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.

Carnival of the Creators #15

I had two blog posts featured in this month's Carnival of the Creators at Mazel Tov! Jewelry Treasures. Cyndi has featured a really interesting selection of blog posts about jewelry for breast-feeding moms, crewel embroidery, writing, corde lisse, photography and of course woodturning.

From this blog, the featured article was the one I wrote about the materials I work with for making salad bowls. The other selection was from my other blog, The ToolRest, which I write with other woodturners in mind. This is not to say that it won't be of interest to customers too, if they want to gain a fuller understanding of the practise of woodturning. In the featured post I take a look at sources of inspiration for woodturners, and how they use it.

I'm pleased to say that the Carnival of the Creators seems to be gaining momentum in it's new monthly format. If you are a blogger who writes about creativity, art, craftsmanship or similar issues, why not submit the best post you write in the next month. It's a great way to gain exposure, new readers and links. You might even want to host a future edition. It really is fun and brings even more benefits upon your blog.

Technorati tags: blog carnivals, Blogging, woodturning, carnival, Carnivals

The stuff that salad bowls are made of

Big salad bowls are made from big pieces of wood. Acquiring this material is considerably more involved that driving to a wood supplier and throwing a few boards in the back of the car.

Earlier this year I purchased six big logs, a mixture of maples, yellow birch and beech. I hired someone with a tip truck to haul them to the spot in a neighbours woodlot where they were going to be sawn. I'd rather not say too much about getting the truck stuck in the mud and the resulting fun we had getting the logs off. Then we needed a tractor to lift the logs on to the brow, a raised platform that the logs are rolled along and onto the saw mill.

The big day came last Thursday when the bandsaw mill arrived. The whole operation went quite smoothly, and in a few hours I had a trailer loaded up with boards and larger sections from which I can easily cut bowl blanks.


First thing on Friday morning the wood was delivered to my yard. It was quite a good work-out unloading them, as they are still quite sizeable chunks of wood. These are the boards, some nearly two feet wide.


I don't have space indoors to store boards this long, so I have to cut most in half and trim off the ends to remove any cracks. Then the ends are sealed to prevent further splitting.

Finally I have this pile of wood which is destined to make salad bowls, some of which will be much larger than anything I have made to date. From this photograph it is difficult to appreciate the size of these pieces of wood, but it is a real challenge for me to move them on my own.


I will post more pictures as work continues to show the many steps that go into making a big bowl.

technorati tags: salad bowl, wood-mizer, woodturning