I've been wanting to make a kuksa (traditional Finnish/Sami wooden cup) for quite a while now. I finally got around to making one and just finished off the last element, the toggle, a few moments ago. As a graduation present, along with the puukko knife I also posted about recently, I got a dremel tool which has opened a lot of doors and allowed me to complete this kuksa in a third of the time it would have otherwise.

It's made from a piece of birch that was destined for the fire that, unfortunately, wood worms had got to. I only realised it was full of holes when I had finished roughing out the shape and I had already spent so much time on it that I thought I should go ahead and finish it anyway. Now it's done, the holes don't seem to run all the way through and it can hold water no problem so I'm going to assume it's fine. In any case, I feel the holes and marks add character. I haven't coated it in anything yet, I want to do some research and see what they were originally treated with. It's really pretty big for a kuksa, closer to a bowl in some ways, and the bowl itslef is usually much more rounded than the rectangle mine has ended up with. In any case, I'm really happy with it. The toggle works well it seems too. So, any suggestions for coatings?

I would go traditional for my first. You can always make another one with a more modern finish if you want to use it all the time. On projects like these I find it hard to make just one anyways.

I realised that the Finnish Wikipedia page for Kuksa has (unsurprisingly really) more information that the English page and says this about how they are finished:
"Tekovaiheessa aitoa kuksaa keitetään suolavedessä, jolloin suola imeytyy puuhun. Suola liukenee myös kuksasta juotavaan juomaan, jos kuksaa ei ennen käyttöönottoa käsitellä.[1] Suola on hygroskooppista ja sitoessaan kosteuttaa estää puun kuivumisen ja halkeamisen. Suolan liukenemisen voi estää käsittelemällä sisäpinnan kahvirasvalla, mikä tapahtuu kaatamalla kuppiin kahvia, joka muutaman minuutin päästä kaadetaan pois, sekä hinkkaamalla sisäpintaa käytetyillä, märillä kahvinporoilla. Tällöin kahvirasva imeytyy kupin sisäpintaan ja muodostaa siihen kalvon, joka estää kuksan kuivumisen ja halkeamisen ja vieraiden makujen imeytymisen.[1] Jotkin teollisesti valmistut kuksat käsitellään parafiiniöljyllä.[1]

Kuksan makua voi myös muuttaa tilkalla viinaa ennen rasvakäsittelyä.[1]"

Google translate gives this:
"In the making stage, genuine kale is boiled in brine, whereupon the salt is absorbed into the wood. The salt is also soluble in the drink from the kuka, if the kuga is not treated before being put into service [1]. The salt is hygroscopic and when bound, moisturizes to prevent the wood from drying out and cracking. Salt dissolution can be prevented by treating the inside surface with coffee fat, which is done by pouring coffee into the cup, which will be poured out after a few minutes, and by scrubbing the inside surface with the used wet coffee grounds. In this case, the coffee fat is absorbed into the inner surface of the cup and forms a film on it, which prevents the drying and cracking of the kicks and the absorption of foreign flavors. [1] Some industrially manufactured kuksas are treated with paraffin oil. [1]

Kuka flavor can also be changed with a drop of liquor before fat treatment. [1]"

There's some definite translation mistakes (there is no mention of "genuine kale" in the original text so who knows where that came from) but as far as I ca see, they would boil them in salt water then pour coffee into the cup, leave it for a few minutes then rub in coffee grounds ("coffee fat"). I should of guessed coffee was going to be part of the process I might give this a try. I only have crappy instant coffee (left over for guests; neither me or the SO are into coffee) but it should do.

Kick wrote on Jul 24^th, 2019 at 11:41am:



would refer to burl wood (after reading wikipedia  )

A quick google search yields that this wood shall be quite waterproof on its own.

And from my experience from cutting wood a pain to work  :

Nice work, Kick.

rub it down with some neutral oil.
sunflower or rapeseed works well.
I used to use walnut oil when i was wood turning. But these days, with nut allergies all over the place - go for a vegetable oil.

Not olive oil - that has a strong taste.

Or just a modern waterproof varnish.

Nice, practical, bit of carving

I think that I'm gonna need to make one of these , been putting it off for about 3 years. I bought the hook knife to make one of these cups but never started it.

Also I found another video by the same Youtube channel about carving a kuksa from a burr/burl. I really like the style of these videos and the content is fantastic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71RTGmr8R6Y