The kilted Artisan

Green-wood craft-artist

working entirely by hand and foot, interpreting centuries of tradition with fresh expression for a contemporary age!

Unique bowls, spoons, spurtles,

and other pieces.

WITH HANDS, HEAD, FEET and HEART

I love working with hand tools and organic materials. It’s quiet, ecologically sound and involves my whole self – hands, feet, head and heart! It’s a very satisfying process, working observantly with the individual nature of each species of tree and segment of wood. As a result, every piece of my work is unique and bespoke. The hand finished surfaces reflect the light, subtly showing the tool marks and are designed to age gracefully with use, developing a delightful patina over time.

The tools and technology I use echo those used by countless generations of artisans and makers. For example, my bowls are turned on a 100% non-electric, foot operated spring pole lathe, using blacksmith made hand forged bowl hooks. Other tools I use include a shaving horse, splitting froe, mallets, trimming hatchets, razor sharp curved & straight spoon knives, gouges and spokeshaves. As a result, all of my pieces differ significantly from power lathe and machine made objects, as do the processes to make them.

I create all of my work from sustainably sourced, fresh felled or wind-blown green wood. With most of the moisture still in it, once it is finished the piece of work is initially put into wood shavings to control the speed of drying. This process gives the bowls in particular their distinct, unique oval shape and undulating rim since different parts of the tree dry & shrink at different rates.

Paint effects are achieved by applying several layers of different coloured milk paints, which I blend and mix from organic powders comprised of milk protein, limestone, chalk, clay and natural pigments. All surfaces are then finished with non-toxic food safe oils, which when exposed to the air, oxidise and harden to become part of the wood.

James Stewart - The Kilted Artisan

Discover the Ancient Art of Green-wood Bowl Making

Click on picture or text for full description, then follow the arrows or slide pic (mobile) to see the multiple stages I use to create your unique one-off bowl!

Bowl Making Overview

All my bowls are hand/foot turned on a 100% non-electric foot operated spring pole lathe using blacksmith hand forged bowl hooks to shape the spinning piece of wood. This gives the bowls a unique textured appearance. I use "green" or fresh wood with the sap and moisture still in it, so once it is turned, the bowl is initially put into wood shavings to control the speed of drying. This process gives the bowl a distinct, unique oval shape and undulating rim, since different parts of the tree shrink at different rates. I then usually apply several coats of different colours of milk paint on them and finish with food safe oil. Detail of the stages follow.

The Raw Material

Bowl blanks, and most of the other work on this site, are created from "green" or unseasoned hardwood logs, that is recently felled with moisture still in the fibres. The pic shows the raw material I start with. Beech and Sycamore are especially good for bowls, but fruit woods, Cherry, Matai, Maple, Birch, Walnut, Oak and other species can make great bowls, spoons and other items. I search out windblown, pruned, and otherwise sustainable wood.

Cleaving

The process of preparing bowl blanks for the lathe begins by cleaving a short section of log in half lengthways and removing the pith. The traditional tools, which I mostly use for this, are a froe as in this picture, steel wedges or a wide axe. Sometimes a combination of all of these. A wooden club or long handled mallet is used to strike them. Occasionally I'll use the chainsaw on large diameter logs.

Flattening the Bowl Blank

A side axe (bevelled on one side, flat on the other) or trimming hatchet is used to trim the blank faces approximately flat.

Flat Out

After the side-axe I like to further flatten one side of the bowl blank with a jack plane. It makes the next stage easier.

A Round to it!

Using a pair of sturdy dividers I mark out the size of the bowl, mark the centre on both sides and the octagonal shape for the next stage.

A Bowl Begins to Emerge

Using the trimming hatchet in a three stage process the flattened block begins to emerge as an octagon resembling the underside of a bowl.

Final Preparation

Just before the bowl blank goes on the lathe I take off the ridges of the axed octagon and trim the bowl circumference a little with a drawknife and spokeshave.

Mandrels

A mandrel which has spikes on its end is now driven into the bowl blank. As will be seen from the pictures of the lathe the mandrel has the drive cord wrapped around it enabling the bowl blank to be rotated and shaped. It is the drive-shaft of the lathe!

Hook Tools

Spring pole lathe tools are quite different to those used on an electric lathe. They must be individually made by a blacksmith, or by the bowl turner, and cannot be bought from a tool shop! Frequent sharpening of the tiny hook, even during the process of making one bowl, is essential.

Spring Pole Lathe

One of the many tools and processes I use as an artisan, and relevant to a sustainable future in the 21st century, my foot operated spring pole lathe has its roots in the 13th century or even earlier. The "spring pole" description refers to the traditional use of a fresh cut sapling to which the cord and treadle are attached to power the lathe. The reciprocating motion allows cutting in one direction only as the treadle is depressed. On its return revolution shavings are conveniently thrown from the work. All other turned work shown on this site is also turned on this lathe, though using different tools and techniques. In contrast with dry wood electric conventional bowl turning, a much more tactile approach is possible, I can design as I go due to being able to stop and start the lathe instantly, there is no dust or noise, it keeps me fit and I can listen to music or the birds!

Hook Tool Shaping Bowl

Cutting with the hook tool as shown here gives the bowls a unique "spun" surface effect. Burning calories as I treadle, designing as I go, the wood species, grain and whim of the turner (!) dictates the final outcome for each unique bowl.

Oak Bowl in Shavings

Newly turned bowl in shavings from the lathe. It will be fully covered with shavings for a week or two at the beginning of the drying process to avoid cracking, before being set on a shelf for final drying.

Milk Paint

Old Fashioned Milk Paint is a faithful recreation of an ancient home made paint formula, containing just milk protein (casein), lime and natural earth or mineral pigments, making it eco friendly, non-toxic, VOC-free, food safe and bio-degradable.

I use it because it is consisitent with the environmental ethos underlying my work as The Kilted Artisan, I'm able to mix it to the consisitency and colour I want, it is absorbed by the wood and hardens to a unique lasting finish.

Finished! Texture and Colour

After the freshly turned bowls have completely dried (a period of a few weeks), it's time to apply several coats of milk paint. Often I will mix up two or three different colours, apply them in layers, distressing the final coat to reveal highlights from the colours below for a unique effect. A few coats of food safe oil or other eco finish seals the milk paint and raw wood interior of the bowl.

"Handmade wooden objects have a special quality that connect us to their maker and gives them an innate humanity. Seek out wood versions of everyday items and you will be rewarded every time you use them"

- Ryuji Mitani

Click To See My Available Work

The kilted Artisan

WITH HANDS, HEAD, FEET and HEART

"Handmade wooden objects have a special quality that connect us to their maker and gives them an innate humanity. Seek out wood versions of everyday items and you will be rewarded every time you use them"

- Ryuji Mitani

​

​