Process

Arborvore spoons are made using a variety of traditional woodworking tools. Wood gathered around central New Hampshire is split using wedges, maul and froe, and then is roughly shaped into billets using a specially designed carving hatchet. Billets are then further refined to define the shape of the spoon using the carving hatchet. Power tools are sometimes used to a very limited degree to assist in transforming the billets into rough spoon blanks. The spoon blanks are then shaped using Scandinavian style hook and sloyd knives as well as a variety of wood carving gouges, files and rasps. Spoons are sanded to the smoothest possible finish by hand using increasingly finer grades of sand paper, and then water is used to raise the grain before the final sanding. They are finished using several coats of walnut oil, and sealed and protected with a custom made walnut oil and organic beeswax finish.