Now that spoon carving has supplanted pen turning as the latest woodworking craze (and it’s about time), you might enjoy this article from The Woodworker magazine, which was likely written and illustrated by Charles H. Hayward.
Hayward had excellent contacts among British museums, especially the Victoria and Albert Museum. So the magazine is peppered with his drawings of early work, including this collection of interesting wooden spoons.
I’ve not been bitten by the spoon-carving bug, likely because of a psychic scar.
During my first few months at Popular Woodworking in 1996, one of the other editors was carving Celtic love spoons; I decided I would like to learn to make one, too. After half a day of work on my love spoon, I showed it to him to get some feedback and tips.
“Oh wow,” he said, holding my spoon. “I really am a good carver. Your spoon sucks. You’re fired.”
He gave the spoon back to me and walked away. I threw my spoon in the garbage.
You can download the one-page article in pdf format using the link below.
Wooden_spoon_article
— Christopher Schwarz