Carving a bowl – The Finish
The push toward finishing the bowl or any project is influenced by many factors. This one started with a fortunate find – a fallen tree – after a summer storm. The log stood in the shop for quite a time before I split off a few shakes with a refurbished froe. More time passed – way past the green wood stage – and I began fashioning the remaining log into a bowl.
Interestingly, my knack for multi-purposing is not so simply named. I improvise, rearrange, and conjure, too. I’m trying to find a name for all that. Maybe when this project is completed, I will have one. Right now, let’s think about this bowl that I am carving with hand tools.
See the transformation:
Then I started hollowing the bowl.
I had a few false impressions, but finally spotted a hole in the bowl.
Despite the evidence, I kept working, hoping that the hole was a small anomaly. I hoped that finishing the bowl would become a reality.
It wasn’t. However, the carving showed brief promise.
But not for long. Reality was setting in.
Is it worth finishing the bowl?
As I suspected, the log has quite a few “flaws”, namely holes made by insects over the life of the tree. This may or may not be a problem.
As I continued carving – that is, axing and shaving – the wood kept crumbling. Carving along the sides and bottoms revealed larger holes that only serve to force me to redefine the bowl’s shape second by second!
Did I say this may be a problem? I know it is.
How can I rectify this situation? Further effort to salvage the bowl in a very rustic style is not what I want. With each chop, the wood was disintegrating before my eyes.
Usually, finish choices are influenced by the intended use for the bowl. It could be used for decorative purposes, not eating. I was leaning toward shellac which is my fall-back choice for sealing and finishing. Right now, I do not think shellac will help this project!
Let me think about this
First I’ll sum up the steps I completed in the last posts:
- flattened the partially riven log with a carving axe,
- debarked the log,
- hewed or hollowed out the cavity with an adze and gouge within a loosely marked pattern on the log,
What was remaining:
- Shaping the bowl’s underside with a carving axe,
- refining the bowl shape with a spokeshave, rasp, and sandpaper.
- application of a protective finish on the bowl surface.
I am regrouping and moving on. I’ll put this project on the shelf. The exercise was not a waste. A little axe work here; a bit of adze work there. That’s more experience and a lot more “learning”.
My thoughts on not finishing the bowl
I am not sad. I do not feel any sense of self-betrayal for stopping.
I fully comprehend that not finishing the bowl:
- built muscle memory from using the axe, adze, and drawknives within and a little beyond their capacities,
- provided a workout for my arms,
- lessened the fear wielding larger edge tools,
- provided a lesson in self-awareness, i.e., to know when it’s time to exit or disengage from a fruitless endeavor.
A lot of good things were gained. What’s lost?
On the hunt
This is another thing this short project did for me. It cemented my appreciation for green woodworking. That just might be the subject of a future post. Right now, I am looking for green wood that I can intentionally salvage and properly prepare for carving a bowl.
Lucky break?
Baadaye
Shirley J ❤️
