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Cranbourne Chase Woodfair

The last Woodfair of the season, outside in October! I decided that I would not have the energy to put up my marquee and that if I did it would come home wet, and would have to be dried out. So I booked a space in the big marquee and did fan bird carving demonstrations.

This Wood fair had a competition with three winners in three classes and so I entered all three classes and I won “Best small Piece”, not jokes please. It is great to be recognised as one of the three of the best in the show. Below is the fan bird I entered, which is made of beech, an interesting wood as it curled a bit when I rived the wings, and as you can see it has made a lovely cup shape.

I met Owen Jones again, and at last managed to spend some quality time talking about fan birds and other stuff. He has been making small birds for some years now and said he must have made a couple of hundred. Owen make them with only a penknife and uses pine. I like them, they have a naive simplicity to them, and I like the shape of the body.

The birds are photographed on his oak swill baskets, so have a look at his web site

I am always interested in seeing other people’s fan birds, so send me photos if you have ever made any, or seen any made by other people.

Westonbirt Festival of the Tree is a show that I have been attending regularly for seven years. As with all the wood-fairs I attend, I love it. Wood-fairs just seem to be the most laid back and fun shows. This year was a very good one for me and I also had the best position next to the chainsaw carving arena, and the pitch position number A1.

One of the first people you saw as you came into the show was Dale with all his sculpture, benches and games for children. Note his gypsy flowers and shaving horse for making them. Over the years he has made many thousands of flowers. See a video I made of him working, here.

Mr Nick Gibbs, the esteemed editor of Living Woods magazine, has published a short article I sent in, on how to find the moisture content of wood without a moisture metre. I will be sending in more articles. He was at the Festival, and had two shaving horses that he let children have a go on, to introduce them into the joys of green woodwork. Nick was in the Classic Hand tools tent, an Aladin’s cave of very expensive tools. I met Phil who makes and sells wooden planes, I introduced myself to him after finding out through his blog, that he was at this show.

This image is of Geoff King’s stand Woodland Treasures. It is great to see someone making money from wooden jewellery and very fine pieces they are too, and a great tent.

Helen with her modified yurt, we met her at WOMAD and anyone involved with bushcraft may have seen her at the Wilderness gathering. If you want organic, bark-tanned sheep skin, she is the person to see.

I did not write down the details of this company in the picture below, but I was very taken with the timber framed tent. They do others which had all four sides enclosed with canvas walls. I would like to make my own timber framed tent, a really light-weight one, but has to be easy to put up and functional in every way. Maybe I will just dress my plastic and metal tent up instead.

Piers Roberts with wooden sunglasses he made himself. I just had to ask if I could take a photo. I have been wanting to make some for years now, just another thing on the list that I am yet to do. A few years ago I saw a couple of gentlemen walking around with turned wooden bowler type hats. These were turned very thin and since wood shrinks across the grain they went oval to fit the head, no photos of these I`m afraid

One of the second hand tool sellers was also sharpening the saws he was selling on this lovely old jig, that was used by leaning it up against his work bench. I like they way it locks the saw in place, the front rail next to the saw blade knocks in and out because it is sitting in a V wedge cut on the posts.

Three of the saws I bought. The frame saw is for ripping or sawing wood along the grain, the other two are cross cut saws. This winter I want to learn how to sharpen my own saws so that I will never have to buy a hard-point saw with plastic handles again, the ones that we are always throwing away.

More tools from France, have a look on the Bodgers forum for more info.

I have made a new bench for making fan-birds on, and it works very well, also great for wooden cups . It is made from a tripod of forked ash turned upside down. I had a large vice screw that was inserted through the log to make the vice. I have taken a liking to demonstrating making fan-birds whilst standing up, as I find it helps with interaction with my audience. The man watching me is Toni Ross who has posted many videos on Youtube under the pseudonym of bygonetoni. The sticks projecting from the bench are to hang all my tools from, so everything is to hand. I sold a fare few fan-birds and not just the cheaper £10 ones I do in my quick demonstrations.

This is my only photo of the chainsaw carvers work, taken whist we were packing up the stall.

I went down to St Ives for the weekend and came across a shop called The Spruce Tree in Fore Street. They had for sale of some lovely stuff from Cornwall and around the world. The one thing that did catch my interest were some small trees, made by Mathias Schelling from Germany.

I have seen trees like this in David and Sally Nye`s book More fan-carving with examples by Victor Hukka of Finland and some examples which have no name, but are made in Germany.
The tree on the left is made by shaving the wood with a drawknife or more likely, a straight chisel. I had a quick go at making one on Monday but dry willow is no good, or maybe it could be the tool or my technique. I am sure pine is the way to go with these trees. The tree on the left is done by turning on a lathe and not parting off the shavings. See this video by Stuart King for making them from hazel.

Some time ago I had a try at making a tree, by using nearly dry sycamore and a drawknife. It is going to take me some practise to perfect.

I have just got some bowl turning tools from Paul, and have sweated out a couple of small bowls of about 6 inch diameter. The one on the left is apple and is still green. The one on the right is oak and has been dried and oiled. My next task is to make a bowl-turning lathe as my pole-lathe is not sturdy enough and is designed only for spindle turning.
It is interesting being a complete beginner again and not knowing how to use the tools efficiently or even correctly. The biggest hurdle is being tense and not being able to relax, I hurt after turning a bowl, a proper lathe will help a bit with this as will lots of practise.

