Summer season

It's summer now at Seafoam Woodturning Studio, though you wouldn't guess by looking out the window here today. Anyway, the studio at Seafoam is now open on a regular basis, Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and most Fridays by chance or arrangement. At weekends I will be at the Pictou Weekend Craft Market. I hope to see you soon!

If you aren't familiar with the area, SunriseTrail.ca will help you plan your visit, and our Google map will help you find both my studio and the craft market.

One log, thirty three bowls and a pup

Last Friday I found a nice message waiting for me on the answering machine. A neighbour had cut a yellow birch log for me and hauled it out to the roadside with his horse. All I had to do was go get it, so I fueled up the chainsaw, threw it in the trunk and off I went. It was a nice clear log with no noticeable defects, eight to ten feet long , and between twelve and fifteen inches in diameter. I soon had it cut into three more manageable pieces, then wrestled them onto the back seat of the car. Not the ideal transport arrangement, but the best I can manage right now.

Over the last few days I have been roughing out bowl blanks from that one log. Using the coring device shown below, I was able to to get thirty three bowl blanks from it.


Here are the bowls blanks which will be set aside to dry for several months. They vary in size from about six inches upt to thirteen inches in diameter. The photo also shows a couple of the tools that I used and the pile of wet shavings that came from them. Without the coring tool, I would only have got eighteen bowls and a much larger pile of shavings.


This is also a good opportunity to introduce you to the newest member of the Seafoam Woodturning team, Sasha MacDasha, a three year old toy poodle.

Interviewed for Layers Upon Layers

Hey folks! My friend Cyndi Lavin, a professional blogger who writes for b5media, has just posted an interview we did recently.

Cyndi asked some searching questions that made me really think about things I take for granted in my day to day work. Do take a look if you want to learn more about the work I do, and check out the rest of Cyndi's blog while you are there. She is a great writer and always has some interesting things to share.

Busy doing nothing?

At this time of year I tend to spend a lot of time doing preparatory work, but not actually getting anything finished. Lately I have been rough turning salad bowls blanks. Here I am hollowing a medium sized bowl and creating a pile of shavings on the floor.


Here I am working on a larger bowl blank. This picture gives a good idea of the long shavings that come off when turning green wood, that is wood that still has moisture in it. It is softer and more flexible than dried wood, so it is quite easy to make wide cuts and the shavings are less likely to break into small chips.


I did get to spend some time turning some smaller salad bowl blanks that have been taking up shelf space in my drying room. At the moment I seem to be in the enviable position of having nearly too much wood, and need to clear space for it all.


These bowls have since had one application of walnut oil. Tonight I plan on giving them a second coat, then when that is dry in a week or so they will be ready to go out on the gallery shelf. I might put a few for sale here, so do watch this space if you think you could use a kitchen-safe wooden bowl.

Kitchenware care

Caring for your spurtle or salad bowl is a simple case of washing it in warm soapy water and drying thoroughly. An occasional application of oil or wax may be called for, but for the most part timely washing will keep your wooden kitchenware in good condition.

But if it takes on an odour such as garlic or onion, try rubbing it with a slice of lemon, lime or orange, then sprinkle with salt and wipe with a paper cloth.

In more extreme cases where food has gone off in the bowl, such as fruit which has been forgotten, try making a mixture of mineral oil and pumice powder. Rub this into the bowl with a cloth. Many applications may be needed, but this is probably the safest way for consumers to fix a bowl.

I once had a customer come to me with an old bowl, not one of mine I should add, that had had some fruit go off in it. The bottom was a really sticky mess and I had to remove quite a bit of wood to get back to a reasonably good finish. Sandpaper is not much use in cases like this since it will gum up right away. I used a curved cabinet scraper, but even then it was a tediously slow job.