Steve Tomlin Crafts

QEST interview for greenwood carving

Posted on March 13, 2013 by stevetomlin

Yesterday I was in London for an interview with the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust. The trust, which was established in 1990, gives funding to support practising craftspeople in gaining training or experience to further their careers. My scholarship, if I’m selected, will enable me to spend 3 weeks in Sweden working with Fritiof Runhall, one of the best greenwood carvers in the world as well as visiting other craftspeople in the area and researching old wooden spoons in several museums there.
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 should find out by friday whether I’ve been awarded the Scholarship but in many ways I already feel like I’ve been successful. The fund website states they are looking for “Well thought out proposals which will contribute to the excellence of modern and traditional British crafts” from craftspeople who can demonstrate they “already have a high level of skill and are firmly committed to your craft or trade”. To have been selected on that basis from 300 applicants for one of only 30 interviews is a huge compliment and mark of recognition, not only for my own work but for the relatively unknown craft of greenwood carving and spoon making in the UK.
Keep your fingers crossed and I’ll let you know when I hear the news.

Posted in SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged bowl, carved, greenwood, QEST, shrink pot, spoon | Leave a comment

Jennie Chair frame complete

Posted on March 7, 2013 by stevetomlin

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.
The instuctions I followed from Drew Langsner’s ‘Chairmaker’s Workshop’ take the legs through a shaving process from square to octagonal and then round but I decided to stop at the octagonal shape to give the chair a contemporary feel, a feature I’d really liked on the David Drew oak and willow chairs from Castle Drogo. The slats were steamed and dried before fitting rather than springing them in as Drew suggests since that’s the method I’m used to and avoids the need to plug the gaps which result from the slats drying and shrinking in their mortices, the top slat is fixed with shaved oak pins which give a nice detail feature.
Overall I am very pleased with this chair, I’ve only been able to sit on it with an improvised seat but the design of the back posts gives excellent support and comfort, as you’d expect from a chair which has such excellent heritage. I’m still considering what to seat the chair with but will post more photos when it’s complete.

Posted in chair making, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged Alexander, ash, chair, dining, green woodwork, greenwood, handmade, ladderback, Langsner, UK | 1 Comment

Scythes in Scotland part 2

Posted on March 2, 2013 by stevetomlin

My second museum on the trip through Scotland was the Highland Folk Museum at Newtonmore. I’d spoken to Bob Powell, head of the museum, on the phone to book a visit and been impressed when he’d mentioned that he keeps his scythe by his desk as a break from the paperwork.
Bob introduced me to John and Sandy, two of the museums volunteers who were doing a bit of mowing that day and then took me to one of the farm buildings to see a few scythes there. Along with the American patterns here were more examples of the new snath which I’d seen at the Scottish Museum of Rural Life. Bob even had a card from the local ironmonger’s with which you could specify and order your snath (‘sned’) made to measure in one of 8 styles. After photographing the scythes on site and sharpening a scythe for John and Sandy, we drove over to the museum’s store where we unearthed more examples. I was especially taken with how light they were and the use of paint on the snaths, something I’ve not seen elsewhere. During our discussions Bob mentioned that in previous years they’ve mown and made hay by scythe at the museum and hopefully will again.It all made me think that this would be a perfect venue for a Scottish Scythe Festival..

Posted in Scytherspace, scythes | Tagged Highland Folk Museum, museum, Scotland, scottish, scythe, snath | Leave a comment

2013 scythe courses filling up

Posted on February 25, 2013 by stevetomlin

My Learn to Scythe course in May is now full with places booking up on the June and September dates too. I’ve been getting steady interest since before Christmas and it’s a great indication that the interest in scything is picking up as people get away from powered garden machinery and use the scythe instead. It’s also encouraging that so many people recognise that mowing is a skill that’s worth investing time in to learn.
I have two more Learn to Scythe courses in Cumbria on 28 June and 7 Sept 2013.
During the day you’ll learn to set up the scythe so that it fits your body and mowing style, a little of the background to the Austrian scythe but, most importantly and quite unique among scythe courses, we’ll spend the majority of the day out in the meadow cutting. This means you get the most time to practise the cutting motion and I can watch you as you mow. Each student gets individual attention, making further adjustments to your set up and correcting your technique so you go home with a firm understanding of the ‘tai-chi’ style of relaxed and efficient mowing. We will sharpen together in the field using methods which make that process safe, easy to learn and successful as well as covering peening the blade using the jig. Although generally attended by beginners, this makes a brilliant scythe refresher course or for those with experience and looking to improve.
I also offer individual tuition and can be booked to teach a group on your own land, for more info on my Scythe courses, including specific workshops on peening visit the Scythe Courses page. To book or discuss your requirement, send me an email.

