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.