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Scythe and Green Fair in Somerset


The South Somerset Green Fair and Scythe Festival is one that I attended with my family, as visitors. I knew that we might meet a couple of people we already knew, but unexpectedly saw many familiar faces.
On entering the show the first few stalls were tat and tool stalls. Oh what heaven for me, and a ‘come on, lets look around the whole fair’ from the family. I had a quick look, but managed to get back to have a proper look a bit later. I bought a cross-cut saw in more or less unused condition, and a pot or kettle hanger for an open fire.

This old Allen scythe was on sale, a fearsome beast, a predecessor to the bush-cutter and rarely used these days.

Next we met up with Steve Tomlin, who lives north of Dartmoor, and who is a bowl-turner on the pole lathe, and spoon maker. As with most green woodworkers he also makes all sorts of other stuff like hay-forks, and snaths, which is the proper name for scythe handles.

On the stall next to Steve was Mike Abbot with course details, a few books for sale, and his shave horse.

Above is Mark, a member of the Landmatters community. The last time I saw him at his pitch was in Totnes market, over a year ago. Mark sells Gransfors Bruks axes and Frost knives. Not only a seller of edge-tools but a creative writer and deep in conservation here with Lucy.

Just around the corner was alarge marquee: The Scythe Shop. Outside of this were lots of wooden stumps with metal anvils set into the top. Apparently, with Austrian scythes the edge is peened every 4 or so hours of grass mowing. Peening is the hammering of the scythe edge, which make the metal edge thinner. The angle of the bevel of the scythe is long and very acute, which makes for an edge which is not durable, but can slice easily through grass. In America and Britain we do not peen the edge but grind it instead, our blades having a different profile to Austrian blades which makes them easier to grind. Peening will also case-harden the edge. The edge is then honed with a very fine grade wet stone.

A lovely home made snath, made by Steve from Ceredigion. I hope I have remembered your name correctly.

Mike Abbot author of Green Wood working, competing in one of the many heats of the scything competition. Is grass mowing the new pass-time for bodgers?

The finalists of the competition waiting to draw lots, to see which square of grass they will be mowing.

Mark Allery just finishing off his square in the final.

Mike, again, demonstrating the use of his hay rake. All the grass is raked off the competitors square, so the quality of the cut can be judged.

This is Marks finished square, sorry Mark but as you know it is not the best cut square on the field, but nonetheless I was well impressed with how quickly you cut your it.

This is what really good mowing should look like.

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Making Tar from birch bark

I had a go at making tar from birch bark.
So what is this tar good for? Glue, for gluing in arrow tips into the shaft; and it is an antiseptic; but I wanted to extract for waterproofing and preserving wood.
If you have ever burnt the bark you will know it burns very well with lots of black smoke. In bush-craft circles it is known as natures fire lighter. When walking in birch woods you will see fallen trees, the old ones are nothing more than the bark holding a soft sponge of decayed wood. The bark can last for years but the wood can rot out within a year. The bark contains all sorts of tars, oils and resins which are extremely resistant to decay. It is these that I wanted to extract, and so I made a small kiln from a tin with a small hole punched in the bottom.

This tin was placed on a paving slab and metal sheets on blocks so I could put a collecting tin underneath the hole in the bigger tin.

The kiln-tin was filled with birch bark, some of which was rolled up and put in end-on, most of it just stuffed in. In future I will roll all of it up, and place end up in the kiln, as horizontal layers can stop the tar from running out of the hole. The lid must then be placed on the kiln.

Pile lots of wood and shavings around and over the kiln and set light to it. Add more wood when necessary. Looking at the photo above you can see lots of smoke coming out of the hole. I think I am wasting lots of tar as this smoke stains black, anything it comes into contact with, and is sticky.

As you can see I have a problem. The smoke and gases coming out of the hole have ignited, and this has also ignited all the collected tar in the tin. This happened a few times, so the next time I will bury the collecting tin in earth to stop air getting to the gasses and smoke, so hopefully no ignition.
The kiln was not very air tight, and as the fire burned down the kiln drew air in through the hole in the bottom. You can see in the photo, a few flames around the tin lid. The bark inside the tin was now obviously alight. I did get some big blobs of tar falling out.

All in all I think that I failed as all I got was a cube centimetre blob of tar. I think I should have got far more.

Stockholm Tar

I would like to try and make Stockholm tar one day. This is extracted from pine tree roots, and Sweden was Europe’s most important exporters of this tar. Stockholm tar kept the British Navy afloat by waterproofing the wood on the ships as well as rope and steel. It is still used for treating cuts on animals, and also for soaps for skin ailments.

If anyone knows any more about ‘the destructive distillation’ of wood, please let me know. Do any charcoal producers set up their kilns so they can also extract the tars? I have only heard of this happening in industrial factory production.

