
Custom Kitchen Tools
Season 28 Episode 7 | 26m 46sVideo has Closed Captions
Turning custom kitchen cutlery and shaping SpectraPly rainbow ice cream paddles.
Turning custom kitchen cutlery and shaping SpectraPly rainbow ice cream paddles. Turning using special holding chucks opens up safe new ways of learning how to turn woods.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
American Woodshop is a local public television program presented by WBGU-PBS
The American Woodshop is generously supported by the following companies:

Custom Kitchen Tools
Season 28 Episode 7 | 26m 46sVideo has Closed Captions
Turning custom kitchen cutlery and shaping SpectraPly rainbow ice cream paddles. Turning using special holding chucks opens up safe new ways of learning how to turn woods.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(Upbeat music) - Hi, welcome to The American Woodshop.
I'm Scott Phillips, and today we're going to make the world's best ice cream paddle and a beautiful cutlery set.
So don't go anywhere.
(saw cutting) - [Narrator] The American Woodshop with Scott Phillips is brought to you by - [Voiceover] Woodcraft, since 1928, providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.
Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.
(wood slamming) - [Voiceover] Pro tools.
For tool pros.
(background music) RIKON tools - [Voiceover] Woodcraft magazine projects, plans and web links designed to help you make wood work.
- [Voiceover] PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish Silicon steel band saw blades and super sharp scroll saw blades.
- [Voiceover] A bed to sleep on.
A table to share meals.
A house that feels like a home.
The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio providing furniture to neighbors in need.
- Now, today we're going to have fun on the wood lathe, and to do that we're going to make some kitchen things that you can't live without.
This is called an ice cream paddle.
Life's too short for just an ordinary scoop.
You need the big boy, and that's what we're going to make today.
And we're going to use spectra ply, multicolored wood that's been plywooded together, and that's going to be spectacular.
All the colors in the rainbow right there on an ice cream handle.
And we have to create a nice little tenon for this to fit onto.
And it all starts over at the drill press, so let's go get set up there.
Whenever you make an ice cream paddle like this, you have to drill a pilot hole in a turning blank that's an inch and three quarters square and about six or seven inches long.
And that's also going to work for the wood lathe.
That's going to go onto a screw chuck that's 5/16 of an inch in diameter.
Now, let's drill that.
It's set up for an inch and three quarters deep, and you go, wait a minute, that looks really easy.
It is!
And that hole now is perfect right there.
Man, look at that.
This stuff is just magical.
And then on the other end, I have it marked on center point.
That's where the live ball-bearing center is going to go.
So, let's go to the wood lathe.
This little guy is called a screw chuck.
It's a four-jaw chuck.
I have the lathe locked, so I can take that pilot hole, now and thread the billet or the blank.
That's actually an inch and a half square and right around seven inches long.
And I will tighten this until it stops, just like that.
I don't want to over-tighten it.
It's snug.
And then, I bring up the tailstock and the live ball-bearing center and put it on the center point on this end, advance the ram ever so slightly and bring up the tool rest.
And make sure everything's locked in place.
That looks really good.
Now I'll unlock the spindle and that's moving freely.
And I will use a roughing gouge to turn this perfectly round.
So what speed?
Around 1200.
Now, whatever you do working in your woodshop, be sure to read, understand and follow all the instructions that come with the tools and products you use.
Face shield here, when you turn.
That's important.
This is captive between centers.
So that's very secure, this is called spindle turning with a chuck.
No rings or jewelry on.
Roll up the sleeves and just have fun.
So, now what I'll do with the roughing gouge is just go in there and I'll knock it round.
(scraping metal) I'll take the high spots right on off and by doing it this way, (scraping metal sound slows) it's going to, I'm laughing because I can see these rainbows of chips going up in the air and it's just magical.
That's why I like this SpectraPly.
Okay, now that end's smooth.
I need to take the other end down, because I could hear the chatter.
Just like that.
I need to take it down just a little bit more.
Okay, one more pass.
(scraping metal) So much fun.
Turning is very relaxing once you've done it a while.
You'll find it's the most fun you can have in your wood shop.
Now, let's see what we have.
Oh, heck yeah.
Now, we do have one spot that's flat.
That means it's not perfectly round, but everything else is looking good.
You know what?
I kinda like that flat spot.
That means it's not going to be rolling around.
Hey, chance favors the prepared mind.
