My scything season has been very disrupted by the current global situation so it was fantastic to be able to get out and teach a socially distanced workshop at a private venue in the Yorkshire Dales.
Mike and Aelred were brilliant company for the day and we managed to arrange the course so everyone felt safe while also having plenty of fun. The scythe is a tool that naturally encourages safe distancing! The wildflower meadow they are planning to manage with the scythes is already in great shape and made for lovely mowing in gorgeous weather.
Here’s some feedback from them both
Thanks for a great day today- we really enjoyed your enthusiasm for scything. Your instruction was excellent- very patient and thorough and I think you have 2 more converts to the cause.
I love cycling around the city and using my bike to explore the countryside around me. Thankfully, I don’t go through so many inner tubes but my local bike shop clearly does and was very happy to provide me with an armful I upcycled into this robust and weatherproof stool seat. It’s very comfortable and an idea I’ll be working with more in the future.
From time to time, it’s important to make something that allows you to play with ideas. Meeting up with friends to carve wooden spoons is one of these times for me when, rather than make familiar spoons from my standard designs, I enjoy making something unknown.
It’s a useful practise for many reasons. I like to challenge my skills, which includes the use of the tools but also the accuracy of my eyes in judging balance, shape and design. The process is more like sculpture, cutting carefully and slowly to search for the unfamiliar shape in the wood. It reminds me what it’s like to be a beginner which is invaluable in my main work of teaching spoon carving and other craft courses.
Often these sessions produce nothing more than a useful experience and an underwhelming spoon but sometimes things come together really well as in this serving strainer I carved from some lovely rowan wood. I added the strainer holes with my friend John Mullaney while we were demonstrating at a show together.
The bowl shape was partly influenced by the wood I had but I deliberately wanted to get some double curves into the bowl and I love how it came out. That became the star of the show so I kept the handle fairly simple in shape but decided, since this was turning into a special piece, that I would add some chip carved decoration along it.
Finally, I baked the spoon in the oven to darken the wood and bring out the grain pattern. It gives the wood a sort of instant patina and highlights the chip carving.
I’m happy to say that this spoon now lives in the home of a very good friend of mine but I sort of wish I’d had a little longer to enjoy it and maybe even make a copy. It’s definitely something I’ll revisit, maybe on another sunny play day.
Here’s a terrific interview with Lisa Hammond who set up Maze Hill Pottery and makes salt glazed pottery. I bought one of her mugs 15 years ago and it became a firm favourite up until the time it was dropped by a housemate and smashed. Although it was a shame to lose it, I was very happy to have had such a lot of daily use from it over the years. Craft is meant to be used and that involves a risk but far better to break something while enjoying it that to lock it away.
What handmade items do you use everyday? Which should you get off the display shelf and start using more?
Learn to Scythe courses are currently on hold as the UK deals with the coronavirus. I’m fully supportive of the measures but at the same time can’t wait to be back out in the meadows with a group of new scythers learning to mow and the joy of scything.
If you’re like me then the first coffee of the day is a bit of a special occasion. I use it to punctuate my morning and the process of making it (cafetiere in my house) is a relaxing ritual to go through which adds to the pleasure.
Like with all rituals, the items you use are important. I store my grounds in a caddy made by a good friend, have my favourite mug and, of course, a wooden scoop. These new scoops are available now in my Etsy store:
These scoops are carved from some lovely local birch wood. I give them a generous bowl for good scoopability and a solid, tactile handle yet all still small enough to store in your coffee caddy where it’s going to develop the most amazing patina over the years.
Of course, I’m British so I also love a proper cup of tea (brew 3mins, milk in last) and these are just as well suited to your loose leaves, in fact anywhere you need a cute little scoop that you can’t resist picking up.
My latest ash splint pack basket is complete and I’m super pleased with it.
All the splints for this were pounded in the UK from sustainably managed english ash (Fraxinus excelsior). They are graded, cut to width and shaved smooth before weaving.
This basket is 18″ high to the rim and 14″ wide at the belly. I weave the back with a slight hollow so it sits comfortably against your back and add a grab handle made from steam-bent ash which is lashed into the rim. Lovely veg-tanned leather straps and solid brass buckles complete the basket.
This basket is currently available, please email me for details.
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been making a new ash splint pack basket with the ash that I pounded earlier this spring. Here’s a few photos from the process.
First, preparing the splints by sorting them for thickness, cutting to width and scraping them smooth. I weave a rectangular base and then turn up the ribs to start weaving.
At the top of the basket, the ribs are split and turned down to lock them in place. I fit a steam bent handle and rims in place.
The rim is lashed on with more ash splint and then leather straps fitted. More photos in another post to come!
An eating spoon is often seen as the peak of wooden spoon carving. Making a spoon which fits the hand, feels comfortable to the mouth and also looks good is a demanding and rewarding challenge for green wood carvers of any level.
I have been making and teaching wooden spoons for over 15 years and developed these instructions and template for carvers who would like to learn more about spoon design and have templates to assist their carving.
The 10-step eating spoon axe work instruction sheet takes you step-by-step through my process for simply and efficiently carving out the cranked eating spoon shape using an axe. Having a good blank is essential for making good wooden spoons and learning to axe well will increase your productivity and enjoyment of carving.
Then cut out the eating spoon template and use it to mark your timber for carving. The plan, side and underneath view points, cross-sections and design notes included will build your understanding of spoon design and give you the knowledge to create your own shapes in the future.
My spoon carving instructions and templates are available to download as pdfs from my Etsy store now. More template being prepared for addition to the range, please favourite the store or sign up to my newsletter for updates.
ps If you are posting pictures of your finished spoons on social media, please tag me @stevetomlincrafts – I’d love to see them!
Carved wooden fan birds are one of my favourite greenwood projects and a wonderful demonstration of the properties of wood. I first learned about them on a trip to Czech Republic where I bought a pair of birds in a local market in 2011. Since then I have made thousands of birds and taught hundreds of people to make them.
Now I have produced a simple set of instructions in a pdf so that you can learn how to carve fan birds on your own if you can’t make it to one of my courses. The instructions go through the tools you’ll need, sourcing the right wood and how to carve and fan the feathers to create your own bird.
These instructions are most suited for someone who has some carving experience already or who has attended a course and would like an aide memoire to the process.
Available as a downloadable pdf from my Etsy store now
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