Sticking with the traditional wood carving project progression decided to move on from carving spoons to more ‘advanced’ wood carving and have a go at carving a Kuksa i.e. a wooden drinking cup. To be honest uses very similar techniques, just on a larger scale. Traditionally made from tree burs, typically Birch. These are nobly growths sometimes found on the side of tree trunks, not certain why or how these occur, suspect they may be the result of scare tissue damage. One major complication of wanting to use a bur is that finding one of a suitable size and that is freely accessible is not the easiest things to do. However, an alternative approach is to use a split log of a suitable size. From the examples I’ve seen I assume that burs preferred due to their twisted grains i.e. they are less likely to form long splits that could occur in straight grained woods i.e. using the split log approach. Alternatively, perhaps in larger burs its due to their curved shapes i.e. the gain naturally follows the required curved bowl shape, such that when carved you don’t cut through the grain within the bowl making a more water tight container. For me finding a section of green wood of the required diameter was difficult enough, so I haven’t found a bur yet (I’ll have to wait and see what the differences are). The wood used for my first attempts is Sycamore, not sure if this is a recognized wood for carving wooden drinking cups, but I believe in the past Maple burs have been used in Canada i.e. a related family.
The main danger of carving green wood of this size is splitting i.e. different parts of the wood drying at different speeds causing stress within the grain, leading to splits. The highest risk areas are sections where you have cut across the grain e.g. at the ends. To prevent splits forming you need to slow down the drying process. One technique is to ‘paint’ these exposed ends, I find a coating of vegetable oil works well. Another good idea during the initial roughing out carving phase is to take regular breaks, during which the wood is wrapped in a plastic bag. In these early phases, the wood should be stored in a dark, cool place, in a plastic bag to slow down the drying process. Note, don’t wrap the cup too tightly in the plastic bag as this will cause the wood to sweet and can lead to surface mold. Place the cup in the bottom of a plastic bag ensuring there is a good air gap around it. The speed of drying can be controlled by how tightly the top of the bag is closed i.e. the size of its opening. Tip, don’t carve the bowl too thinly too quickly, reduce wall thickness slowly in stages allowing the wood to dry, settle in between. Even when fully seasoned wood has the unhelpful quality of absorbing water which can again result in cracking if it was to dry out too quickly. This led me to consider why wood is used when other materials e.g. pottery or metal were available. The tradition of Kuksa carving seems to have its base in northern European countries. I believe Kuksa is a Swedish word. I don’t know if this is a factor i.e. the extremely cold winter temperatures. When very cold, metal objects become difficult to handle i.e. freezing to skin, equally pouring hot water into pottery cups would cause them to crack. Perhaps the insulating qualities of wood is why it is used in these countries?
Figure 6.3.0 : Carving tools
Figure 6.3.0.1 : Roughed out Kuksa
To carve a Kuksa you need to remove a lot of material from the bowl. This could be done with a curved (crook) knife, but I found it easier to use a chisel, as shown in figure 6.3.0. Working with the grain push the chisel with the palm of your hand down and along into the middle of the bowl, lifting up blocks of wood fibres. Then rotating the bowl around and repeat the process from the other side, levering out sections of wood. Note, when using the chisel the flat face is face up, using a curving cut. When the initial roughing out is finished the crook knife can be used, rounding or undercutting the straight chisel cuts. Another advantage of the chisel is its easy to sharpen making carving a lot easier. I find the crook knife on the other hand very tricky to sharpen. One method that was suggested to me was to wrap a piece of wet-and-dry or emery cloth around a dowel of a comparable diameter to the crook, twisting it to sharpen the inner edge. However, I found that only the high points on the blade were sharpened. I use a small sharpening stone in a circular motion on the outer edge, wrapping a piece of wet-and-dry around my finger to remove any burrs on the inner edge. Even using this technique its difficult to get the same level of sharpness as a normal flat blade, making carving more difficult. Note, you need to sharpen the crook knife regularly to get a clean finish.
Once the bowl is roughed out, the outer surface is carved to the required shape and thickness. Note, to gauge bowl wall thickness use a thumb and finger pinch test to ensure an even depth. At this stage another suggested technique to prevent the bowl splitting during drying is to boil the bowl in salt water. Make a saturated salt solution, immerse the bowl and bring to the boil. The advice I read was to keep boiling until the streams of fine air bubbles coming from the wood cease. Not 100% sure why this prevents cracking, or how it slows down the drying process but I believe it’s one of the traditional stages in making Kuksas. I guess the salt water replaces the fluids / sap, air pockets within the wood, I read that the salt helps retain water, absorb water from the air around it. After the final detailed carving and sanding vegetable oil is rubbed into the Kuksa to help form a water tight seal. Again I have read of people boiling the Kuksa in oil to saturate the wood fibres with oil to help stop the wood from absorbing wood when in use. Note, have stopped using Linseed oil, as I started to question if it was suitable for human consumption i.e. the bottle I have is designed for exterior wood surface doesn’t refer to the manufacturing process, or if it is safe for utensils used in cooking.
Figure 6.3.1 : Finished Kuksa (180 ml)
Figure 6.3.1.1 : Small Kuksa (100 ml)
Figure 6.3.1.2 : Wooden bowl (180 ml)
Below are some useful documents on Kuksa drinking cups I’ve found on the web (due to possible copyright conflicts these are only accessible from the local machine) :
Figure 6.3.2 : Camp stool
Have developed the annoying habit of putting my hand in, or sitting in a pile of poo whenever I sit down to take a break, have a drink of water. Rabbit and deer isn’t too bad, but fox is a bit of a stomach churner. Therefore, decided to make a small camp stool as shown in figure 6.3.2, to avoid this now frequent problem. Based on a design by G.L.Findley shown in the link below and in the cordage section. Made a few small changes to make it a little more compact. The frame is made from a tripod of three sticks, two forked, one straight, lashed together in the middle. The top of the front leg i.e. the one between your legs as you sit, is notched, onto which a clove hitch is tied. The two free ends are passed back around the tops of the back forked sticks and tied together at the middle with a reef knot. You can just about make out this knot in the top left frame. To two free ends are then passed back around the tops of the back forked sticks and two free ends tucked down through the front clove hitch i.e. between the clove hitch and the wood. Note, this doubles up the rope around the top of the stool. The two free ends are then wrapped up around the rope and tied on top with a reef knot. The seat is formed by passing split pieces of wood between the two top ropes, sandwiched together each side with a short length of cord. When complete the front loop can be eased off to allow the stool to be folded flat. Below are some useful documents on stools I’ve found on the web (due to possible copyright conflicts these are only accessible from the local machine) :
To steel a quote "The art of going light and right". The art of traveling and only carrying what you need to carry is greatly appreciated by you back and feet. When starting out I do confess as many before me I did like to have everything with me, just in case. As a result you found yourself with a 100+ litre rucksack, which is ok for a while, but soon becomes a pain in the neck / back after a while, especially if your traveling along rocky paths, as they have a habit of throwing you off balance at the wrong times.
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