Wood is much easier to carve when it’s green, and you can get right to work with a large blank of fresh uncracked wood straight from the tree. Then you can let the bowl dry, stress and crack free, before making the final cuts. But if you lack green wood, or you just have a nice piece of dry wood that you want to carve, go for it. For example, the shape of bowls that Elia and I made from green wood in our video lessons, could also be made from, say, a 4″ x 8″ x 16″ block of dried basswood.
In this case, I had a deadline approaching for a small bowl, so I decided to work with a block of black walnut that I had set aside to dry in 2013. I had made some bowls from this tree back then, but I also squared up some pieces maybe 6″ x 8″ x 12″ and painted the ends, then stuck them up on a shelf in our shed. Nine years later, I pulled a chunk down and cut it in half lengthwise. Pretty short, but long enough, since the exhibition specifies that the piece has to fit within a theoretical 6″ x 6″ x 6″ cube. (I cut it close — the finished piece is 5 15/16″ long.)
I had been drawing some full-size ideas in my sketchbook, from various perspectives. Based on that, I took a white pencil and sketched a rough plan on the end grain of the block. Notice that my vertical center line is oriented in respect to the pattern of the growth rings rather than the flat surfaces of the timber. This sketch allowed me to make sure the piece would fit within the timber and gave me a basic idea of what wood could be split away.
I took a bunch of photos of the rest of the process on this bowl, so I organized it into three slideshows covering hollowing, exterior carving, and side panel carving, respectively. I don’t think these slideshows and captions will be visible in your email browser, so you’ll have to view them at my site. In several of the shots, you’ll see a vise that I discussed in a previous post. Here’s the first slideshow:
Hollowing Slideshow:
After splitting off much of the waste, I flattened the bottom, established an arc across the top, and laid out the upper rim — the same procedure I use for most of the bowls I make. 
The “make a series of crosscuts and split out the chunks in between” technique made sense in this case. Simple, and you don’t even need the “TUFFY” screwdriver with cool fold-down torque lever. 
Considering the steepness of the hollow and the hardness of the dry walnut, I continued excavating by drilling a central hole with a 1″ auger bit. I drilled a 3/16″ hole first to assure the lead screw wouldn’t split this short blank. 
Then I drilled a series of six more holes around the central one, making space for the chips to come. 
I began with a narrow steep gouge and a heavy mallet. Especially on the steep end grain in this dry walnut, many repeated cuts work better than fewer with a larger gouge. 
Then I switched to a spoon-bent gouge to reach back in under the rim and form the fullness of the hollow. Still driving it with a mallet. 
Almost there! 
I used a swan neck gouge with a shallower sweep to finish the excavation with hand/body pressure. It’s amazing how much better this works when I remember to sharpen. 
The hollow finished. Ready for the outside.
This mallet work draws a crowd. We picked up Meeko the cat at our local shelter a few months ago, and he and Chip have become good buddies and playmates. They both enjoy the grooming of Chip’s face and spending time in the shop.
And all three of us are fans of Nancy Hiller’s book “Shop Tails”. Meeko will have to read later; time to carve the outside:
Exterior Carving Slideshow:
After the hollowing, I was not about to risk snapping that steep end grain with heavy axe blows. So I roughly sawed away some big chunks with a handsaw. This would be much more work than axing in a more typical form and in green wood. 
After establishing the surface for the side panel, I began to model the outer form with a mallet and a steep narrow gouge. 
I also used a rasp to fair the shape of the outside. I had recently picked up a “Shinto Saw Rasp” and it worked great. In this shot, I’m cutting the big flute under the side panel that diminishes as it approaches the handles. 
I finish that with with paring cuts. It is the edge next to the side panel that I’m most concerned with at this point. 
I often carve a dappled surface like this. Considering the small scale of this bowl, I made small dapples, I think with a #3 8mm gouge — not that that is critical at all. The tricky bit is the transition to the area under the handles. Patience, sharp, light cuts. 
The handles drop down from the rim. I did the shaping with a drawknife, which also leaves the final surface. After that, there’s some sloyd knife work to refine the inner rim, chamfers, and such. Goes a lot faster in a slide show!
