Making words into Spoons.

Carving words and making them into spoons has been something I have been working on recently. There are many different challenges that come up when taking words and making them functional spoons. The first of the challenges is to get the word to fit nicely with the bowl of the spoon. It may not sound difficult at first but the more you push the artistry of the word, the harder it gets to fit the bowl to it. The next challenge is whether or not to have cut out letters or raised letters. This affects the aesthetics and texture of the spoon. Lastly, you have to decide what font the letters will be. They could be all caps, blocks, or flowing script. They all affect how the spoon will feel in the user's hand. I guess I'll explain these a little more now.
So, when it comes to fitting the bowl with the rest of the spoon “handle,” a few things need to be considered. Should it go on the front end of the word or the back. Will it be in full contact with the letter or will it be connected with part of it. The decision is mostly cosmetic but if the spoon is thin then having it in contact with more wood will make it stronger. I tend to find myself putting the bowl at the front of the word. This is because capital letters fit quite nicely with the bowl. However, I have been thinking about putting the bowl at the end of words that end with the letter E. This is because the “E” makes for a very nice connector that can be carved like a traditional spoon handle. I feel that more exploration in words and styles will lead to different bowl placement.
Moving forward to how the word actually looks. Each style had its benefits and challenges. If doing a full cut out, the challenge is always how to make the holes and interiors of the letters. So far, I have tried to use a hand drill to make the hole first and work out from there. The part I don't like about that is it will splinter the back of the wood if you are not careful. Then I have tried to bore it out or carve it out with a knife from the beginning. This technique is more time consuming but safer. Along with hollowing it out, connecting difficult letters means sometimes exaggerating parts of the letter to make it connect with the other letters. To make sure the spoon has some structural integrity, you have to carve it so that the connections only look deep but are not. I'll go over how to do this in another blog later on. The other option of raised lettering has its own difficulties. Making sure the letters go to the same depth to ensure continuity. I have found that making a 50/50 mark on the wood and gouging it out with a “V” shaped gouge works to keep them even. This ends up giving you half the wood to turn into the letters, and the other half can be made into the “handle” that the letters are on. Since the letters are not being carved all the way out, determining how deep to make the hollows of the letters is another perplexing piece to the spoon. The way that wood carves makes it so that after a depth of about 1/16 of an inch, the wood and knife are not going to work as smoothly as they were in the beginning and you end up with pieces of wood that will flick up and not get smooth. A way to work with this is to have a very sharp and thin knife. I, however, have not gotten the best system down yet, I will update you once I do.
Now for the last step before the spoon is actually carved. Choosing the font that you want the spoon to be is important. This decides the overall flow and shape of the spoon. Figuring out what to use is always up to the maker, but things to keep in mind are how the spoon will fit in the user's hand, what will it look like when not covered by food, and how practical is it to carve. When I make a spoon, I try to keep away from pointy corners at the end of the spoon so it can be held with ease. Personally, I like my spoons to have a slight arc or a little “S” curve to them. I'm sure this comes from my figure drawing background. With that in mind, I often have rounded letters or curved parts to the letters. This is also great for me because if I slightly mess up and carve off too much, I can just exaggerate the curve on the other letters and make it work. If I were using different tools, maybe straight lines would be easier. Something to explore in the future. When I first come up with a spoon design it would never work as a spoon at my current carving level. That is fine with me, someday I will get to that level and go back to these original drawings and make them. Knowing your personal level of skill is important. It will help you not get as discouraged by making designs that you cannot carve. This doesn't mean never trying something challenging or new. I have put plenty of pieces down, to work on other projects because they were too hard for me at the time. This lets you recoup and not get frustrated with where you are so you can come back to it refreshed and ready to go. Usually, it will be easier to do and you will be able to finish it much faster. Pushing your edge on carving is the only way to get better. But, in the same way as if you push too hard on a spoon, it can break if pushed too hard. So always give yourself an easy project after a hard one to remind yourself how good you really are.
What you just read is “The Big Picture” a.k.a. Step 1 in what it takes to make a word spoon. Planning is really important in helping to prevent unneeded challenges. There will always be new things that jump up and make things harder, like an unforeseen knot in the middle of your spoon or twisted grain next to complex lettering. Those just happen and it is what makes handmade natural works of art fun and great. Overcoming each of these and more to get a finished spoon that could be hung on the wall or used in the kitchen is always great.


See you in the next one.
Peace out till then!