Replies

1. 
   PhillipB | Oct 02, 2008 07:26pm | #1

   John,

   I use my Foredom loaded with the appropriate Kutzall bits then usually finish with a custom scraper.

   Phillip Anthony

1. 
   dgreen | Oct 02, 2008 07:36pm | #2

   I do pretty much the same, on larger spoons I use a structured carbide bit in a die grinder before going to the Foredom. 

    

   ................................................

   SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES...THEY ARE NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING, BUT...THEY STILL BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN YOU PUSH THEM DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS

1. 
   Mt. Pleasant John | Oct 02, 2008 08:32pm | #4

   Thanks d,

2. 
   Mt. Pleasant John | Oct 02, 2008 08:31pm | #3

   Thanks Phillip, I don't have a foredom but I do have a dremel. I will look for a better cutter and try that

1. 
   PhillipB | Oct 02, 2008 09:33pm | #6

   John,Just shooting from the hip here, but I'm not certain that a Dremel has enough giddy up to 'git 'er done'. Know what I mean? A Foredom has much more power for twisting those coarse Kutzall bits. Further, the Kutzall bits that I use have 1/4-inch shafts. So, I'm not sure if this is the way to go. If you're doing a lot of spoons - and being duly compensated for your efforts, I hope, then you may want to take a look at the Foredoms or similar power tools. I've attached a few shots of some of my apple, walnut and walnut spoons for your perusal.Off topic, my personal thoughts on spoons are that they can consume a lot of time to fabricate and the quicker I can make them, the better. Most are given as gifts by my wife and I because no one could afford to buy one if I had to charge for my time. My 2¢ on this unsolicited subject matter.Best of luck,
   Phillip Anthony

   
1. 
   Mt. Pleasant John | Oct 02, 2008 09:41pm | #8

   Phillip, Good work!! What do you seal them with?

   These are just to be gifts. I sse the point about the beef in the foredom. I was only going to make about 10.

   Thanks,

1. 
   PhillipB | Oct 02, 2008 10:49pm | #10

   John,If I told you what I use, I'd have to kill you. Ha, kidding of course.I use a mix or walnut oil and Tried & True Varnish. Folks can jump up and down all they want about the T&T Varnish, but (1) The ingredients of those finishes that claim to be 'food safe' or 'salad bowl finishes' are identical to T&T's ingredients. See page 57 of Bob Flexner's 'Understanding Wood Finishing. This does not include glycerin, of course';(2) Author Flexner further notes that no finishes have been FDA approved;(3) Now that we know that the FDA is less than proficient at protecting the American public from contaminants in human and pet foodstuff, why believe anything that they spew from their bureaucratic pulpit?;I could go on, but hopefully, I've made my point.My technique is to first of all, flood the spoon with the walnut oil. After about 5-10 minutes of this, I then dry it off and give it a very light coating of the T&T. When possible, I let it then rest in the sun for a day or so, then I buff it out with a clean rag. T&T is meant to be used very sparingly. When using it on a large piece - coffee table or whatever, I put the can in a small heated crock pot so that it will flow a bit easier. I have also used a hair dryer to help as I buff the piece. The T&T gives the piece a very nice patina when all is said and done.All of these things will vary from piece to piece dependent on the wood (porosity), the degree of finishing done to the bare wood prior to adding the finish, and so on.Your comment about 'seal(ing) them with' has often made me wonder if this ever really happens or if it is even desirable. Another subject, I know. A few months back I made a spoon-fork set out of quilted maple and it seemed that nothing would soak into this wood at all. I was not happy with them, but their new owner was ecstatic with them. Maple is not a porous wood at all, which is why presumably many utensils made of maple never have any finishing oil on them. Saves $$ as well. However, they look very bland and unappealing to me, so I opt for woods with some pizzaz such a apple and other swirly stock. My wife loves walnut, ... yawn, but that just goes to show that what I (we) think in not necessarily what matters.Take care,
   Phillip Anthony

2. 
   Mt. Pleasant John | Oct 02, 2008 11:31pm | #13

   PhillipB, thanks for sharing some hard earned knowledge!! I know a lot more than I did!! Thanks again.

2. 
   cherryjohn | Oct 02, 2008 10:32pm | #9

   send me one Phil....and I'll swap ya.  those are well......simply beautiful

   Know anyone who likes wooden boats?

