Mike Mahoney Bowlmaker

rough out season

2011-12-30T07:01:00.000-08:00

It has been since last Spring since I have roughed out any bowls. I am definitely out of shape. My arms are screaming. The gouge was literally bouncing off the wood by the end of the day. I thought it was the grind on my tool. This is a younger mans game. Must take more breaks. I'll try that today.

new product

2011-12-15T13:16:00.000-08:00

Here is my version of the Sierra cup. Believe it or not these are turned. I have the sore knuckles to prove it. Turn the interior with the handle connected, sand, and carve. I got the idea from a cup I bought in Norway years ago. My cups are very similar to the one I got there except mine are partially turned. The shape is very organic. Looking forward to making more and varying the design to make them more personal.

Christmas presents

2011-12-13T14:34:00.000-08:00

Got most of my Christmas gallery orders finished, freeing up some time. This is a good time of year to make prototypes of products I want to develop; not that these products don't already exist. These pepper mills are my versions of how I would like them to look and function. Plus I have to be able to tool up and make them efficiently so they will sell. Pepper Mills have never interested me much. I have tried to make production runs on them but always had trouble selling them for what time I had in them. Plus, as a fresh pepper lover I never used a mill that didn't need refilling way too often. My new mills are hollow. They will hold 5 to 7 times the volume of a mill the same height. Anyway, I got a couple of designs I can live with. These will be Christmas presents in the end. I will show you my turned drinking cups next entry.

I'm Back

2011-10-07T18:38:00.000-07:00

I have found it very hard to blog lately with some heavy projects on my plate. First of all, Jenni and I are rebuilding our dream house in California. We have a very rural property in Northern California's Shenandoah Valley. Traveling back and forth frequently from Utah to California. Plus the farm here, keeping up with orders, responding to emails, and good weather prevents me from keeping friends and family up to date with projects in the shop. The weather turned south here this week. I got caught up on my gallery orders and had time to do a special project for a collector. I shot some remedial video for this collector who's name is Rich. He has been a great supporter of me and my work for years. He had sent me some small branches of wood from his property so I could make something from them. Here are some video clips from my correspondence with him.

new canister

2011-06-22T08:50:00.001-07:00

Here is my latest canister. It is made from Mormon Poplar (cottonwood). The lid is African Blackwood. The dimensions are 11" tall and 10" wide. The other picture shows how the knob is assembled to the lid. They are a hand threaded screw, nut and washer.

Friends

2011-05-26T05:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all my friends who retrieved some firewood from my firewood pile to sign a piece of mine that got a bit too thin. Now I have to keep it!

Spring Bowlbque

2011-04-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

Had my annual bowl-b-que to get rid of the cracked ones. There is nothing worse than a crack in a utility bowl. Happy bowl-b-que!

Very thin

2011-04-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

I have been having a bit of fun in the shop lately. Here is a 18" x 10" Ash Calabash that is 2 mil thick. In order to cut the piece this thin I have to keep it wet throughout the process. It was sanded with Abernet sandpaper. Then I stick it in the basement for a day to dry. Here is the before and after.

bowls in the kitchen

2011-03-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a nice picture of some bowls in my kitchen. Honestly, these bowls aren't even the closest to the largest I make but they are too large to do much with. They dwarf my cutting table (6'x3'). Maybe it is because there are three together?

rough out season is over!

2011-03-03T17:14:00.000-08:00

After three weeks of suffering with a bad back, the bowls finally made it to the dry room. That's it I am done. I have only done 2/3's of what my galleries will want. Looks like I will run out early this year. Yahoo! I know it looks like I just threw them in here but they are actually stacked evenly except for the top layer.

Is your shop a mess

2011-01-28T04:45:00.000-08:00

This time a year in my shop it is a terrible mess. I try to cleanup every Friday. What you see here, wood chips, unwaxed bowls, and stray bits should all be gone and put away by the end of the day. By the way that is a pile of chips from 110 large bowls. After coring it will be roughly 275. Also a close up of this beautiful Silver Maple wood. These will sell themselves.

burial urns

2011-01-21T12:31:00.001-08:00

Just finished a couple of commissions for two burial urns for a large dog. Claro Walnut and the lids are threaded to the base made from Huoen Pine. 6" x 6"

Big wood!

