Steve Tomlin Crafts

Robin's fan bird

Posted on November 12, 2011 by stevetomlin

It’s a nice feeling anytime someone buys something I’ve made: the idea that the person likes my work enough to want to swap some of their own time, skills and labour (through the exchange medium of money) for some of mine is a huge compliment. It’s especially pleasing when that person is a fellow craftsperson and someone I admire.
So you can imagine my inner glow when Robin Wood decided my fan birds are nice enough to want to buy one to for his van where he’ll see it pretty much every day. I’ve got one hanging from my own rear-view mirror, it’s great to watch how it glides and banks as I drive around the windy roads of the Lake District. Visit the site to grab your own fan bird.

Posted in fan birds, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged fan bird, Robin Wood | Leave a comment

"Mowing" by Robert Frost

Posted on November 8, 2011 by stevetomlin

Winter time and the mowing season is well and truly over in my neck of the woods, hence the smaller number of posts (why not check out my green woodwork blog SteveTomlinCrafts which gets more active in the autumn and winter – life is seasonal).
This part of the year gives me more time to think about mowing and research scythes, haymaking and cereal harvesting which I enjoy almost as much as actually working with the scythe. From time to time it turns up some gems, like this poem by Robert Frost.

Mowing

There was never a sound beside the wood but one,

And that was my long scythe whispering to the ground.

What was it it whispered? I knew not well myself;

Perhaps it was something about the heat of the sun,

Something, perhaps, about the lack of sound—

And that was why it whispered and did not speak.

It was no dream of the gift of idle hours,

Or easy gold at the hand of fay or elf:

Anything more than the truth would have seemed too weak

To the earnest love that laid the swale in rows,

Not without feeble-pointed spikes of flowers

(Pale orchises), and scared a bright green snake.

The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.

My long scythe whispered and left the hay to make.

Robert Frost

Posted in Scytherspace, Uncategorized | Tagged mowing, poem, robert frost | Leave a comment

Damson Ladles

Posted on November 6, 2011 by stevetomlin

I seem to have been so engrossed in making fan birds lately that I haven’t done much spoon carving but there’s a few spoons that I carved during the summer that haven’t yet made it onto the web and I finally got round to photoing them this weekend.
These 2 ladles are carved from the two halves of a single damson branch. It’s very unusual to get a branch that splits evenly enough to be able to use both halves so I’m really pleased with the results.
The ladles are for sale: £30 each (please specify either inside or outside of curve) or £50 for the pair.
Please use the order form or send me an email.

Inside curve ladle:

Ouside curve ladle:

Posted in spoon carving, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged branch, carving, cruck, damson, ladle, spoon, spooncarving | Leave a comment

Making fan birds

Posted on November 6, 2011 by stevetomlin

When Christiane came over to visit me this week I told her she could have a fan bird like the one’s I’ve been showing her via skype. The only catch was that she had to make it herself. Christiane’s made a few spoons and she’s got good knife skills so I knew that a fan bird would be no trouble for her and we’d enjoy making them together. It’s good for me to see how Christiane manages with the techniques and the best way to show and teach them. It’s a good way to refine my own skills in preparation for teaching a fan bird carving course next year.
First off, we prepared the blank from a small larch log. I use the wood green and find I don’t need to boil it as some makers do. You can see one of our other finished fan birds in the photo.

The feathers and hinge are carved using simple knives, chisels and gouges.

Then the feathers are split out to approximately 1mm thick. This is a time to concentrate but with the right technique it’s surprisingly easy.

We used a Frost knife to carve a body and head then it’s just a matter of carefully open out and interlock the feathers to make the wings and tail. During this process, I showed Christiane how to weave in a thread to hang the finished fan bird.

And I made one too.

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Brantwood Winter Fair

Posted on November 3, 2011 by stevetomlin

Next weekend I’ll be at Brantwood Winter Fair at Brantwood House, the former home of John Ruskin. There’s an interesting range of craftspeople attending with demonstrations and have-a-go sessions. I’ll be there with bowls, spoons, chairs and fanbirds for sale and also carving spoons during the day.

Posted in greenwood events, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged brantwood, winter fair, xmas fair | Leave a comment

Birch bark pot

Posted on October 19, 2011 by stevetomlin

Although I make as part of my living it is still also my favourite hobby and now and then it’s lovely to work with a new material and make something just for the pleasure of it. This weekend I got out some of the birch bark that I collected on a North West Coppice Association day in the spring. It’s thin, delicate stuff to work with and needed a fair bit of preparation to clean and smooth out the surface. I followed a traditional pattern, cutting notches into each end of a strip of bark which is then curled round and interlocked. A second piece of bark is glued inside to add strength and so the inside and outside of the pot can have the smooth inner bark showing though I decided I wanted the outer bark on the inside for texture. While the glue sets I used carved blocks and wedges to press the layers together. A handy hazel stick was cleft and shaved to make the base and lid. I carved the lid with a taper so it is a snug push fit and the pot makes a satisfying subtle ‘pop’ when opened. The handle is another piece of hazel with a round tenon carved onto it which passes through the lid and is fixed with a tiny peg inside.
It seemed to occupy a lot of the weekend though I wasn’t working on it solidly and it was very pleasing and satisfying to do. I’m very pleased with the result and will definitely make some others.

