The Perfect Christmas Gift-Tamarack Bowls

 

 



Brian and I made a special delivery this weekend, just in time for Christmas. Susan and Rick had to take a tree down on their cottage property this summer and wondered if one of the logs could be made into bowls as a gift for their daughters.  The tamarack tree had been planted by their great-great grandfather more than 100 years ago. 

 

Brian sawed the log down the middle lengthwise with his chainsaw and cut each half of the log into a circle.  It was his first time working with tamarack, which is a softwood, and he found it had a distinctive wide grain and golden colour. 

The bowls were roughed turned and waxed to slow down the drying process and prevent cracking. 

Brian used the nesting tool on the lathe to maximize the use of the wood and turn four bowls from each half of the log.

After months of drying, each bowl was chucked, mounted on the lathe and turned.

Weeks of shaping, sanding, oiling and polishing resulted in a smooth, food-safe finish.

Natural knots, wide grain and the variation in colours of the darker heartwood and lighter sapwood add to the beauty of the bowls. 

 

A tree which has been been part of the cottage for generations is sadly missed when it is removed, but it will be with the family for generations once made into bowls.  They can be stored by nesting one into the other.  Susan and Rick's daughters will have bowls for large and small salads, rolls, snacks and nuts.  And each time they use them, they will be reminded of their cottage and the property they love.  The perfect Christmas present!

 

 

Nested Black Cherry Bowls

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.

Yellow Birch Nested Bowls

Brian created this magnificent set of bowls from a single yellow birch burl using a special nesting tool.  Each piece is cut out individually and mounted on the lathe.  It is remarkable to see how the colour, grain and spalting is evident from the smallest to the largest bowl.