2011-01-19T15:09:00.000-08:00

I have spent the last week cutting trees for this years inventory. Thought I would show you what great wood we have in this desert. This is probably the second or third best log I have come across in 20 years.I still haven't even cut the best figured stuff at the crotch. These pictures are for an article I am writing about cutting timber for woodturners. Way better than gold!

Macademian nut wood

2011-01-14T16:03:00.000-08:00

Fellow woodturner and friend Andy Cole sent me some Macademian nut wood from Hawaii. I have turned it one other time in College from an orchard in San Diego. It is very unstable. I roughed these out and then boiled it for about 1/2 hour. Then they sat in a plastic bag for a couple of weeks. Great medullary ray. Lacquer finish. The piece is 5"x 3".

A very rare burl

2011-01-08T17:29:00.000-08:00

This is a piece of California Lilac burl. This set is 10" x 5". It is very stable, dense, and cuts like Madrone. It smells like "Fruit Loops" the breakfast cereal(at least from my recollection of what Fruit loops smelt like?). I wish I had a stash of this wood. I believe I turned my first piece of this when I was a California resident 20 years ago. The wild Lilac grows through most of the foothills in California. It is a beautiful site and smell when they bloom in the spring.

Look what I found!

2011-01-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

Being a wood scrounge for the past 25 years I have come across a lot of foreign objects in wood while turning. This lag screw is by far no less interesting than many other objects I have come across (lawn mower blades, electrical insulators, bone, glass, bullets, and so many nails that I have learned to pull them with the efficiency of a dentist pulling wisdom teeth). I took a picture of this one because instead of removing this, I decided to keep it as part of the piece. Who would buy such a thing? Maybe I should put an outrageous price on it to create some interest?

Finished Canister

2010-12-20T20:05:00.000-08:00

Here is the finished canister I posted a week or so ago. It was soaked is a "Danish Oil" tank for over a week. It will take a few weeks to dry then I will top it with a thinned (50%) Urethane oil. Looks like another one of my utility projects that has way more time in it than the market will bare.

Pine Burl Bowl

2010-12-20T19:49:00.000-08:00

This is a 17"x 7.5" Western White Pine burl bowl. The burl came out of the Sieara's very near my cabin. The tree has probably been dead for a hundred years. The burl was perfectly preserved since it was solid pitch. The wood cut polished right off the gouge. There was no need to sand it. It weighs 12 lbs. finished. It is also opaque in the right light

Big Tree

2010-12-09T20:04:00.000-08:00

Just nominated what I think is the Largest Cottonwood ( Fremontii Poplar) tree in the nation 505 points (12' in diameter). It is in Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. I discovered the trees last year during a hike. Jenni and I went back there during the Thanksgiving break and measured it. It is a giant among all others I have seen. Check it out! You can get details of the nations biggest trees at americanforest.com

finished canister

2010-12-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

This is part of my Sierra series. I collect the wood near my cabin in Northern California. The piece is 13"in diameter and 11"tall. Made from Douglas Fir and the knob is Mountain Mahogany. This canister has been a very difficult challenge. Cutting the end-grain clean was nearly impossible. I have three more of these to make and hopefully will learn a few new techniques on the next ones. The finish on this piece will be critical since the wood is very soft. I plan to soak it in a vat of "Danish oil"for a few days. Then I will use a cut Urethane oil as the top coat. I will show a gallery quality picture of it when it is done.

more travel

2010-10-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

Going to Fargo North Dakota in the morning for the weekend. This is the last trip of the year and part of a string of travel that makes me wonder why I would ever get on another plane again. Can't wait to get onto some projects in my shop.

Ireland

2010-09-21T15:20:00.000-07:00

On my way to the Irish National Woodturning symposium. Can't wait to experience the great people of Ireland and look for some new talent. I have always been impressed with the Irish Turners. Their seems to be a great appreciation for detail and imagination in their work. I will send back pictures. I will have a Guinness for everyone!

Drying wood

2010-08-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

Last winter I posted an entry about cutting some quarter sawn Sycamore. Sycamore is a very common timber that generally isn't very pretty unless you cut it on the quarter. Today I took the rough boards and cut the wax off the ends and put them in a rough dimension to make some dinner plates and platters. Then I will age these pieces for a couple more months in my warm shop. The next step will be to round them on the bandsaw and then bring them into the house for another month until I am confident they will be dry to finish. Here are some pictures of this "plain" wood.

