Silver Maple Bowl

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Dave Fisher

IMG_2417Now that I’ve made several pieces from silver maple, I feel like I’m starting to understand its character.  I compare it to a no-nonsense laborer who wears flashy underpants beneath his overalls.  You know.

Based on what I’ve read recently, I can get to know this tree even better by baking.  In EarthWise: American Indian Traditional Uses of Native Northeast Trees by E. Barrie Kavasch, the author quotes F.W. Waugh from 1916:

“The bark of the soft maple, Acer rubra, [Red Maple], and A. saccharinum [Silver Maple], is dried beside the fire, then pounded in the mortar, sifted, and made into bread; said not to taste badly… used also by neighboring Algonkin tribes, such as the Montagnais.”

Kaviasch adds that, “this practice is immortalized in the Iroquois word Adirondack which means ‘bark eaters.'”

Incidentally, I have been trying, slowly, to learn the art of bread making, so there’s something to try with the next fresh silver maple that comes my way.  For now, I’ve got this silver maple bowl.

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The above two shots of opposite corners show the difference in character found within this one log.  Don’t be too quick to toss a bowl in progress if you encounter a knot or two.  Most often, a tight knot is no problem.  Just use very light cuts and a sharp tool for the final paring.  If a small knot has a soft area, you can often save it by letting some simple liquid super-glue wick into it.

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The dimensions are 16 1/4″ long, 7 3/4″ wide, and 4 3/8″ high.  I’ll include a few more shots below.  If you’re interested in purchasing this one, the price is $625 which includes insured shipping to you.  Just email me at dandkfish@gmail.com.  Update: SOLD

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Posted in bowls, finding wood, green woodworking, historical reference, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 13 Comments

The Winter of Our Content

Posted on March 1, 2020 by Dave Fisher

0301200841b_Burst01March is here and Spring is around the corner.  But I walked slowly and savored winter this morning.  That corner will get here soon enough.

The bright early sun had yet to get the best of the overnight cold, and the crystalline-edged snow draped across river rocks like frosty sea urchins.

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The winter magic transformed even a silt covered oak leaf.

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The slowly receding water left topographical patterns in ice.

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Grand chandeliers hung beneath fallen trees over the Little Shenango.

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And some pendant lights.

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Ice covered the smallest branches and caught the sun.

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And the light glowed through papery beech leaves that will soon make way.

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This opening in the snow seemed like a portal into the next season.  Soon enough.

 

 

Posted in nature, photography, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Bird in the Winter Light

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Dave Fisher

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My limited photography knowledge and equipment means that I simply focus on taking advantage of good light when it’s available.  Most of the shots I take are in the workshop, just from whatever light is coming through the south-facing windows.  If there’s no good natural light at the moment, I wait for another moment.

A couple days ago, we had a bright winter day.  This time of year, the sun is low in the sky and casts lovely shadows.  The birds were singing, calling me outside to take some shots of a bird bowl I just finished.  I had some fun propping it up in trees and such; seeing how the light played on it in different situations.

Before we return to that, here are a few shots of the early stages of this bowl.  The sapwood on the cherry tree had begun to decay while still standing, but the heartwood was still solid and fresh.

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Above is what it looked like when I split out a big crook.  This is all above the pith, and the missing upper portion became a spoon.

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A little further along.  The split surface was naturally hollow toward the middle, with the “wings” raised up more at the widest part of the body.

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There it is at the end of the green carving stage.

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I could have come back to it a week or two later, but other things intervened and it ended up being well over a year until I finally returned to it.  I refined the shape and surfaces, which took much longer than the green carving stage.  There it is finished, above, perched on a branch.  Here are a few more photos of this one from my time outside playing with light and shadow:

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Lots of creatures were soaking up the winter sun that day.  Here’s my buddy just outside the shop window enjoying some seeds.

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Intriguing Old Spoon

Posted on February 14, 2020 by Dave Fisher

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My friend, Scott, sent me this old spoon to check out.  An antique dealer in Pittsburgh told him that he comes across a lot of these spoons in the area.  He knew nothing beyond that.  Could it be a form common to a particular region or even family?  I also have some questions about the possible technique used in making it.  I thought I’d display some photos here to see if anyone has any suggestions or knowledge to share.

