Knife and spoon

So this is what I did by the fireside yesterday evening, a double ended spoon in sycamore (well, at least that's what I think it is).


It was made by turning a sort of asymmetric dumbbell shape on the pole lathe, ripping it down the middle into two equal halves (the other half is in the picture, and could make a second spoon).  I then hollowed it out with my home made knife, also in the picture.  The knife has a turned cherry handle, a brass ferrule and an O1 Sheffield steel blade.

So when you divided the dumbell shape, did you do it by splitting the wood or sawing it?
I think they're lovely!!

So I presume that's a 'push it away from you' knife for a right hander and a 'pull it towards you' knife for a left hander. D'yer know, that could be just the thing for preparing my morning grapefruit! The spoon looks lovely - well they both look lovely.

I cut it into two with a saw; if you were more skilled/courageous, you might split it with a froe, but unless the wood is still quite green I imagine there is a good chance of snapping one half across the thin bit. This wood is not completely green - indeed it came out of the log pile which ideally would be a lot drier than it is. Seeing how hard it is to turn/carve a piece is a much more fun way of testing your logs' moisture content than using a moisture meter !

And yes, that is how the knife is used. I did wonder what stainless steel grades could be used for making knives for culinary use - O1 is a carbon steel that rusts fairly easily, so would not make a great fruit knife. But I like the idea of making my own cutlery (perhaps it's something about growing up in Sheffield !)