How To Finish A Hand Carved Spoon
Do not let them soak for a long time in water and never put them in the dishwasher which will cause the wood to deteriorate quickly.
How to finish a hand carved spoon. I use a hand saw a carving axe and several types of knives. A lot of pressure is put on the handle while you carve the center and outer edges of the spoon so you need to keep the handle as sturdy and strong. There is quite a bit more science behind this.
Carve till you hit harder wood then put it back into the bucket to soak more the soaking will accelerate as you expose more end grain going deeper down inside the bowl of the spoon. Wooden spoons should be hand washed with regular soap and water. It is expensive to get enough to soak the spoons in it.
Next I dry off the excess oil and apply a coat of paste wax. Tung oil is my finish of. Then flip the spoon 180 degrees and repeat from the other direction.
You can use polymerized tung oil if thats whats available and I occasionally. Make sure to rub the paste wax deep into the surface. Sand your spoon to 220-grit then apply a nontoxic oil finish eg.
Water absorbs much quicker through the end of the fibers so soak a spoon for a day or two in a plastic bucket shoe-box sized tubs work great any iron will react with the wood. So the only way I use sand paper is to sharpen my knives and axe. Here we see green woodworking expert Justin Sanford demonstrate traditional spoon carving.
All my products have a knife finish because it leaves a nice smooth hand made look. Butcher block olive peanut or vegetable oil. Carve away with your carving knife on the side and back.
