Monthly Archives: February 2015

The Axe: Your Personal Instrument

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Dave Fisher

In the days when the forests were falling the axe was a personal instrument, a man took pride in its temper and keenness.  Men would say, “That fellow Anderson,–he’s got a wonderful axe.” And somebody else would agree, “Yeah, I … Continue reading →

Posted in axe, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Basking in the Sunshine

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Dave Fisher

The plus side of the cold temperatures lately has been beautiful clear sunny skies.  I propped up this cherry bowl in the window to bask in the sunshine and help along the curing of the flax oil.  I do this … Continue reading →

Posted in carving, cherry, holding, layout, patterns, tools, Uncategorized, video | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Hollowing with an Adze

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Dave Fisher

Following up on my last post about adze design, I wanted to share a series of photos that show the procedure for my adze work.  At the stage of the first photo (above), I’ve hewn and hand planed the upper and … Continue reading →

Posted in adze, bowls, holding, layout, Uncategorized, walnut | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

Do You have an Outie or an Innie?

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Dave Fisher

I have some general information on tool selection here at my website, but I’d like to focus more specifically on the adze in this post.  It is probably the single most expensive tool used for this work, so it pays to choose … Continue reading →

Posted in adze, tools | Tagged , , , | 52 Comments

Paring….continued

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Dave Fisher

I was reminded of this sketch I had done awhile back in response to an emailed question. I thought I’d post it up here as a follow up to last weekend’s post “Prepare to Pare.”  It should be easy to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

What’s a saz?

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Dave Fisher

That was my first thought when I was asked recently to make one; well, the bowl part of one.  Turns out that a saz is a long necked Turkish lute (I found the photo of the one above — I had … Continue reading →

Posted in adze, carving, tools, Uncategorized, video, walnut | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Prepare to Pare

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Dave Fisher

I was paring the interior of a cherry bowl recently.  Whenever I perform this operation, I hold the gouge in an unorthodox carving grip, reminiscent of a scene from Psycho or Julius Caesar. This allows me to register my thumb against … Continue reading →

Posted in carving, cherry, holding, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

The Compass Goose

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Dave Fisher

  I recently completed this commission for a goose-inspired bowl in walnut.  In some ways it may seem to be quite a departure from a “regular” bowl form, but the process is essentially the same.  As is typical, I work … Continue reading →

Posted in bird bowls, bowls, layout, Uncategorized, walnut | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments