Not many of us traditionalist left out there.. I just started carving about 2 years ago..Started with walking sticks then generated to Utensils and Bowls.. I don't use an Adze though can't seem to find one I can afford. If you know where a fella can get one thats affordable for the poor guys let me know. I keep my eyes out at the antique places and swaps. Thats where I have gotten my draw knives and my best hand axes from. Keep up the good work. Love the video hope to see more.
Thank you. Hopefully they will understand the satisfaction of creating something lasting with one's hands. Best wishes in your noble pursuit. Glad I may be a small part of it.
no longer have a shed or a lathe so seeing this was inspiring. I was very impressed with the finish minus sanding, just shows talent & sharp tools goes a long way. thanks for a great video, neill
What a beautiful bowl. You have such control over the adze. Have you ever thought of doing a tutorial video about bowl carving using the different size adze? How long does a bowl need to dry before you can finish it? I would watch it for sure!
I love all your videos and your website as well. Contrary to other carvers, you use a minimum of tools but you master them perfectly. It is very soothing to look at you working, each cut you do is well done. Anyway I wish one day to reach your level.
I am making mine from a mason hammer and believe it's a good easy way to build one .This demo helps my planning Seems to me your know more than I will experience thanks for helping for it's a fine showing of fine points that how better mouse traps are built. Thanks
it's easy to see, even from the untrained eye, that your skill with hand tools is extraordinary...your touch with the axe and the other tools is awesome to watch...I'm guessing it takes years to get the level of sophistication with you exhibit in this video.,none the less, it is worth watching and those of us who would emulate your skills, keep honing those skills until we become remarkable in our abilities and achieve something resembling what we see in this video....this is only possible if we, like you have an almost spiritual connection and affinity with the material and the process.
+Matt Hayes I appreciate that, but it doesn't involve patience at all -- at least not for me. I don't want the job to be finished, I want to do it. When it's done, the joy is diminished -- until the next piece is begun. The PROCESS is engaging and joyful. Patience involves waiting or enduring, and I'm doing neither. I'm fully engaged. For me, waiting in line at the store takes patience (which I lack), not this.
+DFbowlcarver Very well said. I'm a graduate student studying attention and memory, what you're describing is a state I am greatly interested in both personally and for research. That engagement is healthy and invigorating, but missing from many people's lives.
Lovely video to watch.Top class worksmanship and your control over hand tools is simply amazing.Altough I would love to hear the sound of the hand tools while they are shaving the wood it's 10 over 10.Well done Sir..
I don't apply any oil until the bowl is dry. I sometimes use old sheets or towels to slow the drying a bit. I wrote a blog post with lots of thoughts about drying. davidffisherblog.wordpress.(com) You'll find the post by looking under "drying" in the category list.
DFbowlcarver thanks for taking the time to answer. I'll be more than ready to watch your next video keep up your awesome work stay safe and god bless you!
Thanks James. I've found lots of great tools at auctions and antique shops, but, unfortunately, I've never found a great bowl adze at such a place. See my other reply to you for more thoughts on that. Good luck with the search. An adze is a great tool.
The first tool you asked about is simply called a gouge. The clamping tools you are probably referring to are holdfasts. They are bent rods that wedge in holes in a workbench when hammerred down. They release by tapping on the back. Very useful. You can find all sorts with an internet search. I've made some, but toolsforworkingwood (.com) has some nice ones for a reasonable price. There are many hand forged examples out there that work well and are beautiful.
An adze. An adze is essentially an axe-like tool, but the blade is not in line with the handle, but perpendicular to it. There are many sizes and forms of adzes and they go back thousands of years. The adze I'm using is made for hollowing, so it is curved to scoop.
Thank you for sharing, enjoyed your work very much, I think we are due for a new release, excuse our greadiness but good videos like this don't come very often on TH-cam! Keep it up Sir.
This was an great video. My wife bought me an a hand ax, much like yours and of the best quality, and a bowl adz much like yours and again of the best quality. Now I am really ready to give them a try! I need to build a horse like yours, it is the first I have seen of it's kind. Thanks again for a great video! Your CRAFTSMANSHIP is first rate! "Ten Nails"
+Michael Norris Great to hear that, Michael. Good luck with the new tools. Your grandchildren will be able to use them as well. Don't let the lack of a horse stop you from getting started. A horse is nice to have, but you can carve bowls without one.