   I sell these to toy stores and country stores and "Green" oriented stores.  Sail and Tug Boats are cypress, mahogany and walnut. The speed boat ( always loved the ChrisCraft Lake boats) is all mahogany.  Each is 8" X 2 1/2 Finish is Waterlox.  My Green customers prefer 100% tung oil..so I do that too

    Wicked Decent Woodworks

   (oldest woodworking shop in NH)

   Rochester NH

   " If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"

   
1. 
   PhillipB | Oct 02, 2008 10:57pm | #11

   You'll swap me, huh! Just how in the heck am I supposed to eat my beans using one of your very nice water craft? Ha, ha ..Nice work yourself. What do you get for one of your creations? You were spot-on above when you said that you can find $2 wooden spoons anywhere. If they come from China, I can only imagine what that poor laborer was paid to make them. Take care,Phillip AnthonyPS. How far is Rochester from Laconia??

2. 
   cherryjohn | Oct 02, 2008 11:20pm | #12

   Rochester to Laconia is about 45 min.  Why is there something in Laconia you like?

   the Sail boat sells wholesale for $13

   Tug is a bit more $14.......add $2 for a wheeled version

   Lake boat is only $10,,,,,,,,, but it sure looks good in person.  Love mahogany.  I should be getting more for the tugs as there is a lot more work to them........... lots of parts to cut and glue.  I have a price point to shoot for though so I price it accordingly.Wicked Decent Woodworks

   (oldest woodworking shop in NH)

   Rochester NH

   " If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"

3. 
   PhillipB | Oct 03, 2008 12:06am | #14

   My wife's daughter and son-in-law used to live there. I thought it was a very nice place. And, I really miss the Black Cat burgers. Yummm-mmm, yum.We may have driven through Rochester, I'm not certain.They have since moved to Northern Arizonia. She now works at Best Friends. That's the pet place that takes care of all sorts of 4-legged critters. Michael Vick's dogs included, as seen on Nat Geo every Friday evening.I think you're underpricing yourself by at least 50%.Take care.

4. 
   cherryjohn | Oct 03, 2008 12:46am | #17

   Phil, sit down in the front row. I'll get you a tutorial in Cherry John Economics

   rule #1 price = time on the job + material costs X profit margin ( real or imagined) + celebrity factor ( the more you are known that higher this becomes)

   So my goal is to be known as a toy maker so over pricing myself wont get me there.  I still do OK $/Hr wise.

   I am also an antique pool table restorer ( see attached).  I have a customer who is buying a table exactly like this from me .  I am about 70% done on this project. and...its not cheap!

    

   I hold a patent on a tool used in the paper industry world wide sold through distribution.

   rule # 2  the more oars in the water producing forward movement = fewer sinkings

   does this add up to you?...............Oh did I also mention that I bore easily??  Explains why I do more than one thingWicked Decent Woodworks

   (oldest woodworking shop in NH)

   Rochester NH

   " If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"

   
5. 
   PhillipB | Oct 03, 2008 08:38pm | #18

   John,Thanks for the tutorial. Very helpful. I'm afraid that the 'celebrity factor' variable would be a big fat zero for me. Guess I need to work on that.Man, I'd hate to have to shuffle a pool table around the shop all day. Glad you're making a good return on that type of restoration.I hear you about getting bored as well. If I'm not working on 3-4 projects at once then I'm asleep. I create and maintain websites and have a photography business as well. Back to wood working ... I have gotten myself in trouble more than once by refusing to make a piece more than once. I really enjoy new projects, but doing them again is a real drag. I know I'm straying off topic here, but if galleries didn't have such high markup - 50% or greater, I might be a bit more motivated to replicate a piece or two. OK, I'm off my soap box.Take care,
   Phillip Anthony

3. 
   Wingdoctor | Oct 03, 2008 09:31pm | #19

   Love the spoons!

   I do have a question that may be silly... why do the spoons have one square corner? I'm sure there is a great reason for that, but I haven't figured it out yet. Thanks.

