Category Archives: Uncategorized

Windblown Bowl Heading East

I love to watch tree branches dance in a breeze. If the wind really gets up, even the heavier limbs rock and sway. What a ride it must be; one that can shape the limbs themselves over time. This bowl … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, cherry, events, finding wood, holding, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 21 Comments

“Beddar Wood” is Basswood

As soon as I opened the pack of shims, I recognized the particular scent. I took a closer look at the package and noted that the manufacturer celebrated this wood as superior to the spruce, pine, cedar, or plastic used … Continue reading

Posted in finding wood, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Working Small in Apple Wood

A couple weeks ago, a friend brought me a length of clear apple tree trunk, about 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Apple is relatively hard and dense, even when it’s green. Then it tends to move a lot as … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, drying, finding wood, green woodworking, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Amy Lowell’s Green Bowl

Ever since encountering Amy Lowell‘s Imagist poem The Green Bowl, published in her first poetry collection in 1912, I had wondered about it. Was it inspired by an actual bowl? If so, does it still exist? Who was Roger, the … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, historical reference, nature, paint, patterns, Persons, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

Bowl from a Plank Part 3: Handle Pattern

I had to put this bowl aside eight months ago, unfinished. I finally returned to it last week when I brushed off the dust and focused on the handles. This bowl was carved from a dry walnut plank. I documented … Continue reading

Posted in bowls, historical reference, patterns, Persons, Uncategorized, walnut | Tagged , , , , , | 19 Comments

Empty Your Sock Drawer

A couple posts ago, the one about the wall shelves, I showed the photo below and someone asked about the chests of drawers. They are part of my approach to organizing the new shop which emphasizes things like repurposing, avoiding … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized, workshop | Tagged | 17 Comments

I Remembered How!

It had been several months since I had roughed out a bowl from a log, the longest period of time in the last 25 years or so. There’s still plenty of settling-in to do here, but I was able to … Continue reading

Posted in adze, bowls, cherry, holding, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Wall Shelves

Building two matching shelf units to hang on either side of a central window in the garage/workshop was the first real testing ground for the new workbench. It works, and so do the shelves. I wanted them to hold a … Continue reading

Posted in holding, Uncategorized, workshop | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

Dog Holes and Vise Jaws

I like holes in my benchtop. I use them for holdfasts, bench dogs, pegs of one sort or another, and for securing a carving vise. I’ve written many posts over the years that show me using these techniques in one … Continue reading

Posted in holding, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

My (New?) Workbench

What you see above is the face frame/apron from my old workbench. Southern yellow pine 2x6s joined with mortises and tenons, with a sliding deadman in the middle. I had made this as an addition to my old bench several … Continue reading

Posted in holding, nature, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments