Bowl - Carved Fruit Bowl.pdf - Projekty - stolarstwo - juan1p

Carved Fruit Bowl

here is something magical about carving bowls. Do

you know what I mean? One moment you have a

slab of wood—nothing very special, just a piece of wood

that might or might not end up on the fire—and the next

moment you have a carved bowl that is a useful part and

parcel of your life. We have this bowl that my Welsh

grandfather made. It wouldn't win prizes and it isn't so

beautiful, and it is a bit stained and has somehow been

slightly scorched on one side, but for all that, it has always

been with me. When 1 was a kid with chicken pox, the

bowl was filled with apples and placed beside the bed; it

was beside me when I was studying for my exams; it was

given to me when I got married, and no doubt I will give

it to one of my sons somewhere along the line. It has

become an heirloom, something precious!

So there you go, if you are looking to make a special

gift, one that might well see the next millennium in and

out, then perhaps this is the project for you.

CARVING THE BOWL

Before you do anything else, you need to search out a

block of easy-to-carve wood about 4" thick, 12" wide, and

12" along the run of the grain. You could use a wood like

lime, a fruit wood, a piece of yellow pine, or whatever, as

long as it's relatively easy to carve and free from splits and

knots.

909

Pencil label the two 12" X 12" faces, one "top rim" and

the other " foot rim." Now, with the slab set "top rim" face

uppermost, first draw crossed diagonals to establish top-

center; then use the compass or dividers to scribe out two

circles, one with a radius of 6" and one with a radius of

5 1/2". Rerun this procedure on the "foot rim" side of the

slab, only this time have the two circles at 2 3/4" radius and

2" radius. When you're happy with the way the wood has

been set out, use a band saw to cut out the blank. This

clone, move to the drill press and run a good size pilot

hole i n t o the center of the "top rim" side of the wood.

Drill down to a depth of exactly 3 1/4". 1 used a 2"-

diameter Forstner bit, but a l"-diameter would be fine.

Being mindful that the bottom of the hole marks both the

level of the inside bowl and the thickness of the base, it

is vital that you don't go deeper than 3 1/4".

With the workpiece set down on the bench so that the

"top rim" lace is uppermost, take a mallet and a straight,

shallow sweep gouge and work around the rim of the

drilled hole cutting back the waste. The working proce-

dure should go something like this: Work once around

the hole scooping out a ring of waste, work around this

initial ring scooping out another ring of waste, and so on,

all the while backing up until you reach what will become

the inside rim of the bowl. When you have cleared one

level of waste, return to the edge of the drilled hole and

start over. So you continue, clearing the waste level by

level until you begin to establish the beautiful shape of

the inside of the bowl.

Use whatever tools best do the job. For example, 1

started with the straight gouge and the mallet, then

changed to a front-bent gouge, and finally I switched to

using a small hooked knife for tidying up.

When the shape of the inside of the bowl is well estab-

lished, turn the workpiece over so that the base is upper-

most, and set to work carving and shaping in much the

same way as already described. The carving procedure for

the outside of the bowl is pretty straightforward, only this

time you need to work in two directions—from the inside

edge of the foot ring and in toward the center of the base,

and from the outside edge of the foot ring and out and

down towards the rim.

And so you resume, carving the inside of the foot ring

a little, carving the bold convex shape of the outside of

bowl profile, carving the inside of the bowl a tad more,

and so on and on, until the wall thickness ranges between

about 3/8 " at the rim to 5/8" outside the foot ring. And of

course, all along the way, you have to keep your tools

razor sharp so that each and every cut is clean, crisp and

controlled. As you get nearer to the beautiful bowl shape

that is hidden just below the surface of the wood, you

have to be more and more cautious with your cuts.

910

SPECIAL TIPS AND RULES OF THUMB

It's a l l straight forward, as long as you stay with the follow-

ing guidelines:

■ Try to set up a work rhythm—carve for a few minutes,

then stroke the tool on the stone and strop, then stand

back and be critical, and then go back to a few minutes of

carving, and so on. You will find that this way of working

ensures that everything is controlled . . . the tools slay

sharp, you have time to assess your progress, and you

don't get tired.

■ As the bowl nears completion, you will find that it is

more difficult to grip and hold the bowl. The best way is

to either cradle it in your lap or nestle it on a pile of rags.

■ When you are carving the inside of the bowl—when

it's nearly finished—you have to be extra careful that you

don't lever on and break the relatively fragile rim. To

prevent this end, you might need to use one of the bent

gouges rather than a straight gouge. I would recommend

either a no. 5 bent gouge at about 3/4" wide, or perhaps a

no. 7 spoon gouge at about the same width. Be mindful

that the flatter the sweep (meaning the shape of the blade

in cross section) the greater the chance that the corners

of the blade will cut and tear the wood.

CARVING THE BOWL INTERIOR

The swooping shape of the bent gouge lets you carve the concave

curve without levering the shaft of the tool on t h e fragile rim.

