Making Copper Spoons - A Family Affair
Not only have we been beavering away refreshing our site and visual identity, we have also been working hard to add to our existing product range, designing and making new items to compliment our updates. The first in a fresh batch of wares featuring our new branding is particularly special; a beautiful camping spoon, hand made from shimmering, shining copper by none other than Andrew's Dad, Anthony Groves. We stopped by his workshop on a cold February morning to watch and photograph him cut, heat, hammer, file and polish a sheet of flat metal into an elegant yet functional piece of metalware.
Dad is a true maker and craftsman. He has the enviable ability of being able to turn almost any raw material into something functional or beautiful; although working as motor mechanic for most of his life he has been a prolific creator and tinkerer in the fields of engineering, carpentry and woodwork, gardening and growing, aviation and metalworking. Working away in his modest garage workshop, he has built full sized light aircraft, beautifully crafted electric and hollow body guitars and all manner of mechanical wonders. It is not unusual to pop round for dinner and be greeted by the whooshing roar of a fully working jet engine from the garage.
Groves senior making our copper spoons in his workshop
As I get older, I discover more and more that my Dad’s spirit of making and doing has been passed down to me; I find myself regularly saying “I could probably just make one of those”, just like he does. I’ve been lucky enough to work on many projects with my Dad the last few years - one of the first was a fixed blade that I use now for woodcarving and wilderness travel - and now together we have restored a vineyard, learnt to make and install cleft chestnut fencing, felled trees, cut hedgerows, fitted windows, weeded gardens, and painted houses, probably nearly getting ourselves killed on numerous occasions. This copper spoon however is the first product we have commissioned him to make and we could not be more happy with how they’ve turned out. Not only are they beautiful, each one is unique, impressed with the marks and spirit of the maker and we’re proud to share them with our friends and followers.
We hope you enjoy the photos above and if you'd like to try one yourself, the spoons are available in the store here.