Steve Tomlin Crafts

Anna Karenina extras "scandal"

Posted on October 3, 2011 by stevetomlin

I got back last night from the second round of filming the mowing scenes for Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. While we were away somebody told us about that the filming had made the papers because of extras being supposedly underpaid. Read the article in the Independent here.
Well, I can understand that there should be a minimum wage for this kind of work the same as anything else but, to be honest I can’t imagine who of our group would have complained. Everyone I spoke with agreed that it was great fun and the pay was a bonus for the chance to mow together in a huge team of scythers. A lot of the time we just hung around in our false beards or peasant dresses soaking up the sun and atmosphere.
All the production team were helpful and friendly, and patient with our inexperience of the film industry and constant early-morning peening. Getting paid to hang out with friends, have a laugh and dress up as Russian peasants? No complaints here.

Posted in Scytherspace, Uncategorized | Tagged anna karenina, film, movie | Leave a comment

Recovery kayak launching

Posted on September 27, 2011 by stevetomlin

My skin-on-frame recovery kayak attracted a fair bit of attention as soon as I drove into the campsite at Ullswater with it on the roof of the car. I was suprised how many people remembered and recognised it from 2 years earlier when it was unskinned.
Straight away I had to start explaining that, even though it had been finished for 12 months, it’d never been in the water and I was just looking for someone to test it for me. Even once I’d explained that I don’t know how to kayak Richard, Dave and James insisted I be the first person in it on the water, lent me a jacket and life vest and promised not to let me drown.
It did feel very exciting to carry the kayak down to the water knowing that this was the real moment of truth and I would find out whether it would actually work. Once I’d managed to get inside, using the paddle to balance I was grateful that Dave and Richard were there to stabilise things. The recovery kayak is designed for surf and manoeuvrability so it feels unstable for a complete novice like me but once I’d got back out Richard took over to show how it’s done and it was brilliant to see it properly in action.

Posted in kayaks & boats, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged baidarka, kayak, recovery kayak, skin on frame, surf | Leave a comment

Improve Your Peening workshop

Posted on September 24, 2011 by stevetomlin

I like peening for all sorts of reasons but one of my favourite aspects is the amazing rhythms which are created by several people peening scythes together. The hammering comes in and out of sync in a way I find really exciting. At lunchtime today Chris commented that it reminds him of the music of Steve Reich. I’d never heard of it before but have been listening mesmerised while I blog. Here is Evelyn Glennie performing ‘Clapping Music’ which is really reminiscent of peening. Listen while you read about the workshop.

Another great group of folk made for a fun and interesting day for this year’s scythe peening course. I was especially pleased that Jim and Chris came up from Cambridge and Hampshire respectively for the course.
We began with a discussion of why peening is important and how to judge when your scythe is in need of peening. Then it was on to practicals with a look at getting the setup right and choosing tools, particularly this year with respect to peening hammers which I’ve been exploring during the summer. Most people were familiar with the jig but had struggled with this turning up the edge of the blade. It’s a common problem which is easy to solve so we were able to speed through that and get on to the real fun and intrigue of freehand peening with the anvil. In a beginner’s mowing course there isn’t enough time to teach all the ins and outs of peening (it’s a lot to fit into one day on it’s own) and there’s really only so much you can get from reading a book or even watching a video. There were several ‘eureka’ moments during the day when I explained something that suddenly clicked the pieces into place such as the benefits of a cut-down hammer and getting the lighting right. I was learning too, techniques for corrective treatment for curled-over edges and coping with scythe blade edges which had become very thick through years of not peening. We made great progress through the day and everyone’s technique improved a huge amount, ready to go away and put in the practice with the foundation of the techniques and knowledge.
We finished the day with some sharpening with whetstones. Once your peening is good this isn’t necessary but if you can still see light reflecting up off the scythe edge then it’s not sharp and some work with the whetstone is needed. That’s especially true with the jig but often forgotten or not mentioned when people demonstrate it’s use.
In all, a great day that passed in a flash, thanks to all who made it happen.

