Learning something new

It’s been quite a week around here. To say my feet haven’t quite touched the ground wouldn’t be too far from the truth, but when such opportunities arise it’s always my habit to say “Yes please”!

It’s a couple of years ago at least since I came across some books about whittling. Since then, I’ve been quietly looking out for a class or some kind of opportunity to have a go myself. I don’t remember what prompted me to actively search for something along those lines, but my action prompted me to book myself on a spoon carving course in a woodland not a million miles from where I live. The fact that it was some months away didn’t bother me, because I knew that those months would fly by and above all, it was great to put the date in my diary and look forward to it.

That it happened at the end of possibly the busiest week I’ve had in years proved a concern, but hey, I wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity having waited so long!

I was really pleased that the forecast was for a fine day with reasonable temperatures and set off with directions in hand, following a path through into the woodland. Was I on the right track? I could hear voices…

Definitely one of those moments where I wasn’t sure what I was looking for but knew I was there as soon as I spotted it!

Maurice the tutor was sitting with his dog Henry by his side, chatting by the fire to Colin, who’d arrived just before me. My arrival made the class complete - what luck to be in a class of two!

Maurice explained that the piece of cherrywood there at our feet had been growing in his woodland just that morning, and that it would be the ideal material from which to cut a butter knife, a spatula and a spoon during the class.

He set to work immediately, preparing the pieces of wood for us to begin work on the butter knife.

At this point, I was so absorbed in my work, I forgot to take photographs of the process. I was keen to follow Maurice’s advice, especially regarding safe use of that (very) sharp knife and was thrilled to watch the butter knife shape form as I whittled away wood from (hopefully) the right places. I loved how the characteristic of that piece of wood appeared in the finished knife too.

One part of the knife making process involved the use of Maurice’s Japanese saw, which prompted immediate tool-envy! My Birthday list just got longer…

Having completed our butter knives, it felt a good time for a break - or was it a demonstration? Maurice demonstrated the use of a hand carved spoon and of the spatula we were about to make by cooking some pancakes on the fire and of course, Colin and I got to enjoy the results. Was there ever a more enjoyable demonstration!?

That Japanese saw was put to good use again as Maurice prepared the wood for our spatulas. Colin hoped for one with a longer handle, so the cherry log was cut to the right length first.

Next, we were introduced to some new tools - a froe and a maul, which we’d use to split the wood in preparation for our spatula.

Thankfully, Maurice gave us a great demo before handing over these tools to Colin and I to give it a try. You’ll have to take my word for it that a few hefty blows with that enormous maul later, I managed to split the wood ready for my spatula!

Most of the shaping on this project was going to be done with the knife too and with the experience gained from the butter knife, we set to without ado. But here, there was a large surface to cut into - not so easy with a knife.

So, Maurice introduced the spokeshave, at last the one tool that I had used previously.

Gradually, our spatulas took shape, though all the time, we had our eye on the main event - not lunch (though that was also there on our minds!) but the spoon, which was probably going to test my newly acquired skills quite a bit.

I was going to learn another one as well - use of the axe. There was quite a lot of wood to be removed and though this could be done using a knife, clearly it would take some considerable time to do that. An axe would make the process much more efficient.

We watched Maurice deftly cut his way through the wedge of wood he’d prepared, holding the axe depending on the type of cut he was making. We learned of the different features of a spoon from the various samples he had on hand - the importance of the depth of the bowl and the angle of the handle, both important factors in making it useable.

Then the time came to try it for ourselves. I took the bark off the third piece of cherrywood and worked out how my spoon would be formed from it, drawing the shape of the bowl in pencil so I’d have some guide for cutting. I wasn’t sure how much I’d be able to control that axe!

It took a while to get used to using the axe but I managed to shape the handle ok, thankful to Maurice for pointing out the beginners’ error of almost creating “a pointy stick” (and explaining how to correct that). By now, though, my hands were getting tired. I’d not realised how working with a knife all morning and holding the wood tightly in my hand whilst working on it had taken toll on the strength of my grip.

Even so, I managed to “get” the bump cutting using the axe and shaped the bowl a little, though was glad of Maurice’s offer to work on the tricky “waist” where the bowl meets the handle. I wasn’t sure of my ability to control the axe sufficiently well in that respect. I need more practice!

Finally, the last tool of the day was put to use - the crook knife with its curved blade was used to carve out the bowl of the spoon. I didn’t find this easy - my tired hands didn’t seem to want to grip it in the right way and I was conscious of how sharp the blade was. Knowing that accidents happen at times like this, when we’re tired and a bit too eager to get something finished, I set my partly made spoon on one side and chose to finish it once at home. Maurice had taught me the skills to do that and I was happy to leave it there.

I was really happy with the results of the day and took away three pieces of work I felt proud of. Not only that, I’d enjoyed time spent in the fresh air in such interesting company and feel inspired to learn more.

Not to mention the tool envy of course.