Taking another look

 I had some incentive a while ago to clean off bench #1.  Richard and his dad were planning to clean the grandfather clock and get it back into working order. When I made my new bench my first bench technically became Richard's but since I spend considerably more time in the shop than he does, it wasn't long before I was using both benches. We have a deal though, if he wants to use the bench he lets me know ahead of time and I clean it off.  That's what I was doing when I came across a couple of spoons I had started and then earmarked for the burn pile.

The one in the picture didn't look quite like it does now when I rediscovered it. I picked it up and was going to toss into the burn bin and then I hesitated. I didn't like it because the handle was too flat and the bowl was too thick.  I hadn't wanted to spend a bunch of time on the bowl if the handle was just going to be ugly.  As I held it in my hand I felt how light it was and I began to wonder if it might be worth another try.

I finished cleaning off the bench and got on with my day.  After supper I went back into the shop and found the spoon.  I got out my carving tools and went to work on it. It was much easier to carve than the cherry spoon I just finished. I worked on the bowl and as I did, I started to see possibilities for the handle. It wouldn't be like any of the other spoons I've made but then, no two of them are alike anyway.

As often happens when I work wood I became unaware of time passing except that somewhere along the way it got dark outside. I shaped outside of the bowl and thinned it out considerably.  When I was reasonably happy with it I started on the handle.  I rounded the end and thinned out the neck of the spoon. Sometimes I draw lines on the spoon to let me know where to carve next.  This time I didn't. I kept feeling it with my fingers for rough spots, for thick spots, for places where the grain changed direction. After I finished with the knife I worked at it with card scrapers, thin flat pieces of steel that have a hook turned on the edges so that you can use them to take fine shavings off spots where a plane might tear the wood. The spoon isn't silky smooth the way it would be if I spent hours sanding but the scraper smooths out a few of the carving facets and makes it a bit friendlier in the hand.

When I decided that I had done enough and it was time to oil the spoon two and a half hours had passed. While I don't think it's the best spoon I've made, it's good enough to throw in the kitchen drawer and use to stir the chili. It will get dinged and stained and it will be washed and re-oiled many times. If it eventually breaks or if I simply get tired of it, it will make the trip to the burn bin.  Before that, though, I think it will see a lot of use. There's no need to be precious about something that was intended to be firewood.