Posted in scythe courses, Scytherspace | Tagged 2013, learn, learn scything, learn to scythe, peening, scythe, UK | Leave a comment

Scythes in Scotland

Posted on February 21, 2013 by stevetomlin

On my way up to teach a ‘Learn to Scythe’ weekend at Forres last summer I took the opportunity to visit two museums on the way and see if I could find out more about the Scottish scythe. In 2011 I’d been given a Scottish snath of the familiar Y shape and was interested to find out why it had developed and it’s use.
My first stop was the Scottish National Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride. I’d made an appointment to visit and was shown the collection of harvesting tools in storage. Although it’s only a small collection they have some nice pieces including crown blades still with their original stickers though all from makers in England. Also on the rack were the first traditional English straight snath I’ve seen plus a couple of scythes with snaths of a kind I’d never seen before, neither the American ‘S’ or the Scottish Y” shape but something in between.

In the public part of the museum itself there is just one display case for the scythe which includes a couple of interesting photos including one of a Mr Aitchison from Dumfriesshire in 1966 with a hybrid straight snath. Captions to the photos indicated that the Y-shape dated back to the early 1800’s in the Aberdeen area, presumably with the straight snath being used before that.

Posted in Scytherspace, scythes | Tagged course, museum, Nash, Scotland, scottish, scythe, snath, Tyzack | Leave a comment

Jennie's legs

Posted on February 16, 2013 by stevetomlin

Back to post-and-rung ladderback chairs this week, steam bending the back legs for a new design of chair. The ash was lovely to shave down with the drawknife and bent very easily after about an hour in my steamer.

Actually, this isn’t a new design of chair at all but it’s not seen in the UK. The chair is the style made by Jennie Alexander in her book ‘Make a chair from a tree’, which kicked off the greenwood working revival at the end of the 70’s. If you live in America, this is a very familiar chair as it’s the one taught by Drew Langsner on his chair making courses at Country Workshops but in the UK I’ve never seen one or heard of one being built by a green woodworker. Over here the most common chair designs are those from Mike Abbott’s books (based on chairs made by Philip Clissett in the 19th century) which don’t seem to be made in the US. It’s a lovely looking chair and I’m curious how it feels so I decided to make one to add to my range; I think it will make a terrific office or cafe chair.
The main difference of the Alexander chair is in the back legs. Rather than being curved over their whole length, there is a dramatic bend between the lower and upper slat to give the curve necessary to fit the sitters back. I think this also gives a very clean and stylish look to the chairs and I’m looking forward to seeing how comfortable it will be.

Posted in chair making, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged Alexander, ash, chair, green woodwork, greenwood, handmade, ladderback, Langsner, Mike Abbott, Philip Clisset, steam bending, UK | Leave a comment

Carved spreaders

Posted on February 10, 2013 by stevetomlin

I’ve been making and selling wooden spreaders for 10 years. They’re lovely things to use in the kitchen and a perfect carving project for learning knife techniques for spooncarving. On my spooncarving courses we make a spreader together on the first day to practise the different knife holds and learn about carving with the grain. Even for more advanced carvers they make an interesting project.
Like with so many things, spreaders seem so simple and yet I find loads of opportunity for experimentation and design. This batch were carved while I was away on holiday in Austria, a quick project to pick up and play with in between other things. It’s a scrap of wood split radially from a log and easily carved using powerful pushing cuts for the initial shaping and flattening then pulls and thumb pushes to finish and add detail.

Since they’re so quick it’s a chance to try out ideas and I enjoyed coming up with new shapes and then developing them. On a couple I used kolrosing and incised engraving to highlight an element or add decoration but I most enjoyed using the facets and bevels of the blade and handle themselves to decorate. Decoration is often seen as something that is added after the spreader or spoon carving is finished but I think the two need to be part of a whole; it shouldn’t be used to cover up or compensate for a poor shape while, for me, over-decoration detracts from and confuses the underlying form. In my work I focus on creating smooth curves, clean facets and bold bevels as the foundation of good carving to produce the best forms. These are my decoration which can then be enhanced by careful and conscious embellishments.

Posted in spoon carving, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged butter knife, carving, decoration, engraving, green wood, kolrosing, spreader | Leave a comment