STEP-BY-STEP STAGES

1 Having established the

center of t h e square slab

by drawing crossed di-

agonals and cutting the cir-

cular blank, use the 2" diam-

eter Forstner b i t to run a

3 1/4-deep pilot hole

down i n t o the center (top).

Work around the hole

clearing the waste (bottom

left). Clear the waste level by

level, all the while backing

up from the pilot hole

through to the r i m (bottom

right).

911

2 One of the easiest ways to bring the bowl to a good

finish is to use a hooked sloyd knife. As you are

working around the inside of the bowl, be mindful that

all along the way you will need to adjust your angle of

cut to suit the ever-changing run of the grain.

4 The beautiful concave curve shape that runs down

from the outside of the foot rim is achieved by

thrusting down with the blade and levering back with the

handle.

3 When you come to carve the inside of the foot—

meaning the inside of the base ring—use small, controlled

cuts, with one hand pushing and the other guiding and

being ready to break. Notice how in this instance you can

lever the shank of the tool on the relatively strong foot

rim.

5 All along the way you will have to make repeated

checks with the caliper. Try to aim for a section that starts

relatively thick at the base and gradually tapers up to a

thin rim.

912

A GOOD WOOD GUIDE FOR CARVING

Wood carving is a wonderfully fulfilling and exciting area

of woodworking, but only, if you choose the right wood.

When 1 first started carving, I had in mind to carve a

female torso, a Venus. I'm sure you know what I mean,

a bit like Marilyn Monroe, but more so. Though my

teacher told me to use lime, when I arrived at the wood

yard and saw the astronomical prices, 1 was swiftly talked

into buying—at a quarter of the price of lime—a massive

piece of I-don't-know-what.

Well, when 1 got my "bargain" wood back to the work-

shop, it was a nightmare. The wood was green and wet,

it was lull of iron-hard knots, it started to warp and split

the moment I started carving, it made my tools rusty, the

grain was wild and twisted—I could continue listing its

terrible qualities. Yes, I did manage to finish my carving,

but at what cost to my strength and sanity? It was truly

awful, a sort of mad mix-up between Marilyn Monroe and

a glandular Guernsey!

The moral of this sad little tale from my teenage years

is there are no shortcuts, and there are very few bargains.

You must use a piece of good wood. The following listing

will help you on your way:

Alder —A sapwood tree common in low-lying areas. A

wood traditionally used by North American Indians and

early settlers, it is especially good for bowls and general

kitchenwares.

American Whitewood — Known variously as tulipwood,

basswood, canary wood, and many other names besides,

this is a soft, easy-to-carve wood.

Apple —A hard dense, close-grained fruitwood, it comes

in small sizes, carves well and takes a good polish. Apple

is traditionally used for small items of treen (wooden-

ware), and for kitchenwares.

Beech —A heavy, relatively easy-to-carve wood that has a

yellow-gold sapwood and a reddish heart. Beech is partic-

ular! good for carved furniture.

Boxwood — A beautiful, pleasant-smelling, butter-smooth

wood that is extremely hard and close-grained. If you

want to carve items like jewelry, hair combs, small dishes

and boxes, then boxwood is a good choice.

Cedar — Pencil Cedar is a favorite wood for carving. It

cuts to a clear pink-brown finish.

Cherry — American cherry is a close-grained, hard-to-

work, reddish brown wood that comes in relatively small

widths. It carves well and can be brought to a wonderful

high-shine finish.

Hickory —Straight-grained with a white sapwood and

reddish brown heartwood, hickory is often the first choice

for large sculptural carvings.

Horse Chestnut —White if it is felled in winter, and

yellow-brown if it is felled later in the year, this wood is

especially good for carved furniture details and for dairy

and kitchenwares.

Holly —A close-grained, ivory-white wood that carves

well and takes fine details, it is a good wood for small

desktop toys, and kitchenwares.

Lime — English lime is one of my favorite woods. Butter-

colored, close-grained and easy to carve, it is the tradi-

tional choice for architectural work, like mirror sur-

rounds, coats-of-arms, small sculptures and interior trim.

Though linden or basswood are often described as being

the same as lime, they are to my way of thinking quite

different.

Maple —Soft maple is the traditional choice for general

carvers—used for making such things as furniture, do-

mestic wares and musical instruments—while rock maple

is preferred for heavier items like sports gear and some

laundry wares.

Pear — A pink-brown wood that has a close-grained, sat-

iny finish. It's really good for kitchenwares.

Plum —One of my favorite woods. Though it is certainly

very difficult to carve, the color and texture are special—

especially good for small presentation pieces.

Sycamore —A hard, light-colored wood, it carves and fin-

ishes well. Sycamore is a top choice for dairy and kitchen-

wares, where it is important that the wood leave no smell

or taint.

Yellow Pine — White to reddish light brown, it is good for

large sculptural carvings and interior details. It has been

used traditionally in shipbuilding and interior joinery. If

you order the wood unseen, be sure to specify "smooth

first growth." If you don't, there is a good chance that

you will be given poor-grade, coarse and knotty second

growth.

913

Bowl - Carved Fruit Bowl.pdf

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: