Power Carved Yarn Bowls

Bob has always wanted to carve elegant embellishments on yarn bowls. That’s why when he got a pneumatic power (dental) drill in January, I wondered where he was going to find the time to develop this new skill along with his 40 hr. week turning habit...

In April he suggested I give his new toy try (in my free ? time). I got the thing out and started carving and had to admit it was quite fun. Then I realized I needed to learn what all those burrs did,  start with basics and draft something simple on the computer as a template to start honing my technique.

Carving templates are usually the biggest challenge for new wood carvers. However, I once had a job designing  similar graphics for engraving machines, making this part a breeze.  Realizing I needed to design some templates before could start to carve, the power carver went back in the boxalong with my free time!

Similar to writing with a pen, carving wood at up to a max speed of 500,000 RPM; offers amazing control –once you get the hang of it!

I finally got in a few practice sessions carving the words knit, crochet, yarn, etc., on wood samples and was ready to start something simple. Bob was a bit concerned when I asked for three segmented pine yarn bowls to carve words big on bowl in order to practice accurate curves, straight lines and removal. After carving, I filled the grooves with our sparkle inlay making three very blingy yarn bowls. He thinks they’re a bit tacky, I think they’re fun and festive –what do you think?

This was a fun exercise to learn the basics, but I plan to do more intricate carvings (no inlay) in future works. Find these three at our Etsy Shop –like all our bowls, definitely one-of-a-kind!

Now I’m hooked. Yesterday, Bob roughed out a XXL Cherry Yarn Bowl that’s begging for a nice carved relief border around the rim. I’ll certainly need get to work on carving technique in the next few weeks while the bowl cures.

Power carving is fun and relaxing when I have this 500,000 RPM tool in my hand. However, I was recently paralyzed with fear when my hygienist used a similar drill to clean my teeth on my last dental visit. I was suddenly struck by the trust I was putting in my dentist, with this high powered tool