As a starting point in understanding Japanese tools, it’s probably best to examine how they are made. And even before looking at how they are made, it’s good to look at steel, and how steel works. In its simplest form, steel is a combination of iron and carbon. Pure iron consists of atoms of iron that arrange themselves naturally into a cubic structure. This cubic structure is not rigid, however. The cubic structure can move, which is why pure iron is malleable, and can be hammered and shaped into forms that are useful for us. Carbon happens to be just the right size so that if it is able to get into the gaps of the...
Using the sloyd involves a handful of grips that are somewhat modified depending on the circumstances. As each comes up in the process, I will break it down, but from that point on I will simply refer to it. The first and probably most important of these is the hand squeeze. Some people refer to this as the thumb push, but I’ve moved away from that name because it’s actually misleading. It’s not pushing with the thumb that makes this cut powerful and controlled, but rather closing the hand holding the spoon itself that pulls the spoon back against the knife edge. If you push with your thumb, you’ll have a fraction of the power and will eventually damage your...
July in this part of Maine means a number of summertime traditions: watching fireworks as subtle flashes and muffled thuds through thick fog, avoiding the massive Bar Harbor crowds, and finding the first of the ripe wild blueberries. It has also meant woodworking festivals, specifically, the legendary Lie-Nielsen Open House. People came from all over the world as Tom Lie-Nielsen opened his shop and factory for visitors, and he invited vendors (some of whom you might even think of as competitors) to showcase their wares. The event culminated with an evening lobster bake, bonfire, and keynote by some woodworking celebrity – Peter Follansbee, or Chris Schwarz, or Thomas Moser. But that event hasn’t happened since 2019 (although we are holding...
You will notice that I have not said anything about templates, which is because I am emphatically anti-template. I used them early on in my spoon carving, and I feel like they stifled my growth as a carver, keeping my work from undergoing the evolution in both design and skill that pushes it forward. I felt like using a template was shutting my brain off. For the past five years, I have drawn every single spoon and spoon blank I’ve made freehand, and the growth in my work that has occurred in that time has been partly down to this practice. Even when a form feels settled in my mind, and I’ve carved dozens or even hundreds of them, drawing...
