Make Your Own Wooden Spatulas

These are much easier to make than the spoons since you do not have to hollow out the bowl. Also, you can get more creative with the curves and such. These spatulas are a nice return on a little time spent in the shop.

Fairing the rough cut blank with a paring chisel

Sanding out the general shape. This is done with 60 grit

The finished product sanded to 200 grit. The great thing about cherry is that you can get a really silky feel to it by sanding.

A Quick Post on Making Wooden Spoons

Wooden spoons are a great small project because they are functional and quick to make. This one took about two hours start to finish. I roughed out the shape on a bandsaw and hollowed out the bowl with a large gouge. The trickiest part is really getting a shape that is functional and pleasing to the eye. Spoons can be both right and left handed so you need to make sure which you are making. It is nice to carve a rest into the bottom to keep the bowl from hitting the counter when it is set down.

For the final shaping and smoothing, I use a random orbit sander and sandpaper. You can rough out some of the beveled curves with a paring chisel and then sand them. The bowl of the spoon needs to be hand sanded to ensure an even surface that doesn't collect food in hard to clean areas. I could probably spend twice the time on these to make them perfect but they are after all a kitchen tool and as soon as they are washed a few times they get pretty ugly. All in all, it's a fun little project when you don't have a ton of time.