Posted in peening & sharpening, Scytherspace | Tagged anvil, course, hammer, jig, peening, scythe, whetstone, workshop | Leave a comment

Skin on frame kayak

Posted on September 23, 2011 by stevetomlin

Way back in 2008, the guy I was working with asked me to go to the library and look for a book on currachs, Irish fame boats. Instead I found ‘The Aleutian Kayak’ by Wolfgang Brinck and fell in love with the photos of his willow-ribbed skin on frame baidarka. The simple technology in this lighweight but seaworthy craft is truly beautiful and I decided that I would make myself a greenland kayak.
The baidarka, a fast rocket of a kayak made for ocean journeys, calls for 15ft lengths of straight, knot-free timber which though maybe common in the US wasn’t available to me in Devon. So I decided instead to make my first project a ‘recovery kayak’ from ‘Building skin on frame boats’ by Robert Morris. This is a much smaller kayak, a modern interpretation of a traditional kayak used to recover seals shot from the shore.
At the time I was working in a small sawmill which focussed on sawing oak and western red cedar for the building trade. I kept my eyes open and, on spotting a clean board, snapped it up for milling into the dimensioned components. Very little wood is needed to build a kayak like this as the skeleton framework is so well designed for lightness and strength. Apart from the bow and stern blocks no glue, nails or screws are used. All the joints are morticed and pegged or lashed together using artificial sinew to give the kayak flexibility to absorb the shocks from the sea.

Designing a boat was something completely new for me and a really intersting challenge. A kayak is designed and built to it’s owner and the traditional measurements are all based on that person’s body: armspan, cubit and fist. Getting the right length and volume of kayak is crucial so the kayak is a close fit but with enough bouyancy.
The framework took 18 months of work on a casual, now and again basis. Of course it could have been made a lot quicker but I was not in a rush and savouring the process of the framework coming together. The ribs are steamed into shape while the masik (curved brace over the paddler’s knees) and cockpit coaming were steamed and laminated for strength. When making my paddle, a traditional unfeathered greenland pattern, I was on more familiar ground and carved from a single piece of cedar using axe, knife and spokeshave. Also during this time I thought I should learn to swim and took lessons in my local pool!

By the autumn of 2009 the framework was complete and I was living in Cumbria, working on a log cabin project. I was struggling with the book’s instructions on how to skin the kayak and searching online for advice when I came across a post on a forum for a Traditional Kayak Meet, in Cumbria – a whole weekend of people interested in building and paddling greenland kayak, and it was that very weekend. I quickly dashed off an email for details and late on sunday evening strapped my frame onto the car. Previously I’d thought I was the only person interested in these kayaks, I couldn’t find a club or shop that had even heard of them. It was a thrill to see so many greenland kayaks and baidarkas together and meet Richard, Bill and others who are so knowledgeable on the subject and have taken their kayaks paddling around greenland. They were very complimentary on my work so far, gave me plenty of advice and instruction on skins and I came away ready to tackle the next stage.

In a way it was a shame to sew the beautiful frame into it’s skin of ballistic nylon. Now complete it then stood in various sheds and barns for over a year. I’m not a kayaker and, despite the success of the swimming lessons, I’m a definite earth sign and much happier with my feet on solid ground. For me the pleasure was in the woodworking and creating this lightweight, elegant craft. At the same time I was curious to know how it would work and I got my chance just last weekend.

Posted in kayaks & boats, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged baidarka, greenland, kayak, recovery kayak, skin on frame | 3 Comments

Damson spoons

Posted on September 21, 2011 by stevetomlin

The Lyth Valley, close to where I live is famous for it’s damsons which are out at the moment. It’s a good year in terms of the crop but difficult harvesting, I’m told because of the wet weather.
I’ve used my own harvest so far to make jam and damson vodka and some wood from an earlier pruning to carve these eating spoons. I split them out radially so I get the colours of the heartwood and sapwood together in each spoon which makes them really stunning.
I made 7 from the log and I’m already using one. The others are £15 + £5 p&p. To order, please use the order form.