I'm going to leave that as part of the design here.
And now, what I'll do is add some detail with this carbide scraper.
It's needing to be adjusted so the cutting edge is right at center line, and I can go straight in.
I want a little bit of a cove here and one up there, a bulbous handle to fit my hand.
Again, I'm rolling right around 1200.
So, going straight in.
(metal scraping) And the neat thing about a round carbide cutter like this, you can go uphill, you can go downhill.
It's a very easy chisel cutter to use.
I like it on that end.
This is the handle.
Okay.
On this end might as well make it interesting, which means I want to get rid of that flat spot.
(metal scraping) Just like that.
And then on the other side, what I can do is come right down here.
I want to stay clear of this area for a reason.
You'll see why, in just a second.
And now I'm going to sweep this, (metal scraping) Ooh boy, look at that color.
Ooh, that's so cool.
I'm going to sweep this down to make it taper down to where the handle, or the ferrule, the ring has to fit on the union between the metal pieces.
There's two pieces.
And, (metal scraping) the handle.
Take a look at that now.
I think we're close.
Very close.
Let's turn that off.
And that's exciting.
Wow.
Look at the color.
Oh, that's so cool.
That is so, oh wow.
That's just perfect.
Everything about that fits the hand.
And again, I like that flat spot there.
Okay, so the next thing I need to do is change out cutters.
I'll take the round cutter off.
And this is called a four piece lathe chisel.
This is a square carbide cutter and it's exactly one half of an inch wide, which is exactly how long this tenon needs to be on this end.
So, let's make that cut.
And again, the cutting edge needs to be right at center line.
And I can just take off a little less than half of an inch to begin with.
(metal scraping) And with that very small diameter screw chuck right there, I can size this perfectly.
(metal scraping) You don't want to make it too small.
And you do want to taper it this way ever so slightly, like a cork.
So it would be a perfect fit.
Let's check that diameter.
I think we're real close.
So, we'll take the calipers with it off.
Slide it.
Oh, that's perfect.
Right there.
We're done.
Okay.
With that being said, I'm going to get set up to do some sanding.
I won't sand without having a dust collector here and an N95 dust mask on.
We're going to sand this smooth, and then, we're going to friction on a finish, and we'll put all the parts together.
That looks really cool.
(sanding) This is always the moment of truth.
And this is why I turn, right here.
You can friction on.
This is salad bowl finish, a food safe finish.
You can friction it dry, cause that generates a lot of heat.
You want an all cotton rag.
You never wrap the cloth around your fingers.
You keep it loose in your hand.
If it would get caught up in the turning, no harm, no foul.
Just, your hand is free of it.
And I think we've got it right there.
The final light coat should just be, you don't want to friction it dry.
You just want it on there.
And then it has to air-dry.
Let's take a look at that.
So moment of truth.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, look at that.
That's just spectacular.
There's just enough of a flat on there that stop it from rolling round.
Now, we'll let this dry.
And when we come back, we'll put the parts together of this amazing paddle, but let's go to Suzy's barn to see what she's been up to.
Suzy's busy getting this barn space organized, and you'll see some tips from her in just a second.
But speaking of barns, this is a metal post and frame barn and you saw some of it last season.
And now what we're doing is trimming it out on the inside to give it that old timey feel.
And so, it all starts when you trim it out by insulating, and we're using insulation board to do that.
This is simply a dry wall square, and these panels come in four by eight sheets, and this is a Japanese razor saw.
And so what you do is, you use the razor saw carefully to score the first cut.
Blade right up against the edge of the square.
Get it a little bit deeper.
Make another cut.
And some folks would say, oh, I can just use a utility knife for that.
Well, I can promise you this, you aren't going to get as good of a cut with a utility knife as you will with a razor saw.
So, get yourself a good combination razor saw, and you can trim the insulation board off to fit the spaces.
And now, you're going to visit with Suzy to see why that's important.
Suzy's here with all of her carving chisels and she's using magnetic - well, you tell us the story.
What's going on here?
- Well, we got these great magnetic strips that I can put all around and, you know, to organize all my carving chisels.
And I've got them right under this shelf.
So, you're not going to cut yourself when you're reaching for it, but you could still see the blades.
So, - Right - just getting organized, getting a feel for the space, and I love it.
- Okay.
And so, look at all the wood trim.
