Although I have made many things over the years, this little four piece set of cookware is very special for several reasons. One being that this was my very first project utilizing wood that had not been store bought.
Scavenged from the woods from a long dead Elm tree, it was a interesting learning process to figure out how to get usable lumber from a log with the tools that I have. I was excited to try and do so.
Initially, I chain saw cut the log vertically along a naturally occurring split into two halves, then cut 5/4 lumber pieces on my table saw to 3 ½” high stock. From there, I cut the raw shapes both horizontally and vertically on my band saw then used a stationary sander to hone the desired curves. Allot of thought and effort went into the sizing and shapes as I wanted them to be both useful and comfortable for the hand as well as beautiful to the eye. Hours of hand sanding followed, progressing from a 100 grit, to 220, 320, 600 and finally with a 1,000 grit to really make them smooth to the touch, wetting them in between each step to raise the grain and then smooth it again. Finally, 6 applications of olive oil followed with a drying process in between each and an overnight soak in the same before a final drying.
I was quite happy and excited with the end product, their quirky imperfect shape, how I worked in interesting knots, etc... and how soft and smooth they were. As they were made for beauty and anticipating that they would have likely seen allot of use, I wanted the maintenance to simply be a wash with soap and water and a occasional oiling.
It is a gorgeous wood and I imagined them as a treasured gift. I at first thought to sign them with my favorite pen shown in the last photo, but then decided to woodburn in a 'signature' of three tiny dots (...) as this Ellipsis to me means something like "everything I can express", a small pause to think and reflect, or an almost 'unending' signature. These pieces really were a labor of love and I found allot of joy in the process of creating them from such a raw state, imagining the joy that would be found in cooking with them, but they were very sadly lost before being used and enjoyed. I doubt I will ever be inspired to attempt a project like this again.
Scavenged from the woods from a long dead Elm tree, it was a interesting learning process to figure out how to get usable lumber from a log with the tools that I have. I was excited to try and do so.
Initially, I chain saw cut the log vertically along a naturally occurring split into two halves, then cut 5/4 lumber pieces on my table saw to 3 ½” high stock. From there, I cut the raw shapes both horizontally and vertically on my band saw then used a stationary sander to hone the desired curves. Allot of thought and effort went into the sizing and shapes as I wanted them to be both useful and comfortable for the hand as well as beautiful to the eye. Hours of hand sanding followed, progressing from a 100 grit, to 220, 320, 600 and finally with a 1,000 grit to really make them smooth to the touch, wetting them in between each step to raise the grain and then smooth it again. Finally, 6 applications of olive oil followed with a drying process in between each and an overnight soak in the same before a final drying.
I was quite happy and excited with the end product, their quirky imperfect shape, how I worked in interesting knots, etc... and how soft and smooth they were. As they were made for beauty and anticipating that they would have likely seen allot of use, I wanted the maintenance to simply be a wash with soap and water and a occasional oiling.
It is a gorgeous wood and I imagined them as a treasured gift. I at first thought to sign them with my favorite pen shown in the last photo, but then decided to woodburn in a 'signature' of three tiny dots (...) as this Ellipsis to me means something like "everything I can express", a small pause to think and reflect, or an almost 'unending' signature. These pieces really were a labor of love and I found allot of joy in the process of creating them from such a raw state, imagining the joy that would be found in cooking with them, but they were very sadly lost before being used and enjoyed. I doubt I will ever be inspired to attempt a project like this again.
As a photographer, I appologize for the photo quality. I did not take photos with a blog in mind, so they are captures off of a computer screen. I will do better in the future.