   Bruce"A man's got to know his limitations." Dirty Harry Calahan

1. 
   PhillipB | Oct 03, 2008 10:54pm | #20

   Hey, Bruce!Square corner? What square corner? Ha!I have no idea how these evolved. I think that at one time I had grandiose plans to make the world's greatest fork and spoon set. IOWs, both could be used for tossing and serving salad fixings and if they were mirror images of each other, this would work out quite nicely. In addition, I could double my profit my forcing the buyer to buy two items as opposed to just one. I mean, who ever heard of tossing salad with just one utensil?? That turned out to be a dud of an idea and I had to sell my beloved children to make up for all my fiscal losses. Just kidding here, of course. Actually, I just rented them out for a while. Ha.Anyway, I make plexiglass templates that I use over and over again for some things and the spoons are no different in this respect. And, of course, the template can be used for either utensil by simply flipping it one way or the other when you trace it out on the stock.I did take a one-person survey on this very subject. My wife thinks that this works out quite well as the rounded edge follows the curve of the bowl very nicely, while the flat or straight edge follows the flat side of a pan. This is great for scooping off all that cake icing that we just hate to see get washed away. Much better to scrape it from the pan and then lick it off the spoon. No waste.I told her that that was my plan all along ...I do hope I answered your silly question.Phillip Anthony

   
2. 
   Wingdoctor | Oct 03, 2008 11:12pm | #21

   You have indeed, sounds good. I may try a couple for the wife. I'll see if she likes the shape. I may have to swap the square side for her, she's a lefty!!  :-) lol

   Thanks for sharing.

   Bruce"A man's got to know his limitations." Dirty Harry Calahan

3. 
   PhillipB | Oct 03, 2008 11:25pm | #22

   Good to hear. I love getting people in trouble.I would really recommend making a template because this has come back to haunt me on more than one occasion. And, use at least 1/4-inch stock. One template I used over and over was made of 1/8-inch stock and on our move to Chicago it somehow got broken. So, IMHO, 1/4-inch should be the minimum thickness for templates.Best of luck to you and 'Lefty'.PhillipPS. One rule I forgot to mention, is that you must test the new spoon on a nice, moist chocolate cake recipe. This way you can be sure that your new utensil conforms to the edges of her favorite pan. Failing that, you may be in for Meals On Wheels through the Holiday Season. You with me on this??

2. 
   cherryjohn | Oct 02, 2008 09:22pm | #5

   Question...why do you want to make a wooden spoon?  You can get them anywhere for about $2.

   You want the hand made look?  I' use a carving gouge with a gentle sweep.  Use poplar, it carves well and is somewhat hard.  Use a spoke shave to make the handle.  People will thing your great great great grandma passit it on to you

   Wicked Decent Woodworks

   (oldest woodworking shop in NH)

   Rochester NH

   " If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"

1. 
   Mt. Pleasant John | Oct 02, 2008 09:35pm | #7

   Thanks, that's what I want. 

2. 
   byhammerandhand | Oct 03, 2008 12:30am | #15

   "Question...why do you want to make a wooden spoon? You can get them anywhere for about $2."So (without being too sarcastic :-) what's your point? Isn't the doing and the result the whole point of the craft?I use a gouge and make spoons a la Wille Sundqvist, as described both in his book Schwedische Schnitz-Schule (American translation: Swedish Carving Techniques) and in Drew Langsner's books and FWW article. I guarantee these are superior to the $2 version.

1. 
   cherryjohn | Oct 03, 2008 12:32am | #16

   hammer.have another Martini..obvioulsy you didnt read the whole postWicked Decent Woodworks

   (oldest woodworking shop in NH)

   Rochester NH

   " If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"

3. 
   fagbait | Oct 04, 2008 04:33pm | #23

   I use a horizontal crown molding bit. Large Dia. 1 3/4". A good example is in MLCS catalog. Page 20. I built a fixture to hold the spoon blank. With a template attached, for the router to run inside of. Use plunge router and slowly plunge into the work piece with a swirling motion. Very clean results. Even in hard maple. A little scraping with a gooseneck scraper, and your done.

   I hope this was helpful. I would send picture's but for so reason they won't post for me. I will keep trying.

1. 
   Ron01960 | Oct 04, 2008 08:13pm | #24

   Since this post appeared I have taken note of several fine cooks, If I were going to makes spoons like the beauties posted, I think I must know several things.Right or left handed?
   stir clock wise or counter clockwise?
   will they put it in the dishwasher?I'm a righty, clockwiseRon

2. 
   Mt. Pleasant John | Oct 06, 2008 04:02pm | #25

   Now that's a new approach, more than one way for innovative minds! Thanks fagbait!