After 25 plus years as a designer, director, and marketer I figured I’d add to my creative outlets. Turning, who knew?

Let’s see if we make this artsy.

The Shed

Ahhh, the shed, bastion of manly shed things. Here is where I work. I’m running a General 160 lathe with a one horse variable speed motor. Yes its cold in the winter. Yes all that wood will become something.

If you taking down a tree of any size, let me know. Always looking for free wood.

The Wood

Most of the wood I’m turning is free or found wood, focused on wood that is indigenous to Ontario. Local Maple, Cherry, Ash, Locust and Walnut are what I’ve been turning so far.

The exception would of Gavels and Pepper Mills which i purchase kiln dried blanks for. These are hard woods usually Maple, Oak or Iron wood.

Just a note on green wood turning and live edge bowls. The rule of thumb on wood drying is that wood drys at approximately one inch per year. This of course depends on humidity , temperature, type of wood and other environmental factors. Most of the bowls turned are turned green or turned within the first six months of being harvested. This means your bowl will continue to warp or crack as the fibers of the wood relax and dry. This is part of the process and to be expected.

Official Ontario Wood Partner

Gnarly Branch is very proud to be an official Ontario Wood Partner.

This means we utilize mostly Ontario sourced wood as the base for the bowls and pieces we make. You can find out more about Ontario Wood Partnership here.