Category Archives: drying

Drying for Carving Versus Turning

Posted on February 19, 2022 by Dave Fisher

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

Round Walnut Bowl Underway

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Dave Fisher

The plan is to carve a deep round bowl from black walnut with a wide surface below the rim for a lettered inscription. Here, I’m refining the hollow with a crooked knife after having done the rest of the hollowing … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, drying, layout, proportions, Uncategorized, walnut | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Revisiting Thoreau’s Tray

Posted on March 8, 2020 by Dave Fisher

Our life is frittered away by detail . . . I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on … Continue reading →

Posted in drying, figure, green woodworking, historical reference, Lettering, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Noah’s Bowl

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Dave Fisher

After his first few days home from college for Christmas break, my son told me he wanted to carve a bowl.  Being in the workshop with him was nice and reminded me of many moments in the workshop when the … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, drying, patterns, teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 21 Comments

Before-and-After Dragon

Posted on September 29, 2018 by Dave Fisher

I’ve completed the carving on one of the cherry dragon ale bowls I roughed out a month ago, and thought I’d share a few photos to contrast the piece after the final carving with its unfinished twin.  The same ideas … Continue reading →

Posted in ale bowls, cherry, drying, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 23 Comments

Spring Snow and Wood Storage

Posted on March 25, 2018 by Dave Fisher

A book that I return to often is The Heart of Thoreau’s Journals edited by Odell Shepard.  One interesting aspect is comparing Thoreau’s notes for a particular time of year to my own observances; his March to my March. Thoreau … Continue reading →

Posted in drying, finding wood, green woodworking, nature, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Putting the Wood in the Driver’s Seat

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Dave Fisher

One of the things I enjoy most about greenwood carving is the challenge of making the most out of the wood that becomes available.  The individual characteristics of the log or branch drive the design, while I navigate among the … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, carving, drying, finding wood, Lettering, spoons, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

Bowl for Beginners and Beyond

Posted on July 1, 2016 by Dave Fisher

I had been thinking about an ideal bowl design for the Plymouth CRAFT class, now only a month away.  This sample bowl is the result of those thoughts.  In addition to providing challenges for development of various skills, I wanted … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, classes, drying, finding wood, layout, patterns, proportions, teaching, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Proof of the Workmanship of Risk

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Dave Fisher

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and it put me in the mood to do a little early Spring cleaning in the shop.  Scattered around were these reminders of the “workmanship of risk.”  That was, of course, the phrase coined … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, carving, drying, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 20 Comments

Painted Bowl

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Dave Fisher

  Several weeks ago, I wrote a post about carving the side panels of this maple bowl.  Since then, I’ve completed the painting — a slow process.  Not just because artist’s oils dry slowly, but more so because I did … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, drying, paint, patterns, Uncategorized | Tagged | 11 Comments