Bob Easton

Chocolate powered woodworking

Woodcarving

Bowl #4

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  • photo - completed bowl
  • photo - completed bowl
  • photo - completed bowl
  • photo - completed bowl - bottom

Ambrosia Maple. Length: about 13″ – Width: about 8 & 1/2″ – Height: about 4″ – Finish: food safe flaxseed oil

This log came from tree maintenance along a wooded road to the South of Lake Welch in Harriman State Part, NY. It was one of the logs I asked about a few months ago. From that query, I learned about the Ambrosia beetle and its habit of burrowing into a tree to establish nesting space. The beetles who inhabited this tree are long gone, but they left their large marks and a few tiny bore holes.

photo - rough shaping

The log rested in a plastic bag for a couple of months before I started on it. By the time I started, it had dried a bit and was as hard as one expects of Maple. I did a lot of the rough shaping using my newly built bowl horse. [ Bowl horse design from David Fisher. ]

I always find it interesting to see how many chips result from carving. Two pics show the bowl. The first is after roughing, with all the chips from that process, and the second is after final carving with those chips. The chips become garden mulch.

  • photo of bowl #4 - work in progress
  • photo - bowl and chips - 2

FWIW. This bowl is, at the time of this posting, currently lost in the mail. I posted it for a destination in Europe while in the midst of lockdown mania. The post office wasn’t aware at that time that mail to Europe was being held at various points along the way. Some European countries were rejecting entry of all mail and have only recently opened their gates. We have yet to discover whether the package actually arrived in Europe, or is being held at a big airport on the U.S. east coast, or … ??? — UPDATE: arrived at its destination after elebenty-seven days in transit.

Bowl # 5 – Spring Chicken

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Basswood. Length: 8.5″ Width: 4.5″ Height: 3.25″ Finish: Artist acrylic paints

This one is an experiment in finding the right shape. Again, inspiration from David Fisher, talking about his hens … one of which is the direct inspiration for this bowl. My “aha” moment came when I realized one does not need a crook to make a bird shape. A good block with a roof-peak shape will do.

Rather than hack into a hard maple log, I made this miniature from a 3x3x9 block of basswood. It was good practice in finding the right shape, and easier carving all along the way.

Hatchet, Adze, Drawknife

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Andrei showed us some skilled hatchet carving in the previous post, and in that post I also mumbled something about my own hatchet.

It is all David Fisher‘s fault.  I’ve acquired a few “green woodworking” tools and am trying to learn how to use them.  David’s bowls are spectacular, and it is this one that led me down the path.  Of course, there was an initial obstacle.  “The Great Adze Shortage of ’15” seems to be lingering.  Inventory from the well known adze makers is still non-existent anywhere.  Did they all go out of business, or is demand so high that traditional retailers simply can’t keep them in stock?  Dunno.  I found an answer (more on that shortly), and while waiting for the adze to arrive I turned my attention to refurbishing an old hatchet.

My “Boy Scout” hatchet*

It is a very simple, utilitarian tool.  I don’t remember when or where I acquired it.  I do remember replacing a cracked handle some years ago.  After learning a wee bit about bowl carving work with hatchet, adze and drawknife, I realized the grind on this old hatchet was completely wrong.  The grind was as it came from some store long ago, a blunt grind that is extremely sturdy and entirely appropriate for rough bushwhacking, definitely NOT for carving.

photo of my re-ground hatchetJob #1 then became regrinding the hatchet for carving.  Using the “scary sharp” sandpaper method, I took it from the blunt near-40° to something closer to 30°.  The result is much much much better.  More bite, fewer glancing blows.  It’s still not the perfect flat grind that I want, but I’ll get it there.

Job #2, and not absolutely necessary, …but since I was still waiting for an adze to arrive… was a cover/sheath for the hatchet.  Of course, it is wood, and of course it has some carving involved.  Inspired yet again by David Fisher, the result was fun to make.

*So… Is it “hatchet” or “axe?”  Some answers to that question say that usage distinguishes the term.  Use one handed: it’s a hatchet.  Use two-handed: it’s an axe.  I use this tool one-handed.

An adze and drawknife

I found my answer to the great adze shortage on Etsy.  Search Etsy for adze and you’ll find several blacksmiths making adze’s, axes, drawknives and other green woodworking tools.  After some additional research, I settled on making an order to Sergey Ivin from KharkivForge.  Yes, it took a good while, but Sergey states on his Etsy store page an estimated fulfillment time.  Add about 10 days for transit from Ukraine to the US.

photo of adze and drawknife from Sergey IvinBoth tools arrived ready to use, sharpened to a level that easily passes the arm-hair shaving test.  Each also arrived with very nicely made leather blade sheaths and the adze included a leather carry strap in case you want to take it along wherever you wander.

Clearly, I have no prior experience with these sorts of tools and don’t yet know what distinguishes one from another in terms of the best steel, the best handle material, the best working geometry, etc.  Yet, after a few hours of using them, I find both tools very effective at doing what is expected, and very comfortable in handling.  Sergey at KharkivForge delivered good tools and I’ll certainly consider him when I want more.

Now, to make something with them…