Bowl Chopping

[Rockhead]

If you were chopping a bowl with a hatchet would you do the outside or inside first?

I started chopping a bowl the other day and then it became a sieve and then it became kindling. I like to chop things (No! I'm not coming to your house to chop your firewood, I have plenty enough to keep me happy right here ;-) Anyway, I'm getting ready to do another and was going to start on the outside, but then I got to thinking (really) that it may be hard to hold/clamp in place for the best inside chopping action. So now I'm thinking starting with the inside again. Any thoughts?

Thanx,
Charlie

[Ron T]

Hello and welcome, Charlie. I've never chopped a bowl, but as you said. it might be easier holding it if you start on th inside first.

What are you using to chop the bowl? How big is it? What kind of wood?

[arbarnhart]

Outside to rough dimensions, inside to final (or very near) then outside to final (or very near). You want it solid until you are delivering glancing blows on the final outside shaping. I have a sculptor's adze made for doing this; one end of the head is a hatchet and the other is the large gouge. Hollowing with a hatchet is trickier. When you are first getting a general shape on the outside, you will have some blows dig in and deliver the full force into the blank. Same is true on the inside.

[Jim-Iowa]

I have never done this. But think I wolld follow Andys advice.
Once you have the outside roughed you could determine your desired thickness. Then rough out the inside. Then I think I would use calipers to determine a uniform thickness and proceed carefully.

[arbarnhart]

Here is a how to:

Ozarkswatch

He is getting the rough outside by sawing and then making a "bowl" that is largely rectangular. So he starts on the inside first, but doesn't have any major shaping to do on the outside (he is working on the bottom with a spokeshave, not a hatchet). So if you have a sized blank like he does, then you can skip the initial outside roughing. I tend to think of treenware blanks as logs rather than dimensioned stock. Either way it should be green for best results.

Rereading your concerns about clamping, I am guessing you are using dimensioned stock, because one reason the do the bottom first when working with logs is to make a flat spot.

[CarverFromNoWhere]

Andy is dead on, but I use a different method, look up swedish carving and wooden bowls. You should be able to find what you need under that as well as the link Andy posted. I also love to chop stuff, wooden laddles are alot of fun and also make some big mushrooms. For the inside buy yourself a big medium sweep gouge and a scorp or inshave.
GoodLuckHaveFun
CarveSafeEveryone

[Clifford_Parker]

Wrong tool for the job. You need a small adze not a hatchet since you need to make a concave surface on the inside and a hatchet is not designed for this use.

[arbarnhart]

My adze has a double ended head with a hatchet blade on one end and the gouge blade on the other. Hollowing is easier with the gouge end most of the time, but you can dig a hole with either end. There is a well known secret about bowl adzes, though - a good mallet carver with the right gouge can keep pace or possibly even out run you.

[Rockhead]

Ron, I'm using a couple of hatchets (one for rough work the other for finer work depending entirely on which I pick up first) then a gouge and scrapers to smooth it out some. I started 4 yesterday, 1 is going to be a chip & dip bowl with the main bowl and then a smaller bowl kinda off-shot up and behind, all one piece, if that makes any sense, and is box elder. Also a smaller oval shallow tray type thing (actual technical term.) Then I have 2 in sugar maple. Both oval with one being only 1” - 1 ½” deep, the other being about 3”-4” deep. The deeper one has a knot on one end which is making for some interesting words come out of my mouth while working and looks pretty cool too. I have a chunk of walnut set aside waiting on the completion of a couple of these.

Andy, I’ve seen the Elgin article, but thanks anyway for the effort. I don’t know what makes you think I’m using dimensioned stock, this is veered off directly from the firewood pile. And that better be one Mighty Mallet cuz when I get a bowl adze I’ll have to change my nickname to hollowman (with a big echoy sound at the end)

Clifford, I know a bowl adze is a better tool for the job, but I have a hatchet. Feel free to send me a bowl adze anytime you like, IM me for my address ;-)

Thanks to all who replied,
Charlie the Chopper

[arbarnhart]

Something of a confession- while I have used my adze for hollowing, if I need to excavate a large cavity, this is my tool of choice to remove the bulk:



That's a router carriage that gives me a few inches of X & Y travel at consistent depth. I have a bit extension (pictured) to give me a fair amount of depth.