Side Panel Carving Slideshow:
After drawing the leaf pattern onto the side panel, I used a v tool, just to roughly excavate some material from the large triangular chips at the bottom. I just cut in from the three corners of each triangle. I’m just beginning the process in this shot. 
I refined the upper sidewalls with a shallow gouge. 
Then I cut the base wall by following the curve with a straight fishtail. Lots of back and forth to get the junctions crisp and clean. 
After some knife work to separate the individual leaves, I modeled the leaf surface with some delicate cuts from a gouge. 
Then I used the same gouge to hollow the tapering bands at the upper and lower edges of the side panel.
By the way: this bowl will be at the AAW Gallery of Wood Art in Saint Paul from March 27 to May 29. Then it, along with a bunch of other pieces from other folks, will be available through an auction at the AAW Symposium in Chattanooga, Tennessee on June 25. I have very little experience with this sort of thing, but they tell me there will be a preview for some days before the auction and the auction itself will be a hybrid live online/in-person event. I’ll make sure to post an update through the blog once more details are available.
David Fisher, Carving Explorations 
man that is a beauty–
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Wow, I could look at that for hours. Just beautiful!
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Hello Dave,
Being in an area without green walnut and cherry, just to name a couple, I’m really glad that you showed us this project. I’m currently working on a “dry” cherry bowl and I’m having a difficult time with it. These techniques will help me not resort to non-traditional tools.
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Gorgeous bowl and cute cat!
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Another beautiful piece of artistry. Thank you. My apologies if you have covered this previously but have you written any articles on workholding….keeping the piece sufficiently well-clamped and immobile whilst you are working your magic? I really struggle with this. Any advice would be most welcome and many thanks.
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Depending on the piece, I use various methods, Trefor. I think the ones I would least want to be without are pegs, wedges, and holdfasts. Any post I’ve written that relates to workholding can be accessed by clicking on “holding” in the category menu on the right side of the blog: https://davidffisher.com/category/holding/page/2/ If you have any questions, let me know.
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Many thanks for taking the time to respond, Dave. I appreciate it. I ‘ll check out the link you suggested.
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As always, simply GORGEOUS!
The techniques will be handy to know. Whilst living in the northeast, I would find tree felling very common and had insanely easy access to a variety of hardwood logs. We moved recently to central Florida, to an area where tree felling is a rare event. Might have to use dry wood. …and the techniques you’ve shared. THANKS!
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The snow is worth it, Bob. Come back!
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Sometimes I just have to catch my breath and give my head a little shake. So so beautiful.
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So well stated. Dave, your generosity in the sharing of your knowledge is so appreciated. Thank you.
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The hollowing of the steep, short inside looks like it would be very challenging! This is incredibly beautiful.
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Thanks, Alison. It was a challenge, but it goes much better after a touch up sharpening!
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Thanks for mentioning the AAW gallery dates- I’ve admired your work online for some time, and now I can see a piece in person.
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Thank you so much for sharing the whole process and all the detailed pictures. There’s something about the flow on this one that I find incredibly attractive and satisfying. I especially love how the ends come back a little bit towards the center, just underneath the handles. Absolutely gorgeous.
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Nice work and post!
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The bowl is stunning, Dave! Your artistry continues to amaze and delight! Thank you for sharing, as always, how you approach different challenges in design and execution.
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So nice! The balance of the decorative features works really well: small facets on the bowl, the medium facets on the leaves, and the smooth planes of the side panel borders. The play of light on the leaves is really lovely, and strung together they evoke the walnut leaves brilliantly.
But you know, with just a bit of tweaking you could have had a really nice ale bowl… ; )
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Thank you, David. You’re on to something there! .
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Totally cool!
I have a couple really dry black walnut logs that i have made straight grained birds from – – inspired by Dave- – – and i have had to resort to cutting and drilling ends and middles cause the end grain is so hard I couldn’t make headway even with the sharpest drawknife or spokeshave.
Very Very beautiful David
Larry Boyer
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