Would you like to see some beautiful wooden bowls?
Richard working on a fine duck shaped bowl smoothing the inside with a gouge.
And after a gouge we use a specially designed curved bowlcarving knife, this new tool removes the grooves left by the gouge and leaves a smooth cut surface, I like it a lot but was unsure as to how other folk would take to it. Everyone seemed to get on well with them. Here you can see Raph using the knife and the way the bowl is held in place with a simple wooden wedge.
and a close up of the tool in use.
Refining the outside with the Frosts push knife. These tools are often sold in the UK as a draw knife and they make really very bad drawknives but they are great push knives.
The notch in the end of the bowl horse allows easy holding and support for use of the push knife, we came up with various potential minor improvements for this bit of the horse.
Another grip for finishing the inside and another shape of bowl. Vikki had done no green woodworking before but made two beautiful bowls.
One of the great things about these courses is the camaraderie and supportive atmosphere I think this is probably true of all green woodworking courses, it is as much about the fun of spending time with a nice bunch of interesting folk as learning new skills. Everyone is learning together.
Time spent sitting back and looking at what you have done is always time well spent.
Here are some of the finished bowls. In three days everyone carved two bowls each but more importantly learnt all the skills to hopefully carve more at home.
Nice.Can you do a quick sketch of the horse so we can make one too.Thanks
Fantastic, Robin. I'm sure that everyone had a great time–wish I were there to sign up for a class. Did you rough-hollow the bowls with adzes?
I like the horse they are using, I will have to make one.Good post, and good pics, thank you.Le Loup.
Great post Robin, most enjoyable.peaceeric
Also; better pitures of the bowlcarving knife. It looks a bit like a crooked knife blade, but in a non-traditional handle. True.
Great pics Robin, I can share them with friends who want to see what I was up to.
Richard, not much to sketch beyond what is in the pictures really, the horses are simply a 6-8" diameter log with 4 well splayed legs socketed in. They splay out in both directions so you can push against the horse from the side or the end and it is stable. The cut the slot out for the bowl to fit in a a notch at the end.Kari we do rough hollow with an adze and I use Hans Kalssons which you can get in the US from Drew Langsner. The horse works really well for adzing.The hook knife is not really quite like any traditional tool. It is a little like Native American crook knives crossed with Scandinavian hooks with a little of the old Welsh and Romanian spooncarving hooks thrown in. Add plenty of experience of carving and forging and you end up with a tool that just works very sweetly.
Hi Robin,I really like the look of the curved bowlcarving knife, could you tell me where I could get one from as I haven't seen anything like it beforeCheersMark
That is some impressive work done by those folks, Robin. I love the simplicity and effectiveness of the horse. Very inspiring all around!Dave Fisher