10" Spoon harvested cherry wood spoon carving whittling. Made in the USA

Description

Carving spoons is on of the best ways to begin wood carving. Everyone knows what a spoon looks like and has another in the house to refer to. They can vary enough to be truly be considered sculpture. It also ends in a very nice product that will be cherished for years to come.  I hope you enjoy. The finished spoon makes a great gift and the blank itself is a wonderful gift for that person on your list who has always wanted to try wood carving / whittling.
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A word about choosing wood.
I generally offer three or four species of wood; butternut, walnut, cherry, and sometimes birch. I use basswood also called linden for carving characters and things to be painted.  It is very soft, easy to carve and takes paint well but it is too soft to use for tools like spoons, spreaders and spatulas.   Butternut is a relative of walnut but is much softer and easy to carve. It is nearly as soft as basswood / linden but a little harder and with an interesting grain.  I really do recommend it for the first time spoon carver.  It is what is included in the carving kits that I sell.  I really do think that cherry and walnut are pretty equal in their hardness. They are much more difficult to carve but produce a beautiful end product.  For people who have a difficult time using the hook knife there is always a gouge.  I do regularly recommend this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krAIHRCx9R0 for people who are interested.  Cherry will continue to darken over time.  Some of my older spoons almost look like mahogany.  I also generally offer birch and red birch.  They are more difficult to carve than cherry of walnut and in my opinion aren’t very attractive.  Birch is white to light yellow and red birch has a slight pink hue.
I am a hobbiest wood carver myself.  Part of the fun of selling these blanks is to help others get started in carving.  If I can help with any advice I am only an email away.  I also love to get emails with pictures of finished carvings.  Your purchase supports sustainable forestry here in Vermont.  I hand cut and check every piece to make sure the wood is solid the grain is true and attractive.