Tors Homepage

The pictures below will show you how a kuksa is made. This one I made for my daughter some years ago.

The tools I used was a folding saw (Sandvik Laplander), a knife, a spoon knife (both from Mora of Sweden) and a piece of sanding paper.

In the wild sand paper can be substituted with (Skavgras) horsetail (Equisetum hyemale) shown on the picture below.

The wood I used was birch, a small log about 10 cm in diameter.

You don`t have to use a burl to make a lasting cup.

The wood should be dry, but one could use fresh wood.

If it cracks, just make a new one.

The cup could also be burned out with a coal if you don’t have a spoon knife or gouge.

First I split the log and used the knife to smooth the surface. I then drew the outline of the cup onto the log with a pencil. Then I sawed and cut of the excess.

Now it began to look like a kuksa.

Use the knife to shape the cup, round it and finish the outside.

After this is done you begin with the bowl.

Start from the middle and work your way out. This way you don`t pry to hard on the sides making the Wood prone to split.

The sides of the cup should have en even thickness. I prefer fairly thin walls. It is estetic and makes a light cup. IMO, most fabric made wooden cups are too thick walled.

After the bowl is finished you sand the cup and treat it with oil. Linseed oil (food grade) or any other oil you prefer.

Drill a hole in the handle and add a leather thong for belt carry. Or you could do a little more to it like I’ve done in the bottom picture.

The cup is now nearly finished.

I decided I wanted an antler handle on it instead of just the wooden one.

It is coloured with "herdins ekta bets", and oiled with linseed oil.

The brown colour on my own kuksa is made from dried inner bark of birch.

I boiled a small, dry piece of birch bark (inner bark) with half a cup of water.

Apply to the cup and let dry.

Bark from Alder will give you a more reddish colour.

Finally I oiled the cup With Parafin oil from IKEA.