Steve Tomlin Crafts

Scythe competition peening

Posted on June 26, 2014 by stevetomlin

On the Continent it’s standard practise for an expert to peen the blades for competitors in scythe competitions but when George Montague won the 2013 British Scythe Championship with a blade I had peened for him it caused quite a stir.
This year I was again asked to peen for George and the practise was formally recognised by our governing body (ie Simon Fairlie) who not only acknowledged it’s acceptance at this years Scythe Festival but awarded Stuart Aylett with a medal 10 years after he was wrongly disqualified from the first scythe competition after it was discovered that Peter Vido had peened his blade for him.
Stuart deserves a medal anyway for all the hard work he and his team put into building the Scythe Festival site each year so it’s great to see him getting some glory for his mowing too.

Posted in peening & sharpening, scythe festivals & events, Scytherspace | Tagged competition, festival, peen, peening, scythe | Leave a comment

#239 Birch serving spoon

Posted on June 23, 2014 by stevetomlin

Elegant and practical, this spoon is designed for cooking as well as serving. Carved from a crooked timber the shape makes best use of the trees natural form and strength. The slim handle has a hook to keep the handle safely up out of your food.
310 long x 67mm wide
£52
Visit my Wooden Spoons page to see this and other eating and serving spoons for sale.
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Posted in spoon carving, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged greenwood, handcarved, wooden spoon | Leave a comment

Somerset Scythe Festival 2014 champions

Posted on June 22, 2014 by stevetomlin

Wow, the 10th Somerset Scythe Festival brought the usual combination of good friends, sharp blades and petrol-free mowing to a sunny field in Somerset. The weather was hot, hot, hot and this year the competition was hotly contested as well.

After being knocked off his top spot last year, Simon Damant was back and determined to regain his crown from George Montague but in the end the tough, lodged grass caused both men trouble and the final result was ruled a draw meaning we get to enjoy the excitement again next year.
In the women’s competition Andi Rickard continued her amazing run of success with Beth Tilston and Gemma Suggitt continuing to battle over 2nd and 3rd.

However, for me the real champ was Mark Allery, the man who finished in third place. This doesn’t seem so impressive until you realise that Mark (pictured racing above, between Simon Damant and George Montague in the final) was competing with an English scythe. Up until now our heavier native scythe had been almost written off and relegated to competing within its own class since it was thought incapable of competing against the continental scythe. This year Mark changed that and is rightly creating an increased interest in the English scythe – hats off to him.

Posted in scythe festivals & events, Scytherspace | Tagged 2014, competition, festival, race, scythe | Leave a comment

How to sharpen a scythe left handed

Posted on June 21, 2014 by stevetomlin

When I teach people how to mow I show them a method of sharpening the scythe in the field by kneeling down and supporting the scythe on the ground. It’s much safer than to learn sharpening standing up and also has additional benefits which give better accuracy but is slightly trickier for left-handed students. On a recent day of individual scythe tuition, I took some photos of Jen demonstrating the method for left-handed mowers.
The adjustment is simply to swing the snath out away from your body so the edge of the scythe blade is in line with the left arm. This means that the scythe is not so well supported but makes the sharpening motion much easier and avoids the hazards of crossing your arms in front of the blade.

Jen has 1.5 acres of really great meadow in Derbyshire and was a super keen student who took to scything really well. She already has the date for the Somerset Scythe Festival in her diary for next year and she could be someone to watch in the competition..

Posted in peening & sharpening, Scytherspace | Tagged honing, left hand, scythe, sharpen | Leave a comment

Scythe Festival on R4 Farming Today

Posted on June 19, 2014 by stevetomlin

The scythe is becoming more and more mainstream which is great news. A couple of weeks ago I was contacted to discuss the Scythe Revival with a producer for Radio 4 who then sent one of their team to the Somerset Green Scythe Fair last weekend. Follow this link to listen to it online http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/farming/farming_20140617-0600a.mp3 Skip to 4min for the mowing.
More news from the Festival, in my opinion one of the best yet, coming soon.

