Calm Carving | A Large Bowl From An Incredible Wild Cherry Log Using Hand Tools - Green Wood Project

Video Description

Hello everyone, In this episode of Calm Carving, I make a large bowl from a beautiful piece of fresh wild cherry. It is not often that I come across such large pieces of wood, especially here in the rolling hills of South Moravia, but an abandoned vineyard was being cleared and the wonder kindly let me know that there would be some wood available. The aromas of the wood swirled through the workshop as I began to get stuck into this giant log with my first hand tool, the saw. It sawed nicely and then I split the large fresh log with some old army axe heads to unveil such a beautiful grain structure. I then sawed away the end grain where the log had been exposed to the elements the most and it was here that for the first time, I unearthed a lovely swirling pattern in the wood. It was so satisfying to begin to axe away the beginnings of the pith and bark before clamping the log half in a bowl donkey - a traditional green-wood working stand over vice link structure used to hold wood whilst it is excavated with hand tools. I then sharpened my adze before spending 4 hours removing a lot of material from the inside of the bowl shape. It was important to stretch before starting to remove such bulk and to take care of my body during such repetitive movement. As I burrowed deeper with the adze, the red glow began to emerge. I then used my 50mm twca cam tool from Nic Westermann to refine the hollow and smoothen the gestural adze marks. With my carving axe, split away initial bulk billets from the log and then carved a very loose triangular form before calling it a day. I had a lose idea to carve scallops into the bowl to create some texture and to test out some new gouges that I got from a tip to Japan but after seeing such a beautiful wood grain and tone, I couldn't justify making tool marks to change this. Instead I decided to highlight such natural beauty with a smooth hand tool finish like a canvas for a painting. On day two, I axed the outside of the bowl. The Thorn Wood Forge - Merlin Axe combined with tactical relief cuts with it, made gradual ease of the tough fresh cherry. As always, I took my time, despite a looming light deadline this time of year. I got there eventually and then used a combination of my spoon carving knives and my slojd knife to sculpt a foot on the base of the bowl so that it sits nicely. As the bowl is likely to warp when drying, there was no need to really get this flat and dialled as I will make a final pass once the piece is dry. On day three, I slowly and mindfully carved away until I revealed the final bowl was revealed! I was really happy with the final outcome and I liked how clean the shape was despite being naturally asymmetric. I had a small amount of trouble with the underside of the handles but I managed to get there with a combination of three spoon knife hand tools. It was the shallow and more open hook knife from Lorenzo Margoni that was the perfect shape for this tricky area. Sometimes you just have to try a combination of many tools to reveal the correct shape. I like that I was challenged by this piece. The final piece, I was very happy with and I am happy that the echoic shape of a bowl houses such a wonderful and incredible pattern in this fresh wild cherry. There is a particular energy that can be felt in a large carved piece like a bowl that is very specific. When holding this bowl, I feel the time spent carving and the time spent for the large cherry tree to grow. I only hope to honour trees like this to provide narrative for the trees we lose for other things to grow. I wonder where the tree came from… How it ended up being left for so long in such a place… How many people or birds have eaten its fruits, How many kids have climbed its branches, how many farmers have found shelter from the summer storms or how many lovers have kissed under its canopy. These are things I get to think about further as I use this bowl. Keep an eye out for my future video where I document how much this bowl changed as it dries! I am going to make a before and after comparison of its size, weight and shape to document its warp, crack, size change and weight loss. Thank you for watching me carve this lovely bowl with my hand tools. Working wood is my passion and I am so happy that I can share projects like this with you all. If you have any questions, do fire away! Thanks again and see you in the next video. Samuel Alexander Tools used: Thorn Wood Forge - Merlin Axe Joshua Burrell - Radii adze Nic Westermann - 50mm Twca Cam Adrian Lloyd - 4” Slojd Knife Nic Westermann - Finishing Spoon Knife Belzeboo Crafts - Mini Loop Knife Lorenzo Margoni - Spoon Knife Nic Westermann - 40mm Twca Cam Silky Saws - Gomboy 210 Chapters: 00:00 Intro 02:17 Wood Prep 03:40 Hollwing 13:02 Axe Work 17:19 Carving The Foot 20:20 Knife Carving 23:41 Finishing Cuts 24:59 The Final Piece 25:38 Project Debrief