Faust M. Ruggiero
02-23-2013, 4:46 PM
Yesterday my wife and I took the day off and ventured to Baltimore, MD to see the American Craft Council Show. The show was juried so all the items shown were outstanding. After doing the obligatory walk through the endless booths of weaving, jewelery and hand woven scarves and such we came to the area where woodworkers showed their goods. There were furniture makers whose work was nothing short of fantastic but I was anxious to see the wood turners. I was not disappointed. I happened on John Beaver who was showing his wave bowls. John is a very personable fellow in addition to being a great turner.
Keith Holt was there displaying among other items, his turned and carved heads. The expressions he carves depict joy and contentment in a wooden hollow form. Someday, I hope to add one of his pieces to my own collection. If you have not seen Keith's work, google him and look. It is worth your while.
Another booth caught my attention. The artist is a gentleman from Wisconsin whose work I had never seen. His name is Gordon Browning. Gordon makes hollow forms he refers to as "pots". I call them nothing short of amazing. He turns through an entry hole not much larger than 1/2 to 5/8", something I try to do on forms up to 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Gordon uses that size entry on forms almost 18" in diameter and 12" or so deep. His pieces obviously come from huge trees because what I saw was turned cross grain with no pith. He uses a variety of home made tools usually nothing larger than a 3/8" bar. He says he uses Ellsworth style tools but does bend some of them. In addition to controlling the chatter when using a 3/8" or even 1/2" bar that far over the tool rest, just cleaning shavings out of a giant hollow form through that tiny hole seems like a task that must take forever. I didn't ask Gordon how long it takes to hollow one of his giant forms or if he hand holds his tools or uses a rig of some kind. His web site shows his work and is merely his name with the usual .com on the end. The trip was worthwhile just to meet him, Keith and John and enjoy their work in person.
faust
Keith Holt was there displaying among other items, his turned and carved heads. The expressions he carves depict joy and contentment in a wooden hollow form. Someday, I hope to add one of his pieces to my own collection. If you have not seen Keith's work, google him and look. It is worth your while.
Another booth caught my attention. The artist is a gentleman from Wisconsin whose work I had never seen. His name is Gordon Browning. Gordon makes hollow forms he refers to as "pots". I call them nothing short of amazing. He turns through an entry hole not much larger than 1/2 to 5/8", something I try to do on forms up to 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Gordon uses that size entry on forms almost 18" in diameter and 12" or so deep. His pieces obviously come from huge trees because what I saw was turned cross grain with no pith. He uses a variety of home made tools usually nothing larger than a 3/8" bar. He says he uses Ellsworth style tools but does bend some of them. In addition to controlling the chatter when using a 3/8" or even 1/2" bar that far over the tool rest, just cleaning shavings out of a giant hollow form through that tiny hole seems like a task that must take forever. I didn't ask Gordon how long it takes to hollow one of his giant forms or if he hand holds his tools or uses a rig of some kind. His web site shows his work and is merely his name with the usual .com on the end. The trip was worthwhile just to meet him, Keith and John and enjoy their work in person.
faust