Depending on the weather, species, etc., it can be just a few days until the wood is dry enough to leave a good surface when carved. Sometimes, I don't get to it for much longer, which just means the wood might be a little harder to carve.
Yes, I eat cereal all of the time out of a wooden bowl. The shape of the one in the video is better for serving things on the table. By the way, loved you in National Treasure.
Well, expense is relative. I know the good ones seem like a lot of money, but if it something that you will use regularly to bring a little joy and satisfaction to life, then it's worth it. Unlike electronics and other gadgets that surround us, tools like these will outlive us and go on to be used by some other fortunate soul(s) long after we're gone -- maybe our grandchildren. Most folks pay enough for cable or satelite TV in a month or two to buy a very good adze. Choices.
Gorgeous piece of work and good video. I like the adze idea and draw knife tools and techniques your using. I'm going at a large cypress onion burl right now with a carvers ax and gouges only... may purchase an adze before I'm through.
It varies depending on the design of the bowl, the wood type, weather conditions, etc. I don't remember exactly, but there was probably a couple weeks between the initial shaping and the final work with the surface cuts.
Yes, no problems, once you understand how wood moves as it dries. For most of human history wood was worked as much as possible while it was green. There are many advantages. For more on green woodworking, I would suggest getting Drew Langsner's book on the subject and check out greenwoodworking (.com) as well as other sites listed on my links page on my website.
That was great to watch. Can I ask why you carve from the outer side of the wood? It seems counter-intuitive as there is already a natural curve to the wood.
Nice drawknife. Excellent bowl, love the handles. The cuts with your gouge were smoov like buttah! What kind of stones were you using to sharpen the gouge?
Thanks. I use DMT dia-sharp stones and a ceramic slipstone usually, but sometimes natural Arkansas stones. Stropping after the finest stone. davidffisher.com/2016/07/28/whats-wrong-with-this-edge/
Until the wood is thin enough to move a little as it dries, you'll need to keep it in a plastic bag between carving sessions. Also, if there were already checks in the endgrain before carving, they will tend to continue inward as the wood dries. You need to cut off the ends of a log to get past any checks that have already started before you begin carving. And sometimes, the wood is just under a lot of stress and there's not much you can do -- makes you appreciate the times things work out.
wonderful craftmanship but i agree with others; it would've been helpful to have a text bar (so you don't have to worry about a mic or adding in a voice over) at the bottom of the video explaining which tools you were using as you carved & a lil direction on how to use them. Really nice video & music tho.
Man I really want to try and start doing some of this kind of woodworking! I just do mostly outdoor furniture that's fairly simple right now. any tips on getting started in carving?
I have a question for you. I have been chipping away on a hickory root and it is green. It has started to crack in many places over the past couple of days. Is there anyway to prevent further cracking and save the bowl?
Great job: inspiring if I may say so. I will look into sharpening videos now to hone my working tools , for this is a basic I assume ;) Thanks for sharing... ;) ohyes, my very first UTUBE post ;)
I'm not sure what you are referring to. I'm guessing you might be talking about my bowl horse. If so, you can read more about it at the "Horse of a Different Sort" page at my website davidffisher (.com). The only other thing I can guess you might be talking about is when I clamp the bowl down to the workbench with a board and two holdfasts. Holdfasts are available at many tool merchants -- but not a big box store.
Thanks. Primarily, a Hans Karlsson. I have more details on the tools at my website (see the video description above for the address -- no links allowed in comments.)
One of the best videos I have seen on greenwood bowl carving. Please make more - few are of your skill.
Nice to see someone with masterful skill retaining an almost forgotten art of hand carving. Very nice work indeed and thanks for sharing!!
Working on my third bowl now and I keep referring back to David Fisher videos for inspiration and technical guidance. Thank you David... Yo da man!
Very happy to hear you're making bowls Bill! Happy carving!
Unbelievable effort here. You truly personify what the term 'artisan' is all about. Well done!