This is barn wood that we've been saving forever.
No powder post beetles in any of this.
How cool is that?
And all of this has been sealed with a clear exterior 450, so it's totally safe.
And we tested it for lead first.
How can you tell if your recycled wood has any lead based paint on it?
Go get a test kit.
If it goes pink, it's got lead in it.
None of this has, it turns out had lead in it - Thank you - And that's why we saved it.
- Right - Okay.
And I love all your artwork, and what's it like to finally have your own space?
- It's awesome.
I love it.
I've enjoyed working in the shop with you, but I had no idea how - - Did you hear that?
But, but it's always the but, okay Okay, Okay, Now.
- No, it's been great, but nothing can replace having your own space.
- Right - And create and be by yourself and not be distracted, even though you're a great distraction.
- Right - But anyway, so it's great.
I love it.
I'm just having fun with it.
And the more I do in here the more I see the possibilities of what I can do in here.
So, yay!
- Okay, well, and speaking of can-do, we're going to work on that space right there trimming it out with reclaimed boards.
And these are the best things going, and, by Nordic forge, 10 inch nibblers or that they use in horseshoeing.
And that's the easiest way to get in there and pull the nails.
You get ahold of the nail, roll it right out, and you're in business.
Now, Suzy you like to use the handheld battery jigsaw.
- Yeah, this is a great tool.
- What are you doing right now?
- I'm putting the blade in there.
It's got the quick insert and release.
It just flips.
I didn't put the battery in.
Always smart to wait, put the battery on after you've put the blade in, just so you don't have an accident.
Things can happen.
- Okay, and now this is clamped down.
Let's see the cut.
- All right.
Let's do it.
- Oh, by the way, here are your safety glasses.
- Oh yeah.
Put them, no, I'll put them right here.
- Okay.
Good.
- Thank you.
- Good.
And she has hearing plugs in, so - Do my dust mask.
- Be smart about it.
Right.
- Smart - Never a good idea to breathe saw dust.
- Right.
(sawing wood) Here we go.
All right.
- It's just that simple.
- Yup - Now, one other thing that I absolutely love.
Look at this.
You go, well, it's just a tape measure.
Oh, heck no.
Suzy and I and friends built this barn.
Now, watch what happens right here.
You set this up against anything that you want to get a distance between, and you press the red button.
And it's measured from the back of the tape measure.
And you see that red dot over there on the wall, and you press it again.
And when the laser goes off, it gives you the exact dimension down to the eighth of an inch.
And honestly, think of this.
I'm going up!
Whenever you have to work alone, instead of chasing a tape and trying to get it just perfect.
You use this again from the back.
Hold it steady Get the laser index and press it again.
And you have the exact measurement.
You know how much work that saves you?
So, Suzy and I are going to get this space filled in.
Pass up the board please.
- All righty.
- Let's see how we go.
And the other thing is we just do heavy duty screws, so that we can take these down when we want to (screws drilling) (screws drilling) (wood sawing) - All right, let's do the test fit.
- Very good.
Ripped this down with a circular saw to get it to fit right in there.
A nice tight fit.
That's good.
And the cool thing is by using these long four inch long fasteners that go all the way through to the boards that the metal siding is fastened to but not through the metal siding.
And that's key.
We can reverse this.
Anytime we want to, we can take this wall apart, if we wanted to put plumbing in or electrical wiring.
So - That looks so cool.
- It's beautiful.
- I love it.
- It has the right feel, and that's what we're going to do to this entire space.
You can see those panels are getting ready to go in.
We have to insulate first, and then, more magnetic strips, just like that.
- That's right.
- Okay, and I'm messing with her tools now.
- He is.
- Okay, so - He keeps messing with them.
- Did you see that?
She's being possessive (light hearted arguing) Get outta here.
It is her space after all.
Now, I will tell you, why does she do stuff like this?
Because it's in her soul.
- Yeah - This is Kaz.
King Kaz, we called him.
- Yeah, he was great.
- Passed three years ago, and I love that.
Keep up the great work Suzy.
- Thank you - Now, back at it to the woodshop.
- All right.
Get to work!
- Don't tell Suzy, but work in my shop is pure fun.
Okay, so here we go.
This is the dried ice cream handle or scoop, paddle as it were.
And the two parts the ring fits on there.
This is threaded.
