Our workshop is open to the public by appointment. Call 705-635-3190. The Artists of the Limberlost Tour is August 17-18 and the Muskoka Autumn Studio Tour is September 28-29 and October 5-6, 2013.
We would love to see you!
A hand-turned bowl or platter would be the perfect wedding, birthday, retirement or Christmas gift.
www.limberlostwoodturning.com
Sugar Maple is a hardwood maple tree, with deeply furrowed dark bark, found throughout Ontario. We all love this tree for the vivid orange and red leafy splendor of autumn colour and the joy of pouring maple syrup on our pancakes.
Brian mounted this large sugar maple burl on the lathe, shaping the bottom with the gouge to form graceful, fluted wings.
Attaching a chuck to the bottom, Brian removed the faceplate and turned the inside of the bowl. It revealed distinctive bark inclusions, colour variations and figuring. After the process of sanding, oiling and polishing, the bowl is finished. This prized bowl, with its rough, raw edge and unique, swirling grain patterns has a fine smooth finish.
Cool crisp days, brilliant sunshine and the splendor of autumn leaves. It is the perfect weekend to explore the dramatic back roads of Muskoka and visit artists in their studios. Brian works alone at his lathe all year and he loves the opporturnity to interact with people and show them the bowls, platters and tables that he has created.
We welcome you into the workshop where you can see the raw burls, the slabs of wood and understand the process involved in turning them into platters and bowls. The crowds form around Brian's lathe and there is time for discussion and a demonstration of his craft.
Limberlost Woodturning is on Fieldale Road, north-east of Huntsville on beautiful Rebecca Lake. Plan your weekend to see some of the 20 artists who are opening their studios to the public. For more information go to:
Quilted Bigleaf Maple has rare wavy figuring that looks like ripples on water. Highly prized for its beauty, it is often used when making guitars and musical instruments. Imagine Brian's anticipation as he prepared to make a platter from this very special board.
Brian scribed a circle with his compass and cut the board with his band saw. He was able to keep a portion of the bark intact as a feature of the platter.
The maple circle was mounted on the lathe with the faceplate so that Brian could turn the shape of the platter. Bigleaf Maple is a light golden colour which contrasts with the reddish brown of the bark edge.
Once the graceful shape of the bottom of the platter was completed, Brian cut a dovetail to insert a chuck. This allowed him to mount the other side of the platter so he could turn the top.
There were many steps of sanding, polishing and oiling which resulted in a smooth finish to enhance and protect the beauty of the wood.
Quilted Bigleaf Maple Platter
The process from the raw maple board to this exquisite platter was satisfying as the true and natural beauty of the quilted figuring was revealed.
The complex and intricate patterns of the wood are completed by the texture of the bark edge. It is indeed a work of art.
The process of making a bowl is most rewarding when it begins with cutting the burl from the tree. A call from a woman in Novar about a dead yellow birch tree with an enormous burl on it was followed up with Brian's visit with the chainsaw. This 3 foot section is just part of the total burl.
The burl was too large to turn on the inner section of the lathe so after the faceplate was attached, it was mounted on the outboard side of the lathe. It weighed about 100 pounds.
With a very sharp gouge, Brian turned off the outer bark and shaped the bottom of the bowl.
The figuring and spalting of the bowl was revealed as it was shaped and buffed.
Burls are irregular growths that naturally occur on trees with variations in colour, grain and bark inclusions. Brian turned the inside of the bowl, buffed it and gave it many coats of a food-safe finish.
Yellow Birch Burl Bowl
The finished yellow birch bowl is exceptional with a natural edge, beautiful figuring and a graceful shape. The original owners of the tree visited Brian's workshop and decided that it must return to their home. Their excitement as they left the workshop with the finished bowl was satisfying as they could truly appreciate the process from burl to bowl.
The rugged landscapes of Muskoka are evident in the beauty of a finished burl. Brian intuitive approach to a burl begins when it is dry and ready to be turned on the lathe. Nature's creation resulted in this extraordinary maple bowl which is distinctive for its lacy bark edge, graceful shape and rich colour.
Silver Maple Burl Bowl
For more information about the Artists of the Limberlost Exhibit at the Huntsville Summit Centre until April 15:
The story behind the bowl is always interesting. Last fall friends dropped by with an enormous maple burl which they found in the forest of their hunt camp. It had been left behind when a fallen tree was cut up for wood.
It took a lot of muscle to get this burl off the trailer and into the workshop. It measured 20 inches across with irregular and distinctive knobs and protuberances.
