Resources

Here you’ll find links and resources that are helpful to continue your journey in woodworking and craft. These are resources we offer for free to our community and customers. Please use them for your own knowledge, not to repost or sell elsewhere.

Spoon Carving Resources

— Join our Spoon Carving Club on Facebook!

  • Step 1:

    Dry your spoon by wrapping it in a handkerchief or towel for about a week until it is dry. Test by holding it against your cheek and if it is no longer cool, the moisture is gone.

    Step 2:

    Sand your spoon smooth starting at 80 grit. "Raise the grain" by getting it wet with a wash cloth. Allow to dry. Sand with 120 grit and then 220 grit.

    Step 3:

    Slather Mike Mahoney's Walnut Oil or a food safe oil and all spoon to cure for 2 weeks. If it looks thirsty, add more oil.

    Step 4:

    Enjoy! Keep your spoon out of soaking water. Wash with dish soap and allow to air dry. If you leave it soaking in a sink the wood will remember its a tree and start to drink the water which leads to cracking.

  • Freeze your spoon in a sealed plastic bag. Thaw for an hour in warm water before carving again.

  • If left in the open air, the end grain will dry out. A fresh cut log takes a while to dry but typically you want to get to it in a month or 2 in the summer. Winter freezes everything so don't worry about your logs quickly drying.

  • Knives:

    Del Stubbs at Pinewood Forge makes excellent spoon tools. Located in Bemidji, MN

    Reid Schwartz makes beautiful spoon tools.

    Jojo Wood and Robin Wood's high quality tools.

    Mora Knives #120 & #164 great intro tools buy from Ragweed Forge. (We sell them at the shop)

    The Best Axe Ever Julia Kalthoff's carving axes (Sweden)

    Medium Fav Axe Gransfor Bruks Wildlife Hatchet

    Intro Axe Hida Tool in Berkley CA, imports tools from Japan.

    Stay sharp by honing your knives. Strop and Honing Compound at Woodcraft.

    Grainger's cut proof gloves.

Video Tutorials

We produced a series of video tutorials to get educational materials around woodworking to our community.

Learn about tree anatomy, how boards are milled out of a log, and how wood moves! When you start your next project this video will help you feel confident your piece will come out as successful as possible by selecting the right wood.

Lumber yard jargon is intimidating! Learn the lingo so the next time you are at the lumber yard you can ask for exactly what you want. Dive deeper into how wood is milled for lumber.

How Does Wood Work?

Start with the basics

Lumber Yard 101

Goodbye intimidation!

Sharpening Essentials

Keep your tools wicked sharp!

Every project goes a lot smoother with sharp tools. Learn how to put a wicked sharp edge on a straight knife and a hook knife. Learn the different ways to get to the sharp edge through ceramic stones, diamond stones, and abrasive paper.

Finishing 101

A project is not complete until it has a beautiful finish

Learn the different options for finishing and how to prep your project to best receive your finish!

Videos by P & T Productions, Made in Minneapolis

Clean water land and legacy amendment. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.