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Trencher bowl carving

Started by opticsguy, January 29, 2023, 08:45:26 PM

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opticsguy

I have an interest in bowl carving and have many completed bowls in my collection. My new interest is trencher bowls, also known as trencher dough bowls or also simply dough bowls.


My new project idea is creating a very large trencher bowl, 3 to 6 feet in length. My first attempt would be something about 3 feet long and 16 to 18 inches wide and 8 to 9 inches thick.


I have seen some very large trencher bowls on internet up to about 7?? feet in length and recently while watching a movie, one of the props was a very large trencher.


My question is, how to keep these very large bowls from checking?? The large historic bowls seem to have no significant cracks or none at all. So, before jumping into this new project, have others here ever carved a large trencher bowl? What was your experience? Sucess or?


Thankyou.
TK 1220 band mill,  1952 Ford F-2, 1925 Dodge touring, too many telescopes.

Don P

I don't know anything about it but tulip poplar was popular for making them out of here.

beenthere

Keep them from drying out as that is why they crack. That size is getting close to the dugout size (or canoe), and hear tell that the natives would sink their canoes in the lake when not using them so the would not dry out. 

Do you have pics of such dough or trencher bowls? 
south central Wisconsin
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DonW

The two, quite old ones, that I have are from poplar which was the wood of choice in that area. One is hand held, around a 1 m 10 cm in length and fairly shallow, thin walled, the carving very refined. The other's a big one, also poplar wood and since I got it from a butcher I guess was used for scraping a pig down, anyway that's how I've used it.
I tried reproducing the larger one in sycamore which was no success since it split. So I'd suggest staying with the proven poplar.
Hjartum yxa, nothing less than breitbeil/bandhacke combo.

Don P

With flour being starch, and poplar already being ppb candy on account of the starch. How would you keep it from being riddled? Salt scrub between uses?

Magicman

Tupelo Gum was/is the preferred species here for Dough Bowls.
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DonW

Quote from: Don P on January 29, 2023, 10:02:14 PM
With flour being starch, and poplar already being ppb candy on account of the starch. How would you keep it from being riddled? Salt scrub between uses?
Yes. That said, even so the big one of mine is well infested holding together Through sheer massiveness. The smaller I've used salt on too and doesn't suffer such an infestation. I kind of think Frequency of use's the big factor determining susceptibility, that big one stored in the hay loft only gets occasional use sitting there the whole rest of the time undisturbed. Who knows next time I go for it I may come up with a hand full of dust.
Hjartum yxa, nothing less than breitbeil/bandhacke combo.

DonW



 
What do you know. Searching on the web on an unrelated matter I come across a picture of my failed sycamore trough, for what it's worth.
Hjartum yxa, nothing less than breitbeil/bandhacke combo.

Walnut Beast

Are you hand carving out the bowls or machine?

DonW

Let's see, you can see the date of the photo so I'm thinking back.

Anyway no machine. Wedges and hammer, lange axe, broad axe, gutter adze and maybe a plane, I thnk
Hjartum yxa, nothing less than breitbeil/bandhacke combo.

greensman

i make a dozen or so dough bowls a year to sale and i use poplar for most of them.  i have found that if you use a freshly cut log and remove the pith immediately, there usually isn't any checking or cracks.  i did make one from oak one time for a friend and that was rough.  the round had been cut and inside for over two years and it still cracked along the end grain as it dried after carving.  i also use hand tolls for this process and the oak was not fun.  i have seen antique bowls that were carved from buckeye and maple, but the majority seems to have been poplar around here.  for a bowl that large you may want to split out a lot of the waste to save time.  i saw a video of a fellow in germany who made large bowls and troughs and he would split out most of the waste and then make a smaller trough with it. it seems that would be the easiest way to do it if you are working with a wood that straight grained and well behaved.

Don P

I bet buckeye would do good.

@DonW,  what is the bench mounted knife in the next to the last photo called? I've thought one of those would be handy often, even on the porch for kindling if nothing else. 
To Europe With Kids: The Old Wooden Shoe Carver in Gouda

DonW

Hjartum yxa, nothing less than breitbeil/bandhacke combo.

DonW

You know what's funny about it? That picture -who knows where it's gone now - was taken by Gerald. He's Netherlands' wooden shoe maker champion the last three years in a row. He has given me a nice old, left-hand, (very rare), stock knife.
Hjartum yxa, nothing less than breitbeil/bandhacke combo.

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