So the pilot hole here, these threads actually, when the pilot hole is cut or drilled exactly the right way, tap the threads on the handle of the ice cream paddle.
Okay, and it just, oh boy, that's a cork in the bottle going into that metal ring right there.
And what you do is, now that you've done the test drive and that's nice and tight right there.
Look at that.
That's so cool.
Fits a hand.
That's perfect.
We're ready for a party.
Now, once you know it fits perfectly, you do a two part epoxy five minute that dries clear carefully.
And you glue that shaft into that threaded fit.
Onward!
Look at this, making your own cutlery, whether it's a fork or the matching knife.
And so, this billet, that spectra ply, started life out like that.
And let's see if I can pull this apart, see that?
It has a ferrule right here and it has this undercut.
So, we have to cut a tenon on this.
And there's the hole that's 17/64ths.
And we went over to the drill press and we made everything square.
And we've drilled that hole right on the center of the end, that will accept the hardware for that knife.
Now, this is a four jaw chuck.
I've changed this out.
Life is all about choices.
And I put that turning blank right in there and I snug it up just like that.
And now, what I can do is bring up the tailstock with that point of the live ball-bearing center going into the hole that will eventually accept the knife ferrule or the post that goes into the turned handle.
And I want to check all the locks.
That's good, just like that.
And now I can finish tightening this.
It's helpful it has arrows on there that tell you which way you need to go.
These are safety glasses, but you always want to wear a face shield when you turn.
And everything's clear, I have a smaller tool rest so I can get it closer to the work piece, which is always a good idea.
And the first step is to rough it round, like we did before.
So, let's do that.
And once you're a skilled turner, you can take the speed way up.
I'll take it up to 1800 RPM.
And that gives you a better cut.
(metal scraping) It's not about speed.
You just want a good clean cut, and you want to take light passes, this is called the underhand technique.
Okay, now I want to take this down and size that tenon.
I'm using, what's called a diamond parting tool, right here, to make a very small little shoulder right there.
It's like a cork in the bottle (wood scraping) And right there is the shoulder.
It needs to go a bit smaller, I know from the calipers.
And I want it to slope in just a bit, like a cork.
That should be about it.
And here we go.
You go, what's he doing?
This is the base of the handle to the knife.
And what I'm doing here.
Look at that, the plywood is a bit grippy.
Is I'm under cutting this.
Easy does it here.
And I'm taking it down to about a half inch diameter at the very bottom.
I don't want to get that into a bind.
Okay, so now a little bit of detail.
One, nice and deep straight in Two.
Three, looks good right there.
Let's take a look at that.
I think the form is done.
Okay.
Yeah, that looks really cool.
Okay, so what I'll do now is sand this down first, and I'll bring in a dust collector and put on an N 95 dust mask, sand it, and then I'm going to friction on that salad bowl finish.
And let's turn that off and see what we have right there.
I don't want glue on the area that would receive the knife part.
Now, that looks really cool.
And what I'll do right now is, very carefully, use the razor saw that cuts on the pull strokes to separate that piece right there.
And I can sand and finish that later.
But now, let's see the fit.
I have the knife blank right here.
Oh, ready to roll.
And you want to have that covered.
Be careful of that blade.
And look at that.
Of course, that gets glued in with five minute epoxy.
That looks absolutely awesome.
So whatever you do, make your own kitchen cutlery and the number one thing everybody needs in life is an ice cream paddle.
Because I don't care what you say, you can never get enough sugar.
Now, be careful, eat wisely, get to the woodshop.
Turn your own kitchen utensils.
It's so much fun.
That's it from the American Woodshop.
Tune in next week for more good ideas.
See ya.
Oh, and go turn.
- [Voiceover] Woodcraft, Since 1928, providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.
Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.
(wood slamming) - [Voiceover] Pro tools for tool pros.
(intense music) RIKON tools.
- [Voiceover] Woodcraft magazine, projects, plans and web links designed to help you make wood work - [Voiceover] PS wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish, Silicon Steel band saw blades, and super sharp scroll saw blades - [Voiceover] A bed to sleep on.
A table to share meals.
A house that feels like a home.
The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.
- For more information on tips behind the American Woodshop and watch free episodes, 24/7, Check us out online and like us on Facebook.
(upbeat music)
Support for PBS provided by:
American Woodshop is a local public television program presented by WBGU-PBS
The American Woodshop is generously supported by the following companies: