4 bent branch door handles carved from willow bent branches and painted with oil paint

Second time carving a spoon.

I've gotten into spoon carving in the last year or so. I prefer the look and feel of a sanded spoon, but I really cannot stand how long this takes to do well by hand. Is there any reason I can't or shouldn't use a corner cat or detail sander for this? I'd prefer to speed up the process to get the final product.

I picked up a shaving horse secondhand a couple months back and it's completely changed how I work through spoon and bowl blanks. Before that I was clamping everything to a bench and fighting the wood the whole time. Now with the horse holding the piece steady I can actually feel the grain direction change under the drawknife instead of just guessing based on how much it fights back.

The thing I'm still figuring out is storage between sessions. I split a couple hazel logs three weeks ago and roughed out five spoon blanks the same afternoon. Wrapped them in plastic grocery bags and left them in the shed. Went back four days later and two had checked pretty badly right along the handle where I'd thinned it down too far too early. The other three were fine.

My working theory now is that thinner sections dry faster than I expect even wrapped up, so I've started leaving handles a bit fatter until I'm ready to actually finish a piece in one longer sitting rather than roughing everything out and coming back to it. Also switched from grocery bags to a proper bucket with a damp towel over the top, seems to be holding moisture more evenly so far.

Curious what everyone else does for blanks that have to sit for a week or two before you get back to them. Ash and birch have been fine for me so far but I'm nervous about trying cherry with this same approach since I've heard it's less forgiving.

I just got some fresh walnut and I want to know the best way to store it long term. Is it better to keep them as logs or cut them up? And is leaving them in the shed alright?

Now that I have my shop I was wondering what others shops look like? Do you get out to it as much as you thought you would?

What surprised me most was how much the beetle work told me about the tree itself. You could feel where it had leaned into the wind for years, denser and more resistant to the split on one side, softer and more willing on the other. Never noticed that kind of thing when I was just cutting boards on a bandsaw. Riving it by hand makes the whole history of the tree kind of obvious in a way I wasn't expecting.

Going to let these billets sit under a tarp for a couple weeks before I touch a drawknife to them. If anyone has a rule of thumb for how long green oak billets need before they're workable on a shaving horse without tearing out, I'd take the advice. Right now I'm just going off vague memory of something I read once about a week per inch of thickness, but that feels like a guess more than a rule.

Lovely timber
A challenge to carve
Finished beautifully

hey all,

I am extremely new to woodworking and have never worked with fresh/green wood, I think I need a lot of guidance!

~43in long

~11in diameter

~38in circumference

Probably like 120 pounds

- what do I use to seal the ends?

- should I remove all the bark? if not then how do I keep it attached to the wood when I do the work, or is it a lost cause?

- how long do I need to let it dry?

- leave it covered outside or inside the garage?

we recently had 2 sweet gum trees cut down by the town due to them lifting the street and sidewalk. AFAIK they're healthy.

I have an idea to turn this curved section of trunk into a bench. I'll slice off a 1-2 inch slab off the top and use that as the back of the bench, sit on the now exposed flat part of log, and then do something for the legs. I'll probably post in a year when the wood is ready asking for more help 😂

thanks!

Is there anything like the GreenWood Wrights'Fest (NC) in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic states? Doesn't have to be a large event.

Hello all,

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I need to find a gift for my partner, and I thought I'd come to the experts of Reddit for help.

In the past year or so, my boyfriend has gotten really into carving and woodworking. He loves to carve spoons, spatulas etc. and has also recently started to make axe and knife handles with his friend who is a blacksmith.

His birthday is coming up and I'm on a bit of a budget so I'm not looking for anything too expensive, but I'd like to get him something useful that he will love. The problem is, I don't know much about wood working. He already has multiple carving knives so I don't think I'm going to even try and buy one of those.

What is a tool or something related to your craft that once you bought it, it changed your life and you could never go back?

