A storm hit Chicago area and Northern Suburbs after 7:00 pm of June 22, 2011 which downed trees and knocked out power lines. It also caused 250 flight cancellations at O'hare International Airport.
Branches of trees are scattered along the streets in our neighborhood. Luckily, only one or two branches fell from the big tree in our backyard.
The branch that broke off from the cottonwood tree. Good material for a wooden spoon.
I cut off a piece of the branch and split it with my Mora Clipper.
I shaped the spoon with the Mora Clipper and did fine detail with Mora 120.
The Mora 120 was so sharp. I wasn't careful and I cut myself - it's good it was just a small knick.
Carving the face with the crooked knife.
The finished product. Wooden spoon with my folding cup.
When I woke up this morning I saw a tree branch lying on the ground. The previous night it was raining very hard and the branch could have broken off from the cottonwood tree in our backyard because of the strong wind. I remember I have a saw blade that needs a handle so I got the branch and cut a portion for the handle.
Since the branch was fresh, I also thought of making a spoon that I would use as a stirrer for my coffee. And tonight, while drinking coffee I made the spoon.
The materials and tools including a cup of strong coffee.
The wood is definitely softer than the one I used in my previous project.
The crooked knife for carving the face of the spoon.
After 1 hour and 30 minutes, the spoon is finished.
I am already tempted to use the spoon but it still needs sanding, and coating with olive oil to seal and protect the wood. Maybe now my coffee will even taste better.
They say that if you enter a house and saw a wooden spoon and fork hanging on the wall in the living room, most probably the owner of the house is a Filipino.
I have visited a lot of blogs on bushcraft and most of the time I find a post about wooden spoon or wooden cup. Maybe if you're into this thing you need to make one sooner or later. So when my daughter decided to cut the small tree below, I thought its time for me to make a wooden spoon and fork.
I cut a portion of the trunk for my wooden spoon and fork.
Using my Ontario 12" machete, I split the wood in half.
Back home, I would use acacia or lanete to make a wooden spoon. I don't even know the name of this tree but when I saw it has a nice grain I thought I made a good choice.
That was a mistake though. The wood was so hard and knotted I had no choice but to use the machete all the way. I used the Mora 840mg Carbon Clipper knife only to smooth out the shape.
Carving the face of the spoon was even harder. My crooked knife could hardly cut into the wood. I ended up burning the face of the spoon with charcoal and then using the crooked knife to scrape the burnt wood. I got so frustrated that I forgot to take pictures.
Two knots on the face of the spoon made it even harder to carve with the crooked knife.
Final result, not bad. The face of the spoon is a little bit shallow, maybe I'll redo it later. The fork is easy to make, I used a saw to make the tines and whittled it with a knife.
To finish it off, I'll coat the wooden spoon and fork with linseed oil and drill holes so I can hang it in the wall. Filipino style, anyone?
