Laura has been working with wood all summer building her studio, but yesterday Laura and I both had the opportunity to work with wood on a smaller and very satisfying scale. I've been very interested in learning how to make wooden spoons and have been researching spoon-carving online and reading about it in books. Last week I emailed Berea artist Gin Petty because I remembered that she used to carve spoons professionally. I thought she might have some resources or leads for me to further my research. Instead she generously offered to show Laura and I how to carve spoons! Soon we were on Gin's porch, watching her deftly make a spoon from a chunk of wood. She works with the practiced confidence of someone who is intimately familiar with her tools and the knowledge of how the grain of the wood impacts the finished piece. To read about how she's been carving since she was 6(!) go here. 

She first cuts the wood to a rough shape using a bandsaw. Gin has templates that she uses and she traces the outline onto the wood block and then cuts out the shape. 

Then, bracing the wood against a block of wood, Gin used a gouge and mallet to begin carving out the bowl of the spoon.

I was impressed by how much wood she removed at a time when she began. As the carving progressed, she made smaller, more controlled cuts. Soon she abandoned the mallet and used her hands to continue shaping the spoon bowl. The key is making sure the wood grain on both sides of the bowl meet, rather than having a small "step" where the bowl sides meet. You have to carefully remove wood until the sides are on the same layer  of wood grain.

Then she moved to shaping the back of the spoon bowl. She used a flatter gouge for this. She uses her thumb to push the tool. The angle of the gouge controls the depth of the cut.

Still using the flatter gouge, she removed extra wood from the handle.

A spokeshave removed more wood and made the handle smooth.

Then it was our turn. It was, of course, much more difficult than Gin made it look! Laura went first. 

Then I got started. We both got blisters on our thumbs and fingers- new hobby, new calluses!

It was tricky for both of use to learn to control and push the gouge with our thumbs. Also new was learning to determine the direction of the grain and to carve with it.

I liked the scale of the work, we sat most of the time and used our bodies to hold the spoon- knees for vices, ribs for braces. We didn't finish the spoons at Gin's, but when we got home we refined them with pocket knives and sandpaper. And just like that we each made a spoon! Laura's is on the top, mine is on the bottom.

The spoons backs:

One profile:

They are made from cedar which is not good to use with food, so we just rubbed them with beeswax to finish them.

We are grateful for the opportunity to begin to learn a new skill like this. Gin showed us what tools we would need to buy to continue our spoon-making. There is a woodworking store close by and I am pleased that I can go into this unfamiliar territory knowing what I need to purchase instead of wandering around in a daze!

I am so pleased to have started this learning process under Gin's direction and it was fun to learn something new with Laura. I look forward to starting work my next spoon soon!

This is where we are so far:

A temporary view looking up through the rafters from where my main work table will be, this canopy will soon be replaced by metal:

Between everybody who has worked on the studio, we’ve got 80.5 hours invested in the project. I’m getting a kick out of keeping track of how long everything is taking, it will be interesting to compare the total with the estimate I came up with for the grant proposal. The boards running perpendicular to the rafters in the first photo are called purlins. These are local rough sawn lumber, and what the metal roofing is screwed to. We had more help recently when my mother in law, Teresa and friend, Fred offered to help get the metal on. Fred and Strider working on the last few purlins:

It was tricky to get the first piece of metal on perfectly square. Much like piecing a quilt, any little mistakes are magnified across the length of the surface. Starting with a little unevenness means it will be even worse by the end! We perservered, got things lined up just so, and ended up with everything but the ridge put up in one day.

Isn't it looking so cute?! I am so pleased with how it is coming along.

Family and friends to the rescue! My mother in law, Teresa, brother in law, Jamon and friend, Herman came out to lend a hand the other day. The first work party for the studio happened at just the right time-I was pretty discouraged because of all the rain we have been having. (Good for the garden, bad for the studio.) Nothing sweeps discouragement away like having willing, able helpers show up! We had as our goal to get the rafters and ridge well under way. Unfortunately, this required cutting the wood at precise angles. All the framing to this point has been straight forward square cuts. This was much harder. The tricky part was cutting a notch in the rafters to rest on the top of the walls. This is what spreads the weight of the roof on down to the walls and it is quaintly called the “bird’s mouth”. Figuring out the bird’s mouth took a lot of this: 

Also took some swearing and foot stomping but, in the end we figured it out. Teresa and Strider working on getting the ridge secure and level:

Teresa, Jamon and Herman also were kind enough to dive into the pile of salvaged 2 x 6 x 8’s and pull nails, while Strider and I were figuring, swearing and stomping. (Who would want to be around us then anyway, they were probably glad to have another project to work on…) All in all a productive day; we got the ridge and several rafters up before it was time for cold beer and a few water balloons.

I’ll spare you a play by play of each wall going up, but it is happening, I am building this thing. How awesome is this? 

I recently took a break from building to make some fathers day cards. It was nice to do a bit of painting, all my creative energy has gone into the studio lately.

A big studio-stress is the crazy amount of rain we have been having. We still have all the rafters and the ridge to put up before I can even order the sheet metal for the roof. Somehow moisture is getting under the plastic:

It doesn’t seem like copious amounts, but it still makes my stomach hurt to see. Here’s hoping the cellulose isn’t sopping. Meanwhile the sky still looks like rain often:

As clever as it seemed at the time, I don’t think it was a good idea to install the insulation before the roof was on. Hmm, hindsight and all that. When the roof and siding are on, I plan to open the floor up to check on the insulation.

I’ve been enjoying working on my own while Strider is at work. After dinner we have a wall or two to tip up and nail into place I‘ve framed during the day. (The walls are way to heavy to try to do this step solo.) My mantra has been “measure twice, cut once”. As much of a cliché as it is-its true! It definitely helps minimize mistakes. The cuts are made with a compound miter saw. This saw is straightforward to use and while I am respectful of it’s abilities, I’m not scared to use it. Can’t say the same for the circular saw, although I am making progress. Using power tools has brought my left handedness to light as a bit of an issue-the tools are made for the right handed majority. I’ve gotten used to right handed scissors or whatever, but a circular saw is a whole different thing. Speaking of tools, I’ve got to give a shout out to my hammer.

I really enjoy using it. I’ve had this hammer for 9 years, but this is project is really giving it a workout. The nails you use to frame walls are size 16d.

In other words, big ol’ nails. I bought a 50 POUND box of these for the studio project.

In the past I would have avoided working with these guys, (kinda scary and big, no?) but I‘ve gotten over that, I had to. There is not much more satisfying than driving a nail tidily, I wish I could record the tinking /squeaking sound it makes as the nail is forced into the wood. Did you know this kind of nail comes coated with a resin that heats up as it is driven into the wood and lubricates the nail to make it easier to nail in? Yup. It also makes it harder to pull out the nail if you screw up so: slow and steady. My other building mantra.