Koch Woodworking

Small Tray: Crabapple with copper fill.

Had dry times and wet times at the Historic Valley Junction Art Festival yesterday. Thanks to all people who stopped by and to our daughter and granddaughter who helped so much.

Bowls and cutting boards sanded and ready for finishing.

REMINDER: Come see us at the Historic Valley Junction Art Festival in West Des Moines, Iowa, Sunday, May 19, from 11-5.

Bowl: Laminated Oak

Snack Tray: Spalted Birch

Rustic Bowl: Cedar barn wood

Large Serving Tray: Ash with handles.

First day in shop for 2024. It felt good to rough carve same new bowls.

Rustic Hackberry Bowl: With Copper End Plate

Large Serving Tray with Black Pipe Handles: Flamed Cottonwood: Cottonwood From near Lake Okoboji

Bread Tray: Osage Orange

Fruit Bowl: Rustic Oak

Bowl: Rustic Walnut from near Norway, Iowa

Snack Tray: Maple

Oak Tray: Made from old barn post and beam knee brace. Found near Annandale, Minnesota.

Event

Valley Junction Art Festival
West Des Moines, Iowa
Sunday, May 19, 2024
Open 10-4.

Koch Woodworking will be there. Will you?

Walnut Bowls

Deodar Cedar

When we travel, I always look for new (to me) interesting woods for carving. Like all finds, you take a chance on the woods carving characteristics and final appearance. On a trip Lake Norman, North Carolina, for a family reunion, I found a giant slab of deodar cedar. When I got home, I sawed into usable chunks. Immediately the smell of the wood filled my shop. It was a strong mint-like odor that was somewhat overwhelming. After the bowl was sanded and finished, it was beautiful. I had high hopes of quick sales. Then a strange thing started to happen. Resin started exuding from the finished bowl. I would wipe it off with alcohol and at the next show it would be back. It only goes to show you. Strange woods can do strange things.

Ash - The Disappearing Wood

Before the discovery of the Emerald Ash Borer in Iowa, we carved a lot of ash. It is hard to work but can be very beautiful. After the infestation began to spread , we stopped using ash. At the present time, any ash on public land is being cut. Private owners can choose to try to save trees by treating. I hope that resistant tree will be discovered before they are all gone.

Below are two bowls and a tray made of ash. The bug damage is not from the EAB.

Pistachio Bowl: Rustic Walnut

Burls

Tree burls are areas of deformed wood growth, usually on the trunk of a tree. It can also occur on limbs. This growth is triggered by damage to tree by insect damage, tapping for sap, or other physical damage. This stimulates the trees defense mechanisms which trigger the random growth patterns.

The random growth make for some interesting bowls. The first two are oak burls I found . The last one was provided by a client.

Ideas

I have had a many ideas in the in the woodworking game. Some good and some not so much. I like working with epoxy, especially the clear variety. Trivets, that was idea. The problem is, epoxy melts.

The rustic coaster idea worked. I liked the idea of inserting interesting items covered with epoxy.

The brother and sister bowl idea seemed sound. If a piece of wood is too big, why not make 2 bowls to sell as a set. Sadly, I had to breakup up the siblings and send them to separate homes.

So it goes.

Used Whiskey and Wine Barrels

Over the years, I have acquired salvaged barrel heads and staves. They can be a good source of project materials. As shown below, whisky staves were made into flight paddles, and barrel heads can be made into a charcuterie board and a rustic tray with black pipe handles. The other tray was made from a wine barrel head. When barrels are no longer serviceable, they are parted out. Whiskey barrel parts are heavily charred and usually in very rough shape. Wine barrel parts are in better shape

the up side of making flight paddles is that the wood is saturated 3/4 of the way through with whiskey. The chips can be used to flavor BBQ.

Laminated Beam Bowls

Standard building material can be a source of unique bowls. The bowls shown below were carved from 14 inch wide laminated beam cut offs. The laminating glue is black in this case, hence the black lines between the layers. I have seen red glue used. This produced very unique bowls.

Catalpa

We had a catalpa tree when I was a kid. What I remember the most is that the green worms that ate the big leaves were the best sunfish bait. Fast forward more than few years, I have carved a lot of catalpa.

The wood is soft and very aromatic. The grain is wide. It reminds me of a hay field that was mowed with a 6 foot sickle bar. Around and around went the F-20. If the bark is present when carved, it will stay on the bowl.

In the first picture, the up and down lines are compression wood marks.

Cutting Boards: Oak , Maple and Walnut , Pickled. When fine (0000) steel wool is dissolved in white vinegar, the resulting solution (diluted with distilled water) is perfect as a natural stain. The iron containing solution reacts with the tannins in the wood to turn the wood black. The same thing happens when a nail is driven into an oak board and the board gets wet. The wood sanded and the food safe finish is applied.

Bowl: Rustic Cedar. Another example of natural beauty at it’s best.

Bowl: Walnut with brass inlay in two small holes

Bowl: Rustic Crabapple

Bowl: Rustic pine cutoff with natural grey staining associated with Pine Bark Beetle Kill.