Steve Tomlin Crafts

Spoonfest 2013 – Spoon Olympics

Posted on July 31, 2014 by stevetomlin

Last year saw the epic first ever Spoon Olympics. Words cannot capture the magnificent displays of athletic prowess and spoon heroism that were witnessed on the field of glory, so instead here’s a slideshow of the highlights.
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Oh, by the way, did I mention I WON! I’ll be defending my title this year up against the cream of the world’s spooncarving athletes.

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Some of the photos here are used with permission of Sophie Standford who also made the Spoonfest 2013 videos. See more of her work at http://vimeo.com/user17195827/videos

Posted in spoon carving, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged 2013, carving, fritiof runhall, spoon, spoonfest, Steve Tomin | Leave a comment

Wooden spoons at Spoonfest 2013

Posted on July 30, 2014 by stevetomlin

This weekend I’ll be at Spoonfest 2014 so here’s some of the work which was on display last year, hope to see you there.

Robert Nicholson; Fritiof Runhall; Nigel Leach
Simon Hill; Alastair Dargue
Jarrod Stone-Dahl; Steve Tomlin; Sean Hellman

Posted in spoon carving, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged carving, green wood, handmade, spoon, spoonfest, wooden | 1 Comment

Good scythe posture

Posted on July 28, 2014 by stevetomlin

My mate Dave Oliver sent me this montage of images which he took from the video I made last year of mowing the orchard. He was interested in looking at the posture and body position of a good mowing style to assist his own technique. By aligning the images to keep my feet level he could watch to see how my body moves as I make a cutting stroke with the scythe.
Note that my head stays level throughout and how my arms work to move the scythe through it’s arc. My legs are providing the power for the cut, shifting my torso horizontally and moving the weight from my right foot to the left.
Dave also took a video of himself mowing to compare his own technique and said it helped highlight some areas of improvement. It’s a great set of photos and I hope others find it useful too, thanks.

Posted in Scytherspace | Tagged mowing, posture, scythe | Leave a comment

Scything rocks!

Posted on July 11, 2014 by stevetomlin

I often get emails and questions from people asking if the scythe can cope with cutting grass in what they think are difficult situations. The answer’s pretty much always ‘yes’ so I thought nothing of it when I was invited to teach a day of bespoke tuition for Mike and Rachel who said that the mowing on their smallholding was “challenging”.
On the day we were joined by their friend Clive and the four of us spent the morning setting up the scythes and mowing their meadow in the sunshine with fabulous views of Ribblehead Viaduct, Ingleborough and Whernside.

Then, in the afternoon, came the challenge; some rocks in the lower part of the meadow which they wanted to clear around to benefit the soil but so they could appreciate the rocks themselves. What fun! I showed them how the scythe can be used in confined spaces and methods to clear right up to the rocks without damaging the blade or rocks.

Posted in scythe courses, Scytherspace | Tagged Austrian, learn, rocks, scythe, workshop, Yorkshire | Leave a comment

Scything for bad backs

Posted on July 10, 2014 by stevetomlin

Some great feedback from Jen, who I taught how to scythe a couple of weeks ago. Over the years I’ve taught many people with bad backs how to mow with an Austrian scythe including a woman who’d previously broken her back and on two-day courses people often comment that they wake up on the second day without their usual stiffness. Mowing is gentle, rhythmic and symmetrical work so it’s ideal for loosening any stiffness while building core strength but, as with any exercise, you should get professional advice if you have medical issues.

Hi Steve,
Thought you might find this feedback useful for others. I’ve been scything now almost daily since our lesson. Prior to that, my lower back was always (and I mean always) stiff in the mornings and evenings -just where I have a bad curve with the scoliosis. For the last few days, its gone completely. I can also feel my posture is getting better as I am increasing my core strength in my abs. Far from being simply “not a problem” for problematic backs, I’d say that the scything is actually improving my condition.
Thanks again, Jen

Posted in Scytherspace | Tagged bad back, health, scoliosis, scythe, scythe feedback, scything | Leave a comment

Learn to Scythe course 7th Sept 2014

Posted on July 3, 2014 by stevetomlin

My Learn to Scythe courses this year have been incredibly popular and booked up long in advance so, to try and accomodate the demand, I have organised an additional course on

7 Sept 2014 at Sprint Mill, near Kendal in Cumbria, UK. £80

Together we’ll set up the scythe to fit your body, adjust the blade for efficient cutting and practise the tai-chi style motions for easy, efficient mowing. You’ll learn to sharpen the blade safely and effectively and discover how to maintain the blade including peening the edge.
Small groups ensure you have lots of individual attention. These places are sure to fill quickly so please steve-tomlin[at]hotmail.co.uk to book your space or visit my Learn to Scythe page.

Posted in scythe courses, Scytherspace | Tagged 2014, Austrian, course, learn scything, learn to scythe, mowing, scythe | Leave a comment

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