How to Make Wooden Spoons

Wooden spoons in a container

Wooden spoons have a variety of culinary applications, from stirring sauces to transferring food items from one vessel to another. In fact, most great chefs consider a wooden spoon a vital utensil in their culinary arsenal. Wooden spoons may appear to be a simple tool, but they can take hours of concentration and labor to produce. If you are up to that challenge and want to make a homemade, personalized wooden spoon, you will appreciate the finished product, despite the work involved.

Things You'll Need

• 12x3x1-inch board of softwood
• Wood clamp
• Electric, portable handsaw
• Nontoxic pen or marker
• Rasp
• Carving knife
• No. 5 spoon scoop
• 1 sheet each 80-, 120-, 220-, 400- and 600-grit sandpaper
• Mineral oil
• Polishing cloth
• Goggles
• Heavy-duty work gloves

Instructions

1. Draw an outline on the wood for the spoon's shape. It can be as long or as short as you want. The handle can be narrow or wide and the head can be 1 inch long or 5 inches long, it is completely up to you. If you do not feel comfortable drawing, then just trace a design using template printed from a computer or trace around an actual overturned wooden spoon. This design will need to be as accurate, centered and neat as possible.

2. Place the wood board on the wood clamp and fasten securely. Wearing goggles and gloves, saw the spoon design out of the wood with the hand saw, following the design carefully and turning as necessary. Discard the sawed-off wood pieces.

3. Place the handle portion of the spoon back under the wood clamp and begin shaving down the head or top portion. Starting on the edges of the wood and using the rasp, grate the edges down gradually, going with the grain of the wood and turning the wood as necessary. Continue grating until the wood appears rounded, which may take hours of gradual grating. This will be the back of the spoon.

4. Carve the wood where the handle and the top meet with the carving knife. Carve gradually until the top portion slopes gently into the handle with no edges. Wearing gloves, use the 80-grit sandpaper sheet to rub down and smooth the top of the spoon.

5. Place the newly carved top of the spoon under the wood clamp and begin carving the handle. Use the rasp to shave down the edges, one by one, turning the spoon each time, until the handle is rounded out. Use the planer to make the handle even more round.

6. Release the spoon from the vice and turn it over to the flat side of the rounded spoon top. This is where you will carve the bowl of the spoon. Draw an oval shape on top of this flat side to guide you as to how your bowl will look. The edges of the bowl of the spoon can be as thick or as thin as you desire. Use the No. 5 spoon scoop and, holding the handle of the spoon, start from the edges of your oval shape and carve away from you. Continue carving, slowly and carefully, until you have dug out a bowl. This will take time.

7. Sand the spoon. This will be the most time-consuming portion of the project. Beginning with the 80-grit sandpaper, sand down the spoon from head to handle. Pay special attention to the bowl. Then, sand the spoon again with the 120-grit, then use the 220-, the 400- and the 600-grit sandpaper.

8. Polish the spoon with the mineral oil to bring out the detail of the grain. Also, if desired, carve your initials into the back or the handle of the spoon to personalize it, but do not carve too deep and damage the spoon.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose a wood that is easy to carve, but still durable for kitchen use. Spruce, pine and fir are good, common softwood for this purpose. This project requires the use of tools you may not have heard of before, like the rasp and the spoon scoop. Check out your local woodworking or hobby shop and ask about these tools if you are unfamiliar with them.

• Do not use chemically treated wood for this project; it may be toxic. Do not use aromatic woods like cedar as they might impart undesired flavors to food. This project requires the use of many sharp tools, so take every precaution in handling them.

References

• How to Carve a Wooden Spoon