The best sandpaper and the shape of a spoon handle

This post has two purposes: to show you evidence of the best sandpaper ever and to show you the shape of a pretty spoon handle.  First, look at the before photos and notice the knife marks.  Then look at the after photos to see how my Norton 3X sandpaper took off the knife marks in 3 minutes of sanding.  That is fast!  Finally, feel free to appreciate the shape of the handle.  I don't have much to say about the shape of it now, other than the fact that it looks really good and it feels great in my hand.  It feels nicer to hold than a regular cylinder shape.

Three "before" photos:

Three "after" photos:

It isn't just the fact that the sandpaper was 80 grit that made it fast.  All of the grits of Norton 3X that I use are fast.  They are faster than other kinds, and they last a lot longer.  I am not exaggerating when I say that the sandpaper has changed my approach to sanding.  I no longer hate it as much as I did, and I can use the 80 grit to do the last shaping of my pieces because it is so fast.  Where I would have to use a knife very carefully before to get that last hairbreadth of material off, I can now use my sandpaper and it is almost as fast and a lot less likely to take off too much material.

A note about stirring sticks

Here is a stirring stick that I made out of some scrap walnut.  (I made two of them, but I can't find the other one.)  I give you two pictures so you can see the grain with the slightly different lighting.

In the process of making them, I learned a few things:

They are fun to make.  You take your scrap wood, carve off the edges, maybe make it a funny shape.  Very easy and fun.

Walnut is hard to sand.  It really likes to splinter.  You will sand for a long time.  (Actually, I also learned this at Christmastime when I was sanding walnut spoons.)  This is another good reason to use maple instead.

Finally, the most important thing.  Stirring sticks are good for only one thing - stirring.  Spoons, on the other hand, are good for stirring, scooping, tasting, scraping, serving, etc.  Therefore, only make a stirring stick if you have wood that can only be made into a stirring stick.  Otherwise, it seems like a waste of wood and time to me.

Jam Spoon

A while back, I thought to myself - "Why get my fingers sticky with a short knife that requires four or five dips into the jam jar to make a sandwich?  I should make a jam spoon instead."  (I was also antsy for a new project that was different from what I have already done.)  So I made one.  Well, kind of.  I cut one out and carved it and even sanded it mostly.  But I didn't like it, and it is hard to finish a piece that I don't like.  Here is a picture of it. It still isn't done.

It is made of bloodwood.  As you will discover, the difficulty in making a jam spoon of blood wood lies in carving a small spoon head out of very hard wood.  It would have been easier out of maple, but not nearly as interesting to look at.  With all the maple in my spoon holder, I needed some contrast.  But, alas, I just don't like it.  It seems rather boring to me.  Maybe I should make the end of the handle skinnier.

But there is better news, and better photos to see.  A few weeks after getting bored with the first jam spoon, I thought of a different design.  I like it much better.

side view

backside view

This one is also bloodwood, but with a totally different shape.  I based the head on the shape of an oar.  Because it is just used for scooping and spreading jam, it doesn't really need a normal bowl shape, so I just did a scoop shape, as you can see in the side view.  This spoon is beautiful and not boring.

Yet another use for a Mason jar

I had 11 pieces finished, so I figured it was time for some mineral oil.

Why make spoons?

I just found this very interesting "Spoon Manifesto" on  http://www.wholecommunities.org/alumni/spoons.shtml.  These are not the reasons that I make spoons and other things, but I really enjoy his thinking.  In fact, I am going to write my own spoon manifesto and share it with you within the next few days or so.  In the meantime, enjoy what Peter Forbes has to say about it:

The Spoon Manifesto
(Peter Forbes, July, 1999)

Many years ago, in downeast Maine, I met a man who quickly became a friend and teacher. I began regularly visiting Bill at his homestead at Dickinson’s Reach, a place that united my life as conservationist and photographer. Bill’s homestead and miles of coastline are almost the perfect blend of the wild and the civilized, the forest and the home. His life work of learning from this land changed forever my perception of what it means to live well, and for whom and what purpose we conserve land. Bill put a crooked knife into my hand and taught me how to carve a spoon, and I’ve never stopped. This gift of a spoon, along with an explanation for why I carve them, is my act of continuing to plant that seed.

