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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> >I never knew that bowl makers were so unique.
> Don or James or anyone else on the list...what can you tell me about
> bowl adzes? (I can't say that<g>)
> We have a big lathe, but I want a rectangular or oval bowl, I think.

Oval, but not rectantular.  And a lathe is useless for anything but salad 
bowls.

The type of vessel you are describing is properly more of a 'trencher' than a 
bowl.

One consideration is that very hard wood is difficult to turn into a bowl.  
It tends to check and crack.  Best woods for biscuit trenchers is poplar and 
gum, the latter being arguably the best.

The adze is OK for this work, but far better is a scorp.  There are scorps 
available just for bowl making.

> 
> >This guy makes shallow bowls.  I read that they should be 4" deep.  Is
> that to insulate yeast breads?  Why would I want either a shallow or a
> deep bowl?

For biscuits, as already commented upon, you don't want to do a lot of mixing 
and no kneading, so a very shallow vessel is best.

The master bisucit makers of bygone days, a glimpse of which I was afforded 
from their nearly centigenarian hands was this:  making biscuits for a large 
family every day, they had a huge covered tub that held the bisucit flour, at 
east 25 lbs if not more.   Each  morning they would send a child to count 
heads 
to see who had shown up at the house late to spend the night, and then they 
would make a little crater in the middle of the tub and put in the lard and 
buttermilk and levening and mix that in lightly and lift the whole dough out 
of 
the tub without leaving any bits behind.  This went on the floured board and 
was 
cut into biscuits.

Or else the  dough was mixed a bit wetter and then spooned onto the biscuit 
pan to make enormous "cat's head" biscuits.

James