SPOON CARVING JIG

I'd forgotten about this one. This is a cut-and-paste from my post over on the Router Forum:

It took a while, but I got a friend addicted to woodwork. One of his projects he showed me were spoons and ladles he made for his family. They were nice.

When I asked my friend how long it took to carve out the spoons, I thought "there has to be a faster, more efficient way." Being inclined to work abnormally hard at being lazy, I went to work finding an easier way. Okay, it wasn't so much going to work as it was kicking back in my chair, closing my eyes and letting my mind wander. At any rate, this is what I came up with:

1) I made the base seen in the photo using 1/4 plexi.

The design of the base could vary, but I thought this one looked pretty official, so I stayed with it.

As the photo suggests, the bolts at each of the support areas (120 degrees off each other, give or take a few degrees). The 120 degree spacing let me stay out of my own way, so to speak, but still provided ample support for the router.

If desired, the legs could be reinforced with wood or some other material.

Each of the three legs have a slot through which a 3-1/2" long, 1/4"x20 carriage bolt fits. The round head of the carriage bolt rides the pattern on the jig reasonably well. You can sand and polish it, if you find need.

A nut under the base, on each 1/4"x20 bolt, with a flat washer between the nut and the base, allow you to adjust the height the router and base sit off the spoon or ladle.

A washer, then a nut on the top the 1/4" x 20 bolt, above the router base, locks the height you choose.

2) I built the base from a piece of scrap 3/4" plywood.

The guides for the base are from scrap 2x stock cut using the band saw. Obviously, you can make make different shapes (different curves, horizontal S's, V's, and so forth) to meet your wants and needs.

To make sure the carriage bolt stays in the guides, I added 1/8" sides from scrap Masonite.

3) I set the three guides on the jig base, set the router base in them, then moved things around to determine what I thought was the best place to secure them, then locked them in place.

I added two adjustable stops near the top guide, to sandwich the spoon/ladle being worked.

I added one clamp at the bottom to finish securing the spoon or ladle. A notch in the end of the clamp holding the spoon might secure items better, if you find need.

4) Once everything is in place, set your router cut depth, set the base so the three carriage bolts land in the guides and begin routing using your usual best methods for easing a bit into wood.

NOTES:

* It takes five minutes or less to carve out a spoon or ladle.

* I grab cheap or free plexi and acrylic every chance I get. Free is, of course, best. The base for this project was from 1/4 plexi from a store display.

* I use a cove bit to produce rounded edges, but you could swap it out for a flat bit, if you had more material to remove. Just use one that will allow the round bit to take a bit more material off around the edges, so you do end up with rounded corners inside.

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In follow-up conversations, others came up with ideas, like using hardening putty, to form custom molds.  From there. I was inspired to think of way to create curving sides and thought of using plastic from 5 gallon buckets. . . .