Novice wood carving question

How hard would it be to knock out something like this and what would be the best tools?

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I'm guessing that one would rough out a block of work with a fret saw, use a drill to remove excess wood on the bits that are perforated and then use a combination of whittling and chiselling to do the rest.

I have some blocks of mahogany which should be easy to carve.

Tim

Reply to
Tim+
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One site suggests:-

Scroll saw Carving knife of choice Bent knife (to shape inside of bowl) Drill with 1/8"-diameter bit (blade-entry holes) Paintbrush and rags to apply Danish oil

Classes are available.....

Traditionally, it was only a pocket knife, as one purpose of the love spoon was to keep both the boy's hands busy while a-wooing.

Reply to
John Williamson

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My father (a Scot) saw these on a family holiday in Wales in, I guess, the

1970s, and then designed and made a whole lot of them with celtic interlace patterns. He was by then already an experienced wood-carver but generally made abstract sculptures which were mostly between one and three feet long so these much smaller more detailed items were quite a challenge.

IIRC he found a set of needle files (with eg triangular or flat or half-round or fully-round cross sections useful for getting 'sharp' edges on very small cavities.

I seem to remember a few spoons broke while being made; it was hard to support all the parts of a holey framework all the time; certainly it was sensible not to remove all the bits of wood that supported the overall structure too early.

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Jeremy Nicoll - news posts

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Baz

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Baz

How hard would it be to knock out something like this and what would be

I'm guessing that one would rough out a block of work with a fret saw, use

I'd say mahogany might be bloody difficult to carve. Hard as nails IME

Reply to
stuart noble

A love spoon, can be wonderful things if you put your heart into it. Not at all easy to 'knock out'. As with all things care, patience and experience. There's a saying that practice makes perfect. Start with any old rough stuff first, there are bound to be mistakes. Mark out your design and start to remove waste. With experience you will know, or your fingers will tell you, what is right. You don't need many tools for this but they do have to be well sharpened and keen. That alone is a V worthwhile lesson to be learned. You can probably find what you need in your toolbox or the cutlery drawer. You want to reduce the size of a piece of timber. Use whatever tools are at your disposal, otherwise improvise. Practice and learn. Learn and practice some more. Don't give up. Some small files or rifflers may be of use. Otherwise improvise with shaped dowel & abrasive papers. I imagine that mahogany is not best suited for this. Good luck, Nick.

Reply to
Nick

I'm a very poor bodger when it comes to woodworking - and only have very simple tools, but a while ago I managed a 3-link chain and a ball in a trap with little more than a Stanley knife and a cheapo scalpel.

The important thing is to choose the right piece of wood. I picked up an old (~40 years old at the time) broken wooden chair (ex church), and was able to carve using timber from the chair's leg.

I wouldn't fancy using a piece of pine, and although apple wood is reckoned to be very good for carving, I have a feeling that very seasoned old wood would be easier.

Reply to
OG

limewood (bass) is peerless.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Quebec yellow pine is a good one I believe. Has the consistency of an Edam cheese

Reply to
stuart noble

Mahogany is an ideal wood for it but an expensive way to practice. Get some soft material and have a stab at carving a link of chain or some such. Pro gress through that to the mahogany. Plaster or some such would make an easy matrix to work from for a novice. Just glue it together if you break it as you go.

Once you know what is involved in roughing one out, go on to more intricate designs. And better materials. I imagine they were a hobby for people with the capabilities and the time, the way that sailors traditionally put ship s in bottles. You don't have to be a sailor or Welsh to do something of the sort.

But bits of mahogany were commonplace once as was poplar and sycamore. Even balsa and cork.

I imagine the fashion came from something similar to the ship in the bottle routine for people of a certain class. Ordinary sailors were required to p ick oakum when not busy lashing the mansle, what ever that is.

Tradesmen such as the carpenter would have all the time they wanted when no t required for shipping masts and replacing spars and taff rails, whatever they are. Ditto officers not on watch. Something you never see these days a re the masterpieces of splicing I can remember seeing when I was young.

I have no idea where and when I saw them, they too were commonplace when I was young and iggerunt. But love spoons were fairly common at souvenir shop s all over the Welsh coast at one time.

Reply to
Weatherlawyer

I switched off at the don't go to sleep sign. What a f****it.

Reply to
Weatherlawyer

a 3D printer? IGMC

Reply to
Andy Burns

drills gouges and rasps and get whittling..if you want it from one piece of wood.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

You could do the two halves on a NC router and then thread them together.

Reply to
dennis

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