Bowl
I was asked to create a piece for a family friend as a gift for his wife's 70th birthday celebrations. Our discussions ranged from a wall plaque involving Dutch stepped gables (Margreet the lady in question is Dutch), to a large rustic looking bowl with her name and date of this special occasion to provide a suitable reminder.
Some time ago I was asked to clean up a very old beam a client had found in a farm yard, which they wanted to use as a mantle shelf. Part of the job involved cutting the oak to length and the 450mm long offcut was given to me as the client had no use for it. Coming from a mill and thought to be 100 plus years old, I suggested to Alun that it might be suitable to make a bowl.
On studying the timber it had several splits, one of which ran the full length of the piece, there was also some sapwood along one edge which showed some woodworm damage.
The large split was stabilised using 3 counter bored screws, I then started to carve the inside with the Arbortech ball gouge. Several days and lots of shavings later the inside was more or less to shape. Next stage was the outside which I shaped using the power plane, being careful not to hit the counter bored screws which had to be removed and set deeper to allow for the necessary shaping. The bulk of the sapwood was removed, then the inside was refined using the power plane.
All splits were filled depending on size with filler, or superglue and brass powder. Wall thickness was checked using callipers, and the whole piece sanded both inside and out.
Lettering and extras
With the basic shape finished, I downloaded 'Daniel', my font of choice, copied the lettering on to the side of the bowl, then with my engraving tool in my router I carved the lettering and back filled with brass powder and superglue. This was followed by a final sand and finish with an antibacterial worktop oil which I use on chopping boards.
Although the bowl was finished I felt something was missing, so to complete the job I found some American black walnut and made a set of salad servers, again using the Arbortech power plane to produce the curved form required.
The colour contrast between the aged English oak which had some fantastic grain variation particularly in the area of the splits, and the almost black colouration of the walnut was very pleasing.
Both client and recipient were delighted with the end result and for my part a big thanks to Axminster tools for introducing me to Arbortech .
Get in Touch
Call 07710 888611, or email mrhwoodwork@outlook.com.