bowl hooks I use

hooks for bowls

Alexander wanted to see photos of the hooks Mark Atchison made for me. The one I use the most is on the right in this picture, but yesterday the other came in handy for part of what I was turning. I didn’t get the hang of these until I realized it works like a gouge that’s skewed in relationthip to its handle. I think in general they could be a little smaller. but they work fine on most of what I have tried thus far. yesterday I did a small-diameter bowl with some depth, and it got a little tight in there.

the overall length is about 28″ or so, this includes the handle. We got the specs from an old article in Fine Woodworking about Wille Sundqvist’s turning hooks. Wille was not using a pole lathe, but the action & cutting are about the same I imagine. the bowl spins, the tool cuts. I don’t have the citation for the article handy; and I don’t have the online access to the FWW archives. the article was not written by Wille, I remember that much… I think it was back in the days of B&W…

for more on Mark’s work, see http://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/2253/

On another note, there is a juvenile redtail hawk around the grounds of the museum. She’s none too bright it seems. Here, she seems to be searching for something; looking this way & that…

listening for something

In the same tree was this squirrel, seemingly playing hide & seek with the hawk. this one the squirrel won… (click the picture to enlarge, the squirrel is on the right…)