I’m going to do an article on the Bowl-from-a-Plank with Fine Woodworking Magazine. It’s been a little while since my last article, so I’m especially looking forward to it. Everyone at Fine Woodworking is a pleasure to work with, and they do amazing work.
In preparation, I’ve been carving another version in cherry with some subtle tweaks here and there. Most importantly, I’ve been taking careful notes along the way to guide my writing of the manuscript and to help the eventual photo shoot go smoothly.
Of course, the whole procedure will be detailed, from plank to finished bowl. And it won’t require too many tools, not even an axe or an adze.
There will also be an additional article detailing the process for laying out and carving a tree motif on the bowl handle (or anywhere else you’d like to carve it). There it is on the new cherry bowl, except for the trunk element.
And, there, it’s done — in the sun.
I’ll keep you posted when the articles are ready for publication. It will be at least a couple of months.
David Fisher, Carving Explorations 
I have carved at least a dozen bowls using your techniques, but never capturing your artistry! Thanks for sharing and inspiring!
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Looks like you were cut off, Bruce. Feel free to email me if there’s a glitch with the comments.
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Way to go Dave!! That tree is a stunner! I’m really looking forward to the article.
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Absolutely beautiful. Please include some discussion in your article of final surfacing both smooth and carved. The dark bowl, perhaps walnut, in the first photo has a very subtle carved surface. How is it achieved?
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That bowl is indeed walnut. Based on the photo, I think you’re probably referring to the surface of the hollow. That surface is straight from a gouge. Same with the cherry bowl, it’s just that the light is not catching it in the same way. All of the surfaces on both of these bowls are left from a sharp edge: gouge, drawknife, sloyd knife, block plane. I will make sure to discuss those choices and techniques in the article; Thanks for the suggestion. Until then, I have written about those techniques in some blog posts here and there.
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Cool. In January, I am signing up for an evening carving class at the local adult continuing education center. It starts with a project, then it is open to whatever direction we want to go. Firstly I want to carve a few legs like the furniture in my grandma’s home (still have it) because when I was literally a toddler and it was near eye height, I used to stare at it in amazement. Then, I want to carve a bowl such as you are showing here. Would be great for the house to hold bananas and apples in the kitchen.
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What a meaningful project that will be to carve legs like those that made such an impression on you so early on, Joe. I wish you all the best with it in a couple months! I hope the timing of the bowl article works out perfectly after that.
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Have fun with the article and, as always, I’m looking forward to watching you create.
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Congratulations, Dave. Looking forward to seeing your work in print again. Cheers!
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Will certainly be looking forward to your article Dave as I do all of your posts. Beautiful work on the plank bowl. It’s nice to see options of producing something so useful.
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Hi David Happy Wednesday
Questions if I might to this post which I found (again) most interesting.
Please what is the size of the blank your showing l,w,h, and 2. Where did you find it? * You made it from a block, or * Bought it ?
As you know I can only find pine here and would like to work with other species.
Thanks for your insights
Take care
E
Sent from Mailhttps://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986 for Windows
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Hi Rick. The walnut one was a little thicker (2 1/4″) but I made this second one from a cherry board that was 2″ x 6″ x 21″. I found that the design worked just as well with the 2″ thickness. 2″ (8/4) thick boards are commonly available from hardwood lumber suppliers or local sawyers. I don’t know if there are any near you in Arizona, but there should be some online sites that can easily ship such boards to you. You can probably even select quarter sawn or rift sawn or any other orientation. Much easier and more reasonable to ship than green logs!
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Hi Dave,
Now you’re doing it again!
You always get it done!
You make such beautiful and attractive wood carvings, well-balanced designs with refined, simple-looking details that really complete your work. And you also know how to present it very well, really really great!!!
Chris
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Thanks, Chris. I still miss the mark plenty often. Keeps the firewood stack full.
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I look forward to the article!!!!!!
Bob Simmons
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Hi Dave,
I’m looking at the bottom of the black cherry bowl and I’m wondering what the transition is going to be from the bottom layout to the carved handles? Do I have to wait till the article comes out?
Hope you are doing well.
Gene
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Hi Gene. No need to wait. I did experiment with a different form under the handles for this version. For the walnut one, I used an S-curve from the end of the foot to the end of the handle. So, convex near the foot and becoming concave near the handle — the configuration I usually use. You can see that in this post: https://davidffisher.com/2023/01/01/bowl-from-a-plank-part-2/
On this cherry one, I used a C-curve between the end of the foot and the handle. There’s a pretty good shot of it in the second photo above. In order to do that, I extended the length of the foot compared to the walnut version to avoid cutting into the hollow of the bowl. I like the result both ways, but this second option is much more straightforward to lay out and carve.
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Thanks for the tips! Always enjoy your work Dave. Have a happy holiday.
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