First, please read this disclaimer. Thanks!
How do I make those spoons? Here's a brief tutorial.
First, I start with some basic raw wooden spoons. They're pine, fairly soft wood, and very easy to work with.
They come in sets of 4, and frequently have defects; one out of eight, I'd say, is not usable.
Next, I sand. I sand a lot .
It takes about five minutes of Zen-like repetitive motion to smooth a raw spoon.
I start with a 150-grit paper to get the nasty rough off.
I finish off with a 360-grit, to give it a nice smooth feel.
On my finer pieces, I'll go up to a 400, but anything more than that really isn't necessary for the "rustic" look I like.
Then I transfer the design onto the spoon.
I do this using humble tracing paper, and a cheap No. 2 pencil.
Trace the design onto your tracing paper. Flip it over, and trace on the back.
Flip it over again, put the back against the wood, and rub with your fingernail.
Graphite is an amazing thing, isn't it?
The
nice thing about using this technique (besides the quickness of it) is
that it doesn't leave score marks in your wood, like a pencil can.
This is what you're left with.
Each tracing is good for about 6 transfers.
After that, you'll want to re-trace your design (lay down fresh graphite).
After about 24 transfers, the tracing paper wears out, and you have to make a new transfer.
Time to burn!
This
particular nib is a thin tip, and it acts very similarly to a tube of
henna paste. In fact, the application technique is almost exactly the
same.
Tip: Concentrate on rate, not pressure.
Next, if necessary, "clean up."
Mistakes are inevitable, but that doesn't always mean you've ruined your piece. I use an Exacto-knife to gently scrape away minor errors.
This is another reason why you should keep a light pressure; shallow errors are easier to fix than deep ones.
Tip: Snap the tip off of the blade. This makes it easier to scrape the wood, and harder to gouge it.
Finally, erase the graphite.
No one wants graphite in their food.
A pink eraser works best for this. It's firm, tough, and aggressive enough to hold its own against the wood.
This is a good time to add sealer, oils, varnishes, waxes, or what have you.
Since
I sell my spoons, and cooks are notoriously persnickety, I leave my
spoons raw. Let's face it, for every cook that loves curing their spoons
in olive oil, you'll have two that think olive oil is beastly; for
every cook that swears by beeswax, you'll have three that consider it
practically blasphemous. I prefer to leave the choice up to the
customer.
I will say, though, that I've finished one of my
personal spoons in beeswax (for cooking), and one for a customer in
lemon oil (for decoration), and both looked lovely when done.
Happy burning!