Drying process

2010-08-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

Today I am removing the wax on the canisters I roughed out this last winter. Then I will bring them into the house to give them some more drying time. By bringing them inside it will give them a more natural state as to where they will be staying once they have been finished. This helps the lids and base fit better over time. Being as large as these are there is more dimensional instability. Drying these properly will be a major part of their longevity.

San Diego Symposium

2010-07-14T06:14:00.000-07:00

Heading for San Diego today. The San Diego woodturners are having a symposium. I will have two days of classes before the Saturday symposium. I am looking forward to returning to my roots since San Diego was my original woodturning club. Lot's of great friends there. Can't wait to see them.

finished piece

2010-06-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

Well it didn't completely come out as planned but a very nice set anyway. The largest piece of the set warped differently from the rest since it had more fine burl eyes. The next largest piece wouldn't fit into it without taking a risk of breaking it so I will let the largest piece 20" x 12" stand alone as a separate piece. The piece averages 1.5 millimeters wall thickness. This was quite a challenge. Can't wait to do another!!!

Pucker up day

2010-06-11T05:05:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had the feeling that a piece of wood was to good to be tampered with? That's the way I feel about this piece.
I have had this veneer quality "turtle back" Madrone burl in plastic for the last few months. This is a 20"x 10", 150lbs. of defect free perfection. I was going to rough it out and make a salad bowl from it but I felt the risk of cracking would be too great. I have decided to make a very thin (2 or 3 millimeter) nested set. Here's the process...
I have high pressure washed the bark clean off. I like the bark but at the thinness of the finished piece it will easily chip off. Removing the bark plus dying the top surface will give me the bark look and hopefully a nice contrast. Here is how it looks this morning. Stayed tuned to see the finished product. I should finish it late today.

The busiest month of my year

2010-05-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Just wrapped up a five day class at Craft Supplies USA. Before that I had the 31st Utah Symposium to do. The symposium went off without a hitch. This is thanks to all the great volunteers who put in long hours without complaint. I will be back in my shop next week taking care of bowl orders. Also, looking forward to making a prototype of a new nested bowl set. Yahoo!

Big Week

2010-05-04T05:37:00.000-07:00

The 32nd annual Utah Woodturning Symposium is this week! This is an international event that was started by Dale Nish. It is amazing what it has grown into. I attended my first one in the mid 80's. This is where I met Richard Raffan. Watching him turn made me want to be a professional craftsmen. Thank you Richard!

George Hatfield

2010-04-29T18:07:00.000-07:00

Phil Duffy

2010-04-29T18:05:00.000-07:00

Home sweet home

2010-04-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

Wrapped up my 3 city tour with the Southern States Symposium. I would say the symposium was a great success. Dixie Biggs, Michael Mocho, George Hatfield and myself were the featured demonstrators. Dixie is the best in the business when it comes to carving on turnings. Michael Mocho is a highly technical turner with a good grasp of technique and one of our better teachers in the field. George Hatfield from Sydney, Australia is a production spindle turner. His demonstration were incredible. It is nice to watch a production man doing his job. You can always spot a craftsman who has paid his dues. Interesting thing about George's tools they all have a 25 degree bevel. This is an incredibly sharp bevel derived from the timber he used in the trade plus it's ability to leave the wood crisp and clean with very little sanding.
Also had time to meet new friends and see some old one's. Here is a picture of my friend Bill Dean who at 90 years old still puts in lot's of time behind the lathe. He has made nearly a 1000 burial urns in the last few years. Great turner and friend.

Travel Day

2010-04-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

On my way to Columbus Ohio for an all day demonstration and two days of hands on workshops. Then off to Atlanta to do 3 days of workshops there for a Woodcraft store. Then wrapping things up at the Southern States symposium in Gainsville. 10 days total and no time off in between. Let's see how I hold up.

Craft Supplies Class

2010-04-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

Wrapped up a great week of instruction at Craft Supplies. I spent the week with a great bunch. It is very rewarding to watch my students progress their skills and compare from Monday to Friday. I had a great assistant from Phoenix named Matt Monaco who is one of the younger professional woodturners in the country. He specializes in smaller bowls and sells at Craft Shows plus is headed to the Philadelphia Buyers Market for his first time. This is the show that launched my business and made it possible to be a Craftsman. Good luck Matt! Also, in the class was an 18 year old High School student named John Ellefson from Arlington Texas. John is in the top three students I have taught skill wise since I have been teaching. It is rare that a student can comprehend and apply a skill immediately. I have only come across this a few times. It was a pleasure. Thanks guys!

