HOLLAND, MICHIGAN, USA – The small Michigan town of Holland houses a large, rather nondescript, industrial building that locals and tourists alike ignore every day without realizing that inside, incredible works of functional art – actual collaborative efforts between man and Mother Nature -- are created on a regular basis.The Holland Bowl Mill is one of only two wooden bowl manufacturers in the USA (the other is in Alaska and has a very small production). Walking through the warehouse, its cavernous space lined with shelved filled with wooden bowls in various stages of metamorphasizing from logs into exquisite carved bowls that can actually be used to serve food, it’s hard to believe that each one of these pieces was lovingly carved, sanded and finished one at a time, by hand.
“We’re making tomorrow’s antiques,” says mill owner Dave Gier who first got a job at the mill in 1985 and went on to buy the unique company. Gier maintains an old fashioned work ethic and values, creating a quality product by hand much in the same way it was done in the late 1800s when the company was founded.
His employees are skilled artisans that have been with him for years. The bowls themselves even come with an unconditional lifetime guarantee – if for any reason there’s breakage or a defect, the Holland Bowl Mill will replace it, no questions asked. Dave laughs about one customer who dropped and cracked a bowl he had owned for fifteen years. “He wanted to buy another and couldn’t believe that instead we replaced his cracked bowl for free – after fifteen years! It really is a forever bowl.”The bowls enter the mill in the form of huge hardwood logs, most commonly beech, but also maple, cherry and walnut, all from sustainable forests. Specialized lathes transform sections of the logs into sets of bowls, gouging out enough to leave a thin yet durable shell. Each section of log will make four bowls in a carving process called nesting, meaning the finished graduating sized carved bowls will nest in each other.
While the lathes do the actual carving, a real live human being controls the machinery and the knives, making each bowl one at a time. The carver makes it look easy but that’s because he’s had years of practice in order to perfect exactly how much to carve, what angle to hold the knives and how much pressure to use, not to mention how to regularly sharpen and replace the lathe’s blades. ”You need to make knives to make bowls,” says Dave, and looking at the volume of wood these blades regularly plow through, it’s easy to see why.Most of the wood is actually used in forming the bowls’ shells, with minimal scrap, but in a further example of good old fashioned values, absolutely nothing is wasted right down to the bark and sawdust. What isn’t used to make bowls is sent to recycling centers that put it to practical use as animal bedding or composite wood.
After the logs have been carved into bowls, they are dried for 20 to 30 days. After that they’re carefully sanded, a process that helps to smooth out imperfections, give the rounded bowl a nice flat bottom that helps it sit on tables or countertops, and accentuate the beautiful art of the wood’s natural grain.Each bowl now goes through a thorough inspection to make sure there are no cracks, weak spots, or imperfections. If it passes inspection, the bowl is treated to a coating of the company’s special proprietary blend of beeswax and food grade mineral oil.
After drying again, the bowl is ready for shipping and can now be used to serve food and washed in soapy water (although you shouldn’t let it soak).
During peak periods the Holland Bowl Mill can turn out as many as 1800 bowls a week. Many of these are destined for boutiques and upscale specialty stores, along with some smaller chain stores such at Sur La Table. But discriminating consumers (that means you who are reading this article) should know that you can find a much larger variety of the bowls by shopping the Holland Bowl Mill website (or by stopping into their showroom if you happen to be visiting the Holland, Michigan area). The mill even welcomes custom orders, so you can get exactly the bowls you want – choosing the type of wood and finishes.Whether for a wedding gift, holiday gift, or to treat yourself to an affordable functional work of art that will be a family heirloom to be passed down for generations, you’d be hard pressed to find anything more unique and special than a hand made hardwood bowl from the Holland Bowl Mill.
Check out the Related Travel article links below for details of our favorite things to do see and eat in and around Holland, Grand Haven, and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Practicalities
The Holland Bowl Mill is located t 120 James St. in Holland, Michigan, 49417. Phone 616-842-4040 or visit their website at www.HollandBowlMill.com.
For more information about visiting Holland, Michigan, visit the Holland Area Convention and Visitors Bureau website at www.Holland.org or phone 616-394-0000.
For information about visiting Michigan in general, check out the official Travel Michigan website at www.Michigan.org or phone 800-373-2489.
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