Posted in scythe festivals & events, Scytherspace | Tagged Farming Today, festival, Radio 4, scythe, somerset | Leave a comment

#238 Birch serving spoon

Posted on June 17, 2014 by stevetomlin

A distinctive and classically proportioned serving spoon.The bowl is particularly well-cranked to allow serving from a deep bowl or pan while the hook keeps the handle safely up out of your food.
310mm long x 70mm wide
£58 Sold
Visit my Wooden Spoons page to see this and other eating and serving spoons for sale.
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Posted in spoon carving, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged crook, greenwood, ladle | Leave a comment

Blue scythe

Posted on June 13, 2014 by stevetomlin

I’ve been wanting to do this ever since I went to the Highland Folk Museum in Scotland and saw the scythes in their collection.
It does make it easier to spot my scythe during courses and should make me more identifiable at the Scythe Festival in Somerset on 15th June. If you see me, come and say hello; it’s nice to meet people who follow my blog.

Posted in Scytherspace, scythes | Tagged hay rake, paint, Scotland, scythe, snath | Leave a comment

Russian scythe competition

Posted on June 11, 2014 by stevetomlin

The scythe competition season is getting underway with the British competition due to take place at the Scythe Festival in Somerset on 15th June.
Meanwhile, for those of you looking for a bit more adventure, I’ve been contacted by Aleksandr Shatokhin with an invitation slightly further afield. If you go, please email me, I’d love to hear the story.

Dear Mr. Tomlin!
I read on your site that you collected events about Scythes. I would like you to include in your list our scythe mowers competition held annually in Russia.
We conduct these competitions in the Ural Mountains (Sverdlovsk region) in the village of Arti.
Next our “4^th Scythe Tournament” will be 12 July 2014.
Our events are collected mowers from all over Russia and some European countries. Maybe some brave mowers from UK would risk to take part in our adventure?
If this is interesting for you or you need more detailed information, please write to me.
Best regards
Aleksandr Shatokhin
Arti Scythe Works
http://kosari.ru/
ash2o@mail.ru

Posted in scythe festivals & events, Scytherspace | Tagged competition, russian scythe, scythe | Leave a comment

A week of courses

Posted on June 8, 2014 by stevetomlin

I had a wonderful start to my summer of teaching with several different craft courses within the space of a week.
First off was a fan bird carving day for a terrific group including a couple of experienced greenwood carvers who’d come along to expand their skills. Lots of interesting chat and some excellent birds made for a very enjoyable day.

Then the following day was my first Learn to Scythe course of the year. These courses have been very popular this year and booked up long in advance with some of the students having got their place as Christmas or birthday presents so they were all keen to get started. The weather was with us and we mowed a huge area of buttercups, refreshing the land where the goats graze at Sprint Mill.

Finally Adrian Lloyd, an aspiring greenwood maker, came for two days of 1-to-1 spoon carving tuition. He had some clear goals including carving spoons from crooks, improving his designs and the flow of his work and learning to carve incised engraving for decorative lines and letters like I had on last years wooden Christmas card. I also introduced him to the use of an adze for hollowing the bowl of the spoon, carved ball finials, discussed spoon design and a whole lot more. It’s great to see new folk getting into greenwood craft and Adrian is certainly building up an impressive range of skills.

Posted in fan birds, scythe courses, Scytherspace, spoon carving, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged course, fan bird, incised engraving, scythe, UK, workshop | 1 Comment

New wooden spoons for sale

Posted on June 6, 2014 by stevetomlin

Over the winter and spring I’ve been working on a range of new designs and I’m pleased to now have them for sale on my Wooden Spoons page. These spoons take some of their influence from my time working with Fritiof Runhall in Sweden, my own experience of making and using wooden spoons and, of course, the needs of todays cooks.
I personally carve everything by hand myself in small numbers. Every spoon is unique and individual; a tactile and ergonomic tool to transform your cooking experience.
It makes you wonder why we’ve put up with the mass-produced lollipops the supermarket sell for so long.

Posted in spoon carving, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged cooking, handmade, wooden spoon | Leave a comment