Carving A Wooden Bowl

This is a two-day course, and come going-home time you'll have a large wooden bowl that you've made with your own hands to take away with you.

Over the two days you'll learn about selecting and cleaving a log, anticipating shrinkage and working with the nature of the material as well as using various gouges, mallets and spokeshaves. We have a large range of very high quality sharpened tools to try out so that you can find ones that really suit you. (And if you feel you want to carry on working with wood when you get back home, we can also supply exactly the same tools for sale.)

The bowl carving course is presented by Guy Mallinson and either James Verner or Karen Hansen, two local woodworkers. Between us we make sure all our guests get the attention and coaching that they personally need. We talk you through each stage of the process and demonstrate the techniques before everybody selects a suitable freshly cut log and gets stuck in. We are on hand to offer assistance and advice throughout.

As we are working with green (unseasoned) wood, it is far easier to carve, and the form and grain start to emerge through the first day. We then work through the stages to reach a finished bowl by the end of day two. The bowl is then ready to take home for seasoning and showing off to your friends and family!

The bigger bowls can be quite hard work if you are not used to physical exertion, but everyone should be able to enjoy this course by selecting a size and species of wood that is not too ambitious.

We always try to offer the opportunity for individual expression and the projects are designed to allow for as much variation as practically possible within the time allocated.

The wood we supply is locally sourced from sustainable supplies and the finished bowl should give many decades of service and pleasure.

By the end of two days you should expect to feel confident enough to make further bowls on your own at home.

Tools are also supplied for your use during the course within this price.

The days run from 9.00 (tea and coffee) for a 9.30 start and finish at approximately 5.00pm. As well as stopping for lunch, we break for tea, coffee, biscuits and cake during the morning and afternoon. We promise not to work you too hard! It's a really good, simultaneously relaxing and productive time.

We aim to down tools at approximately 5.00 p.m. on both days. If you are arranging to be collected then any time after 5.15 is good. However, at the end of day two we like to sit down for a glass of something ... so rather than miss out, it's best to plan for 5.30 onwards on the second day. Of course, whoever is collecting you is welcome to come down to the woods, any time after 5.00.

Full directions are supplied on booking.

Please do remember that we are dealing with a natural material and whilst every effort is made to minimise the risk through careful selection, informed choice of design and careful and slow drying, some bowls may develop splits as they dry. There is no way of avoiding this and therefore please understand that this is in the nature of the material. If we want 10 perfect bowls then we will make 12 blanks to allow for this ... like a bakers dozen in a way!