Further Shaping The Spatula — How To Make A Spatula

With the main profile of the spatula cut, you can now work on the rest of the shaping. This includes rounding over the handle and creating a curve on the head of the spatula.

Firstly, remove the hard corners on the long, straight edges using a spokeshave to create a 45° chamfer. Then you can work to either side to round over the corners. Make sure you’re cutting with the grain and not against it. Also avoid taking too much off the corner initially as it’s not necessary and it makes it harder to create a symmetrical handle. Do the same on the other three corners and then move on to shaping the end of the spatula.

To round over the curved side of the head, clamp securely in the vice and begin to take off the corner with the spokeshave set to a deep cut. You can then start to lower the spokeshave gradually with a shallow set and feather into the face until you get a continuous curve. Make sure you don’t thin down the edge too much with the initial chamfer as this would make it very fragile. Instead, stay away from the flat face by about 2mm and try to get a consistent rim around the whole curve. To strengthen the fine edge, take off the square corners along the curve with a single pass of the spokeshave.

Remove the hard corners with the spokeshave set to a deep cut

Change direction if you run into contrary grain and back the cutting iron a little on the spokeshave for a finer cut

Continue working all around until the handle has an even, oval shape

Remove the hard corner on the spatula head and work to either side for an even curve

Use a round rasp for the tight internal curve, working from both sides to avoid any splitting on the outside