I arrived back from Sweden last thursday and was straight off to the Woodland Skills Centre in North Wales to teach a spoon carving course for the weekend.
They were a lovely bunch of folk and it’s always a pleasure to teach a group who are so keen to learn. As always we focused on developing and practising the different carving techniques using the axe and knives and made small projects along the way to the spoon carving on sunday. My skills with my left hand have been improving over the last year which came in useful for demonstrating as both Justin and Simon were working left-handed. It’s much easier for beginners to see and understand how the grips are used when it’s presented in the same orientation that they’re using.
Sunday afternoon is my favourite part when the group teaching ends and everyone has time to work on their own spoons. The silence was deafening as they all concentrated on the work and I kept an eye on things, offering advice or reminding them of a technique as required. We also looked at various sharpening equipment and methods specific to spoon carving tools.
Everyone did a great job and went home very proud of their new spoon.
The venue is the beautiful smallholding Sprint Mill, Burneside just outside Kendal. We’ll spend the day setting up the scythe to fit your body and then get straight out to the field to learn and practise my gentle efficient mowing style. Lots of time and a small group means I am able to watch every person and offer individual guidance on developing your technique. I’ll also teach you to hone the blade safely in the field for a razor edge and show you how to peen and care for your scythe.
For anyone who’s new to the scythe, peening is the process of hammering out the edge of the blade to make it thinner and give it the correct bevel angle as the first stage in sharpening. It’s the same part of the sharpening process as grinding a chisel except here the work is done with a hammer and anvil or a jig. This way, there’s no chance of burning the delicate edge and you aren’t grinding away steel, rather pulling it out from the body of the scythe blade.
Meanwhile Jane Schofield wrote with more information regarding those Castle Drogo chairs. Her husband commissioned the chairs for the restaurant following the ‘Great Storm’ of 1990 which felled many trees on the National Trusts properties. The actual timber for the chairs came from Knightshayes Court in Tiverton rather than Castle Drogo itself as I’d been led to believe. A set of photographs of the making process were also commissioned at the time and hung in the restaurant; I wonder where they are now? Something to follow up..
From the Shakers through Jennie Alexander to David Drew the stories of the two chairs are form a heritage with each successive craftsperson adding their own identity. I am even more proud to be making them now myself and hope I can do them justice.
We started as always with the axe which for most people is the most difficult tool as it requires strength as well as technique to use accurately. I was impressed by how Denise got on with but when, halfway through, she also admitted to being a drummer it became clearer why she had the forearm strength and good rhythm. We worked at different exercises to gain confidence and then develop the beginnings of accuracy.
It means I have the funding to spend 3 weeks in Sweden working and studying with 
The interview was just 20 minutes long with a panel of craftspeople and designers, most of whom are Royal Warrant holders for their craft and including two woodworkers. I did feel quite daunted to be presenting to them but I’d had some good advice in advance that it would be relaxed and that proved to be right. I took a selection of my wooden spoons, a large carved bowl and a shrink pot container to show and, by the time I’d got in the room and said hello, the various members had the work in their hands – always a good sign. I’d been told that I would have 10mins to present my proposal followed by questions from the panel but actually I talked for just a couple of minutes before they jumped in with questions on how I work, the advantages and problems of greenwood, why I want to learn from Fritiof, pricing my craft, creating a carved finish instead of sanding and where I think I’m headed. It was all pretty intense but exhilerating at the same time and was over in a flash; it reminded me of teaching at Spoonfest – trying to put across a lot of information about what I do in a short time to a group of highly interested people.
I’ve just finished assembling the frame for the Jennie Alexander side chair. I altered the rungs slightly, to give this chair the same seat size as my other dining chairs and put in just 4 rungs with different postitions. I wanted to lighten the look of the chair and give it some ‘lift’ so it appears more free. I’m confident that the structure, based on oval tenons and interlocking joints in the seat, is still strong enough for everyday use and I’m very happy with the final look.
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