Shamrock baby spoon made it into an Etsy Treasury!

My shamrock baby spoon has been included in an Etsy Treasury! There's lots of green in this treasury, and even a Claddagh ring. Some nice items just in time for St. Patrick's Day. Check it out!

Only I didn't say fudge...

Why do carvings only break when they're almost done? Although this claddagh is no longer a "one piece carving," I am very tempted in this case to reattach the offending chip and call it macaroni. Frustrations aside, is a broken and glued carving still a whittlin? Or is it, being infected with a foreign adhesive, some lesser thing?

Becker Knives fork carving competition (part 2- completed)

The difficult parts of any carving are also the most delicate. On this fork those parts would be the tines. They have to be thin enough to spear food, but thin means vulnerable to breakage. A broken tine would stick out like a missing thumb.

When I started my foray into whittling I was very hesitant to carve away too much material. This reluctance resulted in lots of "fat" whittlins early on. While it's true you can't put those wood chips back on, you do need to shave enough of them off so your projects don't look like Hurley from "Lost." It was a lesson learned the slow way.

So this fork was carved to be thin, like an actual functional fork you'd find on the dinner table. The only blade used was the Becker BK11, as per the contest rules. I sanded it smooth with some beach stones, then dyed it by soaking it in berry juice. I really like how it turned out.

Lumberjack Spoon (BCUSA contest entry)

Well I didn't win, but the recent Bushcraft USA spoon contest was a ton of fun. No other spoon looked like mine, and I got some votes, which is always encouraging.

The basic idea here is a lumberjack gripping a double-bit axe with "BC" and "USA" engraved on it's head and handle. Other details include a sheathed knife on his left side and a patch sewn on his right pant leg.

Becker Knives fork carving competition

The Beckerheads over on BladeForums are holding a fork carving contest. The top three prizes are Becker knives!

The fork must be carved using a Becker knife, so I'm using my BK11, aka the Becker Necker. I'm learning that it's a good knife with a nice thin blade suitable for carving but it could use some more comfortable scales. Occasionally the finger guard gets in the way of a good grip, but overall it's an excellent knife for the task. Also, my cord wrapping skills need improvement. The orange 550 cord I wrapped keeps coming loose.

This is my fork so far. I'll post again when it's all done.

WIP: New Woodspirit Walking Stick

I've dug up a stout walking stick from the woodpile and have started sketching and shaving away. I'm taking tons of photos this time, and might even post a step-by-step tutorial if things go well.

More updates to come!

St. Patrick's Day party favors (part 3: pins)

Here's the completed pins (magnets are still to come.) I glued some brass clasp pins to each carving. The clasp type pin feels more secure than the straight pin/frog type, though the clasps tend to sit slightly away from your shirt or coat once pinned in place. The one-piece design of the clasp is better, I think. There's no extra parts to lose.