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Category Archives: wooden rakes
Rakes at Elvaston Castle
It’s a rake making month as I’m just back from a great weekend demonstrating at Elvaston Woodland Festival. I get to camp in some brilliant places during these events and Saturday was a beautiful morning so I got up early … Continue reading
Posted in SteveTomlinCrafts, wooden rakes
Tagged Elvaston, hay rakes, hayrake, rake, wooden
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Rake making at Beamish
I’m back in the modern world after a weekend spent at Beamish museum making wooden rakes as part of their 1913 Show of Agriculture. My rakes are traditionally made using cleft timber and hand tools as working implements so I … Continue reading
Posted in greenwood events, SteveTomlinCrafts, wooden rakes
Tagged Beamish, corn dolly, hay rakes, hayrake, rake, rake making, stail engine, tine cutter, wooden
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Old tools
This weekend I’ll be demonstrating making wooden rakes at Beamish museum’s Show of Agriculture which recreates an agricultural show from 1913. I’ve been measured for a period costume and working through my tools, sorting out which will be suitable for … Continue reading
Keeping busy through the summer
June went by in a flash and I realised I hadn’t written anything here all month. It’s mowing season so a lot of my time at the moment is taken up with scythes – find out about it on Scytherspace, … Continue reading
Posted in chair making, SteveTomlinCrafts, wooden rakes
Tagged CANW, chisel, green wood, greenwood, hay rakes, hayrake, rake, rake making, sheath, wooden, wooden rakes
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Leela's rake
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 … Continue reading
Posted in SteveTomlinCrafts, wooden rakes
Tagged cumbria, hay rakes, haybridge nature reserve, hayrake, rake, scythe, wooden
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Romanian Rakemaker
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 … Continue reading
Posted in SteveTomlinCrafts, wooden rakes
Tagged hay rakes, hayrake, rake, romania, transylvania, wooden
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Double bow rake
My first completed rake, post-fire, a double bow model based on one at MERL. The head is 695mm wide with 12 tines, the bows are made from cleft ash, shaved almost to size and then drawn through a dowel plate. … Continue reading
Posted in SteveTomlinCrafts, wooden rakes
Tagged greenwood, hay rakes, hayrake, MERL, rake, wooden
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New old tools
It’s 7am on a sunday and I’m walking around a farmer’s field in the rain – there must be a car boot sale. Following the recent workshop fire I’m planning to try and repair as many of the tools as … Continue reading
Posted in SteveTomlinCrafts, tools, wooden rakes
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Straightening rake stails
A straight stail is essential for a good rake so it can slide through your hands while you work and and for balance. You can test a rake’s balance by holding it horizontally in your hands. As you relax your … Continue reading
Posted in SteveTomlinCrafts, wooden rakes
Tagged coppice, pole, rake, stail, steam bending, straight
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Rakemaking Workshop
Despite the recent setbacks with tools, over the bank holiday I ran a one-to-one workshop for Mike Carswell on making wooden rakes. This was hosted by Edward & Romola in the wonderfully inspiring Sprint Mill workshop. Mike has just completed … Continue reading
Posted in SteveTomlinCrafts, tools, wooden rakes
Tagged ash, coppice, rake making, stail, tine, workshop
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