Project description
Species: birch, maple or pear, whichever you have seasoned blanks or fresh billets of. Resinous softwoods are out, and so is anything poisonous such as yew — these are eating tools, and I do not want either a taste of pine or a real risk on the plate. I expect the carving to be done wet and the drying to be slow and controlled, in shavings or a paper bag, so the handle does not twist and the bowl does not open a crack across the grain. If that means adding two weeks to the schedule, say so at the start and I will plan around it rather than push you.
On shape and finish. The bowl of the table spoon has to enter the mouth without effort — a real crank in the handle, a bowl with a proper sweep, not a flat canoe. The rim should be thin but not razor-like, so it never feels coarse against the lip. The handle must not be slippery: a facet or a soft oval section, something that stays put in a wet hand. Tool marks left visible or everything sanded smooth — let us agree by photo before you finish; I lean towards visible facets, but I want to see your own preference first.
What I am asking you to deliver and confirm:
— four pieces: table spoon, tea spoon, ladle, pan spatula, one visual family;
— safe species only, named before you start, no resinous softwood and nothing toxic;
— wet carving, slow drying, and a note on how you will control the moisture;
— rim thickness agreed on the table spoon before the rest are finished;
— food-safe oil or wax as the only finish; no lacquer, no varnish, no stain;
— a small maker's mark burned or stamped on the handle, discreet, not a logo;
— photos at the roughed-out stage, after drying and after the final cut;
— care notes in writing: no dishwasher, never leave it soaking in water, how often to refresh the oil and with what;
— your realistic dates and your price for the set, packaging and shipping included.