Author Archives: Dave Fisher

Chip Layout

I was finishing up a small walnut bowl and decided to define the narrow side-panel with a graduated row of chip cuts. I have a slide show and description of the cutting of these on a similar bowl in this … Continue reading

Posted in carving, layout, patterns, sketch, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Perico the Bowlmaker

I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. How could I know? I could die right now, or maybe I’ll die tomorrow. When will it be? In the meantime, I’ll keep making bowls for as long as I can. … Continue reading

Posted in adze, axe, bowls, historical reference, Persons, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized, video | Tagged | 4 Comments

More Lettercarving Thoughts

I’ve written a lot of posts that at least touch on lettering over the years, 53 according to the category menu on the right side of my blog page. Here’s the list. Of course, I’ve continued to learn with each … Continue reading

Posted in books, Lettering, sharpening, spoons, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

GreenWood Wrights’Fest

In case you haven’t heard, you may want to head to Pittsboro, North Carolina next month for the inaugural GreenWood Wrights’Fest. I can’t make it, but it looks like a good time awaits and there are a slew of great … Continue reading

Posted in events, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Bowl from Dry Walnut

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 … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, carving, holding, patterns, Uncategorized, walnut | Tagged , , , | 21 Comments

Drying for Carving Versus Turning

People, especially turners, are often surprised to hear that a bowl can be dry and ready for finish carving in as little as a couple weeks after carving it from green wood. I don’t know much about turning, but from … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, drying, green woodworking, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Explorations in the Deep Snow

A lot of snow has fallen around here over the past couple weeks, and, after doing the necessary digging out, we’ve been enjoying it. Noah and Chip made a dog igloo in the back yard. Chip loves the snow, but … Continue reading

Posted in nature, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Round Walnut Bowl: Follow Up

This post is the follow up to the one I wrote a few months ago on the early stages of carving this walnut bowl. After the bowl dried, I did some reshaping and refining of all of the surfaces inside … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

New Walnut Bowl

This bowl started with a black walnut log about 13″ in diameter but only 13″ long. I split it into quarters and was able to get this bowl out of one of those sections. Bark up orientation, so the flow … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, carving, layout, patterns, proportions, sketch, Uncategorized, walnut | Tagged | 21 Comments

Winter Whittled Bird

On a “cold, cold, wet day” this past weekend, I sat warm and dry in the shop by the window and whittled a little bird from a pine branch. Winter birds bring a special joy. It’s magical to be in … Continue reading

Posted in bird bowls, carving, finding wood, nature, patterns, sketch, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 26 Comments