Posted in SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged bark, birch, birch bark, box, container, green wood, greenwood, pot | Leave a comment

Otherhandedness

Posted on October 14, 2011 by stevetomlin

One of the most exciting parts of the spooncarving course with Fritiof Runhall last week was his advice on learning to carve with both hands. By making the same cuts with the same angles but mirrored by using the other hand is the truest way to achieve symmetry in carving. Normally, when carving the outline shape of a spoon one side has to be carved looking from underneath. If you use both hands you can work on each side without turning the spoon and while looking at it from the same angle.
I started with practising axing with the left hand which was a brilliant experience. I kept swapping the axe back and forth to feel the action in my dominant hand and try to copy it in the other. The key is to relax and be confident at which point I started to feel comfortable with it and quickly got the accuracy to start axing spoon blanks with both hands. After that I worked on some simple knife cuts and straight away saw the benefits. It was also really fascinating to have to ‘learn’ to carve again, examining the way my hands normally work together and transpose this across to the other side. It’s a brilliant exercise for anyone thinking of starting to teach spooncarving. You also see how the ‘non-dominant’ hand is doing just as skilled work in holding and manipulating the spoon while adding support to the cut.
Since then I’ve been swapping hands on all kinds of tasks from brushing my teeth to operating the computer mouse and cutting vegetables. It all helps build dexterity, confidence and ease of motion into the ‘other’ hand and best of all, it’s fun.

Posted in spoon carving, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged axe, fritiof runhall, left hand, spoon, spooncarving | Leave a comment

Apple Day 2011

Posted on October 12, 2011 by stevetomlin

Update 12/10/11: Unfortunately the National Trust today contacted me to say they have cancelled this year’s event due to the recent rain and condition of the fields.
On Sunday 16th Oct I’ll be at Acorn Bank near Penrith for their Apple Day fair. Last year I had a fanstastic time talking about scythes and mowing and hayrakes so this time I’ve arranged to do a mowing demonstration as well as having some of my greenwood work for sale. Hopefully despite the recent weather there will be some decent grass and I’ll convince a few more people to leave the strimmer in the shed and start enjoying cutting the grass.

Acorn Bank Garden
Temple Sowerby
Penrith
Cumbria
CA10 1SP
Date: 16 October 2011
Time: 11am – 4.30pm
Cost: Adult £6, Child £3, Family £15 (including National Trust members)
Get directions

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Spooncarving course with Fritiof Runhall

Posted on October 11, 2011 by stevetomlin

Last week I spent 3 days in Edale as a student on a spooncarving course organised by Robin Wood and taught by Swedish carver Fritiof Runhall. I’ve been carving spoons from green wood for 8 years, so when I first heard about the course I was intrigued but unsure what I would learn. During a visit in early summer, Robin talked me into signing up and I’m very glad he did. Many of you will already have read about the course on Robin’s blog Greenwood Carving so here I’ll just add my own impressions and experiences.
I arrived expecting to be inspired by beautiful craftsmanship and to spend a few days enjoying carving spoons in good company but what I hadn’t expected was to learn so much from Fritiof and his spoons. Right from the start there were new ideas and techniques that surprised, impressed and inspired me. It was very interesting just to watch him work, spot similarities in our techniques and try to emulate and learn from the differences.
To get a deeper understanding of Fritiof’s techniques and style I spent the days making copies of some of his work. Some of this took the form of completed spoons, some where just carvings of handle details. Not only will these act as 3-dimensional references of shapes with size and thickness but taught me much more about spoon carving and Fritiof’s use of bevels, notches and knifework than I would have got by drawing, photographing or even taking home the original.

One of the favourite items on show, and not for sale, was a little bowl carved with a cheeky animal head. I have carved some bowls with duck heads and like the idea of kitchenware with character so spent one morning carving one for myself. This first attempt was time-consuming but I could see how it is actually made up of some relatively simple forms with a layer of fine embellishment on top and I will definitely be carving some more items like this.

In between the course I had the pleasure of spending many hours chatting about spoons with Rob, Fritiof and Barn who was up from his new Bristol spooncarving base. I even managed to get in a conversation with with Fritiof about scythes as he not only mows but makes snaths and hayrakes too.
I’ll finish with a couple of photos of Fritiof’s beautiful spoons:

Posted in spoon carving, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged course, fritiof runhall, greenwood, Robin Wood, spoon, spooncarving, sweden | Leave a comment

Spooncarving and camping

Posted on October 4, 2011 by stevetomlin

Last week, during the hottest days of the year, Christiane and I met up and spent a few days camping near Salisbury. I took along a small lump of the damson wood I’ve been working with and a spooncarving kit of axe and knives. Sitting together out in the fresh air making spoons is a lovely way to spend the day. Christiane did her first greenwood carving when we met in 2009 and has only recently started to carve more regularly so I’m impressed by how she works with the tools and wood. We work together, I demonstrate the different cuts and offer advice on the shape and then Christiane takes over. She is very observant and has a good eye which you can see in the final spoon.
We made a pair of spoons each with me trying out a couple of new design ideas and warming up for the spoon carving course I’m going on tomorrow. I’ll have 2½ days in Edale learning spoon carving techniques from Swedish carver Fritiof Runhal in the company of other greenwood workers from around the country. I can’t wait.

Posted in spoon carving, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged greenwood, spooncarving | Leave a comment

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