Not many of us traditionalist left out there.. I just started carving about 2 years ago..Started with walking sticks then generated to Utensils and Bowls.. I don't use an Adze though can't seem to find one I can afford. If you know where a fella can get one thats affordable for the poor guys let me know. I keep my eyes out at the antique places and swaps. Thats where I have gotten my draw knives and my best hand axes from. Keep up the good work. Love the video hope to see more.
Thank you. Hopefully they will understand the satisfaction of creating something lasting with one's hands. Best wishes in your noble pursuit. Glad I may be a small part of it.
no longer have a shed or a lathe so seeing this was inspiring. I was very impressed with the finish minus sanding, just shows talent & sharp tools goes a long way. thanks for a great video, neill
If I knew you well, I would know who's bowl this was! You put so much heart&soul into every chip&curl off it!
Absolute joy to watch you convert the log to something so beautiful :-) thank you
I can only dream of being this good. A perfectionist at work.
that is skill... I always admire craftsmen that use hand tools on majority of their works...
Filmato molto bello, l'utilizzo di attrezzi manuali è sempre affascinante. Grazie per aver condiviso il filmato.
I love that you used the properties of an ellipse to draw the opening of your bowl. Math in action!
So pleasurable to watch such craftsmanship.
I never get bored with watching this video an absolute masterpiece
That's what you call a Master Craftsman...very nice!
THAT... IS... AWESOME STUFF. You're a true craftsman.
What a beautiful bowl. You have such control over the adze. Have you ever thought of doing a tutorial video about bowl carving using the different size adze? How long does a bowl need to dry before you can finish it? I would watch it for sure!
Elegant and beautiful, it's a pleasure to watch you work.
I love all your videos and your website as well. Contrary to other carvers, you use a minimum of tools but you master them perfectly. It is very soothing to look at you working, each cut you do is well done. Anyway I wish one day to reach your level.
I am making mine from a mason hammer and believe it's a good easy way to build one .This demo helps my planning
Seems to me your know more than I will experience thanks for helping for it's a fine showing of fine points that how better mouse traps are built.
Thanks
it's easy to see, even from the untrained eye, that your skill with hand tools is extraordinary...your touch with the axe and the other tools is awesome to watch...I'm guessing it takes years to get the level of sophistication with you exhibit in this video.,none the less, it is worth watching and those of us who would emulate your skills, keep honing those skills until we become remarkable in our abilities and achieve something resembling what we see in this video....this is only possible if we, like you have an almost spiritual connection and affinity with the material and the process.
I would have messed up at so many stages in making that bowl. Awesome old school wood working skills man! :)
Wow, Amazing I have never seen anybody treat wood with such respect, its beautiful.
Fantastic control of your tools, great wood selection fantastic workmanship. Really shows the years you have put into your trade
Thumbs up to you sir
i dont know why.. but i love to watch wood carving :)
10 out of 10!! Lovely bowl and a new technique in bowl making for me to try! Well done
beautiful work. beautiful shop. awesome video man. thanks for the inspiration, been carving for just about a year now. im an addict.
I’ve never seen someone so skilled with an ax! Amazing!
Most patient man alive!
+Matt Hayes I appreciate that, but it doesn't involve patience at all -- at least not for me. I don't want the job to be finished, I want to do it. When it's done, the joy is diminished -- until the next piece is begun. The PROCESS is engaging and joyful. Patience involves waiting or enduring, and I'm doing neither. I'm fully engaged. For me, waiting in line at the store takes patience (which I lack), not this.
+DFbowlcarver Very well said. I'm a graduate student studying attention and memory, what you're describing is a state I am greatly interested in both personally and for research. That engagement is healthy and invigorating, but missing from many people's lives.
+Jack Clearman Thanks. I wish you well with your research. Sounds fascinating.
Lovely video to watch.Top class worksmanship and your control over hand tools is simply amazing.Altough I would love to hear the sound of the hand tools while they are shaving the wood it's 10 over 10.Well done Sir..
I really like the finished product!
That is true craftsmanship! Beautiful piece.
another great video, good that you showed the whole process too with a serious command of the tools, superb looking bowl.
its so satisfying seeing someone use a sharp draw knife, you wouldnt believe how many dull draw knives there are on youtube.
Very high quality work. Great education.
