During the fire in the workshop, the heat of the flames caused the metal in my tools to soften so the first step in repairing them is to heat-treat them to the correct hardness. I’ve done a little bit of toolmaking before but don’t have my own kit so I was very pleased to get an offer from Robin Wood to do the work in his forge.
For those of you that don’t know, Robin is the UK’s leading pole-lathe bowl turner who rediscovered the craft and has since inspired and helped many other people, me included, to turn bowls using a pole-lathe. In addition to this he is chairman of the Heritage Crafts Association, a spoon-carver and generally great guy. We share similar ideas about craft, design and making ideology so it’s always a pleasure to spend time in his company.
Outside his workshop at the beginning of the Pennine Way stands his small forge. The first stage is to heat each tool to a dull red and then quench it in oil or water to cool the steel as quickly as possible, hardening it. We started out with a couple of cheap kindling axes to check the method and decide on whether to use oil or water for the quench. Water gives a faster quench but with larger tools like axes, this can sometimes lead to stresses being formed in the metal.
Robin was obviously enjoying himself as he took the first axe head, glowing red out of the forge and plunged it into a large jug of cooking oil which promply burst into flames. After testing with the file we decided a water quench was needed which gave us the proper hardness without any problems.
Every tool, axes, adze, gouges, chisels, knives, planes blades and drill bits all went through this process of heating, quenching and testing with the file. When the tool is the right hardness, the file ‘skates’ over the surface rather than biting in. After a while I could also hear the difference in sound the file made on properly hardened steel. All the while Rob & I talked over ideas about making, aesthetics, other craftspeople we know, issues around being an independent maker, the Luddites and loads more. It was pouring with rain but I hardly noticed.
At this stage everything is as hard as possible but also brittle, meaning the edge would break in use so the next stage is to draw out some of the hardness by reheating the steel in a more controlled way. This process is know as ‘tempering’.
We quickly shined up the surfaces of all the tools on Rob’s belt grinder and then took them back to his house and popped them in the oven at 250C, a good tempering temperature for woodworking tools. Part way through we added potatoes for a simple supper.
The tools were left in the oven to ‘soak’ at this temperature for an hour or so until we could see a dark straw colour on the shined surfaces which indicates that the tools have been successfully tempered.
In lots of ways this was the hardest stage of the process to restore my tools and I was glad to benefit from Robin’s experience.
Next stage: handles.
On Sunday I met with other members of the Coppice Association NW (CANW) at Moss and Heights Spring Woods for a day of peeling oak bark.
I selected a good clean looking trunk and scored the bark with a knife to remove a small length of bark. Initially I could see it splitting inside and thought I was damaging the bark but this was actually the thicker cambium layer which came away from the wood too. It was then possible to peel the bark away from the cambium though a lot of care was needed at this stage not to damage the bark. We’re a curious bunch and my peeling soon attracted a lot of interest when people saw the sheets of bark and felt how soft but strong they felt, like thin leather. A couple more members had a go and we went away with bark promising to share our experiences of working with it.
By the end of the day we had a several bundles of bark for drying and piles of naked looking oak poles. These can be used for rustic garden furniture making, firewood or charcoal; the secret of making coppice work economical is to use every part of the tree, something that Bill Hogarth was a master of.
In one particularly pleasing section, Mr Hopfen travels to the mountain areas around Sidiken on the Iranian-Turkish border to demonstrate the scythe. Unfortunately, ‘the farmers were so eager to obtain the few implement samples which the expert had taken to the mountains, that demonstrations had to be discontinued after only a few days as he had no implements left’! Similar problems were encountered in supply in Kirkuk so Mr Hopfen instructed local carpenters in the making of snaths and cradles.
Mothersday in Austria – a weekend where I don’t need to do anything because the kids are doing the cooking, washing up and all. So what is better than to have all the time you want for what you enjoy to do in spring and summer – mowing with my scythes. I was excited that it is now the right time to start mowing the young grass. But first the difficult decision for me – what blades am I using this time. I decided on a short 65cm and my long 85cm blade with snaths made by Peter Vido. Happy and excited I went to mow and was surprised that just after a short while I had to pause and even sit down to catch my breath. What had happened – I had forgotten to get myself in contact with the soil, grass, snath, blade and my breath. Sitting there made me aware how important this is and I used the time to do so – never thought this could happen to me.
I mowed a smiley face but it is hard to see because the grass is not all the same hight and I couldn’t get myself in the right position to take a good photo. In a week or so I’ll mow the inside of it and I hope it will be more visible then 🙂
-
Recent Posts
Categories
-
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy