Rustic Country Dough Bowl

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Power-carve a treasure from found wood.

Overall dimensions: 10"w × 18"l × 4"h

Before the advent of woodworking power tools, many of the kitchenware items found in homes originated from the surrounding forest and the handcrafting skills of locals. Bowls, trays, and utensils were shaped from green logs with hatchets, handsaws, adzes, chisels, and knives. They were then smoothed by scraping. They took time and brawn to create, resulting in functional pieces that displayed somewhat uneven lines and endearing country charm. Even the wood choices added personality to the pieces, featuring sapwood, crotch figure, knots, and other eye-catching elements.

Today, you can capture the same good looks in a fraction of the time using handheld angle grinders and various carving attachments. I’ll show you how to power-carve a dough bowl to shape from a log half, ending up with a prized container by the day’s end. Once you make the initial investment in tools and cutters, you’ll find you can fill a pickup with one-of-a-kind bowls and trays using green wood from your own backyard. One more thing–don’t feel obligated to knead bread dough in the bowls you make. Use them instead to hold fruits and nuts, as a display item, or as a treasured holiday gift.

Select and prep your stock

1 Scout outside for a good dough bowl candidate from available logs or pile of firewood. Straight timber is the best choice for your first bowl because it’s easier to work. Look for softer hardwoods like poplar, soft maple, and cherry. A 13"- to 14"-diameter log that is 20" long can yield two 10" wide × 18" long dough bowls that include 11⁄2"-long handles. For the bowl shown here, I used cherry.

2 Once you find the right candidate, chainsaw an unseasoned log to 20" long, as depicted in Cut 1 in Figure 1. Dough bowls–unlike furniture pieces–do not require hardand-fast fine measurements in the making, so if you are off a little, it won’t matter.

3 Now, make a pair of parallel slices through the center of the log, cutting lengthwise, where shown in Cut 2. Here you are parting away the pith or waste slab and establishing the top faces of the bowl blanks. These should be square to the ends of the bowl blank.

4 Next, measure down from the bowl blank’s top face 4" to 41⁄2", and mark a parallel bottom face. Mark a 10"- to 12"-wide top face on the bowl blank that is centered between the blank’s edges. Connect the lines using a felt-tip marker and straightedge wood strip. You want the best wood the log has to offer for your bowl, not the wane or pith. Now, with the blank’s end against a strip screwed in place, slice off the rounded crown of the blank, creating a flat blank bottom that is parallel to the top face, as indicated in Cut 3.

5 Cut and place a rectangular piece of cardboard (about 5 × 20") on the bottom face of the blank and between the waney edges. Strike parallel lines inside the wane along the cardboard piece to lay out the bowl’s 4" to 5" true bottom, as shown in Photo A. Lay out the blank’s top face, as well, with a pair of parallel lines within the waney edges.

12 Measure the height of the bowl blank all around, noting the measurement at the lowest corner. Install a 1⁄2" twist bit in a portable drill, and wrap a piece of tape on the bit to serve as a hole depth stop. This should be the height of the bowl minus 3⁄4". Now, drill the five holes, as shown in Photo G, holding the drill vertically over the blank and stopping when the tape touches the wood.

Power-carve the blank

Note: Power-carving in the manner shown here requires adhering to the safety guidelines in the sidebar.

1 Secure the bowl blank upside down to the edge of the workbench top using clamps or an end vise and bench dogs. Install a single Lancelot 14-tooth chain disc on an angle grinder, and smooth the outside face of one bowl side by lightly grazing its surface, as shown in Photo H. Work the cutter from the bowl’s bottom down to its top edge, moving the tool from end to end. You want to remove the rough-sawn surface made by the chainsaw and eliminate bumps with 1⁄32"-deep cuts. This action is referred to as a “smoothing cut” and requires no pressure. Repeat to smooth the other tapered side.

4 With the same 14-tooth chain disc and right-angle grinder, hog out the waste to form the bowl’s interior. Here, you want to make “chopping” cuts by dipping or plunging the cutter into the center of the bowl, as shown in Photos K and L. Here, wear gloves to protect your hands from the flying debris. Expect to take several minutes dipping the cutter into the blank, working across the grain first, and then cutting with the grain, staying within the layout lines. Concentrate first on the center of the large rectangle, being mindful that the sides taper to the bottom, indicated by the four perimeter drill holes. Use the drill depth holes as guides for determining if you’ve reached the bowl’s interior bottom.

5 Once you removed the bulk of the waste in the bowl’s interior, make smoothing cuts, as described earlier, to clean up the tapered walls and the interior bottom while working up to the outside rectangular cut lines, as shown in Photo M. Use a caliper to check that the sidewall thickness remains at around 3⁄4", as shown in Photo N. Trim down any high corners of the bowl’s top edges to make them the same height all around. Redraw any layout lines if necessary. (Later, with further trimming and sanding, your finished wall thickness will be 5⁄8" thick.) 

6 Lay out the centered bowl handles, as shown in Figure 2. Then, use chopping and smoothing cuts to sculpt a handle at each end, as shown in Photo O.

7 Switch to a smaller right-angle grinder with a Merlin 2"-diameter, 8-tooth chain cutter, and trim and feather the bowl’s inside corners, as shown in Photo P, as well as further refining the bowl handles.

8 Switch to a Holey Galahad 4"-diameter tungsten carbide disc, and go over all the interior surfaces within reach for further smoothing and transitioning of inside corners and handle edges, as shown in Photo Q. Use a light touch to smooth away any remaining chainsaw marks. This carbide disc works well for tighter areas.

9 Using a hammer, pop the blank loose from the plywood work holder. Now, flip the bowl upside down, secure it in your bench, and smooth the exterior with the same 4"-diameter abrasive disc that you used in the previous step.

10 Continue refining and smoothing the exterior surfaces of the bowl. Use the Merlin 8-tooth chain disc to further detail, and round over the handles, as shown in the Handle Side View in Figure 2 and Photo R.

11 Switch to a 2"-diameter tungsten-carbide medium disc, and go over the entire piece again, from the inside bowl walls and transitions to softening the outside tapered corners to the handles, as shown in Photo S. 

About Our Designer/Builder

A lifelong resident of Newland, North Carolina, Alan Hollar has turned and carved wood bowls and other items dating back to the mid 1980s. His imaginative works can be found on display and for sale at many Southern Highland Guild galleries. Contact him at alanturning@hughes.net.