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I guess the thing that has Scott and I scratching our heads the most is the handle.  The upper surface seems to indicate that it was made from straight-grained wood, but the underside has the appearance of figured wood.  Could the handle have been bent over a hot pipe, resulting in the compressed and scorched look of the underside?

Scott also pointed out that the arrangement of stopped chamfers on the handle may have facilitated strapping the spoon under a belt.

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I don’t know what the wood species is, but the dark streaks are raised and the lighter areas are low.

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The one side of the bowl is pretty rotten.  Maybe it sat in water or on the ground for a long time.  I’ll just pop a few more photos below.  If you have any thoughts about this spoon, I’d love to hear them.

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Posted in historical reference, spoons, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 25 Comments

A Few New Spoons

Posted on February 12, 2020 by Dave Fisher

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I just finished four new spoons.  All are from crooks with a surface straight from the knife.  Flaxseed oil finish.  Ready for action.  If you see one you’d like, send me an email at dandkfish@gmail.com or leave a comment.  I’ll get back to you to confirm.  A check in the mail or paypal works fine for me.  All prices include shipping.

The first one features “Esurio” carved into the handle.   That’s Latin for “I’m hungry.”  I thought it was appropriate for this big serving spoon carved from a rhododendron crook.  11 1/2″ long and 3 1/2″ wide.  $200 includes shipping.  Update: SOLD

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The second one is a from a cherry tree that had developed some deep coloring before it fell.  I decided to let this wood speak for itself.  This one is especially comfortable for left-handers to use.  9 3/4″ x 3″.  $125 includes shipping. Update: SOLD

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The third one is a slotted serving spoon.  Sap pockets are sometimes present in cherry, and a long one ended up right through the bowl.  Rather that tossing it, I opened up two more spots and now it will drain your beans.  10 3/4″ x 2 3/4″.  $100 includes shipping.  Update: SOLD

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And the fourth one is a sharply bent Norway maple server.  10″ x 2 3/4″.  $180 includes shipping.  Update: SOLD

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Posted in Lettering, spoons, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Hungarian Super Bowl

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Dave Fisher

Now that the Super Bowl of American football is over, feast your eyes on some amazing feats of coordination and teamwork in Hungary.  I believe the narration is in Hungarian, but the video is multi-lingual.  Huge bowls like this seem to have been used in many cultures across the world, for animal processing and other tasks.

A friend drew my attention to the film last week, and I notice something new each time I watch it.  Some brief observations:

  • The immensity and weight of the bowl itself keeps it in place with little need for work-holding considerations.  It also makes it practical to cut the two cross-grain trenches followed by the splitting out of the wood in between.
  • The skill and accuracy of the axe work is notable, along with the ease and fluidity of the practiced motions.  Check out the slow-motion shot of the axe rotation between strokes about six and a half minutes in.
  • Their practiced hands and eyes, accustomed to this particular form, achieve the shape with very few guidelines it seems; just a few checks here and there with an axe handle.
  • That wide adze with the sharply drooped head and short handle can rotate around across the grain in the wide hollow.  Lovely to watch the work with the adze on the exterior ends and handles as well.  Kept sharp with quick skillful strokes of a simple slipstone.
  • I wonder if the carved wooden breast bib is intended to protect their clothes from the drawknife at least as much as their flesh.  The one drawknife is missing a wooden handle.  Maybe he prefers it that way; regardless, it doesn’t hold him back.
  • The justified pride shown by the man lifting the complete bowl to the wall next to the others is timeless.  I love how he taps on the surfaces, I presume to demonstrate the evenness of tone or the simple fact that the wood has been carved thin enough to resonate to some degree.  I felt a connection to him, as I often find myself tapping finished bowls to hear the tone.
  • Family/community members of all ages are around during the work, and join in, especially during the spoon carving session during the last part of the film.  My best guess, based on the credits at the end, is that this was filmed in 1962.

And that’s just scratching the surface…

Posted in bowls, historical reference, holding, Uncategorized, video | Tagged , | 28 Comments

8th Grade Sloyd

Posted on February 1, 2020 by Dave Fisher

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As I cut the letters into this small panel earlier this month, I was thinking back to Mr. Howard Sokoloff, my 8th grade woodshop teacher.  Here was a man near retirement tasked with teaching every single thirteen-year-old in the school some hand skills.  A lettered sign was one way to do it.  I stumbled upon the one I made then while cleaning up recently.  The memory of making this thing 35 years ago was strong, probably due to the thrill I felt at the time.

