STEPHAN WOODWORKING

At the base of forks in trees, there is a small band of highly figured wood. This figure does not appear around the union of side branches with the main stem of the tree, only where the main stem splits ito two or more minor stems.

This figure may be an attempt by the tree to reinforce the fork against wind and gravity trying to peel the two branches apart. The figure may be the result of disruption as the tree creates wood to bridge the split. Or the figure may be due to a different cause all together.

Whatever the cause, the result is a stunning swirl of color changes and grain direction.

This photo shows an American elm bowl turned from the base of a large fork. Often the very center of a section of log is excluded from wooden bowls because of a tendency to crack. This excluded center slice is behind the bowl.

The missing part of the bowl rim is the base of the fork, making the bowl a more accurate representation of is place in the tree.

Perhaps because of the swirling grain, the wood is considered to be generally unstable. It is not generally sliced as lumber because of a tendency to warp excessively as it dries and as surrounding humidity levels change. Feather figure veneer is almost always buckled extensively, and has to be flattened carefully before it can be used.

This bowl has been sold.

This photo shows a black cherry feather figure bowl from the base of a fork. Again, the upper missing part of the bowl rim is the base of the fork. The feather figure in the tree stem was relatively narrow and short, so a decision was made to include as much feather figure as possible in the bowl, knowing that the rim of the bowl would be interrupted. The lower rim interruption is due to the overall diameter of the log below the fork. Both of these rim interruptions could have been eliminated, but a lot of the feather figure would have been lost.

The bowl is about 17 1/4" in diameter and about 3" high. The relative instability of feather figure is noticeable - the bowl does not have a prefectly flat bottom.