Calm Carving | Sculpting a HUGE Ladle In Three Days from a PERFECT Bent Branch With Only Hand Tools

Hello everyone! I am back with a mammoth of a ladle that I spent three days carving with my hand tools. I wanted to really take my time to do this beautiful piece of wood justice and to unite a knot that I had been feeling over winter. I feel like it was an amazing spring clean of my mind and I am so happy to now have a hand carved giant ladle! On day one, I processed my giant, green, fresh log and cut the ends off. the waste wood will become other future projects. I then had the glorious time of satisfyingly splitting this immaculate bent branch into two, through the pith. Listening to the wood crack really puts into perspective just how complex wood is as a material. The split was so clean that I really couldn't hide my reaction. I simply haven't ever carved a log that was this nice before! After, I roughly shaped the piece before clamping it into a cup horse, roughly hollowing with the adze and hollowing its undercut bowl with a great carving tool called a Twca Cam. I firstly used a 50mm version before going to a tighter 40mm to reach into complex places. I then drew a design on before departing from the workshop and taking a step back. After a sleep, I could see that I needed to really start sculpting this shape with the axe. I firstly carved the bowl area of the ladle to an even thickness before roughly shaping the handle, making satisfying shavings before moving to the knife for a completely mellow experience, rough shaping to a wonderful crude version of the shape I had in my head. Day two was a lot of work for my body and the wind and the rain were tough elects to tackle so I called it a day and headed home On day three, I worked with my detail knife to create long, pirouetting shavings to refine and create a smooth texture through the whole piece. The results were so calming and the overall ladle felt like an echoic sculpture. It was interesting just how nice it is to share time with wood and to work with the material and the grain to achieve such a refined outcome, using primitive and heritage techniques. I also liked how my body had to improvise with the grips... At some points, the spoon was under my arm pit, at other times, between my legs to brace the unfamiliar object to safely carve it away. I like to think that I documented the wood well and the grain and the chatoyance and the flow of the original log were all left behind to speak for themselves. I really hope you enjoyed this video as much as I enjoyed producing it and carving the ladle. The ladle will now dry SLOWLY to not crack! I will place it in a tote bag of wood chops and place it in a cool, dark cupboard in the garage where it is away from heat, draft or light. This will discourage the drying process and help it reach the same moisture level as its environment as a rate that will not stress the wood too much ad hopefully will not cause the fibres to open to dry faster. Thanks again for your support and for stopping by! Samuel Alexander Tools in order of use: Big bow saw Garden hatchet and old axe head for splitting James Wood Socketed Axe Head Josh Burrell Radii Adze Nic Westermann 50mm Twca Cam Adrian Lloyd Slöjd Knife 4" Nic Westermann 40mm Twca Cam Silky Saw Gomboy 240 Adrian Lloyd 3.5" Slöjd Knife Belzeboo Crafts Loop Knife Custom Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:17 Sawing The Bent Branch 00:49 Satisfying Splitting 02:11 Rough Axe Work 03:55 Adze Hollow 04:53 Twca Cam Hollow 07:19 Rough Axe Shaping 09:43 Carving With the Knife 11:46 Finishing Cuts 16:00 Chamfering Edges 17:29 The Finished Piece 18:19 Final Thoughts and Goodbye