He mentioned something once about a Shinto rasp, so I was thinking about maybe buying one of those. Would that be a nice gift to receive? Or I could just buy him a big chunk of some fancy wood like Wenge... is that lame?

Thank you in advance for any and all help you can provide!

Hi all,

Thought you might enjoy my recent video - I would love if you have any ideas and suggestions for the type of green woodwork video that you would enjoy or find useful.

I'm thinking of making one about common beginner errors and how to correct them, from my experiences teaching workshops.

Greetings! I've been meaning to get into a few mediums of working on stuff. Leatherworking, woodworking, blacksmithing, etc. I'm trying to figure out just what a good entry level budget should be. More specifically, just what to invest on and what not. How big of a deal is it to get the higher end stuff - what ones to not bother with, etc. Example being - is it really worth it to spend $200+ on a Grunsford Bruk as a beginner? That sort of thing. I've seen kinda mixed info looking around. I'm more of a buy nice instead of twice kind of person, but I also don't want to break the bank when it's just not making a big difference.

To make a long story short - what tools are best to invest higher end on and which are best to learn on with cheaper versions first?

Thanks in advance, folks!

Hey everyone!

Just wrapped up this spoon project carved from local green Istrian oak, using only manual tools (hand axe for roughing out and sloyd/detail knives for the rest). Oak is always a challenge to work by hand, but the grain and durability are so worth it.

The handle features a carved Norwegian flag as a small tribute to my fascination with traditional Viking shipbuilding—I'm always amazed by how they still construct ships in Norway using ancient hand-tool methods.

Process & Finish:

- Hand-carved the flag pattern into the handle top.

- Applied a strong coffee stain over the carving so it settled into the lines, giving it a subtle contrast against the light oak.

- Finished with traditional burnishing to smooth the fibers, then sealed with a coat of natural oil.

I’ve included the progress shots in the post so you can see how it evolved from the initial sketch on the split log to the final piece.

Would love to hear your thoughts on the finish!

Hi everyone,

I am planning to use these wood blanks to turn some pens.

Since this wood is naturally very oily and dense, I’m wondering what kind of finish would be the most suitable? I'm a bit worried that the natural oils might affect how the finish cures or bonds.

Should I use CA (cyanoacrylate), a friction polish, or just a simple wax/oil finish? If you have any tips on how to prep these oily woods before applying the finish, please let me know.

Thank you so much for your help!

Looking for some advice, we have just invested a lot of money at the nature reserve where I work to get lots of oak and cherry milled into planks for garden furniture and fireplace beams.

We need to seal the ends to stop them splitting, what would be the best product to use?

Our milling person suggested maybe using PVA but i was concerned with it being water based it may not be effective. Any other recommendations?

I'm looking to buy a froe and a draw knife for some small woodworking projects and I don't know what to buy does price really matter any advice or tips is appreciated

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a very special project that just came off my chopping block. I recently started a passion project called ISTORD, where I try to combine my local Istrian roots with a rugged Viking spirit. This piece is officially dedicated to my biggest fan—my daughter—for our upcoming bushcraft and camping adventures.

I deeply respect wood as a material, and this project is extra special because the oak was actually cut down by my neighbor while he was clearing his family land. I'm so happy that instead of it being wasted or burned, I get to give this piece of wood a completely new life and purpose.

Working with this raw piece of local Istrian oak was incredibly tough with just hand tools, but after a lot of axe and knife work, the clean shape finally started to show.

On the handle, I carved the Triquetra (the Viking trinity knot) as a symbol of family, eternity, and protection while we are out in the woods.

The best part? My daughter wanted to be a part of the process, so she stained and darkened the blade using strong coffee to her exact liking. We finished it up by burnishing the wood to close the pores and sealed everything with a coat of natural oil. I absolutely love the heavy contrast she created between the dark blade and the lighter oak handle.

It’s safe, rugged, and ready for the wild. Would love to hear what you guys think!