Kuksa inspired by our travels in Sweden

Following a trip to Sweden I was keen to make a Kuksa  in the style that we'd seen in Sweden when visiting the museums. In the summer of 2019 I joined a small group at the Old Craft Centre at Schumacher College making a Kuksa of our own design guided by Felix Cary. This was over a weekend starting from a large log of Downy Birch felled from nearby Dartmoor about a year ago, and more recently (about a month) sawn into large sections ready for further axework. The wood was slightly spalted (starting to decay through fungal attack) and had a few boring insects that had chewed through the bark. This adds to the character of the final bowl but also made the heartwood harder to chisel and shape compared with fresh greenwood. It also had a few knots to be aware of and to avoid in crucial places.
I started with a lump of wood chopped from a log that was big enough to carve the Kuksa.

This is the starting cuboid of Birch showing knotes and grain direction.

This is the other side showing some streaking and grain structure and was to become the top of the Kuksa.

The first step was to axe the sides to make a fairly regular cuboid that could be easily clamped for making the bowl of the Kuksa. After this it was a case of making the outline of the top taking in to account the position of knots and insect holes. I used a plant pot base to get the size I wanted.

A rough outline of the plan of the Kuksa with a centre line marked through the bowl to the handle. The orientation of the handle was determined by a large knot visible underneath the wood.

The slab of wood was then clamped flat and the bowl of the Kuksa chipped out using a small carving Adze. I had never used one of these but soon got the hang of it.

Shows the beginning of the bowl cut with the Adze. After this I used a gouge  to deepen the bowl and smooth the sides better.

The next stage was to axe the sides of the bowl and handle.

To shape the handle I sawed lines across the bottom of the handle so that my axe work didn't split the bowl.

Looking a little more like a Kuksa but still a long way to go. This was basically the stage after the first days work!

I continued with axe work for a couple of hours after this to get as much wood off as possible to take it to about 1 cm from the final size. In fact, in retrospect, I could have continued longer using the axe to avoid a lot of knife work later on in the shaping. This of course depends on having a good sharp axe. I used a dropped forged axe for most of the finer work.

Here you can see the Kuksa taking shape and the Mora knife used to do the finer carving. Still a way to go.

I spent a lot of time trying to shape the rim and also the handle of the Kuksa.

I am happy with the bowl of the Kuksa at the end of the second day but still feel the need to tweek the outside of the bowl and handle to get the shape I want.

Profile of the Kuksa. I was trying to get the handle coming down with the bowl slightly lower. This has worked to a degree.

After I have refined to outer edges and maybe drilled a hole for the leather hanger, I'll treat it with Walnut oil and the outside will get a 1:4 Beeswax:Walnut oil seal. It should take about a week to dry before treatment. I'm still not sure if I'll sand it when dry to get a very smooth finish or leave it with the knife marks.