Carve a first-timer spoon - PEP BB roundwood.sand.spoon

For the spoon, I started with a piece of Mulberry.  Then split it with a hatchet and carve the handle with a pocket knife. I used a couple chisels and a pocket knife for the bowl part of the spoon, then sanded it with sandpaper.

I started with a very green maple branch, then whittled, gouged, and sanded. It's totally functional!

Madrone

This was fun! And I only sliced open my fingers four times!

Minimum requirements:
  - useful size and shape
  - smooth
  - something you might actually use
  - made with hand tools only

To get certified for this BB, post three pics.  

 - Your chunk of wood that you are starting with  
 - Progress about half way through, with the hand tools you have decided to use for this
 - Final product

This is a spoon that I made from an aspen. I struggled to find a branch large enough for a spoon that I was willing to part with. This branch I cut down is kind of close to a power line.



I measured it against a storebought spoon.



I started out by splitting it on the kindling cracker.





I made smaller slits with a tiny axe multitool and a mallet. I finally have a use for this thing! I just bought it because it was a silly little axe and I was really into multitools. It even has a tiny saw for the knots.





Partway through. I also got a woodcarving-specific multitool with a spoon knife in it. I also learned when it arrived that you should never pull out all the blades at the same time.



When I first started, I was trying to carve it on my crafting table and it was really putting a strain on my upper back. I then moved outside and bent over so that I could hold the spoon in my right hand with my right elbow resting on my knee and only my left arm with the blade was moving. This was a million times more ergonomic and saved my back. Sorry this picture is sideways. But this is the spoon most of the way through.



Sanding.



It's about the same length as the storebought spoon, although the bowl is smaller.



Closeup.



Here is the spoon next to the first spoon I tried carving for the BB that turned out too small.



After oiling with walnut oil five or six times. It kept absorbing it almost immediately. All done!