Spoon carving tutorial Pt5

The next step is to do the initial hollowing of the bowl using the spoon knife. It's worth marking the area to be hollowed (this, along with an occasional centre line, is the only marking I would normally do).

This is the original Spoon knife I bought from Robin Wood when I attended his highly recommended course back in 2007. I've never found it lacking and along with the GB Carving axe I've found no reason to bother changing. I'm a believer in getting to know your tools and refining your skill rather than constantly looking for the next miracle tool. The knife is made by Swedish smith Bo Helgesson. (though his tool making stage name is Helgess).

The initial deep cuts to remove the bulk of the material are done with sweeping cross grain scoops. The secret to getting nice clean cuts and avoid 'stepping' is to make sure the bevel stays in contact with the wood. That means tilting the bevel in and out of the cut in a scooping motion. Ignore my hand positions in the pictures because I had to take photos with my non dom hand. I'll post on grips and cuts in subsequent posts so if there are any you would like me to try and demonstrate let me know.

As you get close to the final shape, you may have to come down the grain towards the deepest part of the bowl.

Here again you can see I have left plenty of material around the rim until I am happy with the bowl shape. 

Now that bowl is hollowed I can start thinning to the final thickness. I've also shortened the handle. (no point in working unwanted wood)

So here's where I've got to so far. I'll put it on a window sill for a few days near a radiator to dry out before doing the finishing cuts.

JM