Carving Swedish Woodenware With Jogge Sundqvist

Before the advent of power tools, early craftsmen made wooden bowls and spoons the old-fashioned way--with knife and ax. In this video workshop, teacher and craftsman Jogge Sundqvist demonstrates how to make dough bowls and wooden spoons and ladles, from hunk of natural wood to finished piece. In the first project, the dough bowl, he begins by suggesting which kinds of wood are best suited to the project, and then shows viewers how to size and rough out the "blank" with ax and gouge, before making the more precise strokes necessary to create a smooth and well-rounded bowl. In the second project, Sundqvist creates a wooden spoon from a bent tree limb. To do this requires a lot of careful carving, and for each knife grip, he clearly shows the proper grasp, and explains why it's safe. This is important since many of the techniques shown would produce, if handled incorrectly, not a spoon, but a gradually diminishing set of fingers. The technical aspects are up to the high standards consistently found in Taunton Press's video workshops. This one is recommended. (Available from: Taunton Press, P.O. Box 5506, Newtown, CT 06470-5506.)