Camping Spoon Upcycling Project

For my upcycling project, I have decided to machine a “camping spoon” from a small block of aluminum. I sourced the aluminum bar from the scrap shelves in the ITLL machine shop. I enjoyed this part of the process because I believe that it is often easier to think creatively when you are constrained. I went to the shop having only the vague idea that I wanted to machine something out of aluminum. After looking at the scraps for a minute or so, I found the rectangle piece of aluminum and immediately thought of the idea of making a spoon. I’m excited about this project because it will allow me to learn more about operating the mills in the machine shop, but I also get to create a piece of art (as opposed to making a “boring” component with no imagination).

The aesthetic that I am going for is simple, smooth, almost soft-looking aluminum, like the parts shown in the above image. I think this is an appealing aesthetic do to its simplicity, brightness, and clean appearance. I will achieve this through careful hand sanding and hopefully sandblasting at the very end of the project. My goal is to twist the idea of what a normal spoon is and turn that idea upside down. Rather than making a cheap, thin, empty feeling spoon like the cutlery of our modern times, I will make a thick, smooth, and visually appealing tool that would be a pleasure to use on any camping trip.

I actually started working on this project halfway through the first week of the semester. However, rather than posting everything I have done so far all at once, I will space it out as if I have only started the initial design process. Above, right, is an image of the aluminum bar I found (2). This is before the edges had been squared or anything had been done to it. It was very roughly cut and not exactly rectangular when I found it. After tracing its shape onto my sketchbook, I drew a quick sketch of what it might look like (3). At the time I thought I was going to include G10 handle scales, but as time went on, the final design has changed drastically and is now only made of aluminum (pictured below) (4). It will also have a large loop at the end of the handle so you can clip it to a carabiner for easy carrying (but primarily so the user can swing it around like a karambit).

Sources Cited

(1) ShenzhenOnePrecision: https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/1161692075/high-precision-cnc-machining-6061

(2) image I took myself

(3) ”         ”

(4) ”         ”