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My tool recommendations for bowl carving:
For aggressive removal of material, there is nothing like my Bowl Adze (towards the bottom of the Adze page). However, for people just starting out I suggest the much less expensive Elbow Gutter Adzes. As the videos below show, they are very effective in hollowing out. And by making your own handle, you can get one quite cheap. The Small Elbow Gutter Adze is best for getting into small bowls. The Large Gutter Adze is a little heavier and more aggressive for larger bowls.
If you are planning to make a lot of bowls and want more aggressive wood removal, my Bowl Adzes would fit that need.
The regular size bent knives, particularly my Deep Bent or General Bent (BN-2, BN-G) would be great for smoothing the tool marks from adzing. The BN-2 is better for small bowls and the BN-G better for larger ones.

Bowl Carving with Justin Starting

As you can see in these short videos, Justin is quite comfortable with adze work. He uses them aggressively to remove a lot of wood. Finishing up with gentle strokes to take fine shavings, he leaves the minimum amount to cleanup with knives. This does take practice. A novice shouldn't expect to achieve the same results right away.
Gutter adzes are great for removing a lot of wood. The videos below show Justin using three of my adzes carving a bowl. I've tried to organize them so you can see how the three different adzes compare in use.

In these first two videos, Justin is using one of my irons which he lashed onto his own handle. I highly recommend this as an economical way to get an adze. Each iron comes with very good instructions for hafting (mounting onto a handle) and plenty of seine twine for the lashing.
This is the adze I suggest getting as the least expensive way to begin hand hewn work.

Large Elbow Gutter Adze carving inside of bowl

 

Large Elbow Gutter Adze carving outside of bowl

Large Gutter Adze
Small picture of large gutter adze
Edge is 2" long with 3.5" dia. cup
Overall Weight is about 13 ounces		 Large Gutter Iron     
Small picture of adze iron, hand forged by North Bay Forge for whittling and general wood working.
Edge is 2" long with 3.5" dia. cup
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Bowl Adze carving inside of bowl

Bowl Adze carving outside of bowl

Bowl Adze for wood carving. Jim Wester hand forges these razor sharp wood carving tools for hollowing and texturing wood. Especially useful for carving wood bowls and masks.
The Bowl Adze is the most aggressive, mostly because it is much heavier than the Elbow Gutter Adze. It was designed specifically for bowl making.
This is the adze I recommend for the more serious carver who intends to carve a lot bowls. I make it in three different weights.
In the next two videos, Justin shows that the Small Gutter Adze can also remove wood quite well. However, I discourage people from using it that aggressivley. To make deep cuts, what this adze lacks in weight must be made up for in speed. It's much more difficult to accurately control unwieldy strokes.

Small Elbow Gutter Adze carving inside of bowl

 

Small Elbow Gutter Adze carving outside of bowl

Small Gutter Adze
Small picture of small gutter adze
Edge is 1.5" long with 2.5" dia. cup
Overall Weight is about 9 ounces 		Small Gutter Iron
Small picture of gutter adze iron, hand forged by North Bay Forge for hollowing out bowls and masks
Edge is 1.5" long with 2.5" dia. cup

Finishing inside of bowl with a General Bent Knife

 

Finishing outside of bowl with a Medium Straight Knife

My carving knives are intended for serious wood carvers. They are razor sharp and can be very dangerous if used improperly. Please be careful and don't allow young people to use them unsupervised.

Your satisfaction is fully guaranteed. If you have a problem of any kind with one of my knives, please let me know. I will make it right with you.

 
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Copyright © 2005 North Bay Forge by Jim Wester
with thanks to Tina Rose
feedback welcome   jimwester@northbayforge.com