Spoon carving with the Green Woodsmith

Some time back we did a day-long spoon-carving workshop in Kyneton.  Unfortunately we never managed to quite finish those spoons. Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) is quite hard even when green. We wrapped the partly-carved spoons in foodwrap and put them in the freezer but the plastic has ripped. The spoons have now dried out and are even harder to carve.

Not being too familiar using an axe, I found my first foray into spoon carving to be rather slow going and my arm got a bit tired from using the axe.  Which kinda explains why I didn't finish my spoon in the workshop.  I still had a hankering for more instruction on the subject so as a Christmas gift, Mr PragSust kindly enrolled me in a spoon carving course in January with Paul, the Green Woodsmith. 

The Green Woodsmith spoon carving courses are run from Paul's property in Buninyong, 15 km from Ballarat. He has a lovely outdoor setting for the course and despite the hot weather, it was a very pleasant spot to work. The inquistive alpacas were a lovely bonus - I mean where else can you get the chance to get a kiss on the head from a gorgeous alpaca!!

The shaded outdoor classroom

The axes Paul uses in his class are a variety of specific carving axes. They were lightweight which made them fairly easy to use, even for those of us who aren't too familiar with using axes.  Paul encouraged us to try out the different axes to find the one we liked best.  

We used willow for our spoons and this soft wood proved easier to carve for a newbie than harder woods such as blackwood.  Paul gave us some instruction on the types of axes and how to use them safely, and the steps involved in taking our willow from a lump of wood into a spoon and then we were into it!

Directions showing which way to make the axe cuts

We had a break for a relaxed lunch in the shade. My friend and I had brought along food to share and we also got to taste some of Paul's wife Jenny's preserved caperberries - yum.

Then it was back into it, with instruction on safely using the carving knives to further shape our spoon - the straight knife for shaping the spoon and the hook knife used to carve the bowl.  

Marking out some cutting lines, with friendly alpaca in the background

Getting some instruction from Paul

The next step in shaping the spoon- using the straight knife

Shaping the bowl with the hook knife

Carving the bowl

I didn't quite finish my spoon (I'm definitely a bit of a slow coach!) but by the end of the afternoon I did have something recognisably spoon-like 😌  I have stored it in a ziplock bag in my freezer and plan to see if I can find the time to finish it sometime soon. Paul said it should be okay stored in this way for around 6 months so I have a bit of time up my sleeve.

If you're interested in having a go at making a spoon using only an axe and some knives, I heartily recommend doing a spoon carving course with Paul the Green Woodsmith. Check out his website for details of upcoming course dates.

Green woodworking with the Leura Bodger

We were fortunate to meet Roy Davi, the Leura Bodger, and spend some time watching him ply his craft when we visited Hazelcombe Farm last year.

Bodging is a traditional woodturning craft in which unseasoned (green) wood is used to make chair legs and other cylindrical parts of chairs. According to Wikipedia the term 'bodger' referred to highly skilled itinerant wood-turners who worked in the beech woods of the Chiltern Hills near the furniture making town of High Wycombe. The chair legs were completed on site, out in the woods and then sold to furniture factories to be made into chairs.

A bodger's equipment was easy to set up in situ and consisted primarily of:

A saw and an axe to cut the wood into rough pieces for use with the spokeshave and shavehorse

Wood cut on chopping block with axe

A spokeshave-like drawknife to  roughly round the edges of the wood while it is held in the drawhorse. The wood is cut along the grain while held in place on the drawhorse using pressure from the feet.

Once the wood has been roughly rounded, it's ready for turning on the polelathe. A variety of chisels are used to shape the wood as the lathe is turning using a foot pedal. 

Wood set in place and ready for turning

sauerkraut masher taking shape

Almost completed sauerkraut masher

honey drizzler being turned

Watching Roy efficiently turn out sauerkraut mashers, honey drizzlers and spoons on the polelathe you'd think it was easy-peasy.  I'm here to tell you it's not!  To get the hang of it and be able to make something even approaching professional looking would take a lot of practice.

Here are some more of Roy's wares:

 

Roy kindly let me have a go at turning some wood. I used the drawknife and shavehorse to roughly shape a bit of wood, and then tried my hand at turning it on the polelathe. 

It was a lot of fun. Holding the chisel at the right angle to the wood as it was turning on the polelathe was a challenge.  I'd get it working for a bit ...and then make a gouge in the wood. Needless to say it took me a long time to get the wood even to approach smoothness as I was turning it.  Roy was a very encouraging and patient teacher.  I did start to get the hang of it - sort of.  At any rate, I kept the piece of wood I worked on, even though I didn't have the time to get it completely smooth.

