Reclaimed Wood

When I first really started getting into woodworking, I would generally go out to buy and materials I would need.  This became expensive quickly and I found myself putting off ideas I was having simply because I didn't want to spend 200-300 dollars in wood.  After much browsing on the internet I discovered all of the beautiful things people are doing with reclaimed wood.  This wood is often dirt cheap if not free...  It may not always be exactly what you are looking for, but, I sort of see that as the beauty of working with something reclaimed.  The wood almost always has a story and will tell you what it wants to be reborn as.

Last year, my landlord gave me an old whiskey barrel that he used to make wine in.  The seals were no longer holding liquid, so, I grabbed it before he threw it out!  I broke it down into it's individual staves and made some Christmas presents with them.  The rest of them have just been sitting in my basement... waiting.

So, last night I decided to try to make some spoons out of them.  The staves themselves have a beautiful curve to them which would be perfect for a handle.  I thought with a little steam bending, I could get the bowl to be where I wanted it without disrupting that curve too much.

The staves are made of clear White Oak and it carved beautifully.  It almost had the consistency of frozen butter if you can imagine that.  This was a totally joy to carve.  I will be finishing it tonight.

Here are all of the tools I would use on a spoon like this.  Wetterlings small axe, Morakniv 120, Morakniv 164 spoon knife and a spokeshave.

That little dark spot there is actually staining from the wine.