He Carves Bowls With A Chainsaw

2024 - Volume #48, Issue #4, Page #19

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Micah Henry enjoys making bowls out of burls and interesting blocks of wood. In the spring issue of Backwoods Home Garden magazine, he shared detailed directions about his process.
“I’m in western Pennsylvania, and we have cherry burls and some oak burls. Also, I’ve used ambrosia maple with spectacular, interesting designs,” he says, noting that he’s made bowls on a lathe but likes the irregular shapes of bowls he carves with a chainsaw. Over the past 8 years, he’s learned how to dry his roughly carved bowls without cracking before sanding them down with special tools.
In his article, Henry shows the cuts he makes to shape the inside and outside of the bowl while keeping it secure and connected to a block of wood.
“Thickness is crucial, and I’ve learned how to watch the blade,” Henry says. His goal is to saw the wood down to 1/2 in. thick or less and to keep the depth fairly uniform. Doing that and removing sapwood makes the wood less likely to crack. He also carefully measures the bowl before cutting it off the stump to ensure he doesn’t cut a hole in the bottom.
He puts the rough-cut bowl in a brown paper bag, seals it, and puts it on a high shelf in his garage. Henry typically carves the bowls in the winter and leaves them in the bags through the summer. By fall, they’re ready to sand.
“Sanding is the most tedious,” he notes, but a couple of tools save him a lot of time. He uses a right-angle die grinder with a 2-in. disk and a 2-in. orbital grinder to get inside the bowl. Finally, he hand sands to get the wood as smooth as he wants.
He keeps bark on burl and live-edge bowls, eliminating the need to sand the outside. But sometimes, he says, that bark falls off during drying.
Henry finishes most bowls with food-safe shellac.
“My guess is that most customers buy them for décor,” he says.
His bowls have ranged in size from 4-in. to a walnut bowl that was 2-ft. across the rim. He carves bowls as a hobby and sells them at a couple of local shops for between $65 and $100.
“I’ve had a few customers who emailed me that they loved their bowls. That makes me feel good, and seeing them prominently displayed is fun,” he says.
Besides bowls, Henry has tried carving bears and other animals but decided he’s better at bowls.
“I wrote the article to offer advice,” he says, to people interested in making their own bowls. “Just try it, and don’t be afraid. You’ll get better.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Micah Henry, Pennsylvania (micahdhenry@gmail.com).

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He Carves Bowls With A Chainsaw FARM HOME Novelty Items Micah Henry enjoys making bowls out of burls and interesting blocks of wood In the spring issue of Backwoods Home Garden magazine he shared detailed directions about his process “I’m in western Pennsylvania and we have cherry burls and some oak burls Also I’ve used ambrosia maple with spectacular interesting designs ” he says noting that he’s made bowls on a lathe but likes the irregular shapes of bowls he carves with a chainsaw Over the past 8 years he’s learned how to dry his roughly carved bowls without cracking before sanding them down with special tools In his article Henry shows the cuts he makes to shape the inside and outside of the bowl while keeping it secure and connected to a block of wood “Thickness is crucial and I’ve learned how to watch the blade ” Henry says His goal is to saw the wood down to 1/2 in thick or less and to keep the depth fairly uniform Doing that and removing sapwood makes the wood less likely to crack He also carefully measures the bowl before cutting it off the stump to ensure he doesn’t cut a hole in the bottom He puts the rough-cut bowl in a brown paper bag seals it and puts it on a high shelf in his garage Henry typically carves the bowls in the winter and leaves them in the bags through the summer By fall they’re ready to sand “Sanding is the most tedious ” he notes but a couple of tools save him a lot of time He uses a right-angle die grinder with a 2-in disk and a 2-in orbital grinder to get inside the bowl Finally he hand sands to get the wood as smooth as he wants He keeps bark on burl and live-edge bowls eliminating the need to sand the outside But sometimes he says that bark falls off during drying Henry finishes most bowls with food-safe shellac “My guess is that most customers buy them for décor ” he says His bowls have ranged in size from 4-in to a walnut bowl that was 2-ft across the rim He carves bowls as a hobby and sells them at a couple of local shops for between $65 and $100 “I’ve had a few customers who emailed me that they loved their bowls That makes me feel good and seeing them prominently displayed is fun ” he says Besides bowls Henry has tried carving bears and other animals but decided he’s better at bowls “I wrote the article to offer advice ” he says to people interested in making their own bowls “Just try it and don’t be afraid You’ll get better ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Micah Henry Pennsylvania micahdhenry@gmail com

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