A blank is a ‘roughed out’ item, ready for the knife carving stage. This is a roughly shaped butter knife, ready to be finished and personalised with the knife.

Online Classes

If you have booked a place on Knife Skills 0, you will need a blank like this. Feel free to order more than one if you’d like to have a spare to practice on. You will also need a slojd knife. You may, of course, use your own knife, as long as it is suitable and sharp.

The Wood

The blank in the picture is ‘green’ (unseasoned) grey willow. Yours may not be the same wood but it will be a suitable hardwood, depending on what I have available. It will most likely be sycamore, beech, hazel, alder, birch or willow. I will choose a relatively straight and knot free piece of wood to make your blank from.

Approx dimensions: 16cm long x 4cm wide

Production Method

‘Roughing out’ is traditionally done with an axe. In this case, your blank will be cut out with a bandsaw. Using an axe generally results in better spoons because of the natural tendency or the axe to rive along the fibres, thus avoiding short grain and making use of the wood’s natural strength. I have made thousands of spoons and other utensils with an axe and now I know how to create a strong blank, whether I use an axe or a saw.

These must be made to order to ensure they’re ‘green’ when I send them so it may take me a day or two to make yours. If you have booked a class, let me know which date in the comments section at checkout.

Storage

Green wood is softer and much easier to carve. Your blank will be wrapped up for shipping to prevent it from drying out too quickly. To keep it green, you should keep it wrapped up. If you plan to store your billet for longer than two weeks, I’d recommend keeping it in the freezer. That will keep it fresh and green while preventing mould growth. When you’re ready to carve it, give it an hour or two to defrost.