Bowlwright

What is a bowlwright and how does Larry Oestreich create hand-made wooden bowls using only traditional tools and techniques?

He begins the creation process with hardwood salvaged from Kentucky and Indiana woods.

He also uses old timbers salvaged from abandoned buildings.

Next, he cuts the wood into huge blanks, the starting point for a bowl.

He uses only hand tools to carve these hardwood bowls. His techniques and designs are drawn from Scandinavian, American Appalachian & Native American inspirations.

He uses tools seldom seen today to hollow and shape the green blank to near its final form. His toolbox includes the following:

	adzes
	hewing hatchets
	scorps
	spokeshaves
	crooked knives

He relies on the eye and experience, rather than mechanical aids such as jigs or templates, to size and shape each bowl.

All of his bowls are carved green, that is, before the wood has dried, to ease the labor of carving and to prevent the massive blanks from splitting.

The bowls are then slowly dried or seasoned for a period of up to six months before the shape is refined.

Next, he painstakingly hand scrapes the bowl to remove tool marks.

He completes the shaping process with a final sanding with ultra fine sandpaper.

He finishes these heirlooms by hand-rubbing them with 3 to 10 coats of food safe, edible walnut oil to protect and season the wood. This process takes several additional weeks.

The result is an heirloom quality bowl ready for decades of daily service with modest care.

To view a catalog of complete bowls, visit woodenware.

Larry Oestreich can provide bowls in most American hardwoods in virtually any size. If you wish to order a custom bowl for a particular occasion, please remember your order may take 6 months or longer to complete because of drying and finishing.
The wood, like fine wine, cannot be hurried.

Larry Oestreich
Bowlwright & Traditional Woodworker
Email: bowlwright@earthlink.net

Oestreich [pronounced "A-strike"]

You are visiting www.bowlwright.com

Send web site comments to:
coxm@team-support.com
Designed by TEAM Support, Inc.
Visit them at www.team-support.com