There is something about this time of year. Cold, damp and gloomy almost all the time. I’ve been finding it hard to write articles for the blog for a couple of weeks now. I thought I’d post on a short simple subject to try and break my blog block and my chosen subject is blanks and bowls.
I’ve made a few Ash bowls before and while they have a very distinctive grain which looks quite good they can be very tough to turn and very fluffy across the end grain which makes it difficult to achieve a good tooled finish. I would tend to choose a different wood but in this case I’ve been ask to make six bowls, I hesitate to say a set that might be a little bit too ambitious, with Ash.
I’m using some ash left over from spindle turning, it’s nice and straight but its a bit dry for spindles. I’m hoping the centre of the log is still ok for bowls and no cracks. Interesting tree ring pattern, starting off with quite wide rings and then becoming narrower until they are tiny. Any ideas what this indicates? It was difficult to split, I had to use a wedge and that kept bouncing out! But to my surprise it seems to turn ok – providing your tool is sharp enough.
Perhaps you noticed my new toy cunningly acting as a backdrop for the bowls in the photo? I don’t have room for a large circular saw, which has always prevented my from buying one. That and the fact that big ones don’t come cheap. But this one was on its way to the skip as part of a local shed clearance until it accidentally ended up in my shed, where of course I don’t have room for it! It’s not new but seems to be in good condition with a TCT blade. It’s been doing a lot of work since it landed in the shed and as it’s been raining all day I tried roughing out a bowl blank on it instead of using the chainsaw. Went quite well, and I still have enough fingers left to type with which is a bonus.
Hi Mark, I reckon that grain pattern is due to the spacing of the trees around it as the ash tree grew, when it was young it grew up (maybe in a recently cut coupe in a coppice or somewhere else relatively open). Then as it grew older the trees around it started to close canopy or hem it in and competion for light meant its growth became restricted.
Any other thoughts?
Have just realised how appaling my grammar is in the comment above! Apologies, its been a long day!
Yes, I think Dave has it right, the surrounding trees will also reduce the amount of water and nutrient available to each tree. A lot of my ash is like that. I reckon having any beech trees in the vicinity will exacerbate the problem.
Happy blogging! Lousy E wind here today blowing rain into the bodgery despite an extra tarp. Roll on Spring!
See you at the next APT committee meeting, do I need to bring my own tankard
If you handle the original bowls from the Mary Rose you will see that they are a bit “Furry” accross the grain!!
Whoops, I only half wrote that one, I think I’m losing the plot.
Dave -I thought that might be the answer on the tree rings, but I’ve not seen such a clear example before.
Richard – that sounds great, nice to know somebody will be keeping an eye on me!
Denise, that’s really interesting. I had a feeling that ‘everyday’ treen would not be finished to the kind of high standards we are pushing for today. These bowls are for boarhunt I think? so they will definitely be both furry and warped………..say no more? Hope you are well?
Would it be that the soil was shallow? Early in life there was enough food and water, but when the roots hit the rock, they had to spread far out.
Richard – forgot to mention. I believe that tankards are optional, good man!
Max – could be. Maybe a combination of both, around here Ash trees prefer a clay soil which tends to be at the bottom of the valleys or folds with plenty of water and they grow very vigorously. They don’t tend to grow on the acid tops at all, leaving it to the birch, pine, rowan and oaks. But on a slope with poor soil they would find it harder as they grow and lots of trees growing together would limit light, water and nutrients. Can’t remember where this one came from now, probably a local neglected coppice!
And of course, trees do reach a finite limit. There look to be 50-odd rings in that section and when a tree has matured it’s simply not going to be increasing in height and trunk girth at the same rate as it was as a sapling or young tree. For a start, the trunk is now a lot wider and taller and although it has a bigger canopy than a sapling that’s still a lot of cellulose to lay down!