Yale Bowls

06/26/2026

We've been busy at Yale Bowls! Last week we rough-turned 200+ bowls that will be ready for finishing by the end of the summer. New wood sources include:

-Med School Red Elm and Beech
-Berkely Oak
-Branford Elm
-Golf Course Maple

The Berkely and Branford trees were both swing trees and we have the logs with the bolts still attached. Any suggestions on what we should do with them?

07/15/2025

Last week, a large Red Oak from Berkeley College was removed. The top of the tree had dead limbs and a missing central leader, and was deemed a danger to those below. This tree stood about 65 feet tall and was a central figure at Berkeley College for 70+ years.

We gathered as many parts of the tree as we could manage and will have bowls and pens available in the coming months. Stay tuned!

05/04/2025

We restocked the inventory just in time for graduation. There’s a mix of new and old wood sources, including what is likely the last bowl from the Phelps Gate elm tree, and a new wood source: a massive beech tree that grew between the Ingalls Hockey Rink and Pauli Murray College. Happy graduation!

03/19/2025

Exploding logs! Well… sort of. 💥

After sitting in the garage for a few years, some Red Oak logs from the old Gibbs building were finally ready to be turned. We had stored them with their bark fully intact, waiting for their moment on the lathe. (You can see the queue pile never seems to get smaller.) That day finally came—but the bugs had beaten us to it… apparently by a few years! 🪲

The most nutrient-dense part of a tree is the phloem—the layer between the bark and sapwood where nutrients travel up the trunk. It’s also the first part to decay once a tree falls. For trees felled in the summer it is nearly impossible to keep their bark attached long term. We thought garage storage would keep the bugs away, but no luck! The phloem had turned to dust, making for some epic slow-motion shots. 🎥✨

03/12/2025

For over 10 years, our best-selling pen was the Yale Bowl Bleacher Pen—until, unfortunately, we ran out of bleacher wood. The Yale Bowl was, of course, the namesake of this small business, and we could never have imagined the incredible places these pens and bowls would go—to Presidents, CEOs, a Pope, and thousands of people who love Yale!

So when we heard that more original bleachers were being discarded, we made sure to gather more than we could possibly use. Now, after a five-year hiatus, we’re thrilled to announce that the Yale Bowl Bleacher Pens are finally back! https://www.yalebowls.com/yale-bowl-bleacher

12/02/2024

Happy Holidays! Use the code 'HANDSOMEDAN15' for 15% off your entire order from now until December 20th. We have a few bowls left on the website.

Don't forget about custom engraving! We can customize the engraving of any bowl or pen. Perfect for holiday gifts. Happy shopping!

09/26/2024

Excited to add new inventory to your Yale Bowls website. There are a few exotic bowls and hollow forms from various places around campus. www.yalebowls.com

05/27/2022

We are excited to announce engraving on our pens and bowls. We can engrave all Yale logos and custom engraving is available as well. Engraving options are shown on each pen.

Below is an example of a series of pens we did for the Yale School of Medicine. Not shown on the other side is the name of each graduating Yale School of Medicine fellow.
https://www.yalebowls.com/pens

12/08/2020

We recently posted 30 new bowls to the website. It is our first time adding Davenport and Pierson Colleges to the site. Happy Holidays!

Bowls are hand-turned from trees that grew on the Yale University campus. Each is unique in its size and shape. Products include platters, plates, bowls and lidded boxes.  Live edge and finished edge bowls are available.  Each bowl is numbered relative to the total number of bowls

11/14/2020

Our new website is live! We will be adding some new bowls shortly. Thank you for supporting our small business over the last 10 years!

www.yalebowls.com