• Renewal . I can create something useful and beautiful from nature. It is a dance we do together. Making a spoon harms nothing and may actually add to the beauty in the world.
• Joy. Carving is a joyful pleasure. It allows me to focus, frees my mind from abstraction, and strengthens my hands. The only person I can save is myself, and carving this spoon saves me.
• Reality. When I cut my finger, the blood is real.
• Equality. Anyone can carve spoons. A nine-year-old friend carved the best first-spoon I ever saw.
• Symbolism . This small wooden spoon and how it came from my hands is gentle encouragement to me of larger things I might be able to do.
• Completeness. In carving a spoon I saw the limb, split the wood, cut the block, watch the spoon emerge, mail it to you. The entire process is from within me and a tree.
• Friendship. I honor my friend Bill each time I make a spoon. I only need a few spoons, so I can also honor other people by giving them away.
• Democracy. There’s orneriness in carving a spoon. It’s my way of quietly but emphatically expressing my beliefs. A wooden spoon and plastic spoon say very different things.
• Human expression. Each spoon I carve ends up unique. I hope the same for my life and yours.
• Usefulness. Carving a spoon makes me be fully present. I listen better. I find that I need to say fewer things because my hands and mind are fruitfully at work. I can wait until my heart is pounding before I need to utter a word.
• Sabbath . I work and think much too much. Carving slows me down. Eating with a wooden spoon is a form of daily Sabbath, a gentle reminder for me to slow down.
• Humility. Yes, it does all these things for me but, in the end, it’s just a wooden spoon.

Another use for a Mason Jar

Here you see my current use for a Mason Jar.  This one was holding pickles a few days ago.  (It was our second attempt with pickles.  They were much better than the first, but still not that great.  Good thing the kids' undeveloped taste buds can't tell the difference.)  So I washed the jar and it is now being used to soak two spoon blanks. 
This is the idea - Now that Laughter is attempting to make real eating spoons, I figured I would try it too.  I mean, if he can make them, I can probably make them better.  So I cut some blanks from maple and I am going to soak them for several days.  Hopefully the wood is then "green" enough so that I can then carve the bowls with a spoon knife instead of banging them out with a gouge.  And I hope to be able to carve the handles more easily than I do now.
I will let you know how that goes.  While that soaks, I have plenty of other spoons and spatulas to finish.

Little cooking spoons

This little project was inspired by Laughter's "unlikely" spoons and my "perfect" spoons.  As you may recall, Laughter makes those funny scrapers pretty thin, so he gets two from a 3/4 inch piece.  As I have been making spoons, I have realized that the bowl of the spoon doesn't really need to be very deep.  So why not make some thinner spoons?  As long as they are thick enough to be strong.  And with maple, strength isn't really a problem.  So I cut out a littler spoon and then cut the piece in half to make two of them.
Some lousy pictures:

Then, of course, I finished them.  Better pictures:

Perfecter cooking spoon

This is based on the perfect cooking spoon that Supplanter showed, but I had to try one of my own. It is made of cherry and is very pretty.

Finisher wanted

Finish me, Supplanter, finish me!

Galician eating spoon

I tried copying a spoon I saw on Robin Wood's blog, which he copied from spoons seen in a museum in Galicia. I knocked this one out of poplar from the home improvement store, because that is what I had on hand. I really like the form of this spoon.

Psalm 133

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

The Perfect Spoons? a test.

You may recall that I posted about making the "perfect" cooking spoon.  I was inspired by a post from Robin Wood, who describes the perfect cooking spoon thus:

The prefect cooking spoon is neither rounded for flat across the end, it is a gentle curve and cut at an angle either right of left handed. This allows you to sweep around the base of the pan efficiently. The end should be robust enough to scrape scrambled eggs as they begin to thicken but thin enough to easily cut into food when serving.

Narrow spoons are great for bechamel sauce or other liquids where they won't splash and also for removing the last few beans from the base of a tin. Broader spoons are better for serving. It is just possible to make a spoon that cooks well and also serves well, this is great as again it saves washing 2 spoons.

So, I made two spoons based on his description and picture.  Here they are:

Nice, huh?  The pictures don't really do them justice. 


Now for the real question:  Are they really the perfect cooking spoons?

Task 1:  sweep around the base of the pan efficiently.

This is an easy test to perform.  I used this spoon to stir this pot of soup as it cooked.

It swept around the base of the pan very nicely.  I really like the flat curve of the top of the spoon's head for that.  Very nice.  So, this criterion is met.  (It is also decent for serving the soup, which was delicious.)

Task 2:  scrape scrambled eggs as they begin to thicken.

