Week off and I am doing some preparing for a few events I am booked for. Never done a public show so i am trying to get together examples of all I can do and try to make some new items.
With this in mind I am making a large bowl made of cherry wood. I got the timber from a log supplier in ravenshead and it is beautiful top quality timber. Cherry has an amazing quality of self tanning when the wet wood is exposed to air. I love the way timber can take me unawares, I am having to work fast to minimise the cherry splitting as there is a lot of end grain timber on show. If the wood does split I may use some thick copper wire so it can look a little like the black smith staples they used to put in old cracked pot.
Monday 28 June 2010
Tuesday 22 June 2010
SPOONS!
Sorry a while since my last post but i have been so busy. Have got a second draw knife now thanks to Binsley carboot and i would like to say Hildick of Sheffield made amazing tools, it is just so sharp! Have also picked up a couple of axes and some chisels to restore on rainy days.
Fridays dog walk bought me the welcome sight of some cut poplar branches thanks to the Bestwood Wardens so I am dragging it home at the moment along with some sycamore they chopped on Monday.
What am i doing with it? well making spoons! had a glorious sunday afternoon in the pole lathe with the lovely Antonio who was just loving coming round to mine for a quick treadle and he was very good at it too. Will put some photos on later to show how i make a rough spoon shape in the wood on the lathe and then split the wood with my Frost knife down the middle and then hollow the bowl out with a spoon shaped gouge to stop the wood splitting and voila a spoon comes to life.
Sat in Rita and Jims front garden last night enjoying wine, sunset and Rita asking some very wise questions about carving whilst whittling a spoon fron the Poplar I collected.
I am spending some time in Sneinton this week end with a viking group at the windmill so who knows maybe my first spoon sold will be to a real life viking!
Fridays dog walk bought me the welcome sight of some cut poplar branches thanks to the Bestwood Wardens so I am dragging it home at the moment along with some sycamore they chopped on Monday.
What am i doing with it? well making spoons! had a glorious sunday afternoon in the pole lathe with the lovely Antonio who was just loving coming round to mine for a quick treadle and he was very good at it too. Will put some photos on later to show how i make a rough spoon shape in the wood on the lathe and then split the wood with my Frost knife down the middle and then hollow the bowl out with a spoon shaped gouge to stop the wood splitting and voila a spoon comes to life.
Sat in Rita and Jims front garden last night enjoying wine, sunset and Rita asking some very wise questions about carving whilst whittling a spoon fron the Poplar I collected.
I am spending some time in Sneinton this week end with a viking group at the windmill so who knows maybe my first spoon sold will be to a real life viking!
Wednesday 9 June 2010
And still it rains.........
As the Pole Lathe is still water logged, I decided that I needed to go to my carving club in Newstead village and get my tools sharpened. I have not gone in a while but i got a warm welcome from all the members and made my tools nice and dangerous again.. More hints about where to get hold of green wood but I will believe it when I see it!
Tuesday 8 June 2010
And the rain came down!
I seem to have alot of willow lying around and as I have only managed to do about 10 minutes on my lathe I decided to find out what I could make with the willow. I decided on a scandinavian wooden cup called a Kuksa.I have spent a couple of evenings arving a rough willow cup made which seems to hold cider very well. I will put on a photo later. I am concerned it will crack so i decided to christen it early and give it a good soaking in olive oil. One of the traditional treatments is to soak it in vodka as i am at work tomorrow i felt cider would suffice!
I have spent the evenings sending emails to tree surgeons and notts wild life trust and i now have some interesting leads
I have spent the evenings sending emails to tree surgeons and notts wild life trust and i now have some interesting leads
Sunday 6 June 2010
Beginnings
After a very hard working week spent in Devon with Guy Mallinson I made my Pole Lathe and Shave Horse, with some pushing and shoving the equipment squeezed into my little and temperamental Nissan Micra and we made the journey home to Nottingham. The Micra did so with no cause for concern. Setting up the lathe by myself was simplicity itself. I managed to do it on my own.
The next challenge is getting hold of raw materials. I managed to obtain some great quality Ash from the side of the road near to Newstead Abbey and I managed to split these logs down into four stool sized legs these I shaped on the Shave Horse with a view to making a crude stool and also to start the task of building up my physical strength. I can see getting hold of wood will become a real challenge.
The next challenge is getting hold of raw materials. I managed to obtain some great quality Ash from the side of the road near to Newstead Abbey and I managed to split these logs down into four stool sized legs these I shaped on the Shave Horse with a view to making a crude stool and also to start the task of building up my physical strength. I can see getting hold of wood will become a real challenge.
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