To make a coffee table a while ago, I cut some tall table legs in half. I was then left with four of these: Then one day while cooking I realized that I didn't have a wooden spoon, so I took one of those table legs and started to carve away. Using a spokeshave and my finger plane I made the basic shape of a spoon. I then took a small gouge chisel to carve out the bowl of the spoon. Roughness left by the carving I sanded out with sand paper then moved on to fine steel wool. Finishing was done with a mix of mineral oil and parafin wax to ensure that it is foodsafe. ![]() I liked the flat shape this spoon had, it reminded me of a chili spoon. After a while I decided I should make another spoon, but one with a curved handle more like a table spoon. This took a little more work with the spokeshave, and was quite a learning experience. Again I finished with sandpaper and steel wool. After the first spoon, I was able to get a much cleaner surface with the blades, which resulted in considerably less sanding. ![]() This one I didn't finish with the mineral oil and paraffin. After a few washes on the first spoon the treatment washed off, so I just skipped that process on this one. ![]() After building my own hand plane (see here) I was told that I would need a small mallet to make adjustments. After doing some research I got conflicting advice on what kind of mallet to use; a lot of people said that a brass headed mallet should be used, and the rest of the people said that a wooden mallet should be used. Finally I found someone who said that they were always told "metal on metal, and wood on wood", so I took that advice. Again I went back to the cutoff table legs I had lying around. I made this mallet with one wooden head and one metal head. The handle was made using the same tools and techniques used to make my spoons. ![]() The metal head is made out of the back end of a chisel I had. One day while using my 1/4 inch chisel the back spontaneously fell out, so I had it lying around in a box. It was perfect for fitting into the back of this mallet. ![]() To attach the handle to the head, I made a mortise in the head with a couple drill holes and a lot of chisel work. I then narrowed down the end of my handle to fit into the mortise. I then took some off-cuts of wood to make some wedges to pound in to secure the handle into the head. ![]() That is three legs down, now one more to go. |