From left to right top: John Liddicoat (surgeon), Lowell Lancaster (farmer), John Ellefson (student), Stan Record (plumber), Don Black, Billy Griffin (engineer), Greg Godwin (accountant). Bottom: Pat Scott, Me, and Matt Monaco

Thursday's work

2010-04-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

Using my new Kelton center savers tool. This is the mini set that Kelton produces. This burl is 4.5" x 3" Russian Olive burl (bad breath wood and next to Locust burl one of N. Americas prettiest) and I got 5 bowls out of it. The littlest is 1"x 1". Thanks Kel, the system works great!

Small Hollow Forms

2010-03-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

Spent the day using up some pretty wood making these hollow forms. This is the form that put me through college so many years ago. It was the back bone of the weekend art show. The public loves them because they are introduced to beautiful wood, affordable, and a lovely form.

classics

2010-03-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

Got a commission to remake this classic that I made in the mid 90's when I did a lot of urns. The difficulty of the new piece, is it will be 18" in diameter in a veneer Redwood burl. The lid is hand threaded to the base and is African Blackwood. Great project!

Coring veneer burl

2010-03-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

This week I cut up the rest of my veneer burls that will make heirloom salad bowls. It is rare to find large burls without defects. If they have defects they will become natural edged or vase forms. I also used a peculiar way to core these burls. I would normally use the natural edge as the bottom of the bowl. However, these were cut unusual before I got them and had to make due with what I had. Here's the process.

Cracked bowls

2010-03-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

Since I guarantee all my salad bowls for life I occasionally get to repair some of the bowls that develop cracks. These cracks are generally from bowls that were dropped and I will always give the owners the choice of replacing or repairing them. I replace very few bowls considering I have made on average 1200 a year since 1994. To my delight many people select to repair them. This gives me a chance to see how they wear and how and why they have cracked. Many of these bowls look better with all the wear. They show a patina of daily life. I have always used butterfly joints to secure the cracks. This would seem to be a natural way to fix these. However, lately I have been repairing them with a metal patch secured with rivets or nuts and bolts.

Burl wood

2010-03-22T05:53:00.000-07:00

Roughing out maple burls today. These will become heirloom salad bowls. Here is a sample of a finished burl bowl. 20" x 7"

Oldest living trees

2010-03-19T05:29:00.000-07:00

My good friend David Nittmann forwarded a great web site on the oldest living trees. Thanks David! Check it out. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/old-tree-gallery/

Lee Valley Tools

2010-03-04T05:21:00.000-08:00

Wrapped up a great session up in Canada. I am always impressed with our neighbors to the north. Very friendly and helpful at every "turn"(this pun is for Martin".
There are fourteen Lee Valley stores across Canada. The stores offer first rate hardware, tools, gardening equipment and much more. For my workshops they we had 10 participants with 10 lathes. I would do a demonstration and the students would follow the example. Hopefully we all had fun. Special thanks to Tanya, Karen, Scott, David, Steve, and Bart who worked very hard to pull this off. Hope to meet again!

Teaching week

2010-02-26T05:07:00.000-08:00

Going to Nova Scotia today to teach for the Lee Valley stores. First stop is Halifax then on to Ottawa. Hopefully I can publish some pictures of the event. Stay tuned.

detail of tray

2010-02-22T06:05:00.001-08:00

Plates

2010-02-22T05:18:00.000-08:00

There was a 48 inch sycamore in the wood dump this week that was begging to be filleted. Sycamore does make a good salad bowl but is very hard to sell. I only use it for plates and platters because if I cut it on the quarter it has a great grain pattern. These will dry for at least 3 months and then they will become their intended purpose. Here are a few pictures.

The French Connection

2010-02-13T22:41:00.000-08:00

Last May we had a good friend, Christian Delhon from France visit us. He was demonstrating for the Utah Symposium. He is a huge talent. Afterwords, I took him to Yellowstone National Park to show him some sightseeing. He stole a toilet roll out of an outhouse while we were there. I gave him a very hard time about it being Government property and all. I found that role of paper in my truck this afternoon. I sent him a picture of the used roll. Stating this toilet roll reminds me of you. I hope it translates.

Examples of canisters

2010-02-11T18:45:00.000-08:00

These end-grain pieces are one of the more serious challenges I have ever faced as a woodturner. It is a shame they are not more appreciated by collectors. Hollowing these and achieving an interior equal to the exterior will prove anyone's muster. The Red boxelder piece is 16" tall by 8". The Mormon Poplar piece is 12"x 12". The knob assembly is African Blackwood with hand chased threads.