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Mr. Sokoloff was a kind man.  I remember his white hair Brylcreemed straight back above his horn-rimmed glasses as he guided us in the use of our main tools: coping saw, rasp, and sandpaper.  After many class periods of shaping and smoothing our boards, we penciled on some lettering.  There were a lot of names, house numbers, and pop bands.  I liked fishing.

One by one, we’d take our boards to Mr. Sokoloff who fired up the router and did his best to follow our drawn lines as we surrounded him in amazement.  It was a router, not a knife, but there were no computer programs or 3-D printers involved.  Even though I didn’t cut the letters , I still had the satisfaction of designing them just by hand and eye with a pencil.  Now I get the joy of drawing and cutting them.

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Mr. Sokoloff never mentioned the word sloyd, but his instruction was indeed a remnant of a movement that had begun long before.  This video provides a concise history from slöjd to sloyd:

P.S. — Here’s another recent lettering project that’s a bit different: a pottery stamp for a clay-working couple that sometimes collaborates on pieces.  Something like 3/8″ high and 5/8″ wide.  End-grain boxwood can hold some detail.

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Some spoon handles next…

 

Posted in historical reference, Lettering, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 15 Comments

Liking Lichens

Posted on January 27, 2020 by Dave Fisher

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What is produced by a free stroke charms us, like the forms of lichens and leaves. There is a certain perfection in accidents which we never consciously attain.

— Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

A delightful side effect of spoon carving is a walk through the woods.   Not that an excuse for a walk is needed, but it’s a good one nonetheless.  On a walk after a windstorm earlier this month, I found a big cherry tree lying on the ground, a victim of the gale.  I was able to collect a few crooks from among the branches and carry them home in my pack.

The branches of that cherry tree were teeming with life, life so common and quiet that I usually overlook it.  But as I prepared to split the few pieces I brought home that day, I took a moment to appreciate it up close.  That was followed by a moment of realization that I didn’t know squat about this (a feeling I’ve become familiar with).  Thankfully, there are lichen people.  Here are a couple videos featuring them and fascinating information about lichens to add even more interest to your next stroll and/or spoon foray:

The link to the other one is here.  There are lots of lichen people in Scotland.

I was eventually able to return to the crooks themselves, getting a few cherry blanks ready for the axe.  These are much further along now, and soon I’ll have them and some other spoons finished.

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Some, however, didn’t make it.  Who put that open knot there?!

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These aren’t the sort of accidents Thoreau wrote about.

Posted in finding wood, green woodworking, nature, quotes and excerpts, spoons, trees, Uncategorized, video | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Ambrosia Maple Bowl

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Dave Fisher

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A little bread—a crust—a crumb—
A little trust—a demijohn—
Can keep the soul alive—

— Emily Dickinson, from Poem 159 (1896)

Looking back, I was surprised at how long it had been since I’d carved a lettered bowl like this.  Felt great to make another.  This one was carved from a silver maple tree that had been visited by ambrosia beetles, leaving the telltale streaks of color in the wood.

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I revisited Emily Dickinson for the poem excerpt.  Here are a few more photos:

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Just shy of 16 inches long, 7 1/4 inches wide, and 3 1/2″ high.

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Posted in bowls, figure, Lettering, quotes and excerpts, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Wishes for a Peaceful New Year

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Dave Fisher

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When it is peaceful and quiet, using the knife will not break the tranquility.  Sometimes there will be other things to listen to, such as conversation, music, the singing of the birds or wind rushing through the leaves.  Indeed, sometimes you will listen to the actual quietness around you when you carve.

— Wille Sundqvist, Swedish Carving Techniques (1990)

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Carving spoons with my son, Noah, a couple days ago.  Sometimes it’s nice to listen to quietness together.  And any conversation is eased by the carving.  It rises up naturally like a shaving from a knife.

Wishing you all a peaceful new year full of chips and shavings.

P.S. — I’ll wrap up 2019 with my humble attempt at a couplet inspired by the photo of Noah and me and the passage of the years.  (“Ba Ba Ba, Ba Ba Ba, Ba – Ba – Ba”):

Once I had curly hair just like that.

Years went by leaving me just this hat.

Posted in carving, green woodworking, quotes and excerpts, spoons, Uncategorized, writing | Tagged , , | 16 Comments