Engdahl Slojd

Engdahl Slojd Traditional Scandinavian handcraft rooted in slöjd philosophy. Hand-carved wooden spoons, bowls, tools, and ornaments shaped by the grain and made to endure.

A one man shop in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. I specialize in customized woodcraft made with a scroll saw.

08/27/2026

Shaping the Sides 🌳

Back to the hand-carved walnut bowl today.

In this 58-second video, I’m moving beyond the rough shape and starting to work on the sides of the bowl. This is where the piece really begins to take on its character. A little more material comes away with each pass, and slowly that rough chunk of walnut starts looking like the bowl I had in my head when I started.

There’s still plenty of work ahead—more carving, refining the shape, and eventually a whole lot of sanding—but this is one of my favorite parts of the process.

Just a chisel, a piece of walnut, and some time in the shop.

Thanks for sitting with me in the shop for a bit.

Hej då. 👋

08/24/2026

There’s something special about making a piece by hand from start to finish.

In this video, I’m hand carving a rectangular walnut bowl for a friend. No lathe, no shortcuts—just a sharp gouge, a mallet, and a piece of walnut slowly revealing what it wants to become.

This is one of my favorite parts of Sloyd: taking a rough piece of wood and giving it a purpose through nothing more than hand, eye, and tool.

It’s slow work. It’s satisfying work. And when the finished piece goes to someone you know, it makes it that much more meaningful.

Thanks for sitting with me in the shop for a bit.

Hej då. 👋

08/20/2026

Before carving begins, the surface has to be true.
I’m planing a walnut blank to establish a flat reference face. This gives me a reliable plane to measure from and mark out the rectangular bowl I’ll be carving entirely by hand.
A few minutes of careful planing now saves a lot of correction later. Clean geometry starts here.

08/19/2026

🪵 A little wood butter goes a long way.

In this 2-minute video, I’m showing you one of the simplest ways I keep my wooden utensils, bowls, and cutting boards looking their best.

I make my own wood butter using beeswax and mineral oil, which gives me a simple, food-safe finish that’s perfect for pieces that see everyday use.

When your wood starts looking a little dry or the color starts to fade, just rub in a thin coat of wood butter and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Then wipe off the excess with a clean, lint-free cloth.

Once you’ve removed the extra, flip the cloth over and give the piece a good buff. That last step really brings out the warmth of the wood and leaves you with a beautiful natural shine. ✨

And if you’d like my wood butter recipe, just shoot me a message and let me know. I’ll be happy to share it with you.

A little maintenance goes a long way toward keeping your handmade woodware beautiful for years to come.

Made by hand. Built to last.
Hej då. 👋

08/18/2026

One of the easiest ways I’ve found to make sure I don’t miss spots when sanding with the finer grits?
Grab a pencil. ✏️
Before I start a new grit, I lightly mark the entire surface with pencil. Then I start sanding.
As I work, the pencil marks disappear.
When every last pencil mark is gone, I know that grit has done its job.
No guessing.�No wondering if I hit that one little spot.�No moving on too soon.
Just sand until the pencil is gone.
Boom. No spots missed.
It’s a simple little trick, but it makes a big difference—especially when you’re working through multiple grits and trying to get that surface just right.
Sometimes the best shop tricks are the simplest ones.
Thanks for sitting with me in the shop for a bit.
Hej då. 👋

08/17/2026

A 32-second time lapse of something that doesn’t look particularly exciting… until you realize what it represents.
This is me sanding a cutting board down with 80-grit paper to get it ready for refinishing.
And this is just ONE grit.
After 80 comes 120, 180, 220, 320, then I raise the grain with water and go over it with 320 again.
That’s a lot of sanding for something that, when finished, is supposed to look like you didn’t sand it at all. 😂
But that’s woodworking. A lot of the work happens in the quiet, repetitive steps that nobody ever sees.
The finished piece may look simple.
Getting it there isn’t.
Thanks for sitting with me in the shop for a bit.�Hej då. 🌲

08/16/2026

I was planning on starting a new project this morning, but when I got down to the shop, my plans changed.

Today I will be refinishing two cutting boards. I’ll spare you the boring part of sanding, but when I’m done, I will show you how to make your own finish and apply it to your own cutting boards.

Thanks for spending some time in the shop with me.

Hej Doh

08/14/2026

Today I’m talking about something that’s easy to overlook when sharpening a chainsaw chain: the rakers.
I was running my saw today and noticed that it just wasn’t cutting. The chain was sharp, but it was barely taking a bite out of the wood.
So I brought the chain into the shop, put it in the vise, and took a closer look.
The rakers control how deeply each cutter can bite into the wood. As you sharpen the cutters, they get shorter, but the rakers don’t automatically change with them. Eventually, they can become too high in relation to the cutter and prevent the chain from taking a proper bite.
That’s exactly what had happened to mine.
In this three-minute video, I’m showing you what I’m looking for and why keeping an eye on those little depth gauges is such an important part of maintaining a chainsaw chain.
I filed them down along with sharpening the chain, put it back on the saw, and the difference was incredible.
It went from barely cutting to cutting like a dream.
Sometimes the problem isn’t that your chain isn’t sharp enough. Sometimes it just isn’t able to bite.
Thanks for sitting with me in the shop for a bit.
Hej då.

08/05/2026

Applying finish before I paint.

Yup, you heard it right. When I am working on carvings that will be painted, I always apply a coat of tung oil and let it harden as soon as I am done carving.

The reason? The basswood I use is very thirsty. Any fluid I use absorbs into the wood. That includes oil paints thinned with citrus solvent. If the grain sucks the paint in, the colors mix, making less than ideal results…

So I apply tung oil. Once it hardens, the paint won’t be absorbed. That will make for nice crisp lines.

Thanks for spending some time in the shop with me.

Hej då

08/03/2026

This morning I am working on the beard of this little tree gnome ornament.

I initially cut the texture and flow of the beard in with a detail knife, now I’m using a v-tool to make it look like hair and give it that final texture.

I’m not sure why I like carving these so much, but I’ve made three so far.

Hej då

Address

1430 Cemetery Road
Montoursville, PA
17754

Telephone

+15702388520

Website

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