New work

2010-02-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

I have been roughing out some very large end-grain spruce to make some canisters. Preferably I would like to be using Fir but it is hard to come by in town. The wood is very similar but lighter color. The tricky part is drying them. There is a large amount of sap on one side that will impede the drying process. The goal is to wax the pieces on the end-grain and I will keep them in a cool 45 degree area for 2 months and them introduce them to my normal drying room at 55 degrees. The largest two are 24"x 13".

2010-02-01T00:43:00.000-08:00

2010-02-01T00:29:00.000-08:00

Wrapped up the 2010 Anchorage Symposium. This was my third trip up so it was good to see some old friends and make some new ones. One great bonus of the trip is I get to stay with Bill and Susan Bowers. Let's just say Bill and Susan know how to take care of house guest. Gourmet meals and wines I have only read about. Topped the evening off with a 1983 La Tache. This was certainly on of the finest wines I have ever had. It better be since it cost more than my Swarofski binoculars. The folks up here are truly genuine. Good to hang out with you all and hope we meet again soon!

Alaska

2010-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

The Anchorage symposium starts this weekend. Once again my buddy Stu Batty and I will demonstrate our duelling demonstration on particular techniques on making bowls. The last time we did this was at SWAT in Texas and before that the Arizona Woodturners Symposium. I feel sorry for Stu since he has received a real drubbing on the last two try's. The Alaskan Birch will hamper Stu's technique. The only thing that can save him is charming the audience with his jordy accent. Another case of bringing a knife to a gun fight. Good luck Stu!

Alaska Symposium

2010-01-24T17:17:00.000-08:00

Fly tonight to Anchorage for a week long workshop followed by the Anchorage Woodturning Symposium. This is my third trip there in the last 10 years. A great group of people. Made many friends up there over the years. Here's a picture of me with Bill and Dan

AAW Back to Basics Contest

2010-01-18T19:51:00.000-08:00

The results are now posted on the AAW woodturning web site. The winners and my critiques can be viewed from there. Enjoy! http://www.aawforum.org/photopost/search.php?searchid=15183

Rough out day

2010-01-16T08:55:00.000-08:00

There was 145 bowls in that tree. There was birdseye grain as well as fiddleback in most of it.

Largest Pine tree

2010-01-10T19:22:00.001-08:00

Got a call from the American Forest organization on Friday. They have granted me official status that my Western White Pine (Pinus Manticola) is the largest of its kind. I will be looking for a larger one in that same area next summer and I will explore an area in Southern Oregon for a Mondo tree in that area.

AAW Back to Basics Woodturning competition

2010-01-10T08:14:00.000-08:00

I spent a fair amount of the day judging a woodturning exhibit online. There were 31 entries. The theme was Back to Basics with a emphasis on form, finish and use of materials. It was a difficult task since all entries required a critique. I will post the winners as soon as it is published.

Aching back!

2010-01-06T17:53:00.000-08:00

Three days of chainsaw work has me looking forward to taking a break and roughing out bowls tomorrow. I will post a picture of some of the exquisite wood I've been cutting.

club demo

2010-01-06T06:59:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of my local woodturners club. I did a demonstration on making nested bowls. I wish I had more energy but I spent the whole day on a chainsaw. Hope everyone enjoyed themselves anyway.

Wood cutting today

2010-01-05T05:03:00.000-08:00

Cut circles all day and wrapped them in plastics until I can get to them. Hopefully I will have the energy to get to it before I start my travel schedule at the end of the month.
Finally going after that big Boxelder today. I am going to fillet the burls off of it and gives those to Joe Pearson who collected the tree from the city. I am really only interested in the straight grain. Boxelder burl has been relatively easy to come by lately. I don't want it unless I can get to it quickly. It has been getting a blue stain in it through drying and isn't very pretty when that happens.

Cutting Red Boxelder

2009-12-29T20:01:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow out to cut a big burl tree that came down in Provo. I will attempt to upload some video of how I attack such a beast.

Woodturning in Utah

2009-12-29T18:49:00.000-08:00

Since moving to Utah, I have been exposed to the best woodturners in the world due to Dale Nish and The Utah Woodturners Symposium. This is the longest Woodturning symposium in the world, 31 years now. If you have an interest in woodturning you have most likely made a pilgrimage here.