Steve Tomlin Crafts

Shrink Pots

Posted on November 19, 2012 by stevetomlin

As wood dries, it shrinks and often changes shape as a result. This is a major concern for most woodworkers and they go to great lengths to dry timber and keep it dry before starting work. With greenwood work I am working with freshly-felled timber which is still soft to carve by hand and will steam bend into curved shapes. The drying and shrinking is of course a consideration but can be an advantage. Carved bowls and spoons find their own organic final shape, chair joints lock together without the need for gluing, while in the case of a shrink pot it’s the whole basis of their construction.
Shrink pots are a simple project; a greenwood log is hollowed out and the inside smoothed using gouges before a shallow groove is cut on the inside at one end. A base is cut from a dry board which fits loosely inside the pot and is captured in the groove as the pot dries. I then shape the outside or leave it with a bark finish and fit lids once the pot has found it’s final shape. They look great for tea and coffee in the kitchen and have loads of uses around the rest of the house too.
You can see my current range of pots which are available for sale on their own page.

Posted in SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged container, greenwood, kitchen, kitchenware, shrink pot, storage, UK, wooden | Leave a comment

Scything at Christmas

Posted on November 16, 2012 by stevetomlin

Normally the scythe scene is all quiet by now but in the last couple of weeks I’ve had a steady stream of enquiries from people wanting to buy Learn to Scythe courses as Christmas presents. It’s a great idea, give someone you know an experience present to look forward to that will arm them with a set of practical skills to enjoy for the rest of their life.
I’ll be adding more course dates in the new year but for now there are two scything courses for beginners set 19 May & 28 June with the price staying at £60 for the day. If you’d like to book I can send you a voucher entitling the recipient to a place on any of the courses at Sprint Mill near Kendal in Cumbria – just send an email to steve-tomlin[at]hotmail.co.uk

Posted in scythe courses, Scytherspace | Tagged christmas, course, learn to mow, scythe, UK | Leave a comment

Rocking Chair Rush Seat

Posted on November 14, 2012 by stevetomlin

I’ve spent a couple of days weaving the rush seat on the new rocking chair and I’m pretty happy with the results. The colours in the rushes are beautiful, a mix of greens and yellows which complement the ash well.
I’m always surprised how physical weaving a chair seat is, I want the seat to feel full and tight so it supports the user so keeping the tension as you work round while anchoring the chair with your legs is something of a wrestling match. After weaving three-quarters of the seat on the first day I stuff the seat from underneath using more rushes to fill it out and then let it dry overnight before. By the next day the coils have dried and shrunk a bit and I can push them up tight before finishing off the weaving and stuffing again. It’s amazing how much stuffing a seat this size needs but the result is a seat that is firm but with the soft, natural rush texture.
I’m delivering this chair to the customer so I’ll drill the holes to peg the rockers when I’m happy with how it rocks but not fix them on so it’s easier to pack in my car.

Posted in chair making, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged ash, chair, green wood, ladderback, rocking, rush, seat, UK | Leave a comment

Scythe haymaking video

Posted on November 11, 2012 by stevetomlin

I made this video during the Scythe Improvers and peening courses I ran in August with clips of the group learning to mow in the orchard, hammering and cutting weeds on a slope. It also includes the haymaking Edward, Christiane and I did in the days afterwards. Although we had an amazingly wet summer I can honestly say that I only spent one morning with my raincoat on and that the grass cut during my May, June and August courses at Sprint Mill was all made into hay and baled using our hand baler.
While it’s winter outside, why not enjoy a few minutes of summer?

Posted in hay making, scythe courses, Scytherspace | Tagged baler, course, hay, haymaking, improver, peening, scythe | 2 Comments

Ladderback rocking chair

Posted on November 9, 2012 by stevetomlin

A couple of photos from a rocking chair commission I’ve been working on. This is a ladderback style chair made of ash from the Edenhall Estate near Penrith with specially narrow slats to lighten the effect of the frame.
For this chair the customer has requested a rush pattern seat in real rushes. I would normally recommend the use of paper rush for this kind of seat since it’s becoming quite difficult to source good natural rushes and they are more time-consuming to weave. Fortunately I’ve got a couple of bolts of rush that I cut down in Somerset with Linda Lemieux from Devon so I’ll be weaving them over the next week.

