Make Way for the Dragon!!

After perfecting the design for my latest Welsh Lovespoon I decided that the material to use for the carving would be Mahogany. The reason for this choice was that I wanted the detail to stand out once it was waxed and polished. I did consider the use of Maple or Walnut but thought that Maple would be too light and Walnut to be too dark. The only apprehension was the fact that Mahogany can be a little stringy with the grain and tear if the tools are not super sharp.

With this in mind I set about cutting the bulk of the excess material away with a 14" Grizzly bandsaw with a 1/4" blade. This allowed me to get into the tightest corners without the worry of snagging the material. Once this was accomplished it was a case of drilling pilot holes to accept the blade of a scroll saw. My particular saw of choice was a Delta with variable speed. I must confess that this part of the operation is the least pleasant for me as I tend to have my fair share of blade breakages which always puts me on edge.

Now the fun part begins as I start to carve the bowl of the spoon. This is always my first operation as it gives instant gratification. Next I start carving the dragon and work my way around the whole carving doing different parts to keep the interest fresh. With the detail work taking shape it suddenly goes from a flat piece of wood into an actual three dimensional work or art.


As I get to the scroll that supports the heart from the bowl of the spoon, care has to be taken as this is probably the most delicate part of the carving due to the amount of vulnerable end grain. With all the main carving out of the way I look over the completed Lovespoon and fine tune all areas before sanding to a smooth finish.


Once I am satisfied with the smoothness I apply a liberal coat of citrus wax and buff out to a nice satin finish, once again inspecting the smoothness and sanding with fine sandpaper to get any roughness out. With it finalized I can put it up for auction on eBay. Hopefully the uniqueness of the carving will prompt people to view it at least and maybe even a sale.

With each carving, even though some of them are the same design, they all end up different in some way. This is the beauty of a hand carving.