Carved wooden spoon

I carved this spoon from cherry wood for my brother's wedding gift. Cherry is great to use in spoon carving as it works easily and is safe to use with food.

 The bowl of the spoon has been left with shallow carving marks still visible, as I like the contrast between the smooth handle and these gouge marks.

The tools used in shaping were a bandsaw (to quickly rough out the shape, although I could also have used an axe), a drawknife and a Mora bushcraft knife. To shape the outside of the bowl of the spoon, I used a number 3 gouge and on the inside, a large spoonbit gouge. Some people use a hook knife (or crooked knife) to shape the insides and I own some and will use them, but personally I prefer the spoonbit gouge. 

After carving the spoon, I engraved the initials of my brother and his wife and the date of the wedding, using a Dremel hand drill with a rotary burr. 

Finally, the spoon was dampened with water and lightly sanded with fine grade paper, to allow the wood grain to rise and then be sanded back.

The final finish was a couple of coats of extra virgin olive oil.. This needs to be gently warmed before application to help it soak in, otherwise it tends to sit on the surface and attracts dirt. Some popular wood finishing oils, such as Danish oil, aren't safe to use with food.

Lastly, the spoon was rubbed down with a clean cloth and was then ready to go!