Kuksa - A cup with a difference
30.06.2016
A Kuksa (Kuksa = Finnish; Kåsa = Swedish) is a birch wood ladle cup which is produced traditionally by the Sami. They are happy to use genuine birch burl or birch bark burls for this purpose. Unfortunately, it is difficult to reach our latitudes and then, if the price is out of proportion, one may prefer to use their ole cup once again ;)
I therefore use Karelian curly birch, which has the typical characteristics of birch and, unless it is extremely wildly textured, it is not so dramatically expensive.
The Sami are an indigenous people, who are native to northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Russian Kola Peninsula. Sami basically means 'swamp people'. They have produced amazing crafts throughout their history, which are in no way intended to be used as decorations, however, but must always satisfy a practical need. Another example that may be mentioned here is the world famous SAMI knife.
After the wood has been selected, production can take place.
I roughly pre-mill the depth of the cup after measuring and sketching. The rest is pure grinding. This is done on the belt sander, using the flexible shaft.
The final treatment is comparatively the most intricate of the whole production. I selected pure linseed oil due to its impermeability. Linseed oil hardens in place and makes the Kuksa waterproof, but has the disadvantage of needing a small eternity to dry. To finish, a "Food Save Finish" is used.
After that, a leather strap is attached for the belt, and it is now perfect for drinking water, juice, beer, mead, tea or other beverage.
You can find out more about Karelian masur birch here
Skøl!
(Cheers!)
I therefore use Karelian curly birch, which has the typical characteristics of birch and, unless it is extremely wildly textured, it is not so dramatically expensive.
The Sami are an indigenous people, who are native to northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Russian Kola Peninsula. Sami basically means 'swamp people'. They have produced amazing crafts throughout their history, which are in no way intended to be used as decorations, however, but must always satisfy a practical need. Another example that may be mentioned here is the world famous SAMI knife.
After the wood has been selected, production can take place.
I roughly pre-mill the depth of the cup after measuring and sketching. The rest is pure grinding. This is done on the belt sander, using the flexible shaft.
The final treatment is comparatively the most intricate of the whole production. I selected pure linseed oil due to its impermeability. Linseed oil hardens in place and makes the Kuksa waterproof, but has the disadvantage of needing a small eternity to dry. To finish, a "Food Save Finish" is used.
After that, a leather strap is attached for the belt, and it is now perfect for drinking water, juice, beer, mead, tea or other beverage.
You can find out more about Karelian masur birch here
Skøl!
(Cheers!)