Only once in the last 21 years have I gotten my act together during the holidays and made woodworking gifts for friends and family. Except for that “cutting boards Christmas” I’ve been too swamped with making a living to do the right thing.
So if you think I made those spatulas in the photo above, you are dead wrong. You can thank Rachael Boyd, one of the readers of the blog, for this clever idea for scraps.
Rachael used stock that was 3/4″ x 2-1/4″ x 10″ long. She says she made the first one by drawing it freehand, cut it to rough shape with a coping saw and tapered the main area with a spokeshave.
She saved the best one as a template.
“I have a feeling I will need to make a lot more in the future,” she writes. “If you make these be prepared to make a lot of them ‘cause everyone loves them.”
The straight spatula shown above is made from a cutoff from a tapered leg that she took to the disc sander to finish up. (I have a bunch of these taper pieces in my shop, so this is the one I might make from some teak cutoffs.)
Thanks to Rachael for saving Christmas.
— Christopher Schwarz, who can feel his liver growing two sizes that day
Wonderful gifts. Do you know what the finish is?
The finish is Dalys kitchen wood treatment.
What kind of wood did you use in these?
I think it is hemlock or fir but most any kind would work (and no the hemlock tree is not poison)
You’ve got excellent timing. The combination of being practical, looking good, requiring a reasonable skill level and using scrap is wonderful.
Very nice. people like handmade gifts. I just posted a gifts from scraps entry on my blog.
For an extra special gift, combine the handmade spatula with a recipe book or cake mix. Trader Joes has a tasty gingerbread mix that would pair well with the kitchen utensil.