Tuesday 22 January 2008

Birch Bur Kuksa

I've been wanting to try carving a kuksa from a Birch bur and finally got the chance to do it. The Birch bur is an abnormal growth on the trunk of the tree


Which yields a beautiful grain pattern when carved. Here is the kuksa I have carved which requires some sanding and then oiling to bring out the grain pattern.


Once completed and oiled, I will add another picture below.

For Louie, 90% of the work was done with this gouge chisel which is currently a favourite tool to work with, second only to my knife.

9 comments:

Mungo said...

That's a really nice looking Kuksa.

I am hoping that on my next trip to Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada, that I will find a good sized birch-burl and make a kuksa out of it... I like your design very much, especially the thumb-rest.
Cheers,
Mungo

salix said...

Sweet!

Louie said...

Thats amazing. I've been trying to carve a simple ladle out of cherry off and on for several weeks. It seems with the swirled grain your Kuksa would be hard to carve. What tools/knives did you use?

sam said...

That looks awesome. It is truly beautiful

Pablo said...

Very nice indeed. Still looking for a suitable bur. Are they uncommon?
Pablo.

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

good work, that's literally the best Kuksa I've seen yet
SBW

Fenlander said...

Many thanks.

Kevin

Unknown said...

What # sweep is this gouge and where did you get it. I am trying to find a single gouge that I can afford which will allow me to carve kuksas and bowls. I generally buy through woodcraft.com. Between this and your spoon gouge I have seen in later posts, which do you like better?

Fenlander said...

Hi Jeremy, I have bought a couple of gouges. Both are from a second hand tool shop. You really need to test a couple to find the best sweep for you. I borrowed from others to decide which suited me.