Whale-shaped cooking spoon rest

It didn’t start as a project. I was just practising my power carving skills, I also wanted to try out my new carving disc. I have a couple more of them, different shapes for different uses. I picked up that old tabletop, it was dumped in the corner and covered with dust. I pulled it out and clamped it to my workbench. I discovered that this particular carving disc couldn’t be used with a guard, it simply didn’t fit. Even though there was no physical barrier between me and the disc, it was reasonably safe as the carving itself didn’t cause any kickbacks at all.

Okey-dokey, at some stage I realised that it could actually be something. I cut it out on my scroll saw and confirmed that I have absolutely no idea how to use a scroll saw. That was followed by more power carving, then I used rasps, oscillating tool, random orbital sander and I also did a lot of hand sanding to get some shapes out of the piece. That had to be done before I installed my bench drill and sanding mops. I had a decent variety of shapes so that step was relatively quick and easy. It was also final – 240 grit was everything I needed to call the sanding done.

It was time to apply some finish to it. It had to be food safe, so I used coconut oil. I admit that the wood used in this project might come from unknown sources and could be not exactly 100% food safe. I believe that’s still OK for a spoon rest and it won’t do any harm. A combination of a proper finish and dodgy materials, a little experiment.

It’s a very nice addition to my kitchen, it makes cooking more pleasurable and helps to keep the countertop clean. It can hold 2 spoons or spatulas and when not in use may be stored upside-down or in an upright position. Everyone who sees it says “It’s a fish!” – I like that, although we all know that whales are mammals.