Okay, so not exactly fine woodworking, but they are an excuse for some shop time.

With so many projects, put off for so many years, “until retirement”, I’m a bit overwhelmed now that retirement has arrived. I’ve recently experienced a serious lack of motivation due to the sheer number of things to be done. But I also know that if I continue to show up at the shop everyday, I’ll find my muse eventually.

A recent storm has provided a bonus of windfalls in the area. Since spoon carving is best done with green wood, I now have an convenient excuse for one of my favorite procrastination projects, …hand carved spoons. Hey, I have to make ’em while they’re still green, right? 😉

I start by riving out the pith from a small log.

I then draw the general outline with a wax marker (wax works best on green wood). I usually have to re draw the outline several times as wood is removed.

The tools I use are an axe, a shave horse, a drawknife, and my homemade crooked knife. The shave horse was made for making canoe paddles, oars, and longbows, etc. I really should modify it for short stuff, but that’s just one of those things that need to be done, … in retirement.

I don’t have a picture of my crooked knife, but check back later. 😉

Cheers,
Tom