Nicholas Rowe

The process from log to bowl. Nicholas is passionate about the sustainability of using wood and so works with ‘Green Wood’ felled locally and where trees are cut down at the end of their life or for safety. He loves working with a ‘live edge’ (preserving the bark as the rim of the piece).

Nicholas talked us through his process to ensure the bark stays intact using a stabilising CA glue and also the direction of cut to place the least amount of stress on the bark. He also described how the tools cut differently through the bark to the soft outer layer and then into the solid wood. The following pics shown some of his gallery pieces and also the shaping on the lathe. Nicholas showed us how he uses a  one inch pin chuck to hold the log for initial cutting and later in the demonstration how he reverses the bowl onto a set of large jaws which are set against small ridge inside the bowl and expanded. This a technique from Richard Raffan but difficult to photograph during the demo as it all happens inside the bowl but you can see how Richard does it on the YouTube video at the bottom of this page.