I am kicked out of my basement shop and our home for 3 months while a major renovation is underway. I couldn't move much of the shop so I decided to take up bowl and spoon carving. The rental house has a basement storage room that will work. There has been a few articles by David Fisher in Finewoodworking lately. On his website, David Fisher, Bowl Carver - A Horse of a Different Sort he gives a free plan to make a simple shaving horse modified to hold logs/bowls. If you have access to finewoodworking.com you can watch a video series by him of log to finished bowl.
In my last week before the move, I whipped a quick horse off and a small table with holdfasts to hold the bowl for the axe and gouge work. My total outlay was $46 for the fir and 1/2" rod at my local HD. The small table top is a piece of a local gym floor that they were throwing out. Super solid and heavy. It has a 1" MDF backing for the 3/4" hardwood strips. I won't go into the cost of the axe, carving knife, gouge and drawknife.
I included a few pictures of my new temporary shop and our spoons to date. My wife and I are having a blast whipping off spoons. You can finish one in an hour or so. The key is using a sloyd knife (Swedish carving knife) and green wood. Amazing how much better it works then the old swiss army knife from my childhood. Its cutting edge is a 15-20 degree wedge which makes it register better and slice off the wood. We seal them with a food safe mix of 50% pure tung oil and 50% citrus solvent. Leave them in the jar for a 24 hour soak, light sand and put a few more thin coats on with a rag.
In my last week before the move, I whipped a quick horse off and a small table with holdfasts to hold the bowl for the axe and gouge work. My total outlay was $46 for the fir and 1/2" rod at my local HD. The small table top is a piece of a local gym floor that they were throwing out. Super solid and heavy. It has a 1" MDF backing for the 3/4" hardwood strips. I won't go into the cost of the axe, carving knife, gouge and drawknife.
I included a few pictures of my new temporary shop and our spoons to date. My wife and I are having a blast whipping off spoons. You can finish one in an hour or so. The key is using a sloyd knife (Swedish carving knife) and green wood. Amazing how much better it works then the old swiss army knife from my childhood. Its cutting edge is a 15-20 degree wedge which makes it register better and slice off the wood. We seal them with a food safe mix of 50% pure tung oil and 50% citrus solvent. Leave them in the jar for a 24 hour soak, light sand and put a few more thin coats on with a rag.
Nice work looks like a nice place to work for few months.
