Turned Spatula Project – Video and Photos

[Botch Studio]

We recently finished up a little lathe project we thought some of you might appreciate—a turned spatula. It started as a bit of an experiment more than anything, just to see how far we could push shaping something functional on the lathe.

We’ve attached a few photos here, but they don’t really capture the full process or some of the trickier moments (especially refining the profile and getting a comfortable handle). If you’re interested in how it actually came together, we filmed the whole build and put it into a short video:

In the video, we go through the wood selection, roughing it out, shaping, and finishing. There were definitely a couple of points where things could’ve gone wrong, so we’d be curious what you all think about the approach.

Always open to feedback - especially if anyone has tips for improving efficiency or refining shapes like this on the lathe.

If you enjoyed the video, feel free to subscribe.

Cheers!

 

[daniscool]

The pics are nice. They don’t completely do it justice like the video but they give a good first impression.

It is very important to either Waterpop while sanding or blade finish otherwise the fivers of the wood will raise up when the spatula is wetted. This will make the texture very rough. For spatulas you can actually use a spokeshave to get that blade finish. (It doesn’t work on spoons obviously)

If you do sand I really recommend the waterpop.

 

[Botch Studio]

The pics are nice. They don’t completely do it justice like the video but they give a good first impression.

It is very important to either Waterpop while sanding or blade finish otherwise the fivers of the wood will raise up when the spatula is wetted. This will make the texture very rough. For spatulas you can actually use a spokeshave to get that blade finish. (It doesn’t work on spoons obviously)

If you do sand I really recommend the waterpop.

Thanks for the advice, we'll take that onboard for sure. Thanks for watching.

 

[Nature Man]

The pics are nice. They don’t completely do it justice like the video but they give a good first impression.

It is very important to either Waterpop while sanding or blade finish otherwise the fivers of the wood will raise up when the spatula is wetted. This will make the texture very rough. For spatulas you can actually use a spokeshave to get that blade finish. (It doesn’t work on spoons obviously)

If you do sand I really recommend the waterpop.

Is the waterpop procedure just wetting the wood then sanding, or is there something further to it? Chuck

 

[Nature Man]

We recently finished up a little lathe project we thought some of you might appreciate—a turned spatula. It started as a bit of an experiment more than anything, just to see how far we could push shaping something functional on the lathe.

We’ve attached a few photos here, but they don’t really capture the full process or some of the trickier moments (especially refining the profile and getting a comfortable handle). If you’re interested in how it actually came together, we filmed the whole build and put it into a short video:

In the video, we go through the wood selection, roughing it out, shaping, and finishing. There were definitely a couple of points where things could’ve gone wrong, so we’d be curious what you all think about the approach.

Always open to feedback - especially if anyone has tips for improving efficiency or refining shapes like this on the lathe.

If you enjoyed the video, feel free to subscribe.

Cheers!

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Like this a great deal! I will watch the video for further information. Chuck

 

[Botch Studio]

Like this a great deal! I will watch the video for further information. Chuck

Nice one, Chuck. Appreciate it!

 

[Nature Man]

Like this a great deal! I will watch the video for further information. Chuck

Watched the video. Never thought about turning a spatula like that, but your demo was a teaching moment. Chuck

 

[daniscool]

Y

Is the waterpop procedure just wetting the wood then sanding, or is there something further to it? Chuck

Yes it is.

 

[Botch Studio]

Watched the video. Never thought about turning a spatula like that, but your demo was a teaching moment. Chuck

Glad to hear it!

 

[Mike Hill]

I like the work progression. Was pondering what I would have done. I'm kinda hard-headed and troglodyte-ish and would have probably mounted the blank and turned the handle and profile of the spatula and then cut the sides off. Only one set of cuts rather than two, but it worked very well the way you worked it.

 

[Botch Studio]

I like the work progression. Was pondering what I would have done. I'm kinda hard-headed and troglodyte-ish and would have probably mounted the blank and turned the handle and profile of the spatula and then cut the sides off. Only one set of cuts rather than two, but it worked very well the way you worked it.

That would have stopped all the bouncing around whilst on the lathe too! We'll try that next time.

 

[Mike Hill]

That would have stopped all the bouncing around whilst on the lathe too! We'll try that next time.

But it brings up other problems - holding a round piece while cutting on the bandsaw and cutting on an unsupported edge. Both can be overcome.

 

[DLJeffs]

I'm older school than Mike - I'd have cut the shape out using a coping saw, then tapered the spatula end with hand planes and rasps, And finally rounded the handle with rasps and sand paper. But I do have a band saw now so I'd probably try to use it to cut the basic shape.

 

[Mike Hill]

I'm older school than Mike - I'd have cut the shape out using a coping saw, then tapered the spatula end with hand planes and rasps, And finally rounded the handle with rasps and sand paper. But I do have a band saw now so I'd probably try to use it to cut the basic shape.

You need to demonstrate at our upcoming Renaissance Festival

 

[DLJeffs]

But I've moved passed sharp rocks and fire.

 

[Botch Studio]

But it brings up other problems - holding a round piece while cutting on the bandsaw and cutting on an unsupported edge. Both can be overcome.

Yeah that could be tricky too. Our current method seems to do the trick.

 

[Gdurfey]

Fantastic project. Saw a similar tutorial but the one I saw used the bandsaw a bit more and then a spindle sander to add a curved shape to the spatula end. Not much different than some of the other comments above though.

Thanks for sharing this. Now I have to go find my blanks I made because I can’t walk to the shed and pick out a pretty log like you did.

 

[Botch Studio]

Fantastic project. Saw a similar tutorial but the one I saw used the bandsaw a bit more and then a spindle sander to add a curved shape to the spatula end. Not much different than some of the other comments above though.

Thanks for sharing this. Now I have to go find my blanks I made because I can’t walk to the shed and pick out a pretty log like you did.

Good luck, if you make a spatula please share the outcome on this thread.