Category Archives: finding wood

Finishing Bird Bowls Just in Time

Posted on June 21, 2025 by Dave Fisher

Thirty years of classroom teaching has taught me the importance of preparation. As I’ve readied for next week’s inaugural bird bowl class at Peter Galbert’s, one of my fun tasks has been getting bird bowl examples finished. There’s a few … Continue reading →

Posted in bird bowls, classes, finding wood, paint, patterns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

A Pair of Walnut Bowls (From a Plank)

Posted on May 1, 2025 by Dave Fisher

I carved these two walnut bowls from a radially-split piece of fresh black walnut, but the design is well suited to be carved from any 2″ thick plank of wood. Compared to my usual Bowl from a Plank, I guess … Continue reading →

Posted in finding wood, layout, patterns, plans, sketch, Uncategorized, walnut | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

Getting Colorful at Pete’s

Posted on March 25, 2025 by Dave Fisher

I returned home a week ago from the most recent Bowl Exploration class at Peter Galbert Workshops. This was the third time I’ve taught this class and each iteration has seen a change or two. This time around, we carved … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, classes, finding wood, paint, patterns, teaching, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Ambrosia Maple Bowl — Butterflies Included

Posted on November 14, 2024 by Dave Fisher

I should take my own advice. I tell people to be careful to look for the tiniest checks in the end grain of a log because they will open up as the bowl dries. If a log section has been … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, figure, finding wood, patterns, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Venus-and-the-Moon Bowl

Posted on September 5, 2024 by Dave Fisher

A friend alerted me to an old fruit-bearing pear tree that had fallen in a windstorm, just a couple minutes down the road. When I went to check it out, I wasn’t optimistic about its prospects. Most of the tree … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, figure, finding wood, sketch, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Twist and Shout

Posted on June 18, 2024 by Dave Fisher

Yesterday, I was splitting a small straight cherry log for a potential bowl. I was planning on using the upper half above this chunk. As the log split apart, my plans changed. Just about every tree grows with at least … Continue reading →

Posted in finding wood, green woodworking, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Branch Crook Choices

Posted on May 7, 2024 by Dave Fisher

Another post about processing crooks. For the others, check the category menu (to the right) under “finding wood.” This time I want to show a couple decisions I made when finding a spoon in a piece of the crazy magnolia … Continue reading →

Posted in finding wood, green woodworking, Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

Sinuous Serotina Bowl

Posted on March 4, 2024 by Dave Fisher

It was sunny and 70 degrees today. We’re still in winter, but this weather reminds me more of the late summer days when I first roughed out this bowl from a black cherry tree (Prunus serotina) limb. It was a … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, cherry, finding wood, green woodworking, holding, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Uprooted Ladle

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Dave Fisher

A walk through the woods often makes me stop in my tracks. It may be something as simple as an interesting lichen on a rock or a deer bed. Other times it’s a phenomenal thing like this huge maple uprooted by the … Continue reading →

Posted in finding wood, green woodworking, layout, spoons, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Bird in the Crotch

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Dave Fisher

A couple years ago, I experimented for the first time with carving a bird from the crotch of a tree. I carved a little bird and it worked out, even though the grain was a bear to deal with and there … Continue reading →

Posted in bird bowls, cherry, finding wood, green woodworking, holding, sketch, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments