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Knife finished, oil, wax.

This has likely been asked hundreds of times but I’m kind of a newbie. In general, my wood dries just fine, I always remove the pith and carve my blanks to ~80% finished and then give it a few days in its own shavings. But I still get these fine cracks usually on one of the ends (bowel or handle). Before I just chuck it into the firewood pile, do you all have any ideas? I’ve considered CA glue but am not 100% sure it’s foodsafe.

Any and all thoughts would be appreciated. TIA

Made a coffee spoon for my Uncle. Used dried cherry. Got the color from sunlight and beeswax. Love working with cherry and the colors when exposed to sunlight.

4 oak butter knives finished with raw linseed oil

The black cherry was carved dry and I have honestly been struggling with the dry black cherry stock I have. It’s been prone to tear outs and knots and has been a pain, haven’t had one turn out exactly how I want it. I’m stoked with this greenwood sweet gum spoon though it came out great.

Sandpaper, oil, wax.

I’m new to spoon carving and one suggestion I got for gathering greenwood was to head out after a storm and collect from downed branches/treees. I managed to snag a couple big pine rounds with lots of knots for chopping blocks, but most of the wood I’ve found has been infested with what I assume is termites? I should have taken pictures, I know.

Logically I guess this makes sense since compromised branches would snap easier in the wind. What do you guys do to find uninfested wood without having to saw into it? Are there any other tells to look for?

Thanks and happy carving!

I’ve put together something I’m calling The Spoon Carver Survey.

Catchy name, I know.

https://tally.so/r/WOv6AJ

It’s a survey about who we are, how we learned, and why we carve. My hope is to collect responses from as many spoon carvers as possible, then publish what I discover in a report in January.

Survey takes about 6 minutes to complete. I'd also really appreciate it if you share the survey with any other spoon carvers you know.

Mods, if this breaks any of the sub's rules, feel free to remove.

The knot fell out but I kept carving. I really like this one. Good for stews not so much for soups

This turned out way better than I expected. The wood had been sitting in my parent’s garage for about 25 years. They asked me to clear out various old hardwood to use myself at my workshop. Apparently, this board came from a neighbors apple tree.

I finished this flipper today for my dear old mother’s birthday. I worked on it off and on when I had time this past month.

I used hand tools and carving knives for 90% but I couldn’t get the smooth finish I wanted. The wood is very hard and the curled grain pattern was a nightmare for my knives. I usually carve green wood so this was a new challenge.

I switched to an orbital sander using grits 80,120,180 and got the finish I wanted. Soaked in mineral oil for 30mins and here we are.

I think I will make many more utensils from this wood.

My first foray into love spoons as a gift for my friend's wedding! Quite pleased with how they turned out.

Teak wood finished with quick dry tung oil (ran out of time for normal cure times 😅)

After a few failed attempts at carving a spoon, I think I finally got it. I was really excited to get to use maple that my neighbor who has a tree trimming company gave me. I was going to leave all the carving marks but the wood was so pretty. I had to sand it before I finished it with tung oil.

Its turned out pretty cool, but way too fragile to use (already broke a couple of times and been glued), but basically...don't hollow out the spirals 😅😅

Carved from Huon Pine.

Looking through cheap hatchet options online, I came across this one. It has the thinnest head of all the other options. It's not a dedicated carving hatchet, but looks decent.

What do you guys think?

It’s better than I thought it’d be but also not perfect in many ways. Lots of learning ahead but this is a truly great hobby.

Just a little cherry blank I've been working on. My brother-in-law is an arborist so sometimes I get the scraps. I do a couple blanks at a time when I prep them and then throw them in the freezer to save for whenever the creative itch tingles.

Rough carving is my favorite stage. It very much is just removing everything that isn't the spoon. The spoon is in there, you just gotta find it lol

Came across this really smart way to add a spoon mule to an existing shaving horse - every other design i've seen involves creating a whole new mount for the shaving bench.

I'm searching for a hatchet to carve spoons, but I don't want to spend too much. This one is 1055 steel. My other option would be a Morakniv hatchet.

Fell in love with carving a few years ago. This is one of my most recent pieces. This was carved green so it is away drying right now.

Wife got me a Flexcut spoon carving kit for cheap from work, so gave it a try. Really enjoyed it, despite quite disliking both the Flexcut tools and carving basswood haha. Have a morakniv 120 on the way, and a friend is cutting some trees soon so I’ll be giving a slightly harder wood a try. I will sharpen up the Flexcut hook knife and make it work for now, if I enjoy it with a better sloyd and better wood I’ll invest in a nicer hook.