A nice slide show of me making a bowl on the pole lathe done by Jon Henley at the Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/audioslideshow/2009/dec/09/robin-wood-pole-lathe This is part of a series Jon is doing on craftspeople. I would recommend having a look at some of the others here
2 days before Christmas I had the privilege of a most inspiring visit to Freeman College in Sheffield and a tour by Helen Kippax the principle. Freeman college is the most recent of three colleges run by Ruskin Mill Educational Trust which for a quarter of a century, has pioneered a unique, holistic and student-centred approach to the education and…
I know many of my blog readers are signed up supporters of the Heritage Crafts Association and will have received this message by email but for those that have not…. The Heritage Crafts Association’s aim is to support and promote heritage crafts as a fundamental part of our living heritage. Since the HCA website went live earlier this year, we…
This is my 12 year old son Ollie’s first bowl, made from willow. First he split the log in half. Next he cut a piece to length. Note stylish pink crocks. Axing the base of the bowl flat and removing all the pith. And planing the base flat. This is not totally necessary but it helps when judging the thickness…
This period between Christmas and new year is a time for playing with things that I would not have time for at other times. Whilst I have been experimenting with bowlcarving over the last months I have been primarily working in a Scandinavian/European tradition both tools and designs. I have always very much admired the work of the native cultures…
I hope all my customers and blog readers have had a wonderful Christmas. For US readers we don’t have thanksgiving so this is the major time for families to spend time together and many folks end up driving across the country to catch up with family. This year those journeys were hampered by snow. Thankfully we didn’t have to go…
On Friday I visited Trevor Ablett one of the last of Sheffield’s pen and pocketknife makers. Trevor is on the left with Reg Cooper bowie knife maker on the right. I have visited Trevor a few times now and bought quite a few of his knives. I tend to give them as gifts when we visit folk on behalf of…
And the other question is what age is it OK for children to use knives? I am a great believer in teaching children the safe use of knives as tools. This is best done with one on one supervision in the home, starting with food preparation. Our children started before the age of 3 helping make a fruit salad using…
I thought it might be an idea to put a few blog posts which answer frequently asked questions and what is the best oil for treating wood? has to be one of the most frequent. Dry wood is like blotting paper and would soak up whatever you put on or in it. A breakfast bowl would soak up the milk which…
Here is a link to a nice article about my work in the Guardian today by Jon Henley. Its in the “work” section.http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/dec/12/turn-a-bowl-pole-lathe In the week there will be a slaide show showing the processes of making a bowl, I’ll post a link when it is up.
