Carving A Heart-Shaped Dish for Valentine’s Day

Now that Valentine’s Day has passed, I can share this fun little project.

After finding a suitable scrap of hardwood, I printed a template and glued it on with a thin coat of wood glue. I let it dry for about ten minutes, then used a small plunge router with a ball nose bit to remove most of the waste to a consistent depth, staying well back of the template line.

I switched to a small carving gouge to work right up to the line, leaving a nice, tactile edge that flows into the bottom.

I continued this process around the entire shape, then carefully textured the bottom the same way. Since all the carving was done from the perimeter towards the centre, some carving was inevitably against the grain. Therefore, light cuts, a super-sharp tool, and patient, careful hands were essential to prevent larger chips from being lifted.

Then, it was off to the bandsaw to cut out the profile, followed by sanding – first with a random orbital sander, then foam sanding blocks – to smooth the outside. I was going for a soft feel, so I welcomed the tendency for these tools to round over edges.

Once satisfied with the outside, I used the foam block to sand off the template and gently round over the top edges.

Then I applied a coat of paste wax and buffed it out after it dried.