Teeny tiny spoons

Well, there's an extra day this year, so why not an extra post this week?

Well, I've talked a lot about how you can get away with a lot more delicate/thin parts than some people think you can, even with basswood, like those workshop spoons. And, right after finishing those, I was working on some small spoons for someone who brought me some really old walnut scraps from a near-by Welsh-settled town. So, if you can get thin with basswood, just imagine how thin you can get with something hard & strong, like walnut. Well... you don't so much have to imagine, because I have some pictures. You can probably get away with even thinner, but this is thin enough.

Now, of course, you do have to be careful with these things when they're thin - keep the part you're putting pressure on well-supported - but still...
So here are a few pictures...

Then, here's that first one (just carved so far), next to the second one, a little after I started it.

And then, the next morning, when I finish carving the second one (each one took I guess around 3 hours, because when they're this small, you do have to be really careful not to break off the pointy petal ends, or the edge of the spoon bowl or the daffodil trumpet). So, here they are....

Of course, now I have to not break them while I sand them. But, the key to sanding them when they are thin is speed - not pressure. And, with speed, you also need caution to avoid snagging on the pointy petals or any other part. Other than that, no biggie. Well - maybe I should say that AFTER I finish sanding them, so I don't jinx myself, but... I'll be careful.

Anyway, there you go: teeny tiny spoons. Oh - well - teeny tiny for me. They're nothing compared to what some people do out of matchsticks and pencil leads... but I hear a lot of "that's so delicate" lately - so I just wanted to point out, it can be worse than those big spoons - just goes to show, it can definitely be done.

I don't make these very often, because they're too much work, and so little. They're actually  harder to hold than the big ones, and you have to be quite a bit more careful, so even though they're tiny, they still take a pretty long time.

Well, enough rambling for this week. Oh - and in 2.5 hours, it'll be St. David's Day, so happy St. David's Day, too!