About
Welcome To Bowpond!
We are very excited to be able to present our products that we have tried to create in a very unique and special offering. The website is brand new, however the history and craftsmanship are over 40 years in the making!
Today, we call Cochrane Alberta home, which is in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
I have an education in Forestry and it has always been shared with my love of wood and all that can be created with it. I have evolved my love into a long time hobby and now have the opportunity to share our love of what we create.
As our name implies, I also have a lifetime enjoyment with keeping fish and particularly koi and the ponds and waterfalls that we enjoy. The Bow part of our name is from the incredible Bow River which flows through our town and originating in the Rocky Mountains. We try to source a great deal of our wood and inspirations from the local area and I hope it shows through our products.
In the last few years, I have tried to incorporate resin and epoxy into many of our projects. Using resin, which is environmentally safe allows us to transform what otherwise might have been wasted pieces of wood into something absolutely beautiful and unique. The sources of what we use come from all over, and a great enjoyment I get is from trying to imagine how to transform a piece of burl hidden in an apple piece of firewood or a reclaimed piece of timber from a flood into a piece that I hope you will be proud to place into your home.
We welcome you to look at what we have previously created, and also what we currently have available. As always, if you don’t see what you would like, please inquire and we will do our very best to build or create it.
Thanks for dropping by!
What's Unique?
There are all sorts of woodworking products available and as many options when it comes to buying something. Everything we create here is unique in as many ways. Nothing is duplicated, and we try to incorporate little nuances into every item. We use all sorts of various woods, many sourced locally, many reclaimed and some exotic. We never knowingly source any wood that is endangered or even harvested solely to be used as lumber. Walnut is milled from trees that have been used in orchards that have outgrown their prime to be unproductive and the new trees that are planted to replace them produce fruit for generations. The same is for the olive wood we use. Old olive groves are regenerated to maintain fruit production and the older trees are harvested for various uses.
Our pieces are all priced according to the cost of materials used and the time it takes to craft each piece. Our tables and boards are of many different sizes and due to their unique sizes, the prices vary and truly reflect the value.
People often comment about the cost of the products we make, and usually when they realize the time, material and effort involved they appreciate the true value of the projects. The making of a charcuterie board takes approximately one week. It involves choosing the materials, building the molds, mixing the resin with pigments and then waiting 4-5 days for it to cure. Then the boards are planed down to an even surface, then sanded with various grit papers from 80 to 400 grit. Then 3 coats of mineral oil is added, and a final paste wax applied over that. The process is shown in our “ process” section of the website.
When we build a table, the process is similar but the scope of the work is magnified due to the size and different tooling and processes incurred. Our tables are finished with 3 coats of Osmo finishing oil, which is environmentally safe as well as enabling any minor scratches to be buffed away and more oil applied. Other finishes often require the entire surface to be sanded away and then all coats reapplied.
When we create a charcuterie board or resin table we love to experiment with various pigments and dyes to work with the various woods. We try and use unique combinations to make our products stand out, and we think you will agree.
We also only use environmentally safe and food safe finishes and waxes so you can feel safe knowing that the food you serve on our boards will be safe for your friends and family. We think that our items will become heirlooms and also conversation pieces.
