Once a year the Association of Pole Lathe Turners and Green Woodworkers, (APTGW), organise their AGM, known as the Bodgers’ Ball. This is a great weekend event of camping, demonstrations, tool sales, good food and drink and a chance to discuss matters of importance. It’s also host to an Annual Craft Competition which is open to all members, (currently the APTGW has 800 members, half of whom were present at the ‘Ball’ this year.) This was the first year I’d been able to make it to the Bodgers Ball and the first time I’d entered any of my work in to a national competition so it was a bit of a shock when I heard my name called out.
I’d entered two bowls as a matching pair and they won first place in the ‘Turned Treen’ category of the competition. The picture above shows where the wood from the larger bowl came from; a large cherry tree felled during some woodland management work in a local woodland. Using a crosscut saw on a tree this size is slow compared to a chainsaw but I can still hear the birds singing and I don’t have to wear safety clobber or use fuel…and I get some excersie too.
The other bowl, turned from Alder I made along with two cherry Quaichs on a bright winter day. I’ve posted a picture of this on a previous post.
It’s nice to combine a little turning with a bit of knife work. Because the wood is still fairly green it moves a fair bit as it dries which adds character to the carved rim. Here’s a picture of the winning bowls.
The larger, cherry bowl has now been sold, but I like the Alder bowl so much that I’ve decided to keep it. I’ll have more bowls of this design for sale in the next few months.
Wooden Way 