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The Contemporary Craft Fair

The Contemporary Craft Fair is the best show I do in terms of the range and quality of crafts on sale. Everyone is selected and for that reason it is the best craft show in the South West.
As some of you know I have a foot in various camps, yes that’s right I have 5 feet! My first love and passion is green woodwork, followed by making and designing seating, then comes sculpture, photography, and the list continues. I have been demonstrating at this show for some years now and I appreciate that it has demonstrations of traditional crafts whilst showing contemporary crafts.

I love demonstrating and passing-on my knowledge. This year I was not only worked on the pole-lathe and made spoons, I was also showed how to make fan birds. It rained all day on Saturday and I did not have much custom in the way of sales or people watching my demonstrations, so I managed to make up plenty of blanks for Sundays demonstrations. It is fine to do a half hour plus demo at the Bodgers Ball but most people at other shows tend to wander off half way through, so in great Blue Peter fashion I have birds in various states of completion. Fan bird demonstrating is a bit like the never ending story: as new people turn up I have to go back and explain how I start the birds.

I met Chris Nangle for the first time at the show, I have been seeing his work all over the internet for some years now, and have much admired his outdoor seating. Chris gave me one one of his oak bowls. I am sorry about the quality of the photos, I could not have done worse if I tried

The DevonFurniture Makers stand was next near my stand this year. Here is Allen, in front of his elm mirror.

The Craft fair has a very large children’s workshop tent where all sorts of things are made whilst parents can have a good look around or relax and have a drink. There is plenty of entertainment as well with Punch and Judy, choirs, singers and comedians.

Below is a photo of Sarah James, the show’s organiser. This photo is taken at about 6.30 pm on Sunday as I was breaking down the stand. As I turned up on Sunday morning I saw Sarah spread straw in the car park over the churned up mud, a consequence of Saturdays rain. I have never seen a show organiser take such an active role as Sarah, so well done to her and her team. This fair is one of the best and well organised shows I have been to. It is a shame that so many organizers at other fairs are not as conscientious.

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More knives

I have just bought a few knife blanks from a firm in Germany to bulk up an order of food grade cold pressed linseed oil.

I have now made a handle from a small birch burl and the sheath is made from ash plank off-cuts

This is a Brusletto blade from Norway in a gorgeous brown burr oak handle. I am yet to make a sheath for it and I think I will make the back of the sheath longer.
I have posted these pictures on the British Blades forum and have found out that I have made and fitted the handles in the wrong way. These Scandinavian blades all have long tangs, so you drill a long hole into the wooden handle and glue the tang in. I made the handles in two halves hollowing out the space for the tang and gluing together. Oh well, live and learn.

The stone above is a natural mineral, cut from a layer of sedimentary sandstone in the Slovakian Mala Fatra Mountains which are known for their fine, uniform grit and high resistance to wear. A great stone for finishing and polishing, used with water and at a very very good price of 9.90 Euro.
The web site I got these from is http://www.dick.biz/dick/page/homepage/detail.jsf

I made this last year using a Frosts blade I bought for £20, and used yew scales with brass rod to hold it together with. The textile sheath has a wood sheath inside it so the knife will not cut the stitching. This textile is not leather but plastic, left over from a time when I used it to make the flexible spine for wooden books. It is the same stuff they use for vegan shoes and is very strong, but does not have the same properties as leather, of course. I like this knife very much and it is one of my favourites.

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Kiln dried burr oak

I have known Anton and Alison Coaker for many years now. They are farmers whose land is bang in the middle of Dartmoor. Anton diversified into saw milling some years ago, and has built this side of the business into a large and thriving concern. We also buy lamb from them every now and again and it is some of the best meat we eat. If you are local to Dartmoor do check out their website for more info on meat, hide rugs and wood.
I know this is not really green woodworking, but it is green in many other ways. For one, Anton sources his wood locally. Also, he is local to me and is an interesting bloke who cares a lot for farming and the land. I love my visits up there even though I spend too much, I am just like a little boy in a big sweet shop.

Last year I asked Anton to select a nice burr oak stick to saw up into one inch thick planks and to kiln dry it for me. I have just collected it and am now making up stock for galleries and the shows I sell at. For more info on green wood, air and kiln dried wood click here for a short article I have written.

Anton on the left carrying a brown oak plank, I was not allowed to buy any as it is all going up to Yorkshire for a floor.

Some of the burr oak in my workshop. I do not know how much I am to pay for it yet – all the measurements of how much wood I bought was written onto a plank of wood in big crayon – yet to be transferred into the invoice book. No problem; I trust Anton and know that he is a very fair bloke to do business with. By the way this is not normal practice, and as I joked, Anton has not just learned to write.

