Barn The Spoon (Author)
The definitive, practical guide to spoon carving, with 16 designs to create. This is a beautifully illustrated journey through spoon traditions and folklore, from the woods to the workshop and back to the reader's kitchen, by master craftsman Barn The Spoon.
'No one in Britain knows more about crafting a spoon from greenwood than Barn The Spoon.' -- Guardian
'London's most famous and charismatic spoon whittler ... King of the whittlers.' -- Sunday Telegraph
'A well written and informative book, with good photography' -- ***** Reader review
'Barn's passion and exuberance shines through in his book, written with care and love' -- ***** Reader review
'This book is gorgeous and every home should have a copy' -- ***** Reader review
'Easy to follow and truly inspiring' -- ***** Reader review
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Barn The Spoon is a rare master craftsman in the art of spoon carving. In this book he generously shares his extraordinary skill, gentle philosophy and his life's work - designing and carving beautiful spoons that are both a joy to use and hold.
The simple, ordinary spoon is part of our everyday lives, intimately entwined with the acts of eating and socialising, from stirring our first cup of coffee to scraping the last bit of pudding from the bowl.
Barn's spoons will take you on a journey into the new wood culture, from understanding the relationship between wood, the raw material and its majestic origins in our trees and woodland, to the workshop and the axe block, and into your own kitchen.
Showing you how to use the axe and knife, from how they should feel in your hand to honing the perfect edge when carving your own spoons, the book features sixteen unique designs in the four main categories of spoon - eating, serving, cooking and measuring spoons, Barn takes you through the nuances of their making, how each design is informed by its function at the table or in the kitchen, and the key skills you will learn - such as creating octagonal handles, manipulating grain patterns and mastering bent branches.
With a chapter on the tools and basic techniques, four more chapters on different styles of spoons, and beautiful photography, there's plenty to keep the beginner or professional busy.
E. J. Osborne (Author)
Hatchet + Bear Spoon Carving demonstrates how with three basic tools – an axe and two knives – you can shape a small tree branch into a simple, honest utensil. But while the process is relatively simple, the effects of this craft are profound. E. J. describes the experience of carving a spoon as 'medicinal'. With every group of students, he has witnessed how the act of whittling, peeling and shaving wood is absorbing and meditative; minutes turn into hours while the spoon carver becomes absorbed in the making process and surrenders themselves to the joy of slow living. As well as information on tree identification to ensure that you are working with the recommended fresh green wood from hardwood species, E. J. gives advice on harvesting and storing wood. He explains the few tools that are needed for spoon carving and how to use them safely when working the key techniques – including chopping, splitting, planing, shaving, cutting. Once you are confident with the woodworking skills, you can progress to the projects chapter where full instructions are given for making five different utensil types, starting with the simplest spatula, cooking spoon and hanging jar spoon, before moving on to a coffee scoop and then finally graduating on to the bent-branch spoon.
Robert Penn (Author)
An exuberant tale of craftsmanship for nature lovers and rugged outdoor types everywhere
Robert Penn cut down an ash tree to see how many things could be made from it. After all, ash is the tree we have made the greatest and most varied use of over the course of human history. Journeying from Wales across Europe and Ireland to the USA, Robert finds that the ancient skills and knowledge of the properties of ash, developed over millennia making wheels and arrows, furniture and baseball bats, are far from dead. The book chronicles how the urge to understand and appreciate trees still runs through us all like grain through wood.
Callum Robinson (Author)
Ingrained is a love letter to trees, timber and craftsmanship – and to finding your own voice.
The eldest son of a Master Woodworker, Callum Robinson spent his childhood absorbing craft lessons in his father’s rural Scottish workshop. As he grew older his passion for creating exquisite bespoke objects led him to establish his own workshop; to chase ever bigger and more commercial projects, to business meetings, bright lights, and to losing touch with his roots. Until the devastating loss of one major job threatened to bring it all crashing down. Faced with the end of his business, his team and everything he had worked so hard to build, he was forced to question what mattered most.
Blending memoir and nature writing at its finest, Ingrained is an uplifting meditation on the joys and challenges of working with your hands in our modern age, on inheritance, community, and the beauty of the natural world.
Nick Offerman (Author)
"Want to have some fun? Little Woodchucks is for every kid and 50-year-old woman who wants to make something cool with their hands." - Amy Poehler
Many know Nick Offerman from his role as Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation. But in addition to acting and comedy, woodworking is one of the great passions of Nick’s life. (The others are his wife, family, and friends, his dogs, music, cheese curds, the great outdoors, bacon and eggs, his bride, the Chicago Cubs, puzzles, Beef Wellington, the theatre, his canoe, his wife, Wilco, and single-malt Scotch whisky.) In Little Woodchucks, Nick and his team at the Offerman Woodshop open their doors to woodworkers of all ages, sharing their passion for their craft and showing you how to make a range of their most popular and accessible projects. From carved twig animals and box kites to tool boxes and simple hayloft benches, these twelve family-friendly projects are the perfect way to discover the joys of woodworking, and share the love of crafting with others.
Written with Nick’s signature wry humour an charm, and with clear illustrated step-by-step instructions, Little Woodchucks is a quality piece of bookery from an American original.
Will Kirk (Author)
The art of caring for the things you love ...
Caring for the items you love around the home is easier - and more rewarding - than you think. In his first book, The Repair Shop's resident woodworking expert Will Kirk takes you on a tour of the basics of wood care and restoration, from first steps and quick fixes around the home to getting stuck into larger projects over a weekend.
Whether you are fixing something you have had for years or upcycling something new, Restore shows you how simple and joyful woodworking can be, from fixing knicks and stains and making small repairs, to everyday hacks you can use to help care for your furniture.
Restore teaches us how to save pieces of furniture from the scrap heap and appreciate the craftsmanship behind the objects we use every day. Encouraging us all to slow down and appreciate the beauty of woodcraft through easy, accessible projects - which anyone can start working on at home!
Bestseller in nielsen bookscan week 202429
Peter Korn (Author)
Why do we make things? Why do we choose the emotionally and physically demanding work of bringing new objects into the world with creativity and skill? Why does it matter that we make things well? What is the nature of work? And what is the nature of a good life?
Part memoir, part polemic, part philosophical reflection, this is a book about the process of creation and what it means to be a craftsman in a mass-produced world. For woodworker Peter Korn, the challenging work of bringing something new and meaningful into the world through one’s own efforts is exactly what generates authenticity, meaning, and fulfilment, for which many of us yearn. This is not a ‘how-to’ book in any sense, Korn wants to get at the ‘why’ of craft in particular, and the satisfaction of creative work in general, to understand its essential nature.
How does the making of objects shape our identities? How do the products of creative work inform society? In short, what does the process of making things reveal to us about ourselves? Korn draws on four decades of hands-on experience to answer these questions eloquently in this heartfelt, personal and revealing book.