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

Mowing on Romanian TV

Posted on September 11, 2011 by stevetomlin

Our group of hay-tourists certainly drew plenty of attention from the local media. During the week we were photographed and interviewed by two newspapers and filmed by a local news station, an independent film-maker working with the festival organisers and Duna TV from Bucharest. All good publicity for the event and it’s aims to increase the number of people managing their haymeadows in this area.
Click here and skip to 14:35 to see us on Duna TV’s version of ‘Countryfile’.

Posted in hay making, Scytherspace | Tagged Christiane Lechner, haymaking festival, romania, transylvania | Leave a comment

Haymaking poem

Posted on September 9, 2011 by stevetomlin

I’ve been sent this poem by Neil Diment, community officer for the HayTime project in the North Pennines AONB. Neil was one of the participants on the Transylvania Haymaking Festival and writes, “Having, at long last, tried my hand at traditional haymaking I can perhaps now appreciate more the sentiments expressed in the poem.”

Haymaking

Their homage men pay to the mowing machine
Which does all the work of a dozen as one,
And, cutting a passageway smoothly and keen,
Keeps steadily on till its labor is done;
But I like to remember the primitive way
When I joined with my fellows to gather the hay,
And labor was pleasantly tempered by play.
The sweep of the scythe as it came and it went,
And the fall at its swish of the green crescent swath;
The swing of the mower with body well-bent,
As the steel gave him room on its pitiless path:
The pause for a moment each haymaker made,
When the grass clogged a little and progress was stayed,
And the clickety-click as he whetted the blade.
The farmer behind with the fork in his grip
To scatter the ridges of grass to the light,
Grim, busy and steady, no smile on his lip,
And a hope that the work would be over by night;
His glances were cast now and then to the sky,
And in fear that some sign of a rain storm was nigh,
He watched every cloud that went lazily by.
The fun of the nooning out under the trees
Where the dainties I mowed as my scythe had the grass,
Where I lolled back in hope of a puff of the breeze,
And saw the gay butterflies flutter and pass,
And laughed at some worn, but yet ever new joke,
And felt my heart beat with a trip-hammer stroke
When to her I loved dearly another one spoke.
The calm hush of noonday was pleasantly stirred
By the buzz of our voices, the noise of our glee;
And once in a lull cometh notes of a bird,
Undisturbed by our presence, far up in a tree.
We sat at our ease as we chatted and laughed,
While our mugs of cool switchel we carelessly quaffed,
And thought that Jove’s nectar ne’er equalled the draught.
But the frolic next day was the best of it all,
When in windrows they raked the dried grass as it lay,
The girls with us then—-there was one, Katy Ball,
Our neighbor’s fair daughter, who helped with the hay.
I wore her sunbonnet and she wore my hat—-
I dare say I looked like a great, awkward flat;
But what did I care at the moment for that?
For at night when we loaded our wains with the crop
Till they seemed like dark blots on a background of sky,
And Katy with me rode in one on the top,
What monarch in state was so happy as I?
With my darling, all blushes, enthroned by my side,
I sat there in tremulous pleasure and pride—-
Dear Katy! ah, black was the day when she died!
A wonderful thing is your mowing machine,
That sweeps o’er the meadow in merciless way;
But I sigh for the scythe, curved and tempered and keen,
And the labor and joy of the earlier day;
I sigh for the toil that was mingled with fun,
The contentment we felt when the end had been won,
And the sound, peaceful slumber when daylight was done.
The lush grass of Lehigh, it grows as of yore,
The hay smells as sweetly, the sun is as bright;
But all the old glory of hay-time is o’er,
And the toil of the season has lost its delight;
The scythe and the hay rake are hung up for show,
The fork gives the tedder its place in the row;
And gone are the joys of the loved long ago.
Thomas Dunn English (1819-1902)

Posted in hay making, Scytherspace | Tagged hay time, haymaking, poem, scythe | Leave a comment

A well used spoon

Posted on September 7, 2011 by stevetomlin

Nearly everything I make is designed to be used, whether it’s a chair, spoon, bowl or rake. I especially like it when someone meets me at a show and tells me how they’ve been using something they’ve bought from me. I gave this birch serving spoon to my friends Charlie & Alison at the end of last year and they tell me it’s been in daily use ever since for everything from stirring soup, cooking curries to serving up salad. Woodenware really starts to come alive through use, developing a patina and character that you really can’t achieve any other way and improving all the time.

