Latest bowl project - Summertime

[Wolf Kiessling]

Y'all have made so many kind comments on the Christ relief carving project, I though I'd post some pix of my latest MAJOR bowl project. Some of you may enjoy them.

This is a 12.25" wide by 10.5" high catalpa bowl finished with a variety of oils. I finished the piece about three months ago after working on it for about five months...............

I already have the next bowl turned, don't have the exact dimensions, but it is also catalpa and a little larger than this one. My intentions are to carve it with a dragon and a phoenix fighting and title it either The Final Dance or maybe Mortal Dance, something along those lines anyhow. After having carved a half dozen or so in-the-round dragons it seems fitting to finish off with a relief dragon, which I have never done............

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Sir, it is nice to know that true artists still exist in our modern world.

Words fail me beyond that......:eek:

[Glenn Hodges]

Wolf the detail, crispness, and design of your carvings are of gallery quality. Thanks for posting them so I have a chance to see them.

[Mike Vickery]

Beautiful. I only hope to one day be able to come close to that kind of work.

[Mike Vickery]

By the way if you could answer a question for me. I have been doing some chip carving with the idea of using it to decorate my bowls once I get proficient. What wood would you recomend for such a bowl. I usually work in walnut, maple, and myrtlewoood for my bowls but have access to many common hardwoods.

[Wolf Kiessling]

By the way if you could answer a question for me. I have been doing some chip carving with the idea of using it to decorate my bowls once I get proficient. What wood would you recomend for such a bowl. I usually work in walnut, maple, and myrtlewoood for my bowls but have access to many common hardwoods.

Mike, I myself don't do much chip carving but I know many people, including my late wife, that practice this art. The favored wood seems to be basswood, as with so many other types of carving. Having said that, I don't think I would ever use basswood for turning. I will also say right now that I have no knowledge of myrtlewood. I think a walnut bowl would lend itself beautifully to chip carving. Just make sure you use a supersharp drop point knife, the walnut should lend itself to nice crisp cuts with no fuzzies. One thing about chip carving, ideally you will do no sanding whatsoever. One reservation I would have about chip carving a bowl, however, would be the finish. My choice of bowl finish is BLO with Danish oil. This would be very difficult to rub out on a chip carved finish and eliminate wax entirely (IMHO). If you use poly, or anything that doesn't require rubbing, it shouldn't make any difference, however.

One other thing I might mention, especially if you're gonna carve a bowl, is aspen. It ain't exactly a hardwood but it carves beautifully and turns nicely also. Matter of fact, when I did some pierce carved bowls, I used aspen exclusively. These were wonderful projects.

My 2 cents...............

[Ed Scolforo]

Awesome, Wolf! You have a lot more patience than I (and alot more talent)! Thanks for sharing.

[Mike Vickery]

Thanks Wolf I appreciate it the Walnut was what I was leaning towards. It will be a while before I am ready. I have been practiceing chips for about a week now and have not even tried a pattern yet.
Since I am such a newbie what would be the best way to lay out a pattern on a dark wood like Walnut.

[Wolf Kiessling]

Thanks Wolf I appreciate it the Walnut was what I was leaning towards. It will be a while before I am ready. I have been practiceing chips for about a week now and have not even tried a pattern yet.
Since I am such a newbie what would be the best way to lay out a pattern on a dark wood like Walnut.

Like I mentioned previously, Mike, I'm not a chip carver but I'll try to answer your question anyway. When working with dark wood, my wife would generally use one of two methods. She would either use graphite transfer paper to transfer the pattern to the wood (which was very difficult to see) but then trace over it with maybe a yellow or orange pencil to make it more visible. More often than not, she would glue a disposable pattern to the wood, using rubber cement, and then carve through that. The rubber cement, if there was any left on the carving, could be rubbed off with a finger or rag. I've got to qualify this by saying I am talking about a flat piece of wood. If you're talking about a bowl, this may not apply. I have put patterns on bowls to be carved but I have usually free handed them.

[Julio Navarro]

Ok, if you guys keep putting this kinda stuff up I am packing up and leaving!!:p

JK, nice inspiration! Beautiful bowl.

[Mark Cothren]

That is just flat out amazing! The details just blow me away. Excellent work and thanks for sharing!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Absolutely awesome Wolf. Your patience is amazing. Beautiful work.

[Corey Hallagan]

WOW! That is all I can say. Nice work Wolf!

corey

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Wolf........I've always been amazed by your carvings but the beauty of this is just unbelieveable! Fantastic! Please keep posting more!

[Tom Sherman]

Wolf, I like Stu find myself with out the words to compliment your work. Simply gorgeous.

[Barry Stratton]

Amazing work of art! THANK you for sharing your talent!

[Ernie Nyvall]

Really beautiful Wolf. Just amazing. It seems like it would take a very long time to do.

[Jim Becker]

Wolf, amazing work. Beautiful!

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Absolutely amazing work, Wolf. Five months well spent!

[Wolf Kiessling]

Thanks for all the kind words, folks. It can sure make a person feel good..........