We did some cleaning chores in the house this morning, and I did not get started in the shop till after lunch. Turn a bit of maple, I thought. It will be easy and fun, I thought. It was. It was the work I did after that that hurt. But first, the choice of wood. After a look through the firewood pile, I finally settled on turning a piece from that old tree that had split in half in grandma’s front yard several years ago.
What I decided to make today comes from my memories, as an antique I saw when I was maybe ten or eleven, if that. It was a coffee scoop. I tried to find one online, but nothing came up nearly what I remember, so I turned what I remembered, rather than what I found.
The turn was quite easy!, and it came out just how I thought I wanted it! I only worked from a design in my head; a combination of my desires for it, and what I remember seeing many years ago. The one from years gone by was much darker. I kept this light so it would develop a natural patina.
I thought it would be fairly easy to hollow out with a Forstner bit on the drill press or something. Well, that turned out to be a laugh. My press has not got near enough power to get into it. I ended up drilling with smaller bits over and over, then chiseling and finally carving with a carving knife. Not as neat on the inside as I would have liked, but then, it is a brand new antique. So it’ll do. I finished it with a coat of olive oil, and tried it out! Small, but works well!