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Woodcarving

Bowl Carving with Axe, Adze and Gouge

Course Overview

Make the wood chips fly!  This course is for students ready to stand at the chopping block and to learn to use classic wooden bowl-carving hand tools—the adze, axe, gouge and push knife. Topics to be explored include selection of wood stock, elements of bowl design, strategies for hand-hewing, use of sharpening skills, and techniques for finishing. Students start with a birch log and end with a spectacular bowl (or two!) with graceful lines and smooth surfaces.  The shape and style of the bowl connects directly to how the tools themselves function—the classic hand-crafted lines echo the Scandinavian bowl-carving tradition that reaches back hundreds of years.

During the shaping of the bowl, students learn to use appropriate tools and holding devices such as wedges and blocking. Both a chopping block and a bowl-carving bench will be utilized. A variety of tools, books on traditional bowl carving, and other resource materials are provided for students to use during the workshop. Techniques for managing the drying of a greenwood bowl will also be covered. As time allows, students may experiment with a second bowl style, if desired.

Currently Scheduled Sessions


No sessions currently scheduled for this course.

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