Page 65 - Wood Review Dec 202 Full issue

WOODCARVING
1
Morning rituals are set in stone. Between us, we have many: some normal, some not, some we probably shouldn’t talk about in a woodworking magazine. But there is a ritual that most of us do, or need, to stoke the fires for a fresh new day.
Coffee. Some have it black, or with milk, and others insist on a morning cuppa strong enough to wake Jimmy Possum from his grave.
1. 2. 3.
Hollowing with a hook knife.
Endgrain – full of pores and opportunity.
Sitting on my workhorse to hold it steady while I shape the outside.
When you’re starting out making a mug from wood, by all rights you should slump into despair. Wood is peppered with holes! Any hope you have of drinking liquid ambrosia from these vessels should, in theory, dry up. To make things worse, endgrain mugs provide a superhighway from the inside of your mug to the puddle at your feet via a network
3
2
This ritual often involves a favourite mug: a little chipped, a lot stained, and with words or a picture on the outside that makes you smile. It’s your mug, and nobody else is allowed, or wants, to use it.
Well now it’s time for a second favourite. A companion for the tried and trusted. Once carved and supplying you with your morning hit, this new mug will age with grace. It’ll stain to a fathomless black on the inside, develop a glorious grubbiness and patina from your hands, and it will always be warm, even when empty.
So drink up from that old china mug and set it aside to enjoy its well-earned rest. Let’s make a tree mug!
To the garden we go
www.woodreview.com.au 65