw cheap… I’ll make you a fork.
I’m really beginning to enjoy using hand tools. Something about the meditative lack of a screaming motor and spinning extremity removers makes old wood tools gratifying. Nearly all of the shaping was done using a ¼ inch chisel sharpened to a razor point. I spent two or three hours projecting wood chips all over my lab. I think some sort of dremel bit for the “bowl” part of the spoon would have worked faster. The chisel was great for shaping the handle and exterior of the functioning part of the spoon. I did some sanding on a belt sander to round over parts of the exterior. I hand sanded everything too 320 grit, the bowl took forever to remove the chisel marks. The spoon is finished with a coat of mineral oil to protect it from food and water. If you’ve never stirred pasta with a wood spoon, you're missing out. The wood never heats up so you can just leave it sitting in a boiling pot of water with no problems. 6/10 spoon, 10/10 project.