Glenn Robison uses a lathe to carve a wooden bowl at his Lodi home. Robison has made about 1,000 pieces since he first attempted woodturning in 1958. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

A Woodturner's Wares

At his Lodi home, city engineer-turned-craftsman Glenn Robison uses discarded, locally-grown wood to create artistic and functional bowls, candle sticks and vases.

When Glenn Robison hears the roar of a chainsaw in his Lodi neighborhood, he doesn't think firewood. He thinks serving bowls and chunky candlesticks.

Robison is a woodturner who transforms hunks of local wood — birch, palm, oak, cork oak, juniper, elm, cherry, walnut — into functional pieces of art using only a 15-year-old mint green lathe and a collection of gouges.

"They are decorative, functional or both," he said.

His home pays attribute to that. Sitting on living room shelves beside art, design and wood books are simple vases, modern deco sculptural-looking pieces and urns with natural holes that looked burned through.

Each type of wood is different and lends itself to unique design. The grains of each piece, as well as knots from once-protruding limbs only add character and keep the integrity of the original wood.

On one bowl, knots form a pattern that covers the surface in a perfectly alligned, circular pattern.

Some bowls have a warped effect. Others are perfect.

Some edges are finished, while others are naturally jagged and follow the natural pattern of the bark.

A wooden base woven on the top. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

One of his favorites is a rounded vase with thin willow threads from Lodi Lake woven through and decorated with wooden beads made from the original piece of wood.

Woodturning is the art of spinning a piece of wood while shaving it into a circle with thin, metal hand tools. The lathe, an electric machine, mounts onto the wood and spins. The design, shape and effects are done by Robison's steady grip and the pressure he applies to the wood with the tip of his gouge. He cuts into the wood until he gets the shape he envisions.

He rests his left forearm in the groove, where he holds his entire hand over the end of the tool. He grips the end of the tool with his right arm and moves the whole right side of his body to shave the wood.

"The key to good turning is keeping the tools sharp," he said.

Bits of turquiose are epoxied into parts of the bowl. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Usually, Robison works wearing a mask and a long-sleeved shirt. He lets his shirt hang out so shavings don't fill his pants pockets. In just a few seconds at the lathe, he is already covered in thin, wood shavings that land on his chest, providing a long tan Santa Claus beard.

Under his carport, with the lathe motor running fast and loud, is where Glenn Robison spends most of his retirement.

"There's a rare day that he doesn't do some turning," said Pat Robison, who jokes that he goes through withdrawals on the days he's not home to turn.

Glenn Robison said a piece can take anywhere between an hour and three years to complete. Some bowls are simple. Others, are green and have to sit for six months to a year before being cut.

Robison's first experience with a lathe was in 1958. After he and his wife graduated from University of California, Berkeley, they moved their family to Lodi, where Robison accepted a job as a city engineer. He built bunk beds for his three sons and, to add character to the frame, he used a lathe.

"At that point, I said, 'that's something I want to do'," Glenn Robison said.

Contact Lodi Living Editor Lauren Nelson at laurenn@lodinews.com.