Spoons from Silver Birch

Last week I collected a section of silver birch from my local nature reserve where some of the birch are being felled to allow the heathland to regenerate.

The Birch was very green and prone to tearing at the changes of grain direction but apart from that it was a pleasure you carve, I used this carving session to try differing handle shapes.

Buddleia Spoons

We cut back a Buddleia in the garden and I thought I would try carving some spoons from the largest offcut. The wood split nicely and I managed to make five different spoons. 

It was nice to carve and takes a very smooth finish.

Tools used, froe, axe and knife.

Better axe and new spoons

I have seen people using axes to rough out spoons etc, they made the blanks faster and neater than I could, why? 

The answer is that there are axes and there are axes.... ie the old axe that I found in a shed or the Gransfors Bruks (GB) Swedish carving axe.

Having tried the GB axe the difference in use is huge, the extra weight carries the axe theough the wood. The design of the axe means that it is easy to see the cut as it is being made. The cutting edge is very sharp and can almost be pushed through the wood while making fine slices. luckily my birthay was close and a friend had a GB axe for sale add the the two together and I had a wonderful new axe.

So what to do with it, spoons I guess. A "windfall" of Birch meant I could head for the shed. A few days later I have new spoons ready to be oiled.

A pair of spoons for my wife and daughter carved from Holly