Carving a Wooden Spoon

I remember a time while camping at Caledonia State Park in Franklin County, PA, sitting around the campfire, pocket knife in hand carving on a stick.

I remember reading about carving wooden spoons and thought that I would give it a try. So I kept cutting here and there, until I came up with the basic shape of a spoon. It was nothing fancy, just a basic spoon shape.

There was something I wanted to try, an easy way to make the bowl. I have read of this method, but never tried until this time. I used the coals from the fire to literally "burn" the bowl out. Place a few small coals wherever you want the bowl to be, and blow a little bit to burn in the spot you want to get rid of. I did not even need a knife, I used a sharp stone to grind out the bowl, thus saving my knife edge.

Worked very well and I am going to try it on a larger scale, like a real bowl or something. I couldn't believe how easy it was. You learn something new everyday in the outdoors.

I have not smoothed this spoon out or anything yet. It was just fun doing the carving and everything. I will finish it eventually, and it will stay with my camping gear at all times.