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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
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    Coffs Harbour
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    Default Spoons Tasmanian Blackwood

    I have been wanting to make some spoons for ages.

    After making a couple of doors for the shed I had some leftover Tasmanian Blackwood with some fiddleback that looked suitable.

    I used a simple wooden spoon as a template. The handle had bent over time so I decided to use that shape in the new spoons.

    Most of the shaping was done with the Arbortec mini sander. The sharpened chisels didn't like the tough Blackwood.

    The spoons should get washed frequently but I wanted a finish to show up the fiddleback. First I used Carmelia oil.......very light oil and should be food safe. OK but a dull finish.
    Tried some EEE U Beaut and got a bit more shine.
    Next I used Organoil hard burnishing oil and it gave a nice gleam.

    One spoon had a crack which I filled but it detracts from the look.

    The second spoon has a bit better shape and no crack. I put a ribbon on it and gave it to a friend as a birthday present.
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    Scally
    __________________________________________
    The ark was built by an amateur
    the titanic was built by professionals

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
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    McBride BC Canada
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    Default

    Sure do like the twisted handles and the glossy finishing. Must be ugly carving wood.
    Problem is, your spoons are too nice. You give those away and people won't use them!
    I've got a hang-up about that: give away spoons and I expect them to be used a lot.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    Default

    I am agreeing with Robson Valley on this one, they need to be used.

    So next time no shine.

  5. #4
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    Default Too pretty to use

    Some time ago I made two Burbinga cutting boards for a friend.
    They looked fantastic.
    She uses one and keeps the other one looking pretty. Not a bad compromise.

    I can't resist polishing a beautiful piece of timber. I have to see the figure jump out.

    My daughters didn't want me to use my workbench because it looked too pretty. They know better now. It cops heaps of abuse but every now and again I clean it up and rub some oil on it. I think I read somewhere that the Shakers believed that if something is useful it deserves to look good. I like that.

    When I gave the spoon to my friend I told her she had to use it. It feels good to hang onto so I hope that will be enough incentive for her to use it.
    Next time I visit I will scrub it under hot water and bang it on the bench a few times if she hasn't used it!!

    No one would choose Tasmanian Blackwood for its carving qualities. It can be a real bugger for tearout when you run it through a jointer or thicknesser especially when it has fiddleback. I probably could have persevered with the chisels but the mini sander was much quicker and easier. I don't mind the extra work when you know how good it will look when its finished.

    Cheers
    Scally
    __________________________________________
    The ark was built by an amateur
    the titanic was built by professionals

  6. #5
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    Default

    A couple of different shapes.

    The big ladles are Jarrah.

    The short scraper started with a longer handle. The Arbortec cutter bit too hard on the thin Qld Maple handle and threw it across the lawn.

    Good fun but it is time to get back to work on the shed.
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    Scally
    __________________________________________
    The ark was built by an amateur
    the titanic was built by professionals

  7. #6
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    Aug 2004
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    Default Breadboards

    This is a selection of breadboards I made for a friend to sell.

    They have a bread making business and hold regular bread making workshops.

    Currently they are selling kits to the students and want to upgrade the plastic tools with some nice wooden ones.

    I made these up for them to look at.

    The timbers are mostly Tasmanian Blackwood, a couple of small pieces of Silky Oak and two attractive but badly cracked Tasmanian Myrtle.

    I couldn't find and standard dimensions so I made a variety of sizes.

    I am in the process of filling the cracked Myrtle with West Epoxy. Typically I add some black colour to epoxy but decided to try a red stain.
    It looks like it will turn black once I add the oil finish.
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    Scally
    __________________________________________
    The ark was built by an amateur
    the titanic was built by professionals

  8. #7
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    Default Bakers/Dough Cutter

    One tool they want is a large cutter to use to cut the dough and scrape down the bench.

    The best choice would be a metal blade with a wooden handle.

    I am not a metal worker and avoid it whenever possible.

    The attached is a piece of Tasmanian Blackwood with a wide handle and shaped down to a fine blade.

    Is the blade thin enough to cut the dough?


    I have made the boards and cutter out of single pieces of wood. If they like them and the price is right, I will try some laminated versions and butcher-block style.

    Does anyone have any suggestions for setting the price?

    If they are only willing to spend $10 for a breadboard, I will buy a 200 wide pine board and chop it to length. Give it a quick sand and a coat of oil.
    I would think $50 for the good hardwood boards and more for laminated boards and boards with handles and legs.
    Preferably a lot more so it is worth spending the time making them.

    I am dropping my samples off on the weekend so it will be interesting to hear their thoughts.
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    Scally
    __________________________________________
    The ark was built by an amateur
    the titanic was built by professionals

  9. #8
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    Thumbs up

    Nice work on everything!!!

    I appreciate the fact that you want your spoons to look shiny and
    to show up the grain.

    One way to do this would be to use CA. A bit tricky, and perhaps expensive,
    but it should work.

  10. #9
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Blue Mountains
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    Default

    Oh the irony,

    we spend years developing high class skills and the market wand bread making equipment.... Nice work!

