"It is exceedingly difficult to make a bowl that is a pleasure to handle, that you put down reluctantly once you've picked it up, that you want to pick up again, a bowl that invites your hand to explore the subtlety of balance between the mass of its base and its rim - all this in something that must look good while functioning as a practical object."
GALLERY INDEX
11" X 3.5" - Turned from Oak cut down in my neighborhood after a storm. Perfect for serving a large salad. Danish oil finish.
11" X 3.5" - Turned with pith in center to highlight the orange knots where branches grew from tree's center. Danish oil finish.
10" X 2.75" - Turned from my neighbor's tree after it got struck by lightning. Danish oil finish.
7.5" X 2.5" and 5" X 3" - slight spalting. Danish oil finish.
7.5" X 3.25" - With the rounded bottom, this bowl feels sensual to hold. Beautiful birch with a burst of heartwood. Danish oil finish.
6.25" X 2.5" - Heavy wood that likes water. Gorgeous tight grain and color. One of my favorite bowls. Danish oil finish.
7.5" X 2.5" - This bowl is lightweight. The undercut rim hides the thin walls. The outflowing rim makes it stackable. Danish oil finish.
2.5" X 7.5" - My personal salad bowl. Used daily for two years. Scrubbed with soap and water after each use. Danish oil finish. Refreshed with walnut oil four times over two years.
2.25" X 7.75" - Quarter sawn; will not warp much. Danish oil finish.
2.5" X 6.25" - mostly heartwood with bright contrasts of sapwood on rim. Walnut oil finish.
3" X 7" - Heavy solid bowl with grooves to hold firmly. No finish.
3" X 8" - Ridges on walls for firm grip. One of my favorite bowls. Walnut oil finish.
Wormy Maple - 8.5" X 3.25" - One of my favorite bowls. Gorgeous wood and perfect shape. Undercut rim gives illusion of heavy bowl. No finish; this bowl is happy being naked.
Apple - 4.25" X 2.5" - Slight spalting. Turned with base towards pith to preserved one small section of bark on rim; a natural dent in the tree. Walnut oil finish.
Cherry - 2.5" X 9" - Polyurethane finish
Oak - 4" X 7.5" - Natural edge rim. Turned from my neighbors tree that came down. Danish oil finish.
Apple - 3" X 4" - Hollow pot form. Walnut oil finish.
Cherry - 2.75" X 5" - Walnut oil finish.
Walnut - 3" X 4.5" - Walnut oil finish.
10" - One of the heaviest woods in the world. Gorgeous sapwood/heartwood with touches of green. No finish.
All-metal premium grinder.
Top knob is marked with "P" for pepper and functions as both changing grint coarseness and removing top for refilling.
10" - Danish oil finish
11" - Danish oil finish
I'm a firm believer that wooden bowls should be used. Thats why most of my bowls are utilitarian in form. Handling and eating from wooden bowls is truly a joy. The bowls are soft to the touch and soft to your homes tables, shelves, and other surfaces. They dont break or chip countertops when dropped. Finally, they are joy to look at and care for.
I prefer practical forms. My rims typically angle into the bowl to help its contents fall back in. I prefer wide, low profile bases for stability. The depth should be shallow enough not to hide parts of your food but the walls should keep it from falling out. Some of my bowls have beads or grooves below the rim to aid in handling while washing. Above all, the curves on bowls should be pleasing because their shape will outlast the brilliant colors, which will fade over decades as the wood ages.
In my opinion, wooden bowls should not fear water, forks, knives, or rough washing. One should be able to clean their bowls with hot water, soap, and a scrub brush. This is why youll never see shiny finishes on my utility bowls. All waxes and other surface finishes may look great before use, but once the bowl gets wet a few times, these finishes will wear off and look blotchy and youre bowl will look aweful. Most of my bowls are finished with penetrating oils, which also make it easy for you to care for.
Even my decorative bowls have simple practical forms. Decorative bowls also beg to be used, whether to store jewelry, mail, loose change, candy, or other small items.
During the week, I test software. But for the last 13 years Ive been spending many of my weekends caving in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. Ive always been a weekend warrior with an interest in amateur woodworking however. I come from a family of woodworkers. My brother builds museum quality furniture and my father builds kayaks. When my brother outgrew his Shopsmith, he passed it on to me. After tinkering with the Shopsmiths lathe features I was hooked. The Shopsmith certainly had its limits, however. To turn anything large enough to eat from, I would have to hold the Shopsmith down with my leg just to keep it from walking across the driveway with vibration. A year later, I bought a 600lb Powermatic lathe and now I rarely trade any turning weekends for caving.
I live in a wooded neighborhood east of downtown Atlanta. On any given day I can hop into my pickup truck, drive a few blocks, and find discarded logs by the side of the road. While furniture builders prefer straight grained seasoned lumber, woodturners will happily put obscure discarded logs to good use, either turned green or rough turned and seasoned in their basement.
Roughing out some Red Oak from my neighbor's tree after it got struck by lightning.
Rough turning a natural edge bowl in the winter. Turning outdoors in Atlanta is usually possible throughout the winter.
Turning something on the Shopsmith, a multi-power-tool that served as my first lathe.
Scraps from donated cherry logs. I don't think I turned that day...a rare Atlanta snow.
My wife eating a salad from her Red Gum salad bowl. She has used it every day for the past two years. The bowl has a crack near the rim that has nearly dissapeared as the bowl slowly dries out.
Four Bradford Pear salad bowls receiving several coats of walnut oil finish. My first commision. Beautiful wood.
Freshly turned from some cherry logs my friend gave me after removing a cherry tree from his yard.
Bottom of an apple bowl. An early favorite bowl of mine. Both for the form and for the wood.
If you're interested in purchasing one of my woodturnings or commisioning a custom piece in a specific wood species, drop me an email.
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560-765-7658
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