Educate me on bowl making

j williams

j williams

Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Messages
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I know some of you have made bowls by burning out the center with a coal, and blowing the coal with a straw. I really want to give this a shot. Educate me on the process, those of you who have done it successfully.

How do you do it and keep the fire centered?

Any waterproofing techniques?

What wood makes the best, and easiest bowl?

How long can I expect this to take for a bowl roughly 4in deep?
 
I'd go with a softer wood..I like birch for carving...Definintely not a hard wood... I'd got to ragweed and get a single edged spoon knife as well it really helps and it's only 15.00 hell might as well grab some other blades while your there. I 've done it using a charocal briquette. I dig a little notch settle the charcoal in let it burn..blow it with a tube from time to time. THan after a bit I remove the charcoal scrape it out with the spoon knife an continue. good luck
 
Here is a link to a thread about a bowl I made on a camping trip.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=568378

As far as your questions, you can keep the coals centered by using a big enough log and by putting wet sand around the edges to keep them from burning.

I'm not quite sure how you would waterproof a bowl, but mine seemed to hold water just fine. I guess it would rot over a period of time with all the water in it.

As far as types of wood, I don't think it really matters all that much. Softwood will burn faster, but you have to be careful not to get one thats too sappy.

For a 4 inch bowl, it really depends on how big your log is, how much coal you put on at a time and how much time you sit there making sure the cooling coals are always heated or replaced. My bowl took me about 3-4 hours and is only about 2.5-3 inches deep. Although, I went swimming in a lake and did some other bushcraft will doing this so had I paid more attention to it, I probably could have cut that time down a lot.
 
I have seen it somewhere where pure pine sap was melted and used as a glaze in very old pottery. You could probably make it not so sticky by making it into a pitch first, by adding some charcoal whilst it's melted.

I saw people trying to reproduce the old cups, they got the sap good and hot then basically poured it into the cup, and quickly swirled it round to coat it thinly, but evenly, then poured it out. Probably takes a little practice to get it nice and even. It's something I always wanted to try, and think I will next time I'm camping. :)
 
At the WLC we used poplar.

First we carved a little divit in the center with our knife, then placed a cherry red coal on it.

Blow straight down onto the coal. As the hole gets bigger you will notice some parts are burning more than others. Blow in the direction you want it to burn.

You will need more than 1 coal. After every coal scrape out the char with your knife and start again.

When your satisfied with the depth, scrape it again and seal with pine pitch.

survivaltrip045.jpg


If that doesn't work, got to walmart and buy one you dumb bastid.
 
c00per said:
I have seen it somewhere where pure pine sap was melted and used as a glaze in very old pottery. You could probably make it not so sticky by making it into a pitch first, by adding some charcoal whilst it's melted.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't that make everything you put in it taste like pine sap?
 
All the advice looks pretty solid so far!

Tony, could you clarify how to get pine pitch from nature? Also, how does this compare to pitch from birch or other trees?

Not trying to hijack the thread, but this seems relevant.
 
On a pine tree you can ussualy find a big mess of sap bubbled up in an area where the tree was wounded. Knock that off and boil it in water, you can also add crushed charcoal to the mix and stir. The resin will stay on top. You then can dip your finger in there to collect the resin, I prefer to use a stick to collect it, but I'm a wuss.

What you are making is like a gluestick. When the sap hardends on the stick you can heat it up later and use it to fill voids or adhere things together.

Here's a pic of the man who taught me how to do it.

survivaltrip082.jpg
 
tonym said:
On a pine tree you can ussualy find a big mess of sap bubbled up in an area where the tree was wounded. Knock that off and boil it in water, you can also add crushed charcoal to the mix and stir. The resin will stay on top. You then can dip your finger in there to collect the resin, I prefer to use a stick to collect it, but I'm a wuss.

What you are making is like a gluestick. When the sap hardends on the stick you can heat it up later and use it to fill voids or adhere things together.

Here's a pic of the man who taught me how to do it.

survivaltrip082.jpg
Click to expand...

great stuff tony...marty is the man..:thumbup: i have always liked his neck knife set up too...

NORCALBLACKTAIL is an arborist, he had a whole mess of that pin sap, he had harvested....
 
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Hum. All sounds great, but seems that all the stuff I would use a bowl for in the bush would be hot meals. In one of the Hoods Woods videos, Ron demonstrates how to make the pitch as a glue. I'm really anxious to try this out, but it seems that the heat from warm to hot meals would melt the pitch a little? Ron would make some pitch sticks, that acted as little glue pens, you just put it into the heat of the fire for a pit, and it looses up and is ready to use.
 
Joel Stave said:
Wouldn't that make everything you put in it taste like pine sap?
Click to expand...

j williams said:
Thats what I thought too. I can see it especially if its a hot meal in the bowl.
Click to expand...

naked said:
Hum. All sounds great, but seems that all the stuff I would use a bowl for in the bush would be hot meals....but it seems that the heat from warm to hot meals would melt the pitch a little?
Click to expand...

I guess with cold drinks there wasn't really any added taste, you're probably right with hot meals though...only one way to find out! Besides, pine needles taste great, who knows, the sap might be tasty too. :)
 
tonym said:
At the WLC we used poplar.

First we carved a little divit in the center with our knife, then placed a cherry red coal on it.

Blow straight down onto the coal. As the hole gets bigger you will notice some parts are burning more than others. Blow in the direction you want it to burn.

You will need more than 1 coal. After every coal scrape out the char with your knife and start again.

When your satisfied with the depth, scrape it again and seal with pine pitch.

survivaltrip045.jpg


If that doesn't work, got to walmart and buy one you dumb bastid.
Click to expand...

Very good post, GS. You're really coming along, although I have a question. Why did you use a straw instead of a hollow plant stem??? :confused: :eek:

GS:D
 
Leave it to my Grampa to end a compliment with a criticism to me. I can't believe I grew up with out any complex.:confused:

Hey what are you staring at!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad:


;):D
 
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