Experienced craftsmen can make do with a semicircular carpenter's chisel to make a bowl (recess) in a wooden spoon, and this is perhaps the most difficult and important operation in the manufacture of such a product. If you do not have experience working on wooden crafts, then manipulating such a standard tool will not be very convenient and productive.
When making a wooden spoon, it would be better for a novice woodcarver to use a special chisel - a full-circle scraper (clukarza, spoon cutter). The cutting edge of such a tool, in contrast to a conventional carpenter's chisel - the end, is the side edge. That is, the scraper does not so much cut as it scrapes.
Is it possible to make a full circle scraper from scrap materials, and what tools and equipment will be needed for this? Is such work possible for a novice master?
Required tools, materials and skills
Experience shows that anyone who has ever held a grinder and a drill can make their own wood scraper. In addition to the tools mentioned above, you will need:
- device for mechanical grinding (grinder);
- Dremel (small drill) with attachments;
- sandpaper with grit P600;
- mechanical felt polishing wheel;
- flat hand file for wood;
- screwdriver with plastic handle;
- hammer;
- bench vise, etc.
The necessary materials are represented by a 19 mm spanner, as the most suitable in size and ease of use, as well as a ready-made wooden handle with a reinforcing ring-cap.
The procedure for making a homemade staple
The choice of a suitable key was between sizes 17 and 19. After preliminary fitting on the hand and simulating working movements, preference was given to the key size 19. It is more convenient for an adult than its analogue size 17.
We clamp the selected key blank into a bench vice and use a grinder to cut off the part with the open-end grip of the nut according to the mark. To avoid damaging your hands during further processing, we round the edges with an endless sanding belt of a grinder.
Then, using a Dremel and a grinding stone attachment, we smooth the inner edges of the key, periodically cooling the workpiece in water. We complete this operation with the disappearance of the nut profile.
We complete the final processing of the former grip of the spanner by replacing the first attachment on the Dremel with another, with a finer grain size of the stone.
Next, use a marker to mark both sides of the handle at the point where it adjoins the head of the recess. They will provide a more comfortable grip for future woodworking tools.
We perform the operation itself with a grinder, having previously clamped the workpiece in a bench vice. The final finishing of the place of the last processing and earlier operations is carried out on a grinder, paying special attention to the place of the future blade for removing wood.
Another metal removal is carried out using a small drill with a grinding stone.We harvest along the top of the circle at the junction with the handle, also for the convenience of working with the future cranberry crop. We select sample sizes with the transition to a handle to suit your hand, from time to time placing your thumb on it to check its comfort.
Now you can give the Dremel a final go over all the treated surfaces with a fine-grit sanding stone.
After this, you can try the not yet fully prepared scraper in action by trying to use it to remove a layer of wood from the recess of the spoon blank. Of course, this will not be so easy to do, since the blade of the tool has not yet been completely sharpened, but you can feel the process.
To fine-tune the blade to the required sharpness, roll sandpaper with P600 grit outward into a tight tube and carefully grind the inside of the cutting wheel with a reciprocating motion.
After this operation, testing our tool on a spoon blank shows that the cutting properties of the homemade stapler have increased significantly and it is almost completely ready for use.
Next, using a mechanical felt wheel, we polish the instrument to give it a decent appearance.
All that remains is to choose a suitable ready-made wooden handle that would be convenient to use.
In order for the tool to “sit” firmly and reliably in place, we fix the almost finished workpiece in a bench vice and use a grinder to remove the roundness of the holder.
We adjust the length of the holder, cutting off the excess with a grinder. We also give the hole in the handle a rectangular shape in cross-section using a combination drill clamped in a drill chuck, and finish it using a hand-held wood file.
In order not to damage the cutting wheel of the tool, and at the same time securely secure it in the handle, we use a strong screwdriver with a plastic handle, securely clamped in a vice, as a stop.
The cutting wheel, resting on the screwdriver handle in the area of the holder, will not experience any deformation when the wooden handle is inserted with hammer blows and will retain all its cutting properties.
To prove this, let's try to make a hole in the first piece of wood that comes to hand. It turns out to be quite symmetrical in shape and cleanly processed without much effort or tension. A homemade scraper is completely ready to be used to make wooden spoons and other products.
Additional Information
It is not rational to use a chrome vanadium steel wrench to make a wood cutter. This steel is not hard enough to be used for wood carving. For such purposes, high-carbon steels are better suited, from which cutters, taps, reamers and other metal tools are made.
What types of trees are best for carving wooden utensils? This important question worries many beginning carvers. For making spoons, the best pieces are made from hard, but not splintered, hardwood - aspen, ash, maple, birch, elm, walnut, cherry or maple. Coniferous wood is not suitable for these purposes due to its increased resin content.
To make wooden spoons last longer and look more attractive, it is recommended to treat them with special finishing compounds. The choice of option depends on the purpose of the wood products. There are no problems with spoons cut for decorative purposes.Any paint is suitable for them; they can be coated with any varnish or wax composition.
If spoons are made for their intended purpose - to be used for eating, then some caution is required. The impregnating composition must be practical and safe. These requirements are best met by linseed oil, as well as special mineral oils.
