Calm Carving | Making a Ladle From a Bent Apricot Branch Using An Affordable Spoon Carving Kit

Hello everyone and a happy 2026 to you all.

I am back with yet another calm carving project and this time it is rather exciting.

In my village love many mature apricot trees that are slowly dying. Once per year, I estimate that one comes down in order for new life to be planted and grown. This one was close to home and I even ate fruit from it last year!
I harvested some lovely branch wood from it and amongst the sections was this incredible crook. A crook is a name for a naturally occurring bend in wood and in spoon craving terms, lends itself to forms such as ladles and eating spoons - it is very desired and celebrated and in this perfect form, very rare.
I wanted to do this beautiful tree and intersection justice and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to carve a ladle.
I am not all that familiar with carving apricot wood so this was a wonderful lesson for me also.

I get asked a lot over the year and especially in the new year where people are picking up new hobbies “what tools would you recommend”. In this video, I use four hand tools that are the perfect tool kit for beginners on a budget. I would argue that it is the best value for money in terms of tool quality and use. These tools will last a generation if treated well.

I began with splitting this long and although I predicted that this log would twist slightly (due to its load bearing placement on the tree), it split so cleanly and straight and I could already see the ladle in this shape, waiting to be carved! I proceeded with my Wood Tools Carving Axe to unravel the ladle blank. The axe coped well and my first thoughts were that the wood seemed tough and robust but also slightly brittle towards the pith and juvenile wood - something quite common in mature fruit trees. Although I had to remove a lot of the deep red tones of the wood, I still had enough to form and sculpt a respectable ladle shape.

I then began to hollow the bowl with my Morakniv 164 spoon knife. There was a lot of hollowing involved and I would say that in total, it took about 2.5 hours to reach a good depth. If I didn't set the notion of using this kit, I would have picked up a bigger hollowing tool such as a twca cam or perhaps roughed the hollow with an adze first to remove bulk. Nonetheless, I had time, I had to sharpen my tool frequently and took some breaks to relax and stretch.

I then began to sculpt the back of the bowl with a Morakniv 120 before calling it a day. I decided to stop, put the piece into a plastic bag to prevent it from drying out and red home, ready for a fresh pair of eyes. I realised during this day, with the familiarity of these tools, just how much the craft can transport one back. I had memories of where my craft began when I was a beginner and how healing this journey was (and still is) for me. I felt grateful.

On day two, I began by sharpening my knife before beginning to sculpt the rest of the spoon. It was much more clear to me where the weight still was on this spoon after taking a long break. I could see that the neck was billy in relation to the refined hollow. After some time, I had to work indoors as my neighbours were doing some yard work. This is normal for this time of year. I don't like working inside much as I feel less responsive to my surroundings and often feel like I am putting less of my experience into the piece. Nonetheless, it was better to be inside than next to a roaring old tractor. I had removed enough initial work to have captured my Calm Carving experience.

With a pencil, I mapped out where the hook on the back of the handle would appear before carving the excess away with the aid of a stop cut from my Silky Saws Gomboy 210. I have seen many pot hooks on ladles over the years but have only tried a couple myself. It was a great experience and although it looks quite funny and crude, it’s so functional!
I then sculpted away the rest of the material before really slowing down and applying some finishing cuts and chamfered edges.

I had a wonderful time carving this ladle and I hope that you enjoy watching along. Apricot wood is fairly tough but lends itself to a nice tool finish. The wood was smooth and the tools coped well with this piece. I look forward to carving it again.
Although these tools are great, there is nothing like supporting an independent blacksmith. If you can, I urge you to buy tools that are made by hand by people, rather than fast machines.

As always, thank you for your support and feedback and encouragement! I look forward to bringing you more videos like this.

Samuel Alexander

Tools:
Axe - Wood Tools Carving Axe
Spoon Knife - Morakniv 164
Straight Knife - Morakniv 120
Saw - Silky Saws Gomboy 210

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
06:12 Splitting and Axe Carving
10:19 Initial Carving And Hollowing
14:27 End Of Day One
16:02 Day Two - Carving
22:12 Finishing Cuts
14:00 The Finished Piece
24:46 Project Debrief - Thank You And Goodbye