I got tired yesterday, really tired. I unloaded the logs off of the trailer and sawed the first one into sections. The sections were too heavy to lift by hand. I rolled one into the tractor bucket, moved it to the shop and

One of the smartest things I’ve done in my life was marry Pennie Mathewson in 1976. We decided to wait a bit before having children but we talked about it a lot during those first few years. Pennie was one of six

Although It was an extremely hot and humid day to do it, Travis and I cut the log into 4 sections 5 feet long. He had the use of a tractor with a front end loader this week. We scooped them up, loaded them on the

We call Travis our adopted son. He lived with us during his senior year in high school. He texted yesterday that he was dropping some trees in his back yard. He wanted to know if any of them were “bowl material”.

All I can think about this morning is an article I read on August 3rd that said that through the 215th day of this year there have been over 250 mass shootings in the USA. A mass shooting in this case is one in

Spalting is any form of wood coloration caused by fungi. Although primarily found in dead trees, spalting can also occur in living trees under stress. The unique coloration and patterns of spalted wood are sought

I am often asked “What is your favorite wood?” My answer is simple. Beautiful wood. Beauty can be many things, it can be color, figure, contrast. My job is to turn beautiful wood into a beautiful finished piece. To

My older sister Vicki called to chat, ask if she could visit early next month and oh, by the way, buy the Cherry Burl bowl I had just put up on the website. We chatted, I said yes, please come visit and yes, I will

I’m a worrier. Worry does not drive me crazy, it nags at me. Whatever is worrying me is always in the back of my mind. I’m turning it over, looking at it from all sides trying to understand it, make sense of it and

When you're depending primarily on e-commerce as your sales venue it takes a coordinated approach. There are tens of thousands of people selling wooden bowls on the internet from all countries in all price

I get up every morning, seven days a week, and walk to my shop to work. My dog Oscar waits impatiently

When we bought our farm in 1979 we asked about the old railroad tracks that bisected the property. Our friend Kathryn, who sold us the property, told us that no train had ever come down the tracks in the fifteen years she had owned it. The tracks were in disrepair, the ties rotted and grass was firmly established.

I have thousands of pieces of wood, bowl blanks, dry “green” bowls and log sections in my shop. When I start each day I get to decide “Which one today”. Sometimes it’s a lost treasure like yesterday.

I am retired after working 54 years for someone else. I’ve worked seven days a week since 2008, five days for my company and two days for me in my wood shop. I ran this business, Sanders Woodworking, Inc., part

I love big leaf maple burl. It always has birdseye figure and I really like the spikey natural edge. This bowl is still on the late but I hope to finish it today and get it posted in the store!

I love industrial tools, heavy ones. This is my new compressor with a temporary hook up. I will pipe in an oil/water separator, filter, regulator and dryer. I use a lot of air making bowls and this compressor has ample

Creating this new website has been a huge challenge for me. There has been so much to learn. I would much rather be making bowls on the lathe. Oscar my Great Dane feels the same way. He’s tired of waiting around the house watching me work on the computer, he wants to go to the shop.

Sanders Woodworking is a family business.  Both of my sons, Nathan and Stephen, help in the shop on occasion, my daughter Sarah helps update the website and and my daughter Dianna gives me photography lessons.  My wife Pennie does the most, signing the bowls, packing them safely in totes until they sell, packing them to ship and gift wrapping them when the occasion arises. She also helps with cutting boards and puzzles.

I source almost all of my wood locally.  More and more friends and neighbors are on the lookout for downed trees and burls.  Some are given to me, some I buy but most are local.

Occasionally I purchase exotic wood.  This bowl was made from a piece of Greek olive wood.  A big hardwood supplier opened in NC last year and I went to the grand opening. To support this local business, I bought a few bowl blanks including this one.