Chris
you sir, are ridiculously AMAZING! absolutely love your craftsmanship.
I always learn something from you each time I watch your videos. Thank you!
Great to hear. Thanks!
David Fisher great work. do you apply any sealer to let it dry or just wen you finish with it?
Great to hear. Thanks!
I don't apply any oil until the bowl is dry. I sometimes use old sheets or towels to slow the drying a bit. I wrote a blog post with lots of thoughts about drying. davidffisherblog.wordpress.(com) You'll find the post by looking under "drying" in the category list.
DFbowlcarver thanks for taking the time to answer. I'll be more than ready to watch your next video keep up your awesome work stay safe and god bless you!
Thanks James. I've found lots of great tools at auctions and antique shops, but, unfortunately, I've never found a great bowl adze at such a place. See my other reply to you for more thoughts on that. Good luck with the search. An adze is a great tool.
Beautiful work, the end result definitely warrants the time and effort you put into it.
The first tool you asked about is simply called a gouge. The clamping tools you are probably referring to are holdfasts. They are bent rods that wedge in holes in a workbench when hammerred down. They release by tapping on the back. Very useful. You can find all sorts with an internet search. I've made some, but toolsforworkingwood (.com) has some nice ones for a reasonable price. There are many hand forged examples out there that work well and are beautiful.
Gheeee, no power tools..........what fun was that? Kidding of course!! Beautiful job and I would imagine very satisfying. Thanks!!
Eric Day peeling up a nice curl is soooooo satisfying
Goodness it's nice watching you slow carve with that gouge, looks like you're cutting butter!
Amazing craftsmanship! Thank you for sharing this with us!
I learned a lot!
One of the best footages out there!!!
An adze. An adze is essentially an axe-like tool, but the blade is not in line with the handle, but perpendicular to it. There are many sizes and forms of adzes and they go back thousands of years. The adze I'm using is made for hollowing, so it is curved to scoop.
Very nice. I love the video showing the process. Now I want to tackle making one of these. My sister has some oak logs on her property I can grab.
Thank you for sharing, enjoyed your work very much, I think we are due for a new release, excuse our greadiness but good videos like this don't come very often on TH-cam! Keep it up Sir.
thank you for sharing such an amazing talent and beautiful bowl.
Wonderful. Beautiful workmanship.
Your carving is amazing, and I _LOVE_ the background music!
Gorgeous bowl,sir!
Great work! Love the marking techniques.
This was an great video. My wife bought me an a hand ax, much like yours and of the best quality, and a bowl adz much like yours and again of the best quality. Now I am really ready to give them a try! I need to build a horse like yours, it is the first I have seen of it's kind. Thanks again for a great video! Your CRAFTSMANSHIP is first rate! "Ten Nails"
+Michael Norris Great to hear that, Michael. Good luck with the new tools. Your grandchildren will be able to use them as well. Don't let the lack of a horse stop you from getting started. A horse is nice to have, but you can carve bowls without one.
Beautiful work!
Mike,
The second HK gouge (being used under the handles) is the HK 30mm bent paring gouge.
Great work! amazing craftsmanship!
Watchin this reduce blood pressure. :) nice working!
Depending on the weather, species, etc., it can be just a few days until the wood is dry enough to leave a good surface when carved. Sometimes, I don't get to it for much longer, which just means the wood might be a little harder to carve.
That was watching art in the making or just pure art. Thank you
truly amazing,you are a very talented fella,so envious cheers malc
That is true talent! Very nice
A pleasure to watch such skill.
Yes, I eat cereal all of the time out of a wooden bowl. The shape of the one in the video is better for serving things on the table. By the way, loved you in National Treasure.
Well, expense is relative. I know the good ones seem like a lot of money, but if it something that you will use regularly to bring a little joy and satisfaction to life, then it's worth it. Unlike electronics and other gadgets that surround us, tools like these will outlive us and go on to be used by some other fortunate soul(s) long after we're gone -- maybe our grandchildren. Most folks pay enough for cable or satelite TV in a month or two to buy a very good adze. Choices.
Gorgeous piece of work and good video.
