Category Archives: Woodenware
Essential Tools (for Me), Part 3: Spoon-Making Tools
Because spoon making has been such a big part of my woodworking, I think it’s appropriate that I write my 350th blog post about the tools I use to make spoons, spatulas, and other wooden utensils. These are by far … Continue reading
How to Not Grow a Business
Most successful businesses have a growth mentality. But I don’t want to grow anymore. I want my craft market enterprise to shrink gracefully. Continue reading
The Ukulele Spoon
Did you ever have one of those odd bits of wood hanging around the shop that is pretty useless but just nice enough not to throw away? For example: Quite a few years ago, I brought this little piece home … Continue reading
125 Utensils in Three Weeks
It was already shaping up to be a busy market season when somebody messaged me wanting to know if I could make 125 little spoons and/or spreaders. A local company wanted to put together gift baskets with locally-made items, and … Continue reading
What’s in a Name?
Since middle school, most of us have hesitated to let other people give us names. Name-calling is a basic tool in the toolbox of bullies and leaders of cliques. And even though our parents mostly gave us nice, socially-acceptable names, … Continue reading
A Note of Encouragement to Beginning Carvers
If you’re doing any wood carving these days, you probably belong to one or more Facebook groups for carving. Or you follow some expert carvers on Instagram. Seeing beautiful woodwork every day can be inspiring at first. But eventually it … Continue reading
Can You Carve Spoons from Dry Wood?
Spoons and other “treen” are traditionally carved from green wood, cut fresh from the tree. The obvious advantages are that (1) fresh-cut wood is softer and generally easier to cut than dried wood, and (2) you don’t have to spend … Continue reading
Why I Don’t Sign My Spoons
A lot of spoon carvers put their name, initials, or a maker’s mark on each spoon they make. I don’t. Here’s why. First, signing each piece would add time to the production process without adding monetary value. I know that … Continue reading
Want to Carve Spoons? Use a Template
On a spoon-carving forum I read, the question of templates comes up frequently. A lot of spoon carvers say they “just wing it,” or as others put it, “just see what the wood wants to be.” Now, there’s no question … Continue reading
Trash –> Treasure, or New Spoons from Old Furniture
When I sell my spoons and spatulas at craft markets, people always ask me, “Where do you get the wood?” I often laugh because, truth be told, practically ever piece of wood has a story behind it. More often than … Continue reading
The Literary Workshop Blog 