Coal Burned Bowl

Since I made a Carved Spoon a few weeks ago I wanted to try some coal burning. I decided to make a bowl... out of a piece of Oak firewood that we were in the process of splitting. I wanted to try making the bowl with the growth rings on the top of the wood instead of laying the piece horizontally.

I put coals in and fanning them with a hand made fan. I continuously spun the bowl to scorch all the sides of the interior evenly. Every 15-20 minutes or so I would take the coals out.. scrape the inside.. and sand it with some Sandstone. I then would go back with round two of the burning. I continued this process 8 to 10 times over a period of 3 days, not wanting the wood to dry out too fast and split badly. Once I was finished I took the Sandstone and burnished the inside and outside of the bowl for about 45 minutes. This gave it a nice even finish and allowed the Olive Oil to soak in evenly.

Total project time was about 4 - 5 hours. The bowl's finished size is 7" across and 1.5" deep. It was made entirely with tools from the Bush. Coals from the fire were used to burn the interior out, A Stick to scrape out the char, and Sandstone and sand to polish the inside and outside. The only thing that I did was cut the blank with a chainsaw. Overall I am pleased! The only slight problem (which may aggravate over time) Is a very tiny split in the bottom of the bowl where the heart of the growth rings were. I filled it with splits and sanded them smooth and it held the Olive Oil without leaking. So time will tell :)

Here are some pictures of the finished product. Hope you enjoyed this little project... Thanks for Looking!