The experience was both engrossing and relaxing, no whine of machine noise - just me pumping the pedal with my foot, being outside in the fresh air and concentrating on working on the wood. I'm not a technophobe but I'm not all that keen on using noisy power tools so this was a great way to get into a slower, quieter way of woodworking.

If you are ever near Leura in the Blue Mountains of NSW, Roy runs day and weekend workshops where you can learn the traditional craft and make something for yourself in the process. Roy's on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Theleurabodger/. And for lots of discussion around all things bodging see https://www.bodgers.org.uk/BB/

Sustainable Living weekend workshop at Hazelcombe farm

A few months back we headed up to the Totnes Valley to attend the Sustainable Living Weekend Workshop at Hazelcombe Farm, run by Dan Power and Nicole Schmid Power.  The Totnes Valley is 40 km north east of Mudgee - all in all a 950 km drive from our home in Melbourne.  At times we didn't think we'd get there - torrential rain and flooded roads meant we had to take an alternative route, so when we finally arrived at the farm we were pretty happy!

Hazelcombe Farm holds sustainable weekend workshops a couple of times a year.  Experienced people with a wide range of skills come to share their knowledge - from blacksmithing, green woodworking, scything, horse-drawn ploughing to food related workshops on bread making, fermenting, cheese making and sessions on biodynamics, soil health and beekeeping - the list of things on offer over the course of the weekend is a good one. We'd been wanting to go for some time.  

The shed, which housed the kitchen, dining area and many of the talks and workshops

Dan and Nicole are the people behind Sycthes Australia and, as we have a scythe, getting some hands-on experience in the correct scything technique was definitely on our list of things to do. First thing in the morning I joined Dan's scything group and after some expert instruction, spent an enjoyable time practising my technique in the orchard.  I can't say I'm a very fast scyther (is that a word?)  but at least I now have a better idea of how to go about it.

Another highlight on the schedule were the fermented food workshops held by Christine Corner of Crave Natural. As someone with fructose malabsorption, my interest in fermented foods stemmed primarily from their reputed health benefits and I was keen to learn the basics from an expert.  Christine and her family grow the organic produce used in her products on the family farm, Broombee in Mudgee.  In the sessions we covered the making of saukerkraut, kombucha and keffir.  According to organicfacts.net, "Sauerkraut contains high levels of dietary fibre, as well as significant levels of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, and various B vitamins.  Furthermore it is a good source of iron, manganese, copper, sodium, magnesium and calcium, in addition to contributing a moderate amount of protein to your diet"  Sounds pretty good, huh? Hearing Christine talk about how she got into making fermented foods and the health benefits she experienced was really interesting. I was inspired to have a go and purchased a ceramic crockpot from Dan and Nicole to take home with me to make my own sauerkraut.

Christine making sauerkraut

One of the traditional skills that really fascinates both Mr PragSust and I is green woodworking. Roy Davi, the Leura Bodger, had set up his bush pole lathe at the farm and was at work, turning out sauerkraut mashers, honey drizzlers and other items during the course of the weekend.
 

Roy at his pole lathe

Turning out a sauerkraut masher

He was very happy to let people have a go on his shave horse and pole lathe and I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours learning the basics of green wood turning with him. Roy is a lovely bloke and a very patient teacher - I could have spent the whole day watching and learning from him.

On the shave horse

Learning to use the pole lathe

While we enjoyed fine weather over the weekend, due to all the torrential rain in the weeks leading up to the workshop, as the weekend progressed things got more than a little muddy at the farm. Muddy enough for the original campsite to be under water and a second option sorted quickly before the guests started arriving on the Friday. Muddy enough for cars to get bogged in the driveway and in the paddocks. One of the real highlights of the weekend was Queenie the draught horse - star of the horse-drawn ploughing sessions - and her owner Donnie pulling a bogged 4wd truck out of the mud with what appeared to be a great deal of ease. Accompanied by small children chanting "Go Queenie go!", everybody stopped what they were doing as we all watched Donnie and Queenie calmly pulling the truck out of the mud. Lots of cheering ensued and Queenie became the well-deserved hero of the day.

The food provided throughout the course of the weekend was terrific. Nicole, Christine and their helpers did an amazing job of feeding a big group of people, many of which were vegetarians like me. The food was absolutely delicious.

Food preparation underway in the kitchen

Full details regarding Hazelcombe Farm and the sustainable workshop we attended can be found here. Big thanks to Dan and Nicole for hosting such an enjoyable event!