adze technique for bowl

[badgeringtim]

A question really - can you use an adze across the grain.
Ive managed to find a nice big piece of green(ish) ash and looking at it was starting to think about how i'll hack at it to make a large bowl. I dont often get big bits so dont want to mess it up straight away but it strikes me that it might be easier to rough out woth some cross grain?

cheers

 

[robin wood]

You can but I tend to adze down grain rather than across. What works best will depend on the profile of your adze and the shape and size of your log/bowl.

 

[mr dazzler]

There is nothing wrong with using an aze across the grain, it is quite traditional. I use a combination of both cuts. On a long trough shape bowl it makes sense to cut along the grain, from either end. Even so, sometimes I do a row of vertical cuts along the edge, down into the trough form-which is effectively cross cutting. Skewed cuts are half and half...... One thing with cross cutting, the adze (which must be razor sharp to work well) doesnt dig in so much, or start a risky split that could do irrepareable damages. The waste chips break away more easily. On a round bowl some of the cuts are going to be across the grain, some with it. When I do chair seats I nearly always go across the grain in rows like a ploughed field. (I usually orientate the grain left to righ on the seat, not front to back) My adze (Henry Taylor sheffield made) has a gouge sweep, but with square corners which are very useful to hew into recesses etc. It came with a short stubby club hammer type handle, but really only came alive as a working tool when I rehadled it with a 16 inch or so handle.

 

[badgeringtim]

Thank you gents, as always a well received response.
Just need to get starting on the spliting and roughing out now!!
I took Robins advice from a similar post and reduced the size of my bowl (was planning on a large trough but now since i have one ash and one Alder i reckon thats 4 bowls of anyones money in around 16-20" by 8". might be a round one in there somewhere.
Adze is the small Grans and still the sharpest of my tools which unfortunately isnt a great boast but still...

Oh another question - when using an adze is there a good way of operating - i tend to crouch with the work set up at around 60 degrees - it is a little cumbersome though?

 

[Zingmo]

My adze (Henry Taylor sheffield made) has a gouge sweep.

May I ask how you sharpen these? I have a flat one and a gouge but they don't get out much because I cant figure a good way to make/keep them sharp.

Z

 

[mr dazzler]

May I ask how you sharpen these? I have a flat one and a gouge but they don't get out much because I cant figure a good way to make/keep them sharp.

Z

I kept the in cannel factory grind, but put a small micro bevel on the ouitside, which makes the tool more manouverable and gives a stronger edge too. I use a dremel tool to get rid of dings and do re shaping from time to time. Before I had the dremel I used a chainsaw file to shape it. I use a round carborundum stone and then a tapered round wooden stick with solvol polish on it to refine it further if I feel its necessary (dont always bother) I have also ocasionally used emory papers wrapped around a round stick as well, to refine the edge. The outside bevel gets stropped on a flat leather strop. More and more now I move the strop and keep the tool still.....

 

[robin wood]

Some links to my blog posts about bowl carving. A lot of the time finding a good way to hold the bowl at each stage makes a big difference.

12 year old son's first bowl
http://greenwood-carving.blogspot.com/2009/12/wooden-bowl-carving-ollies-first-bowl.html
A different holding block and various carved bowl inspiration
http://greenwood-carving.blogspot.com/2009/06/wooden-bowl-carving.html
Duck bowl
http://greenwood-carving.blogspot.com/2008/12/carving-wooden-bowl.html
We teach bowl carving courses and this year they have been very popular with February and October courses fully booked already.