Shop Talk I Tool Times
Bison Studios: Phil Poburka and Bison Tools by VINCE PITELKA
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recently interviewed Phil Poburka, maker of the remarkable Bison tungsten-carbide trimming and carving tools for clay. Phil’s objective since childhood was to have a “workshop” where he might pursue various skilled trades, but it was a meandering path that got him there.
“To me, it’s the minimum that makes something worth doing.” — Phil Poburka
Ever since childhood Phil has loved old books, and assembled a good library of them by the time he was a teenager. Forty years ago he was living in the San Francisco Bay area, working as an antiquarian book cataloger for research libraries and private collections. A move to the coastal town of Montara meant finding employment, and subsequent work as a house painter, roofer, and carpenter defined his direction as a discerning craftsman. In May, 1978, he visited a friend in Las Vegas, Nevada, which at the time seemed to him a mellow, quiet, easygoing town. He made the move, and went to work for a local contractor building custom homes. In that job he was able to employ most of his talents, doing everything from framing and plumbing to finish carpentry and installing doors and windows. “That was kind of a nice gig, because most of the time I was the only person working, and got things done and everybody was happy,” he said. That’s a good summation of a healthy work ethic.
Phil has always had a natural ability to understand how mechanical things work; to envision a blueprint of their workings in his mind. It’s a specialized variation on what we call a spatial thinker—someone who can easily envision the way things interact in real time and space. His logical mind and intuitive understanding of materials and mechanisms made him a quick study, easily able to adapt to new challenges and skills.
Standard Series "A" Loop Tool
Phil acknowledges that daily rituals of handling and using fine tools are crucial to sustain longterm satisfaction and productivity for studio artisans. To quote his current Website, “I have developed these tools for those potters who wish to trim with greater intention, delicacy, comfort and ease ... and for trimming to be enjoyable, welcome and satisfying in the larger sequences and rituals of making pots.”
Also in 1986, a cousin in Michigan sent Phil a copy of the Bernard Leach classic, A Potter’s Book, and he was hooked. He signed up for a “pottery 101” night class at the local college, and as his skills developed, he found himself determining overall shape by the inside profile of the vessel—which initially meant considerable trimming on the outside. With his busy schedule, Phil often trimmed things on the dry side, and found that commercially-made tools dulled quickly, sometimes in a single evening.
CLAYTIMES·COM n November/December 2009
Phil grew up in Grand Prairie, Texas, the son of a Master Sergeant in the 14th Air Force. His father graduated from the Pratt and Whitney School and worked with the air-worthiness of warplanes, but never encouraged his son’s natural inclinations toward machinery. In a clear memory from the age of three, Phil recalls a steam traction engine along a road in Texas, and his parents’ unwillingness to stop and let him watch the beast lumbering down the road. When neighbors along the block came out to admire a new 1957 Buick sedan, Phil was unmoved: “It rang like a lead bell.” On the other hand, a rusty 1924 Hudson roadster in a service station parking lot, dragged out of a barn and covered with straw and chicken poop, set his heart beating: “I was totally thrilled and wanted to look at it and look underneath it.”
In early 1986, Phil started Bison Studios, a woodworking shop specializing in repair and restoration of antique furniture and machinery. He loved the feel of fine tools in his hand, and showed a natural preference for older tools and machines—those made with a loving sense of design, craftsmanship, and utility. With his ability to visualize mechanical problems and solutions, he began to design and make many of his own tools.
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