cracked spoon

[Tommy Taylor]

Saw a post about a spoon and had to try one. This is cedar and everything was doing fine but here came the crack right down the middle of the spoon. Has this become something to put in a drawer to make it smell good and when I do get one done that doesn't split what are the options for coating a cooking spoon.

[RUssL.]

Re: cracked spoon

If you carve "green", un-dried wood for spoons, and that relly is the way to go since it's so much easier to carve, then control the drying process by keeping the work-in-process spoon in a zip-lock bag, off and on, when not carving. By slowing the drying process one can pretty much (though sometimes not) eliminate cracks in the finished spoon.

Many spoon carver recommend USP grade (at your local pharmacy) mineral oil, which is what I have used, but I have also seen that you can use walnut oil I am told. Most food oils, like olive or vegetable, I am told, can go bad over time.

Good luck.
RussL.

[Tommy Taylor]

Re: cracked spoon

Good morning and thank you RussL.

[Brian T]

Re: cracked spoon

Good spoon, TT. I'm tempted to try that when the WIP pile is a little smaller.
Scored a twisted 1" birch plank off the wood stove pile over at the willow shop.
Cedar? I tell ya, that stuff comes precracked, straight from the living trees.
I do know that if the fallers do it wrong, the log can shatter internally when it hits the ground.
I can't cut enough trim off the ends of a shake block to find solid wood. When the trim cuts meet eachother, I try another block.

Judging by the location of the crack in your spoon, try the next one but rotate the axis
of the spoon 90 degrees in the wood. In other words, shape the bowl at right angles to the growth rings. Cedars develop so many radial cracks, you might be able to sneak a spoon in between them.

[Tommy Taylor]

Re: cracked spoon

Hi Rob and thank you. I know what you mean about the cracking cedar. This spoon actually was made from the other half of the already split log. The first one got confiscated before I got a picture and it wasn't finished. Wouldn't surprise me to find a crack in it too if I get to see it. I have some maple that has had the ends sealed with the bark still on it and in the garage for a while but really not long enough. I might need to try some other wood for spoons but the thing about cedar is even if it cracks and I abandon the project it still makes for a nice smelling somewhat designer incense. Guess that would be great if I was trying to make incense.Hope you have a good 1.

[Claude]

Re: cracked spoon

It's generally accepted that only hardwoods should be used for cooking/eating utensils. Softwoods (pine, redwood, cedar, etc.) are not generally used. I have used walnut, maple, purpleheart, cherry, olive, poplar, and a couple others I don't remember at the moment for cooking spoons. I have finished them all by coating them heavily in olive oil and letting it soak in. The woods were also either kiln dried or naturally dried for years before carving. Since I use my spoons for cooking on an almost daily basis, and I cook with olive oil, my finish doesn't go rancid. Having said that, if you'll only occasionally use the spoon, the food-grad mineral oil suggested by RUssL would be a good idea.

Claude

[Tommy Taylor]

Re: cracked spoon

Hi Claude and thank you. I suppose that would make the maple not the preferred choice for a cooking spoon but could always be a decorative one. I kind of like the idea of it being both but for now I would just like to make some simpler things that give me a little break from the more difficult ones and can be done fairly quick. Thanks again.