walnut

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Oats

Walnut measuring cup with oats

I’ve struggled to get this one back for a photograph. You’ll have to forgive the dust. It gets used every day (evening) for measuring out oats.

Custom measuring cup (just more than a third of a cup) for my wife’s overnight oats.

Walnut measuring cup upside down

Once again: air dried walnut carved with axe, gouges and a spokeshave. Not fashionable green spoon carving here. Though there will be some green wood making its way into bowls soon.

Racks
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Racks

My wife thinks I have a carving tool problem:

  

I agree; there are gaps.

A while ago she spotted an offcut of walnut from a chair build and decided it would make a nice egg rack. In the interest of having some input into the ever more spectacular baking that goes on in this house I have obliged.

Carving the egg cups

While I was carving I realised it would make a great beginner project. It teaches a lot about grain direction, slicing cuts and carving to precise layout lines. And it’s very hard to mess up. It can be done with very few gouges: I used a biggish number 9, a 10mm number 5 and a shallowish spoon gouge but you could do it with just the 9 in a pinch and you could probably sustitute various medium sized, medium sweep gouges. So long as the sweep is quicker than the curve of the circumference it will work.

Walnut is a lovely wood to carve, probably my favourite. When finished the grain can be absolutely beautiful.

Finish drying