Posted in spoon carving, SteveTomlinCrafts | Tagged birch, charlie whinney, green woodwork, spoon, spooncarving | Leave a comment

Leela's rake

Posted on September 5, 2011 by stevetomlin

Last October I met Miss Kathloon Peart from Bishop Auckland who told me how she’d received her first hayrake when only 3 years old and had been making hay on her farm for the 50-something years since then. So I was thrilled when my friends Paul & Nav commissioned me to make a hayrake for their daughter Leela, also aged 3.
Leela’s rake is a split-stail style, made in exactly the same way as my other rakes from cleft ash, simply scaled down to her size. Yesterday we were all at Haybridge Nature Reserve in Cumbria, mowing the orchard. Leela took delivery of the rake and did her first work with it. As Paul is a keen scyther and the whole family are looking to find a smallholding, this will surely not be the last hay Leela makes and, hopefully, she’ll still be working this way when she’s Miss Peart’s age.

Posted in SteveTomlinCrafts, wooden rakes | Tagged cumbria, hay rakes, haybridge nature reserve, hayrake, rake, scythe, wooden | Leave a comment

Romanian Rakemaker

Posted on September 3, 2011 by stevetomlin

I’ve been in the Transylvania region of Romania taking part in an International Haymaking Festival. During the week we called in to visit Viktor-bacsi (an honorific for older people translated for us as “Uncle Viktor”) who, despite ill health makes and repairs all the wooden hayrakes for the area – about 50 each winter. Viktor-bacsi uses 3 different species for his rakes: hazel for the stail, mountain maple for the heads and ash for the tines. Everything is cleft and shaped by hand for a combination of strength and lightness. It was wonderful too see him working and the simple but ingenious devices he had made for holding the various parts while shaping them with plane, knife and saw.

Each rake has 19 tines, all laboriously shaped by hand first into a long square taper and then a shouldered tenon is handcarved onto one end and the other end rounded with a knife. I sat with him in his small workshop and carved a few tines with him. The wood is all dried before assembly so the tenon is simply made to a push fit into the head – the shoulder stops it pushing further through and on top of the head Viktor-bacsi leaves 2mm of temon protruding which he peens over like a rivet head to prevent the tine falling out. We were shown how the split stail is fitted to the head and his method for getting the head straight and balanced. A lovely little touch are two bands of unstripped bark left on the stail just below the split as decoration.

During our haymaking, I worked with one of the rakes which has seen 20 summers of work. In that time the stail has been polished smooth by the hands that held it and the tines have been worn away to a quarter of their original length yet only one has broken in that time. A tool like this almost knows how to do the work itself and it was an honour to be using it.
While we visited, our host told us a story which deserves retelling. One day Viktor-bacsi was in the market and found 5 Russian scythe blades of uncommonly high quality for sale (the quality of Russian blades is very changeable and a knowledgeable mower will tap each one with a stone to judge the tool from how it rings). He promptly bought all 5, fitted them with handles and sold three for a profit. One he started using straight away while the last was put away. This would be his scythe for old-age, when he would need the best tool he could get and would have the skill and experience to truly appreciate it. That was 35 years ago. Just last summer the now 82 year old Viktor has judged it time to start working with this special tool.

Posted in SteveTomlinCrafts, wooden rakes | Tagged hay rakes, hayrake, rake, romania, transylvania, wooden | 2 Comments

Haymaking

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