So, I cooked a scrambled egg with one of the spoons. 

It did an okay job of scraping the egg as it began to thicken.  But it would have been a lot easier to use a spatula.  This spoons are thicker and rounder than spatulas.  Even though the top of this spoon is flatter than most spoons, it is still a spoon.  The second criterion is kind of met.  You can use it to scrape a scrambled egg, but you may be wishing for a spatula instead.

Task 3:  Easily cut food when serving.

For this one, I just cut what I had handy - a quesadilla that I just made. 

It cut it just fine, but again, a spatula would have been handier.  These spoons are plenty strong and sharp for cutting, but it takes some rocking back and forth because of the curve.  So I guess this criterion is met.

The verdict: I really like my "perfect" cooking spoons, but they aren't as all-purpose as they could be.  If they are going to meet all three of Robin Wood's criteria, I need to redesign them a little.  I think I will try to make one that looks exactly like one of them in his picture on his blog.  Then I can test that one.

A ladle from the back yard

Laughter asked for pictures of the scoop that was pictured in the cedar utensil holder that I posted a few days ago.  So I took some pictures.  We can't figure out how to get good pictures out of our camera, so I will substitute quantity for quality.

This little ladle was made from a limb with a smaller branch coming off of it.  It came from the Arizona Sycamore in our back yard.  It was loads of fun to make.  You can see the blemishes in the wood.  Those don't bother me too much.  What bothers me more is the way the wood does not stay smooth after it gets wet and how it feels like it has never been oiled even though I oiled it thoroughly many times.  But, as I complained to Laughter about the wood, he reminded me that it isn't maple.  And I think that sums it up.  Sycamore is pretty decent wood, but it isn't maple.  Not as stable, not as smooth, not as good for kitchen utensils.

"Perfect" spoons update

Here are the next two steps of the perfect cooking spoons.  After I rough-shape it with the disc sander, I like to very quickly go over my spoons with my electric hand sander with 120 grit paper.  Now, you may be thinking, "Why is he sanding it before the shaping is done?  Doesn't he still need to do the knife work?  And why would he start with 120 grit?"  Excellent questions.  The answer is that I am not actually sanding it yet.  I like to give it a once-over with the electric sander at this point because it takes the rough edges off and thus exposes all of the weirdness in the piece.  Once I take off the edges this way, it is a lot easier to see where I need to remove lots of material and where I need to smooth a little or curve a little or straighten a little.  It speeds up the finishing work considerably.
So, here are some pictures of the bowls sanded down with 80 grit paper and the outsides sanded a little with the electric sander and 120 grit. 

Now I am ready to mark them up with a pencil and go at them with my x-acto knives and more 80 grit sandpaper.

An unlikely cooking spoon

These have become the most used cooking spoons in the kitchen. I say it is unlikely, because they were made for the sole purpose of reaching the last bit of peanut butter or miracle whip in the bottom of the jar, without soiling hands in the process. And, they are not spoons. But, they are thin and light and plentiful. It turns out they are really good for stirring sauces, and the point is perfect for reaching into corners of saucepans while the heat is on, and scraping it all out when it is done. They are not any good at serving, although we have tried (it keeps portions small).
These are also easy projects, as you may imagine. Some of these are made of cherry, and I made some others of maple, but most are made from 1/4 inch thick poplar straight from the home store.

the perfect cooking spoon?

I have thought a lot about the perfect shape for a cooking spoon.  So, imagine my delight when I was reading Robin Wood's blog and came upon his post about the perfect cooking spoon.  He says that it "is neither rounded for flat across the end, it is a gentle curve and cut at an angle either right of left handed. This allows you to sweep around the base of the pan efficiently. The end should be robust enough to scrape scrambled eggs as they begin to thicken but thin enough to easily cut into food when serving."  Here is his picture of some of them:

I decided to try it.  This morning I went out and cut out some spoons with his description and picture in mind.  Here they are after being cut out on the scroll saw and then shaped a bit on the disc sander.

After that I gouged out the bowls of the spoons.  Lesson learned from that: gouge the bowls before shaping the back of the bowl.  This is the first time I have shaped the back and handle before gouging out the bowl.  It made it a LOT harder to use my mallet, because the piece wouldn't sit still very nicely.  So it will also be the last time I do it in that order.
Here are the gouged bowls.

I'll post a picture of them when they're done.  And then we will see how perfect they are.