Scythes at Highgrove

Posted on February 9, 2013 by stevetomlin

There’s one more special ‘Learn to scythe’ course from last year that hasn’t had a mention here on the blog. I didn’t write about it at the time in the hope that there would be a photo to accompany it but it looks as if that’s not going to happen unfortunately.
After the Anna Karenina experience of 2011, a few friends and I had been wondering what might happen that could be the match of it in 2012 when I got a very interesting request. I’d been selected to teach the garden staff at Highgrove, HRH Prince Charles’ home with the possibility of HRH himself being there. I knew that HRH is very keen on gardening, agriculture as well as traditional skills and that he has a special interest in mowing with scythes through his connection to Romania so it made perfect sense that he would want to employ them on his estate.
After several weeks of planning and preparations, Christiane and I headed down to Gloucestershire. Once through security we were met by Debs Goodenough, the head gardener, and the three members of her team that we would be instructing. A very down-to-earth group, they made it clear that some were more convinced about the usefulness of the scythe and I would have to prove it’s merits to them over the course of the day, a challenge I was happy to meet.
We set up together and then went to mow in one of the wildflower meadows on the estate which, due to all the wet weather, was difficult but manageable mowing. We worked on the tai-chi style and also trimming around trees and along fencelines. Early after lunch, Debs disappeared to return a short while later in the company of HRH himself. We were introduced and shook hands then chatted in a very relaxed way about the merits of the scythe, our work training people and the beauty of the Romanian landscape.
By the end of the day they were convinced; not for every job, it’s true and some of the team more than others but they could all see how the scythe would be a useful addition to their already extensive toolkit.
The following day, the rest of the scythe gang arrived. As well as the mowing course, we’d arranged for a group of mowers to spend a couple of days working with scythes to mow at Highgrove. A dozen mowers from around the country arrived and were put to work cutting the meadow headlands. We’d been intended to cut the meadow itself but the poor weather had delayed the wildflower seeds so the crop was being left for later harvest. In many ways this was to our advantage as it meant we were employed on a wider variety of tasks in more areas of the estate; tidying ditches, trimming meadows nearer the house and clearing inside park tree guards. It all demonstrated perfectly the versatility of the scythe and we had a great time over the two days. I wonder what security thought of having so many people armed with huge blades on site?
As a treat, on the second day we were given a guided tour of the gardens which are a beautiful mixture of formal plantings, quirky corners and wilder spaces with some wonderful examples of craft as features, representing HRH’s various interests.
Oh, and there was one more lesson. A small group of us were picked out and taken to the house to formally meet HRH where he was presented with a very special scythe with an antique blade and snath custom made by Peter Vido. Being a practical chap he immediately asked if he would have the opportunity to learn to use it and Christiane was chosen to teach a private lesson. Without revealing details, she tells me that she was impressed at how hands-on he is and his ability to watch her working and quickly learn the movements.
Many thanks to Debs and all the staff at Highgrove who made us feel very welcome and to David at Home Farm where we camped during the stay.

Posted in scythe festivals & events, Scytherspace | Tagged Christiane Lechner, Estate, Gloucestershire, Highgrove, learn to mow, learn to scythe, prince charles, Royal, scythe, UK | Leave a comment

What Joe Wright really thought of the scythers

Posted on January 25, 2013 by stevetomlin

It may have only got 12 seconds in the final movie but it’s nice to know that the time we spent on Salisbury Plain in 2011 filming the scythe scenes for Anna Karenina was appreciated. We certainly made an impression on director Joe Wright as evidenced in this interview. Are you one of the “4 or 5”?

Posted in Scythe Association, scythe festivals & events, Scytherspace | Tagged 2012, anna karenina, film, Joe Wright, movie, scrumpy, scythe | Leave a comment

Milk Paint Recipe

Posted on January 23, 2013 by stevetomlin

I’m a big fan of painted woodenware and have been experimenting for a while now with different recipes of homemade paint. The egg based tempera I used on my spindleback chair was lovely but takes several weeks to dry properly so I’ve been researching making milk paint. This is a soft paint that covers well and ages beautifully as the paint wears and develops a patina. Milk paint was traditionally made by souring the milk to separate out the curds which make the base for the paint however I’ve been looking for a simpler alternative which is easy to make up in small quantities. In the US powdered milk paint is available in various colours which are simply mixed up with water and this is what I want for my own work. I can then make up a dry batch with the colour I want and then mix up just the quantity needed knowing it will be the same shade each time.
The recipe I’ve been using is based on powdered milk paint which you buy in the supermarket along with bicarbonate of soda from the baking aisle. Lime is sometimes used but I prefer bicarbonate of soda as it’s safer, easy to buy in small quantities and some pigments are not compatible with lime. You can also use borax which is available in chemists and makes a good alternative to the bicarb.
Here’s my recipe:

4 parts milk powder
1 part bicarbonate of soda
1 part pigment
6 parts cold water

Simply mix the powders together then add the water and stir well. Leave the paint to sit for 1 hour then stir again and paint. Milk paint dries quickly so don’t hang around once you’ve started using it and be careful not go back over areas as you can wipe the paint back off making a mess. Despite it being touch dry in 15mins of so, if you’re painting on extra coats make sure you let the paint dry fully, ideally overnight, as again the paint will come off if it’s not properly cured. I’ve been using earth pigments as I like the colours and using natural pigments seems to fit better with milk paint though artist’s pigments will work and have some really vibrant colours which are appealing.
The sample in the photo is a piece of dry ash painted using red ochre pigment. You can see the difference between a single layer and two coats of paint. In the top corner I’ve painted over the red with black, a traditional combination for windsor chairs.
There’s still plenty more to learn about working with milk paints so if you’ve suggestions or advice, share them in the comments.

Posted in chair making, materials, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged chair, earth pigments, greenwood, homemade, milk paint, recipe, spindle back, traditional, windsor | 18 Comments