When a friend called to ask if their 9 year old Joe could come and play, as he had previously shown an interest in my knives and tools, I thought it would be a great opportunity to begin laying the ground work for a new generation of spoon carvers.
Having hewn a couple of pieces of green ash (see previous post - I know birch would have been easier, but I don't have any) into nice slim sections, we drew around a Steve Tomlin spoon and I showed them how to rough out using an axe. Once I'd got the rough spoon in profile, they then took over with knives.
I know some might say that I should know better than give such young children knives, but I would much sooner they learnt from me the correct use and purpose of a knife than leave it up to Grand Theft Auto to educate them! Of course, we spent some time talking about basic grips and safety.
We didn't quite get Jude's spoon finished, we wanted Joe's done before he had to leave, but we all had a great time, chatting and whittling in the sun.
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| Jude and Joe - hard at work. No batteries or joysticks required. |
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| Jude - taking no risks with that sharp knife by his legs, employing the classic Swedish 'spatch-cocked chicken' stance |
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| A brace of happy whittlers |
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| Joe's power slices |
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