Why Hazel Makes the Finest Spoons

Hazel is the woodland carver's closest ally. A coppiced hazel stool throws up long, slender poles of remarkably straight grain, and even a branch that has fallen in a winter gale will usually be sound, close-grained and pleasantly pale. Hazel is tough without being stubborn, takes a fine knife finish, and holds its shape well as it dries. It also tastes of nothing at all, which is exactly what you want in a spoon.

Before you pick anything up, settle the question of permission. In the UK, fallen timber on private land belongs to the landowner, and taking it without consent is theft — not a romantic woodland tradition. If you are on a nature reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest or a Woodland Trust site, leave it be; deadwood is habitat, full of beetles, fungi and nesting hollows. The happy answer is that most of us know a farmer, a smallholder, a gardener or a friend with a hedgerow. Ask, explain what you intend to make, and you will usually be met with a cheerful wave towards the woodpile.

Choosing Your Branch

Look for a length roughly 25 to 30 centimetres long and 5 to 7 centimetres across — about the thickness of your wrist. You want clear wood with no knots, no splits and no soft, crumbly heart. Bend it gently; a dead branch will snap, a sound one will flex.

• Straight grain: check the end for radiating cracks that run deep into the timber.
• No rot: the heartwood should be pale and firm, not spongy or darkened.
• Freshness: recently fallen green wood carves like cheese; a branch that has lain for a year will fight you.
• Size: a spoon with a decent bowl needs a blank wide enough to accommodate it, so choose diameter over length.

Spring and early summer wood is softest and most forgiving. Winter-cut hazel is denser and harder work, but dries a touch stronger.

The Tools You Actually Need

You can carve a perfectly good spoon with three tools and a scrap of cloth. No workshop, no bench, no electricity.

• A small axe or hatchet: for halving the branch and roughing out the blank. A folding saw or bow saw will cut the branch to length.
• A straight carving knife: a sloyd-style or a sturdy folding knife with a flat spine. Sharp matters far more than expensive.
• A hook knife or spoon knife: the curved blade that hollows the bowl. If you only buy one specialist tool, buy this.
• A glove and a sharpening stone: a cut-resistant glove for the hand holding the wood, and a stone to touch up the edge every twenty minutes or so.

Roughing Out the Blank

Cut your branch to length, then split it cleanly down the middle with the axe and a series of gentle taps. This removes the pith, which is the part most likely to split as it dries, and gives you two half-rounds — two spoons for the price of one.

Draw your spoon on the flat face with a pencil: bowl at one end, handle tapering away, leaving a good margin. Now axe away the waste. Work on a chopping block, always cut downwards and away from your body, and stop well short of the pencil line. New carvers axe too close and then have to carve out the damage. Aim for a chunky, unmistakable spoon shape about the size of a large dessert spoon.

Shaping the Bowl and Handle

Hold the blank firmly against your chest or a bench edge — never in your lap pointing at your thigh — and begin with the hook knife. Cut across the grain first in shallow stop cuts at the front and back of the bowl, then scoop along the grain to lift out the chips. Roll the blade with your wrist rather than levering the handle; the tool should slice, never pry. Work from the centre outwards and take many light passes. A deep, thin-walled bowl will crack, so leave the walls about 5 millimetres thick.

Then switch to the straight knife for the handle and back of the bowl. Carve from the shoulder of the handle towards the tip, never the reverse, or the blade will dig in and tear the fibres. Round the handle into an octagon, then soften the corners into something your hand enjoys holding. Leave a little extra bulk where the handle meets the bowl — this neck is where spoons break.

Drying, Finishing and Care

A green spoon will move as it dries, so expect a little twist. The trick is to slow the process down: bury the roughed-out spoon in a bag of its own shavings, or in a paper bag, and leave it somewhere cool for a fortnight. If the bowl cups slightly, a few careful passes will true it up.

Finish with a knife, or a light pass of fine abrasive if you prefer. Then oil it with a food-safe oil — raw linseed, walnut or a beeswax blend. Avoid olive oil, which turns rancid. Warm the oil, wipe it on generously, leave it an hour, and buff off the excess. Repeat over the first few weeks.

Wash your spoon in warm water with a little washing-up liquid, dry it promptly, and never leave it soaking or put it in a dishwasher. Treated kindly, a hazel spoon will outlast most things in your kitchen drawer — and every time you use it, you will remember the tree it came from.