Posted in chair making, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged ash, chair, green wood, ladderback, rocking, UK | Leave a comment

Fan Bird video

Posted on October 28, 2012 by stevetomlin

With Christmas approaching I’ve been busy preparing fan birds which are popular as decorations and gifts this time of year. At shows during this summer, a few people have asked how they’re made and not completely believed that they’re just one piece of wood so I’ve made this short video showing how the split and carved blank is spread out to create the wings and tail of the bird. It’s still a magical thing for me each time I do this, to see the bird take shape and feel how strong and flexible the fibres are at the hinge.
I’ll be teaching a Fan Bird carving workshop on Nov 17th near Kendal in the Lake District. If you’d like to learn to make these wonderful birds yourself. They’re a great little project, suitable for everyone and you’ll never any problem finding homes for your creations. More details on my courses page or email me steve-tomlin[at]hotmail.co.uk for details.

Posted in fan birds, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged carving, christmas, course, decoration, fan bird, learn, making, video | Leave a comment

I teach spooncarving, that my part

Posted on October 26, 2012 by stevetomlin

Earlier this month I ran one of my Spoon Carving workshops with a great group, here they are at the end of a really fun weekend.

When I teach spoon carving, I want people to go away with more than just a wooden spoon that they’ve made over the weekend, I’m trying to teach them skills that they can go away with to carve more spoons, kuksas, bowls or whatever they want. The skills of understanding wood and carving with axe and knives is the most valuable thing to take away. I also believe that to learn to use these skills, they need to be practised until you really understand them and how they work. This all means that the emphasis is on learning to use the tools and we don’t make a spoon until the second day.
This is a bit of a surprise for some people but think of it like Daniels training in the classic ‘Karate Kid’ (the 80’s version, not the terrible remakes). Our first day of cutting sticks and making butter spreaders is my equivalent of the ‘Wax on, wax off’ sequence, training specific muscles and movements ready for the main event. It means that we build up the techniques progressively and, when we come to carve spoons on the second day the work goes much more easily.

Meanwhile, Alex had already done a spoon carving workshop with my friend Robin Wood who runs excellent courses on the same basis as me. My courses are suitable for complete beginners but people with experience also sign up and I can add in extra exercises to progress their skills and challenge them. Alex had a great eureka moment with the ‘chest expander’ cut which became his new favourite and worked on cutting long smooth facets, particularly on the underside of the spoon. His work was really nice as you can see below:

So sit back and reminisce a while then get to and practise.

ps I don’t subscribe to the ‘I say you do, no questions’ part, questions are really fun on a course and help me learn too.

Posted in greenwood courses, spoon carving, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged course, cumbria, green wood, spoon, Tomlin, UK | Leave a comment

Hay Meadow seminars in Brussels

Posted on October 26, 2012 by stevetomlin

Barbara Knowles, who organises the Hay Making festival in Transylvania has just sent me details of these two events taking place in Brussels looking at the issue of supporting Europe’s hay meadow.

Europe’s hay meadows in decline – what are we losing and what can we do?

A test case for EU agriculture and biodiversity policy
You are cordially invited to this policy seminar in the European Parliament
Time: Thursday 8 November 09:30 to 11:00 AM
Place: European Parliament, Brussels
Summary: Traditionally managed hay meadows full of flowers, insects and other animal life are among the most biodiverse places in Europe and a source of joy, inspiration and beauty to everybody. They are a living part of our shared culture and heritage. They provide many environmental, social and economic benefits. They are protected by EU policy and subsidies. Yet they continue to disappear, through abandonment, intensification or conversion to other uses. This policy seminar will discuss how European institutions can protect these treasures and support the farmers who manage them more effectively.
With a video message from His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales
RSVP: Please send your name and organisation to Richard Kovács richard.kovacs@europarl.europa.eu by 1 November. If you need a badge for entry to the Parliament, you must send your full name, date of birth and nationality, ID type (eg passport, ID card, driving license), number of that ID, postal address (as in the ID) and bring the ID with you.
Organizers and Sponsors: Pogány-havas Association (RO), European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralismwith support from the European Commission (DG Env), SÓGOR Csaba, MEP, Society of Biology (UK).

