Birch spoons and letter openers

My friend Phil visited me recently, with a gift from my mom and dad: a pile of birch wood! My parent's front yard birch tree was starting to threaten the power lines, so dad did some pruning. I'm happy to report that everything I've read about this legendary wood is true.




I've managed to carve some spoons, a spatula, and even a few letter openers. The grain is straight to slightly curved, with a few small knots. Those knots and flaws I've found have been easy to work with.

These still need some drying, sanding, and staining.I'll use salad bowl finish or maybe butcher block oil. I plan to use the spatula and one of the spoons when camping with my dutch oven!

The Cracked Spoon

Wood never quits. It can be a stubborn material to work with, and despite our efforts to steam, carve, chop, and saw it into shape, wood has a plan all it's own. Halfway through carving this spoon I knew it was going to split right at the bowl. I decided to continue anyway, figuring it would be a learning experience. The crack is hardly noticeable. Besides, there's beauty in the broken, right? Wabi sabi I think it's called? Sure.

Maple spoon #2

This is the second spoon I've carved from the maple batch. I'm waiting for this one to slowly dry, then I might stain it.

Maple spoon

Some friends gave me a pile of maple branches, and my "test" carving is this spoon. The wood is green, so carving was very easy.

ML Knives custom whittler

My first custom whittling knife is nearly complete! Matt from ML Knives sent me some in-progress photos. First is a pic of the hand-forged blade.






And now the finished knife with handle and pin. I absolutly love the piece of maple he chose for this project.



Matt is making up a desk sheath for the knife as well. I can't wait to take this beauty carving!

A Custom Whittling Knife

I'm excited.

After a long time admiring the hand-forged blades of ML Knives, I've finally placed an order. ML has a reputation for making top quality knives with a classic frontier look. Many are antique in appearance, all are works of art.

The knife I've decided on is the "Woodcarver/Whittler" model, a 2" blade mounted on a 4 1/2" tiger maple handle. The blade will be hand forged from high carbon 1095 steel, a steel known for it's ease of sharpening and excellent edge retention. I asked for the addition of a pin for a little extra steel-to-wood security. Plus I think it will look nice. ML Knives is a one-man operation out of Hagaman NY, and the ETA for my knife is expected at a little over one month.