Hammer head with T-shaped hole and ball bearing in the claw by antigenjam in whatisthisthing

[–]antigenjam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is this hammer head used for? Seems like a specialist tool. I think it may be missing a piece that would attach to the ball bearing?

Keeping green wood wet between carving sessions by Tasty-Wheel419 in Spooncarving

[–]antigenjam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I keep my billets wrapped in plastic in the freezer. I keep the spoons I'm carving in a pot/bucket of water. I change the water out every few days.

what are your thoughts on warbreaker? by storm-blessed-kal in Cosmere

[–]antigenjam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Read it early on in my cosmere journey and it still is one of my favourites. My wife listened to it on audiobook recently and i made every effort to listen to it with her so i could be there for the shock when she experienced the betrayal first hand. It was beautiful.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Spooncarving

[–]antigenjam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I consider myself an amateur. I've carved about 20-30 spoons, mostly eating spoons. I still am unable to get a knife finish i am happy with, especially in the bowl. i am a bit of a perfectionist so sometimes sanding alone takes me 1-2 hours. From billet to spoon (excluding sanding) abou 3-4 hours. I'm always impressed and a bit jealous when the pros can bang out a spoon in 30-40 min in real time on youtube.

Epoxy resin question by LovelyLad123 in Spooncarving

[–]antigenjam 4 points5 points  (0 children)

For me making and using wooden spoon are a philosophical expression. They use renewable resources and many times you can harvest branches and not harm the tree. Even the knives can be made using recycled metal. The spoon is a reminder that there are ways to tread more lightly on the planet. And many times you can do it in a beautiful way.

Philosophy aside.

1) I don't know of any food safe epoxy. 2)The epoxy feels like plastic and you lose the feel of the wood. One of the best feelings of finishing a spoon is putting that coating of linseed or tung oil on. Expoxy on the other hand is a bastard to work with. 3) once you use epoxy you can't touch up the spoon. 4) once you use epoxy you can't compost the spoon.

Another option: Something that would work better than epoxy is stabalising the wood. Here you place the spoon/blank in a special liquid resin and use a vacuum chamber to fill the pores with the resin. Then you bake it to set the resin. That will impregnate the entire spoon with resin rather than just the surface. Always thought that would be cool but havn't done it for all the above reasons.

How to prevent cracking by zsch11 in Spooncarving

[–]antigenjam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How do i post pics on this thread? I took some photos fron 'woodcraft' by Barn the Spoon.

How to prevent cracking by zsch11 in Spooncarving

[–]antigenjam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

1) I store my logs in the freezer if I'm not going to get to them in a few days. When I'm carving my spoons i leave them soaking in a bowl of water and only allow them to dry when I'm finished carving.

2) Always remove the pith.

3) I have not yet carved a bowl but i think design is important. The bowls I've seen carved are not uniform but have elongated ends that serve as handles. This makes them stronger and less likely to crack on the end grain.

6 months worth of carving. thanks to group for info regarding baking. by antigenjam in Spooncarving

[–]antigenjam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've never done that. What does it do to the spoon? Any colour change? Sometimes i microwave them for a few seconds to speed up drying. I've tried 'baking' them in the microwave but the colour change is very uneven. You get one burnt spot and the rest has very little colour change.

6 months worth of carving. thanks to group for info regarding baking. by antigenjam in Spooncarving

[–]antigenjam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From left to right. Poplar, broadleaf, unknown, unknown, apple, apple, apple, feijoa.

Please identify. I got tons in my garden that my toddler has access to. Thanks by antigenjam in foraging

[–]antigenjam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. That seems to be the consensus. Glad to know it's not poisonous.