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Carving wooden spoons from scratch at Sloane

Carving wooden spoons from scratch at Sloane

Rick Liegl shows axe carving techniques.

Lans Christensen

KENT — On Saturday, Aug. 10, the Eric Sloane Museum hosted a hands-on workshop devoted to custom carved wooden spoons. Master Craftsman Rick Liegl of South Windsor led the class.

A group of six attended the workshop and learned not just spoon carving but the enormous variety and importance of early American woodcrafts.

As Liegl said, “There’s a universe in this green woodworking world.”

In the early days, he explained, if you had a job and needed a tool, you made the tool out of the most available material: wood.

Eric Sloane Museum in Kent hosted a day-long course Aug. 10 to teach attendees the art of carving wooden spoons by hand.Lans Christensen

The Eric Sloane Museum has a vast and fascinating collection of wooden tools and Liegl provided a brief tour of the displays. As the six-hour workshop progressed, participants learned volumes about wood variety, axe carving, knife carving methods, and safety as well.

Not just historically significant, this workshop sent happy participants home with their own hand carved wooden spoon.

Lans Christensen

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