There are always a number of things going on in my wood shop, allowing me to shift from one thing to another. In addition to my work at school on the walnut bench, I have been making a small walnut table to surround a pre-made chessboard top. While waiting for the oil to dry, there is spoon carving to do with my Sloyd knife. There is so much pleasure in learning new things, feelings one's powers of attention grow, and then seeing the physical results of one's labor and skill. The spoon is almost ready for sanding. My level of skill has not quite reached the point at which it can be done beautifully by knife work alone, and the curves designed in the handle make dealing with grain particularly difficult. But practice is what leads to greater skill.
There are always a number of things going on in my wood shop, allowing me to shift from one thing to another. In addition to my work at school on the walnut bench, I have been making a small walnut table to surround a pre-made chessboard top. While waiting for the oil to dry, there is spoon carving to do with my Sloyd knife. There is so much pleasure in learning new things, feelings one's powers of attention grow, and then seeing the physical results of one's labor and skill. The spoon is almost ready for sanding. My level of skill has not quite reached the point at which it can be done beautifully by knife work alone, and the curves designed in the handle make dealing with grain particularly difficult. But practice is what leads to greater skill.
Doug, nice spoon. I'm a novice spoon carver also. After reading Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, I set for my self the goal of carving 400 spoons. I figure that by that time I'll have something meaningful to say with my spoon carving. Currently I'm just starting number 26.
ReplyDeleteGetting the line just right, right off the knife is what I'm working on now also. I'm inspired by those that do this with an ax, like Robin Wood at http://www.robin-wood.co.uk
Heres a link to images of some of my spoons. http://tinyurl.com/ws-spoons