He’s a “stickler” for detail and you can bet if Bob makes it – it is going to be something great. Dyrkton Ingo does have a website and I’m listing him for anyone in Canada that may want to keep from paying the high “brokers fees” at the border.īob Barrett – of Stoneville, NC – does beautiful work. But I also know 2 excellent bowl makers here in the USA that don’t have websites yet – but will make and ship hand-hewn bowls. Most work and sell bowls in their communities – Leon Neal, Raleigh, NC, Jim Young, in Georgia and Billy Parrish in S/W Mississippi come to mind here. I also know many craftsmen here in the US that make hand-hewn bowls. You can Google “handmade wooden bowls” online to find several websites that sell them. I love the high-quality tools they sell and the 1st rate customer service that they provide! at htt ps://The tools I use for carving animals, birds, etc. There’s also links for tools, and a wonderful tool maker!įight boredom while working in your shop! Tune in to FM 98.1 WBRF radio in Galax, Va. I fully endorse the quality of their work. Below are a couple of the many bowl makers I know that may be able to help you. But I want you to be able to find what you’re after. If you are larger/stronger person and plan to make big bowls I would recommend buying/making a little bigger, heavier adze.Thanks much for visiting me! Due to declining health – I cannot make enough bowls for everyone. However, I now find it a little small & light, especially when mkaing bigger bowls & tougher woods (such as oak). It is an excellent tool & could be used by anyone, including smaller folk (such as youths and smaller men & women). I started with the 600g/5cm HK adze, as recommended by Robin Wood. These adzes may have light heads that cause fatigue and pain, bad geometry, bad bevels, or very poorly designed handles - possibly all of the above! With a great deal of effort and time, these can be made somewhat serviceable, but they will never be great like the ones for which you now, apparently, must wait. Lack of that may lead you to purchase a bad adze, and there are many being made, even by makers that otherwise make excellent tools. This is why, in the top photo here at Country Workshops, you can see how they have bent the longer handle back, letting the cutting edge enter the wood sweetly with the natural swing of the handle.īut back to the quest for a good bowl adze: I guess for now the only good answer is patience. A longer handle, for example, changes the hang (possibly making it too closed) unless the handle is shaped to account for this. This is important to consider if one is planning to hang their own handle or replace one. If the hang is too open or too closed, the cutting edge will not enter the wood sweetly. Since the cutting edge is perpendicular to the plane of the swinging motion (rather than in line with it, as with an axe), the relationship of the bit and bevel to the pivot point (usually near the end of the handle) of the swing is important.
This principle is, I believe, even more important when hanging an adze handle. As one can see, an axe can be hung more open or more closed, which effects how well it works. This is attainable, but you’ll have to wait until the Swedish smiths can catch up and don’t expect to find a used one on ebay.īy the way, let me explain the “well-hung handle.” The process of putting a handle on an axe bit is called “hanging.” This involves many variables that are well explained here. So this isn’t like a search for the Fountain of Youth. I discussed some of my thoughts on adze selection in this post back in February. (Again, the Woodsmith page shows a clear comparison).
They all feature the same basic components of a well-designed bowl adze: good steel, a dense heavy head, thoughtful geometry with some degree of outer bevel, raised lips that won’t catch when taking a heavy cut, and a well-hung handle. Just look at those made by Hans Karlsson, Svante Djarv, or Gransfors Bruks.
Just to be clear, it is not that nobody knows how to make a good adze for bowl hollowing. Look at the adze page at Woodsmith, a tool retailer in the U.K. And this is not simply a problem of importing Swedish adzes into the U.S. Think about that in 2015 the demand for hand forged bowl adzes has outpaced the rate at which the makers can produce them! That is both somewhat amazing and quite encouraging.ĭrew Langsner addressed this phenomenon in his most-recent newsletter from Country Workshops (scroll down just a bit). It seems that the demand has outpaced the supply. These folks wish to carve bowls, and are willing to pay for a good adze, but they simply aren’t available. I’m not looking, but I have been getting emails seeking advice on what to do about it. It seems that it is difficult to acquire a good adze these days.