After studying the burl, Brian decided to make a bowl which was narrower at the bottom and fluted up to dramatic wings. He needed strength and stamina as well as artistic knowledge of wood to discover the beauty within such a large burl.
Brian mounted the burl on the lathe and shaped the top and bottom of the burl with his gouges. He never knows what the interior of the burl will reveal until it is exposed. The cracks, bark inclusions and variations of colour and grain resulted in the raw beauty of this burl.
Multiple coats of a special blend of food-safe oil were applied while on it was on the lathe and allowed to dry. After a week, the bottom of the bowl was turned off and finished.
This unique creation began as a discarded piece of wood and with Brian's skill as a woodturner, has been transformed into a stunning maple burl bowl. The wild and rugged landscape of the bush is visible in its smooth surface and for our friends it is a lasting reminder of their forest and camp.
Brian enjoys sharing his love of wood turning, especially with young people who may be inspired to work on the lathe.
A few weeks ago some family and friends asked for a demonstration of how to make a bowl. There were many questions about the equipment, the wood and the techniques of turning.
Brian hopes that sharing his knowlege will encourage others to take up the hobby. These boys will have a new appreciation of the skill needed to turn a bowl and the fun that you can have making a few wood shavings.
Brian was called by a friend a few weeks ago with an offer of wood from a cherry tree that he was taking down. As Brian picked up the three 18 by 18 inch logs, he was already planning his approach to roughing out each log to make nested bowl blanks.
Brian cut the logs with a chainsaw vertically, not horizontally, to prevent warping and cracking of the wood.
Each slab was then roughed round, centred on a faceplate and mounted on the lathe.
Brian used a chisel to take the bark off the outside of the log. Cherry wood is a light pinkish-yellow when first cut but with time it deepens in colour to a rich reddish brown. Cherry has a fine, straight grain and a smooth texture which makes it perfect for making bowls.
As the wood rotated on the lathe, Brian used the gouge, a very sharp tool, to create a round, bowl shape. He felt a vibration and ticking on his gouge and soon discovered the problem. Years earlier, someone had hammered a nail into the tree, but Brian was able to extract it from the wood. Not good for the gouge, but he was able to sharpen it again. Having sharp tools is essential for a woodturner.
This bowl has lots of character with the contrasting colours of the heartwood and sapwood. Added to this is the stain on the wood which was left by the nail. This photo shows the nail sitting on the edge of the base of the bowl.
Brian flipped the cherry bowl blank and securely fastened the bottom to the lathe with a chuck. From the single piece of timber, Brian was able to core out 4 bowls with curved coring tools. Instead of having a single large bowl with the rest of the wood shavings sitting under the lathe, there are four progressively larger bowls nested, one inside of the other.
Because the tree was just cut down, the wood and the shavings are very wet. If Brian was to finish the bowls now, they would warp and not maintain their round shape. It is a slow process as wood dries at the rate of about one inch a year.
The high moisture content of the bowls can cause cracking if the wood doesn't dry evenly. Brian paints an end sealer onto the outer edges of the bowls to ensure an even rate of evaporation. The bowls are now in their basic shape but left one to two inches thick. After a year of drying in the wood shed, Brian will mount each individual bowl on the lathe and complete the final turning, sanding and oiling.
There is much satisfaction knowing that the Huntsville cherry tree that had recently fallen will eventually live on as three sets of beautiful nested bowls.
The process of turning a beautiful burl bowl begins with a chainsaw. Often the irregularly shaped knob from the side of the tree sits in the workshop for years until it is dry enough to turn. Brian studies the burl and shapes it so that he can mount it on the lathe and sculpt it to its final form.
The grain of a burl is unknown until the tools begin to carve away the bark and the intricate patterns and colours are revealed. Box elder has a very fine texture and often produces beautiful coral-coloured streaks.
Brian decided to create a bowl shape from this burl and used a very sharp gouge to make a graceful rounded form.
Brian then flipped the burl and attached a chuck to the bottom so that he could carve out the top. He drilled a depth-finding hole and as the lathe rotated the burl, he turned out the interior of the bowl. Already the bark inclusions, spalting and red streaks are visible.
A few inches of bark were left on the edge of the burl and the final sanding, oiling and buffing were completed.
The finishing process can take up to a week as the bowl is allow to dry between coats of oil and then mounted on the lathe for further applications. The result is a lustrous food-safe finish that enhances and protects the wood.
The final box elder burl bowl is a delight to behold. The character of the forest is evident in the bark live edge, the intricate figuring and the dramatic natural colouring of the wood.
This final photograph, taken by Kelly Hollinshead, demonstrates the inherent beauty of this rare and unique piece.
