I thought it was about time to update my current coffee scoop to something a little more substantial as I begin to welcome in the new calendar year.
I began spoon carving about 9 years ago and it really ignited the start of my green wood working journey and my obsession with hand tools and relationship with slow making.
I have carved many styles of coffee scoops over those years but this style, I have become really really fond of.
Not only does this shape allow me to use an array of my favourite hand tools and knife grips but it is also really playful and allows for so many possibilities and decorative elements. Each one reminds me of a curious bird and each one really lets the wood sing and be celebrated like an artistic collaboration between me and the material.
I carve walnut wood. A familiar wood with a suitable bend in the branch that was perfect for housing this coffee scoop shape. I really like to imagine how the spoon or scoop sits within a branch before I pick it up. Sometimes it is really intuitive and other times you have to think a little to really see where the final form might lie.
I first instigated a small hollow with the adze to then worked further with the Belzeboo Crafts loop knife. It took a little time to get my body positioning right when clamping in the work bench, but it soon all made sense. As I hollowed the scoop, I revealed an incredible ripple in the grain where the tension in the wood caused by the bent branches growth occurred. It is such a wonderful sight and I feel lucky to have this growth journey documented in my scoop.
After hollowing, I had to be mindful not to damage the lip of the scoop to retain the dancing live edge that really came into its own as I peeled off the bark with a little bit of persuasion. In the summer months, the bark peels off like a plaster but in the winter, it likes to cling to the wood so takes a little but of effort to loosen the fibres with the back of the axe first.
The rest of the shape was fairly intuitive and familiar for me to carve. I had to be careful not to get carried away with the ease of the axe as it removed bulk along the bent branch for at the bottom of it, I needed to leave a suitable amount of material for the even thickness of the bowl. I used some stop cuts with my trusty Silky saw and carefully split them away, saving much more for my body if I was to shape this just using axe chops.
The knife carved like a dream and the shavings soon fell to the ground. One of my favourite parts of the process of this style of scoop is to create the balance. By taking off little amounts at a time from the end of the handle, you get to a point where the tail just about lifts off. By this point, I have enough of an idea of the balance that allows me to be able to remove more material and allow for the weight loss when drying. After, I carve away and reveal the final coffee scoop form.
The scoop will now dry for two weeks and will then be oiled with linseed oil before use.
I would like to apologise for the background noises! The local fields are being plowed rather urgently before the frosts come and the noise is relentless! Sorry, I hope this docent ruin your watching experience.
I really loved this and I hope you all find it somewhat inspiring. As always, thank you for tuning in, do shoot with any questions in the comments, and thank you for your encouragement, comments and sense of community these videos are bringing. I am so looking forward to sharing more videos and carvings in 2025.
I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday and I wish you all the best for the new year.
My current collection for sale is on my website at: https://samuelalexandershapes.com
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
00:34 Wood Prep
01:40 Initial Shaping With The Axe
02:37 Initial Hollowing With The Adze
03:16 Hollowing With The Loop Knife
05:21 Axing The Blank
07:08 Bark Peeling and Refined Hollowing
08:04 Carving With The Slöjd Knife
10:06 Finding The Balance Point
10:23 Refined Carving With a Detail Knife
12:20 The Finished Coffee Scoop!
12:40 Project Explanation And Conclusion
14:35 Thank You And Goodbye