I like the adze idea and draw knife tools and techniques your using. I'm going at a large cypress onion burl right now with a carvers ax and gouges only... may purchase an adze before I'm through.
that was ballin, awesome job guy !
not the first time you've done that is it .. lol beautiful work , thank you for sharing ...
AWESOME!!! Thank you for this video. I need more carving tools:) My bowls look hideous. lol
more please,as many as you can
Gorgeous. That is impressive.
It varies depending on the design of the bowl, the wood type, weather conditions, etc. I don't remember exactly, but there was probably a couple weeks between the initial shaping and the final work with the surface cuts.
David, A friend wanted to know if the first tune was an oldie. I said it wasn't but was of the style of the mid 70's. The banjo was an old tune.
Sei davvero bravo, mi piacerebbe saper lavorare il legno come lo fai tu, a proposito , ma di che tipo di legno si tratta?
Can you make a full tutorial on carving a really cool bowl, step by step or something like that. If you can thanks.
wonderful work, congratulations
AWESOME VID....PLEASE DO MORE
Hi can you tell me the size of the 2nd hk gouge you use please David , and I can thank you enough for your fantastic vids
Completely in awe.
Yes, no problems, once you understand how wood moves as it dries. For most of human history wood was worked as much as possible while it was green. There are many advantages. For more on green woodworking, I would suggest getting Drew Langsner's book on the subject and check out greenwoodworking (.com) as well as other sites listed on my links page on my website.
That was great to watch. Can I ask why you carve from the outer side of the wood? It seems counter-intuitive as there is already a natural curve to the wood.
Wow. Very impressive.
Nice drawknife. Excellent bowl, love the handles. The cuts with your gouge were smoov like buttah! What kind of stones were you using to sharpen the gouge?
Thanks. I use DMT dia-sharp stones and a ceramic slipstone usually, but sometimes natural Arkansas stones. Stropping after the finest stone. davidffisher.com/2016/07/28/whats-wrong-with-this-edge/
Until the wood is thin enough to move a little as it dries, you'll need to keep it in a plastic bag between carving sessions. Also, if there were already checks in the endgrain before carving, they will tend to continue inward as the wood dries. You need to cut off the ends of a log to get past any checks that have already started before you begin carving. And sometimes, the wood is just under a lot of stress and there's not much you can do -- makes you appreciate the times things work out.
What a skill ! you rock !
Wow...No power tool was used! two thumbs up!!!
realy like your work, you have inspired me to make my own which is in progress
wonderful craftmanship but i agree with others; it would've been helpful to have a text bar (so you don't have to worry about a mic or adding in a voice over) at the bottom of the video explaining which tools you were using as you carved & a lil direction on how to use them. Really nice video & music tho.
Great vid, loved the music and I subscribed, will prob come back with some questions when I have a go at this myself.thanks for sharing
I'm interested in that table vise you've got. How do you make one of those. GREAT work, by the way.
Man I really want to try and start doing some of this kind of woodworking! I just do mostly outdoor furniture that's fairly simple right now. any tips on getting started in carving?
Tanta coisa boa pra falar sobre o seu trabalho!!! Parabéns!
I have a question for you. I have been chipping away on a hickory root and it is green. It has started to crack in many places over the past couple of days. Is there anyway to prevent further cracking and save the bowl?
Awesome and inspiring. What brand of bowl adze do you use? I am a beginer at this and I am in the proccess of collecting my tools to get started
where could I find the curved handle gouge? I love your work
Great job: inspiring if I may say so. I will look into sharpening videos now to hone my working tools , for this is a basic I assume ;) Thanks for sharing... ;) ohyes, my very first UTUBE post ;)
I'm not sure what you are referring to. I'm guessing you might be talking about my bowl horse. If so, you can read more about it at the "Horse of a Different Sort" page at my website davidffisher (.com). The only other thing I can guess you might be talking about is when I clamp the bowl down to the workbench with a board and two holdfasts. Holdfasts are available at many tool merchants -- but not a big box store.
Interesting video. How long did you have to let that bowl dry before you did the finish work on it?
Very nice work
Thanks. Primarily, a Hans Karlsson. I have more details on the tools at my website (see the video description above for the address -- no links allowed in comments.)
I am condering the possiblities of offering some classes in the summer. Not sure yet, but you can check the website from time to time for updates.