The first mirror frame to be glued up can be seen in the photo above. When sanded and oiled up they look fantastic. I think it is very important that I know the people who processed the wood, that they can tell me where the tree came from, and they are local. This way we are supporting our local businesses and keeping money circulating in the local economy instead of it going out the the area, or abroad, and paying shareholders in huge business that do not give a jot about anything apart from profit. I do also buy wood from the large timber merchants if necessary, but my aim is to buy locally as much as I can. Made and grown on Dartmoor or, and as they say in Devon: “proper job”.
I have seen many people make mirrors over the years and especially at wood fairs so it can be a difficult market to make a living with, but worth it if you find your niche. The only way you can buy a mirror from me is by seeing me at a show or visiting me at my workshop, I do not send them via couriers and each one is unique.

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Paignton Zoo Bench for Show garden at the Devon County Show part 4

The Devon County show is sunny!! It usually only ever seems to rain during the County Show. I erected the bench on site on Tuesday, I hope to post some more photos of the completed garden when Kevin or Dave send me some. Meanwhile there is a bit more here at Grow up Devon

Dave phoned me up on Thurs evening to say the show garden had won a gold medal, which is fantastic news, it is good to be a small part of the winning team.

Here we go Dave has just sent me some photos

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Trees for Health workshop area

A while ago I helped build a green wood working area for Liz Turner who runs Trees for Health. It is at Combe Royal, on a beautiful piece of land called The Meadow Project which is run by Devon County Council to help train people with learning disabilities, to help them find employment locally. The Meadow is 10 acres of woodland and wetland around a large pond. People are taught conservation techniques and gain hands-on practical experience of gardening and horticulture. After deciding what Liz wanted I drew up some plans, which then went to a structural engineer to check as Liz wanted a turf roof. I am careful to get things checked out professionally if it is not an area of my own expertise, and especially when they are used by groups of people. A cutting list was drawn up and a new local sawmill provided the wood which was larch and Douglas fir.

As you can see from the photos the workshop area had to be dug into a slope and it had rained a lot during the past few weeks; the mud did make life slow going. Liz had organized a group of volunteers to help, which speeded up the work no end. We had to dig 12 holes and put a 300mm cube block of concrete at the bottom of the hole as a foundation. I thought this was a bit OTT but it was specified by the structural engineer.

The construction was simple, rebating in the 10 x2 inch planks into the top of the posts and bolting everything together. The rafters are nailed onto them, on top six sheets of plywood, covered in a pond liner.

I never saw the turf going onto the roof as I was contracted for 3 days work, and the heaving mud and turf up a ladder was done by willing volunteers.

I was also asked to run a workshop to make pole lathes and shaving horses. This took place over two days and the group made two different styles of lathe and horse.

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Bodgers Ball

The Bodgers Ball is the yearly meeting and AGM of the Association of Pole-lathe Turners & Greenwood Workers. The last time I went must have been about 17 years ago, but after spending so much time on the bodgers forum this year I thought I would put faces to people.
In reality it is not just an AGM as we know them, but a mini festival; a coming together of like-minded people to share knowledge and to have a bloody good time. There were a few stabbings, but just minor ones, and self inflicted! It also held one of the best attended AGMs I have been to, as well as the shortest, which is strange as it was also converting itself into a limited company. Defiantly a well run committee.
I have never driven so far to meet a bunch of people that I have only previously met in cyberspace. At least it was, as always advised, in a public space. I also almost forgot, these people are probably the best armed of any, with the most fascinating array of very sharp edge tools.

I was one of the many people demonstrating, but the only person making fan birds which I think went down a treat.

I entered some of the competitions and actually won a first prize in the Field and Craft section for my green oak dragonfly.

Early one evening I went over to see Paul and made my first pole-lathe turned bowl. It went surprisingly well, as Paul was a good teacher. Mind you – I did have a slight advantage as I have been using a pole lathe for over 17 years. It is not easy to relax when learning a new tool or technique, and looking at my hands in this photo, I do not think I could grip that chisel any harder.

Ten people made their own pole lathes over the weekend, I will be knocking one up soon!

We had an auction, mainly of tools. The auctioneer who was from Dorset was very entertaining, sorry I can not remember your name. Yes, I did buy a big box of old tools and I think I got a bargain. The two chaps at the bottom left of the picture are Robin on the left, and Mark in the middle. I have been following their blogs for some time.

Where else would you find a bar still working after the marquee has been taken down by the hire company? Most people left on late Sunday afternoon and this photo was taken at about 8.30pm.

I like this one; a fairy circle? No this was the whittling circle many of the shavings made by Robin Wood’s whittlers.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend and an event well worth going to. If you read this blog, do come and say hi to me at next years ball, which should be nearer Devon.

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Paington zoo bench 3

Nearly finished now, today the seat was cut to size and finished with the adze and drawknife. The seat will have temporary fixings onto the legs for the show, and I will use stainless steel coach bolts when it is set in its permanent position.

I have been making balancing dragonflies for sometime now, and a couple of months ago decided to see if I could make them from green wood only using an axe and drawknife, the results are great, and each one is slightly different. More on dragonflies in future posts.