    Ive gone to Bote Coat for epoxy, im not sure of its food safety status but then again Im not sure of West systems either,
    "We must never become callous. When we experience the conflicts ever more deeply we are living in truth. The quiet conscience is an invention of the devil." - Albert Schweizer

    My blog. http://theupanddownblog.blogspot.com

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
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    Default

    With my Kitchen Stick project of this past year, I made a bunch of spoon shapes and passed them around.
    The elongate style was what eveybody wanted, not a "paddle" spoon shape, and even better with an 18mm handle. So I'm stuck with 2-3 dozen paddle spoon blanks!

    For finishing, I preheat my kitchen electric oven to 350F. The spoons all get painted with olive oil, onto a cake rack over a sheet pan and into the oven for exactly 3 minutes. In the oven, the surface wood gets heated, making the air in the wood expand. Out of the oven, the remaining surface wood air contracts again, sucking the olive oil into the wood with it. Doesn't wash off unless you reheat the spoon to 350F. Far better than just a simple, room temp soak in food grade oil. Can't go rancid as the oil in the wood is not exposed to room air constantly refreshed with oxygen.

    Color: The olive oil makes pale sap wood go slightly warm/yellow, not much. The heart wood grain really pops out. I'f I kept all the "good" ones, I'd have pots and pots of them!

    Kitchen prep forks with 4 tines are just as easy to make, 24 on the go right now.

  12. #11
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    Default Breadboard finishin

    Thanks for the great feedback.

    I love the oven heated finish and will definitely give it a go.

    A little while ago I dropped in a heated debate hereabouts, on food safety finishes.
    The health regs seem to allow nearly anything. The vegetable oils are OK and so are the epoxy finishes once they are cured.


    I took my samples up to my friends on the weekend. They loved the look and feel of the timber. The baker was very excited about the wooden scraper. I told him to use it and let me know if it is any good and any improvements in shape and style.

    We discussed finishes and they seemed happy with the vegetable oil option.

    At the moment they have 10 students every other weekend. Most of them buy a kit which is a plastic breadbox, a thin stainless steel scraper that is a bit smaller than my wooden one, a flour sifter, a small paring knife and a plastic scraper for cleaning pans.
    They put the breadbox over the dough while it is doing its thing.

    Their idea is the have a better quality/timber finished kit.
    I can make a breadboard for the lip of the breadbox to sit on. Probably with a groove routed near the edge so the box sits in it. Like in the attached pic.
    My wooden scraper, if it is successful, or i can replace the plastic handle on their stainless steel scraper.
    Maybe another wooden scraper to replace the plastic ones for their clean-up jobs.
    They can keep the plastic paring knife and flour sifter.

    I need to keep the breadboard simple so it doesn't make their Kit too expensive.

    I visited the nice Woodworks gallery at Cessknock.

    Chopping Boards

    They have several different boards. Some cheap and some expensive. My thoughts are that I would need to price the breadboard for the kit at around $50.00.

    Maybe let them order more interesting ones if they are interested.


    A pretty interesting weekend. Now I will wait and see if they sell any them.


    Cheers
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    Scally
    __________________________________________
    The ark was built by an amateur
    the titanic was built by professionals

  13. #12
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    Default

    Scally = more power to you. I live by myself most of the time. Taught myself to make my own bread, maybe 15 years ago, do it once a week. Gimme a big bowl, my stick and a couple of bread pans and leave me alone. After the last 5-8,000 years, how hard can it be?

    What I want, what I need, is a really funky pizza scale. Possibly 16" x 16", 4' handle. I don't understand how to get a wood slab that thin.

    Your bench scraper = good plan. I'd think of an edge wood far harder than the body. BUT, you have your prototypes out there for testing. That was key for me. I know that I make spoons and forks that people actually want. What they didn't want was a paddle spoon with a skinny handle. Whodathunkit? Not me.

    The hot oil finish. Think about this: you use olive oil, room temp, to paint a spoon. It appears to soak in, we all see that. Now. You stir soup with that. Just boiling but hot enough to heat the air in the spoon wood. The wood vomits out all your olive oil and sucks in soup juice as it cools. Isn't that appetizing?

    The 350F oven finish, you have to heat to 350+ to screw it up.

  14. #13
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    Default

    People are funny.

    I took up some of my spoons and scrapers. One was like a rice scoop with a short handle........short because I broke it when carving too aggressively.
    My chef friend loved it. She said her favorite ladle has a short handle.
    She also liked the spoon with the long thin round handle.
    I thought the wide flat handle was much easier to use but it didn't get much attention.

    What is the pizza scale you mentioned?
    Is it the long shovel thing you use to put the dough in the oven and remove the bread with?

    The baker also asked me about making a wooden shovel.
    He had several with different shaped metal blades. About 1.6mm stainless steel. He said they were the perfect shape.
    He had one with a very long blade but said the 1.6mm blade was too flexible.

    You certainly couldn't make a timber blade that thin.

    Maybe you just need a thin leading edge that thickens towards the handle?


    I am making a template for the cutting board. If I get it done and can find a suitable piece of wood, I will test the Hot Bake finish.
    Scally
    __________________________________________
    The ark was built by an amateur
    the titanic was built by professionals

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