Mountain hay meadows: hotspots of biodiversity and traditional culture

Time: Tuesday November 6 (from 13:00 to 15:00)
Venue: Brussels, DG Agri, LOI 130 – 11th floor room A
Title: Mountain hay meadows: hotspots of biodiversity and traditional culture
A one-hour film to be followed by a Q&A session with the speakers and a discussion among participants
Speakers: Gergely RODICS and Laszlo DEMETER of the Pogány-havas Association (RO).
Summary: Traditional hay meadow management in Transylvania created and maintains outstanding biodiversity and landscape, provides healthy food and sustains rural economies and communities. In this seminar we present and discuss our award-winning film which documents a disappearing lifestyle and describes the contradictions and challenges in European policies aimed at protecting these threatened habitats and the small scale farmers who manage them.
Copies of the film are available in English and Hungarian.
Contact: Barbara Knowles barbara.knowles@yahoo.co.uk – places limited
More about the project at www.mountainhaymeadows.euX

Posted in scythe festivals & events, Scytherspace | Tagged Brussels, hay, meadow, transylvania | Leave a comment

Brantwood Winter Craft Fair 2012

Posted on October 13, 2012 by stevetomlin

It’s time again to get out to Brantwood House on Coniston Water for their annual Winter Craft Fair on 10 & 11 Nov, which this year features my fan birds on the flyer. I’ll be in the Studio upstairs with fan birds, chairs, and lots of carved kitchenware including some new products I’ve been working on recently.
If you would like to learn how to make your own fan birds, I’m running a workshop in the Lake District on 17th Nov – see my courses page for more info.
There are loads of stalls with some excellent crafts on offer and the setting is amazing on the edge of the lake. Hope to see you there.

Posted in fan birds, greenwood events, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged 2012, brantwood, christmas, craft, fan bird, winter fair, xmas | Leave a comment

The magic of sparks and small toolboxes

Posted on October 3, 2012 by stevetomlin

While I was at Elvaston Castle at the weekend I got to talking with Mark Constable of the Al Fresco forge. Mark was demonstrating lighting a fire using a flint and steel, making it look easier than lighting a match and at the same time explaining how it works. Pay attention now, here comes the science:
Turns out, iron is pyrophoric which means that it spontaneously ignites in the presence of air! Of course, it doesn’t normally do this while I’m working because the surface area of my axe is too small compared to it’s mass. To make it ignite you need to make tiny particles which then burn (actually they rust but it’s the same thing). Why weren’t we told this in school?
So the way to make tiny particle of iron is to knock them off a bigger lump using something hard like a piece of flint. Now iron on its own is too soft to chip off so the iron is hardened by mixing in carbon to make steel, heating up that lump and cooling it very quickly (still with me?). Now when you hit the hardened steel tiny flakes of hardened steel are chipped off into the air where they oxidise and burst into tiny flames. That’s a spark and, for me anyway, it’s even more magical now I know the science behind it.
Anyway, Mark & I then got talking and he explained how he’d wanted a trade where all the tools could be carried around in a small box. He studied to be a jewellry maker and discovered certain techniques (namely damascus and mokume gane) that led him to become a blacksmith. Several years into a successful career he suddenly thought ‘Hang on, what happened to the idea of the tiny tool box?’ Since then Mark’s scaled back, from a 5 tonne truck to a van, to a hatchback and now he’s considering making ‘Only stuff which fits in my pocket and that I can make in a day.’ This is something that definitely rings true for me with my own work as it’s all too easy to accumulate more and more tools in the aim to make the work faster, easier or accomplish more complicated projects. In the end though, I’ve always been most impressed by craftspeople who can make with the simplest tools and find that, by having fewer tools, not only do you become more expert in their use but the limitation becomes a source of inspiration in my making. As Mark poses on his website, if you could only have one tool which would it be?
I was so mesmerised by the sparks demo and our chat that I completely forgot to take any photos so I hope Mark won’t mind me using some of his.

Posted in SteveTomlinCrafts, Uncategorized | 3 Comments