I Made This

This weeks 'The Gallery' theme is: I made this.
 

This is the third item I carved since starting my newest hobby which is woodcraft. The first was a walking stick for fathers day, followed by a nice little spoon (that the dog has now eaten).

I acquired a nice branch of Hazel which had a nice kink in it where I imagined the scoop to be. 

Here's how it looked.

The process is very enjoyable and can take you however long you want it to as long as you don't rush (and damn near slice off a digit), however, it took me around three hours to amble along and get it perfected :).

    

I am really looking forward to see what other people have made and read what they blog about on the 'I made this' theme..

Ok now, bye bye then..

Hazel Ladle.

Here is a ladle I have managed to make with my Mora Companion.

I really enjoyed making it and found the bowl easier to whittle/ carve out as it is rather large and almost canoe shaped. It is a very good size for use in deep pans while making stews/ broths for example.

My son Louis helped me to sand down and watched the process throughout. 

I can see this becoming a little habit/ addiction now. Better than recreational drugs though eh?? :)
 

 

 Branch ready to split.

 

 



Handle carved out.

 

 

Rear view of 'canoe' shape.

 

 

Pre sanded version.

 

 

  The one in the middle, nicely sanded and drying out. :)

My first spoon.

     Here is my first ever spoon carved from a section of a Sycamore branch. I wanted to take on a couple of spoon types by using only my trusty Mora. I will purchase a crook knife eventually but with a bit of informal advice I received from Jay at Woodland Ways regarding carving techniques, I have decided to give it a try. I am in fact very proud of the result. 

     The spoon can only be used for stirring as the bowl doesn't go that deep at all. With it being quite a small spoon with a shallow bowl shape I slightly struggled to make it perfect as it does have some minor dints in the middle where the front of the Mora has dug in. 
 

     However, overall i will be looking forward to using the spoon when it has dried out and had a soak in olive oil. By the way, it's great if you happen to be left-handed.
 

     So here it is :)
 

     

 

 

Father's day walking stick.

 

      I decided that for father's day, I would make something for my Dad to use instead of buy something that he probably wouldn't. This would also be my first project with my Mora Companion.

      I happened to find a nice branch from a local wood that had fallen not so long before. It had a knot near where the handle was going to be so that made a natural rest.

 I found it to be really enjoyable and realise that even if it was absolutely rubbish at the end result, my dad would know I'd put time and effort into making it for him. 
 

      For the final sanding process, I used wet and dry sandpaper and I purchased some teak oil to treat it. I ended up treating it, leaving it to dry and sanding it three times. There was a problem then because the stick was sticky. I then proceeded to sand the stick down again to take away the stickiness. As I am an amateur, teak oil might have been the wrong thing to use but I will research more and obviously practice different techniques. 
 

      Regardless of my struggles, my Dad was really very grateful for his present and the smile on his face said to me that I had achieved something. ( I'm not so sure what that is though). 
 

      So here it is :) ..

 

 

 

My Mora Companion.

 

I thought I'd share a couple of pictures and an explanation for my chosen carving knife.

Here it is..

It is a stainless steel Mora Companion knife with the luminous orange colour so just in case I drop it in the woods, I can find it quite easily. With this knife, there are a selection of colours available.

I have chosen this knife because it is great for game preparation, splitting and carving.

I have also chosen this knife because i got to borrow one for a weekend while learning Bush craft skills with the great team of instructors from Woodland Ways.

A key bonus with this knife is that it is very cost effective indeed at under £20 with post and packing from a number of retailers.