Make a Wooden Coffee Scoop

Stephen Scott Johnson
by Stephen Scott Johnson
I just love handmade wooden projects for the kitchen. And especially when they are so easy to make, plus -- functional. This wooden coffee scoop is a great example of home decor (form) colliding with function. My tutorial will give you the full scoop ... LOL
For my coffee scoop I decided to use walnut. It's a great, closed-grain durable hardwood, not to mention - beautiful. At the end, I'll also show you one I made out of cherry wood. In this pic, I show how I used a metal coffee scoop to layout and design my wooden scoop. No magic dimensions here. Use your creativity and design it any way you want. The design possibilities are endless!
For the bowl part of the scoop, I used a Forstner bit. It's great if you have a drill press to do this, but and hand drill will work also. I like to do the drilling step first so I can lay the wood flat and hold it securely. Read the safety instructions that come with your tools and Forstner bit. Don't forget to wear the appropriate safety gear. Working with walnut, you definitely want to wear a dust mask.
Once the bowl is drilled out, I used my band saw to cut out the scoop. If you don't have a bandsaw, you could use a jig saw or some type of handsaw. Just be sure that you leave enough excess wood for the sanding process. The walls of my coffee scoop are close to 1/8 inch thick.
Next, I took the rough cut scoop over to my 1 inch belt sander and began to give it a shape. Take your time here and don't be overly aggressive with the sanding. Again -- wear a dust mask. Once I finished the rough sanding with the belt sander, I sanded the rest by hand. I used 220 grit to 400 grit sandpaper. I then used micro mesh cloths to make it even smoother.
I applied a food-grade mineral oil to my finished coffee scoop. The mineral oil really brings out the beautiful color of the walnut.
And here is the finished walnut coffee scoop. Check out my blog link below to get the FULL tutorial.
Another pic of my finished coffee scoops. The top one is the walnut and the bottom scoop is the cherry. These make great gifts for the holidays or other special occasions. Add in their favorite bag of coffee when you give it away.
If you like my tutorials, I would encourage you to check out my website. You can also join and receive my monthly Four Oaks Crafts Newsletter. I send free tutorials to your inbox at least once a month. And when you join I'll send you my free Home Shop Safety & Tool Checklist. This is a great resource, especially if you are thinking about starting up your own workshop. Or taking inventory of an existing workshop. To join, visit my website, and look for the signup form on the left hand side. Good luck and happy crafting!
Here is a YouTube video for those of you who would like to see a video on how to make a wooden coffee scoop.
Stephen Scott Johnson
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Ski13871806 Ski13871806 on Dec 20, 2016
    Me too but with just s small side table to start. This would be great idea for new moms with young kids. Just make the child a separate table with this idea. I bet they would sell like hot cakes! I don't have any children but I have seen enough spilled milk.
  • Shawna Bailey Shawna Bailey on Jan 09, 2017
    I'm thinking of making one for my husband, he's a large coffee enthusiast. I don't have all the shop tools but I just got a dremmel work station as a Christmas gift and this would be a great first project
    • Stephen Scott Johnson Stephen Scott Johnson on Jan 09, 2017
      The Dremel will work fine. If you have a small coping saw or hand saw, those might help you trim it down a bit before using the Dremel. Good luck! I hope your husband enjoys the scoop!
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