Spoon Carving Fundamentals

This class runs Saturday and Sunday, April 6-7, 10 am-5 pm both days.

Get your hands on an axe and knife and get started spoon carving! This two-day class with woodcarving instructor John Fleck walks students through the process of carving a spoon from fresh wood blank to its finished form in the Nordic green woodcarving tradition. Spoon carving is a portable, sustainable craft with the opportunity to hone widely applicable skills making beautiful and useful objects. This class is designed newer spoon carvers, although some previous work with green wood carving, such as our Green Woodcarving 101 or 102 classes, is recommended. Please note that spoon carving requires moderate hand and arm strength, and hand flexibility. If you can open a pickle jar, you can carve a spoon!

This two-day class gives students a spoon carving overview, starting with prepared blanks cut from fresh wood. Students will practice using an axe and saw to shape their blanks before moving on to hollowing the bowl and final shaping with hook and sloyd knives. Throughout class, discussions and demos will cover design inspiration and considerations, materials acquisition, tool maintenance, and safe carving technique. Before leaving, students will discuss drying and finishing options.

A $25 materials fee covers all materials and tools use. Suitable for ages 18+ or 16+ registered alongside an accompanying adult.