Phil Jones wood turner is holding one of smaller of the first 21 bowls he turned for Max Lamb & Richard Woods for an art exhibition at Albion Barn commissioned by Michael Hue-Williams of Albion Barn a further 21 are to follow shortly.
Albion Barn , Max Lamb , Richard Woods turned by Phil Jones Rpt.
Albion Barn “Tree Spirit” art exhibition on opening day , turned by Phil Jones Rpt
Phil really enjoyed the challenge of completing these rustic bowls they were turned from Poplar from the estate of Albion Barn. It was the first time in 41 years of his career that he has seen a project from the tree being felled albeit by video, milled, cut into blanks and turned and then finally on to the finished project.
This art exhibition had an article written about it which featured in the Financial Times ” Tree Spirit :The life and after life of a tree” the article was written by Arthur House it was featured House & Home section page 6 & 7 and was in 13th/ 14th of July 2024 edition.It has been a highlight of Phil’s wood turning career to take part in this prestigious project and he feels very proud to have done so.
Phil will place any bowls he make for sale not from Albion Barn at the foot of this page or feel free to contact phil@acornwoodturning.co.uk to discuss your requirements for a similar Art piece.
The Poplar tree (poplar tremular) had originally been planted for Michael Hue – Williams by his father in Sproggs wood on the Albion Barn estate. When it was struck by lighting last spring 2023 rather than for it to be cut up for firewood he commissioned Max Lamb and Richard Woods to make it into art ,a collaborative project Max kindly asked Phil to pyrography his initials or his signature on to the work to acknowledge his input for the art exhibition,Phil decided on his initials PJ.
Max Lambs remit to Phil Jones wood turner was to remove as little timber as possible and for them to be simple bowls with a tooled finish. As the timber had been very wet as it was being turned by Phil ,the sap was being expelled by the centrifugal force.They were turned at 240 revolutions per minute on a Wadkin Rs lathe which was made in 1943.As the timber was so wet it caused an extremely humid environment whilst turning the bowls and very heavy to mount on the lathe, after turning the bowls had lost approximately two thirds of their weight due to the timber that had been removed in the turning process.
Phil used a large face plate inboard to turn the outer profile and he turned a recess in the base to expand into to then turn the interior of the bowl. Phil used an Axminster precision combination chuck which had 6″ wood jaw plates mounted on to it ,Phil had an angle turned on to the edge by Ray a friend of his off of the the estate he works from.
Phil usually prefers to grip on to the foot of the bowl rather than a recess but with how wet the bowl blanks were he did not feel that was a safe option for him and also given their extreme size.
6″modified wood jaws plates of Axminster chuck showing dovetail angle on the edge for the Albion Barn project.
The shape of the bowls had largely been arrived at by the depth of the blank , bark inclusions and chainsaw marks, the wall thickness of the bowls was left at about an 1 1/2″ thick throughout the bowl as if the thickness varies too much then they are more likely to crack with the stresses induced by the natural drying process.The shape in the recess was inspired by Japanese tea bowl where they also have a recess.They have been placed on small plastic feet to allow the air to continue to flow and allow the drying process to continue evenly as possible at Albion Barn .If they dry unevenly they are more likely to crack but there is still a good chance that they will but Phil believes this will enhance their natural appearance if that does happen.
Timber is usually turned into bowls from kiln dried or air dried timber if wet timber is used typically they will be roughed and then allowed to dry naturally and then turned again to remove the distortions from the drying process.Phil has always enjoyed the process and the results of turning wet timber and Phil likes the natural distortions which occur and believes that makes his turnings more organic. Typically the two options are to turn wet timber thick and to return or to turn it thin and to let it dry naturally with the distortions that will occur.
As the bowls were so large the bed had to be removed to facilitate turning them and a free standing tool rest was used for most of the bowls.These are the largest bowls Phil has turned to date and he has been turning for 41 years at the present moment.(2024)
Due to the size of the bowls Phil mainly used an Ashley Iles 5/8″ bowl gouge which he rammed into a short length of scaffolding bar to overcome the leverage over the tool from the overhang on the tool rest and from the wood.The grind of the tools varied depending on which one he used from a Celtic grind to a ladies finger nail profile and where in the bowl he was turning as some of them were up to @ 6″ deep.Phil used a bench mounted Creusen grinder to free hand grind the tools with a CBN wheel mounted upon to sharpen the tools he used to produce the bowls, he also frequently used a Carborundum slip stone as well to give a final hone to the tools as required.
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The orientation of the bowls is that the foot is from the outer edge of the tree ie nearest the bark as the remit was to remove as little timber as possible Phil did not always remove the odd chainsaw mark or bark inclusions, which he believes enhanced the natural appearance of the bowls. As the sap wood of the tree has remained it was extremely challenging for Phil to achieve a reasonable tooled finish due to the Rpm being so low due to the diameters and balance of the timber and the stringy nature of the sap timber can be seen in the next picture.
A bowl during the turning process from the Albion Barn , Max Lamb & Richard Woods project showing the stringy nature of the sap timber and chain saw marks.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qdyjlPrTyLI
A YouTube short of Phil Jones turning the interior one of the largest bowls on time lapse.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qdyjlPrTyLI
Albion Barn bowls laid out partial drying to avoid them starting to grow mould spores if they were stacked, note the each bowl has a number inside it on a piece of card this was the number of the blank which is relevant to it,s location from the original board of timber. They were hand turned by Phil Jones Woodturner.
Albion barn bowl stacked ready for imminent collection ,hand turned by Phil Jones wood turner.
The article in The Financial Times “Tree Spirit: The extraordinary Life and after life of a single poplar ” By Arthur House
Phil’s hope for the future is to experiment with larger green(wet) bowls for himself to produce non functional art work, he would like to experiment with texturing by abrasion ie sand blasting and also by burning and then wire brushing and also on the shapes of the bowls.The effect both of these abrasive techniques would give is a weathered finish, some species of timber are far superior for abrasion such as Oak or Ash due to their summer and winter growth differential in hardness.This would be a break from Phil’s normal everyday work as Phil produces everyday objects such as newel posts, handles of many types and rarely produces bowls.Please feel free to give me a call if you are interested purchasing a piece of my art. It would be a long term project as a bowl which is wet would need to be turned and then allowed to dry for a few weeks before under going either burning or abrading each piece would be unrepeatable due to the timber varying and the distortions and cracks which may occur. The cracks can either be stitched with copper wire or leather cord, it would be more of a a visual than effective repair.
