Heated Spoon-Making Race at PMC Conference

Published: September 9, 2008

This spoon, made by the West Coast team, won honorable mention for best design.

The spoons made at the relay.

Members of the West Coast team, (from left to right) Ashley Wu, Joanna Lovett, Patrik Kusek, and Lora Hart, won the first-ever PMC spoon-making relay race at the 2008 PMC Conference in July.

In a neck-and-neck race for victory, metal clay artisans Patrik Kusek, Lora Hart, Ashley Wu, and Joanna Lovett won the first-ever PMC Guild relay race at the 2008 PMC Conference in West Lafayette, Ind., in July.

The relay race was organized by Tim McCreight, who invited the contestants to participate without telling them exactly what they were in for. He divided the contestants into three teams of four metal clay artisans each -- a West Coast team, an East Coast team, and a team of guests from outside the U.S. -- then broke the news.

The teams had to make a spoon out of metal clay and then use the spoon to eat a pint of ice cream. The first team to finish their ice cream would win the race. Honorable mention would be given for best spoon design.

The rules for the race were as follows: the first member of a team opens two packages of metal clay and roughs out a spoon. The second member dries the spoon with a torch, then refines the spoon. The third member fires the spoon with a torch. The final member quenches the spoon and gives it a finish. Then, the team digs in to a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream (all three teams were given the same flavor -- chocolate chip cookie dough).

A mere eight minutes after the race started, the West Coast team had won; they were also awarded honorable mention for best design. Although no ice cream headaches were reported, McCreight says he suspects that all the contestants had one, considering how fast they were eating. For winning, the West Coast team received hats that said "Purdue" and "PMC Guild."

McCreight says he'd like to continue the relay at the next PMC Conference in 2010, and he'll likely organize it just as spontaneously as he did the first race. --Kristin Sutter