WOMAD

WOMAD (World of Music and Dance) is a festival which I have sold my work at every year for 10 years now. This year was not one of the best for sales. The credit crunch and the rain did not help. I do not do much in the way of demonstrations at this show but I did make a few wooden flowers. I also made the smallest flowers ever out of the wood I use for the normal flowers stems.

The coin is a twenty pence piece which is 20mm or 3/4 of an inch diameter.

A large attraction at the festival is the Carter’s Fair, made up of traditional attractions some of which are steam powered. This is a huge fair and most of the vehicles are almost as old as the rides. It must make quite a convoy on the roads.

The steam boat ride, see the next photo for details.

Click on the image to enlarge

A Steam carousel, one amazing machine. I have a love/hate relationship to this ride and fairground, for one year when WOMAD was at the Reading site, which was a lot smaller than the current one at Malmesbury, the organisers put our stall 30 yards away from it. From 11am and for 13 hours continuously, this ride pumped out organ music at full volume. We had to shout when talking to our customers. No one would do anything about the noise and believe me, plenty of complaints were made. I now have an inkling of what it is like for a POW to be subjected to music and sound torture because it was hell on earth.
I think this structure is amazing, with its carvings, paintwork and mechanics. I am not sure but it could be the only one left in working order. The horse carvings, made from wood, are similar to rocking horses but the features are accentuated making the heads a bit scary when seen close up. As this is a big ride and often seen from further away details need to be bigger.

Swing boats or as these ones are called, Park boats, a simple but fun ride.

Whilst back at the stall, I met a man called Richard King who introduced himself to me. He is a thatcher now, but use to make a living from green wood work. We had some great conservations, an one interesting one about Aikido and movement in craft work. Many of us in green woodwork learn bad working practices as we are not taught by masters in an apprentice situation. Ergonomics are very important as well as how we stand and move, as I know it is all to easy to damage the body. Richard reckons that Aikido and other martial arts came from ordinary craft or working practices as he uses many movements in his work that are very similar to his martial art.
He also showed me how to make a willow binding, the same one used in binding willow bolts, I must apologies for the fact that the video is on its side. I recorded it on my little camera and forgot not to use it in portrait mode.

The willow knot

Above is Ian of Funky Monkey a member of the APT. I much admired his shelter.

Anthony Rogers was again at the show, he had 2 seats displayed in the arboretum, new work that I had not seen before. As you may know I love his work, which has life and very good form, I am impressed with his new technique of carving small motifs in his work, for example this detail on the back of this bench.

Click on image to view it larger

Wood Sculptor: hand carved

Over the next couple of months I will be posting work that Lucy and I made a couple of years ago. These poems with photographs have only seen the light of day at The High Moorland Visitor Centre in Princetown, Dartmoor, at an exhibition of my woodwork and photography and Lucy`s poems.

To see a large version, just click on the image

Image and words copyright Sean Hellman and Lucy Lepchani

Just off to WOMUD, opps, sorry that should be WOMAD, lets hope they do not have to tow us onto the site again.

Nature kidz workshop

I was booked by Michelle Lane from Naturekidz to run a green-wood workshop for half a day on Friday. The workshop was for adults only and Michelle had organised superb crèche facilitates for all the children of my students.
Given the limited time, and the unknown abilities of my students I decided to blank out 14 spatulas/pot scrapers out of green aspen. I split the wood from the log and axed each small plank to make them equal thickness. Drawing the shape of the spatula on them using a hardboard template, I then cut them out on a small bandsaw. All the blanks were put in a bath of water, to keep them green. It’s been so hot recently, it does not take long for small bits of wood to dry out.

After all the normal Health and Safety stuff, etc , I talked everyone through the safe use of knives, explaining and demonstrating the basic knife holds and cuts. The students then practised on scrap pieces of wood, with me going around correcting techniques if necessary. On these short workshops I do not teach any techniques that cut towards the body, apart from hook knife use.

After a short demonstration on the safe use of axe and draw-knife, everyone got down to business. Running a workshop is like painting the Forth Bridge, as once you have finished individually seeing how everyone is getting on, correcting techniques and answering questions, its time to go around the group again.

A good light lunch was provided, and back to work afterwards, with everyone having a go with the hook knives. I guessed correctly that it would be my Dell Stubbs open sweep hook that would be the one to draw blood, only a minor cut thankfully.
I must say this group was a delight to work with and everyone produced very presentable pot scrapers. As people finished they started playing on the pole lathes and making gypsy flowers. The day drew to a finish far to soon.

Above, almost all the students, and below some of the pot scrapers that where made on the day

I had a great time and Michelle seemed to be absolutely delighted with the workshop, talking about an ongoing course next year, if she can get funding.
Every time I run a workshop I learn something new, this time it became apparent that I should draw up a handout on grain direction in wood, and which way wood needs to be cut.

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.

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.

Txalaparta

I have been blessed for the past weeks to have a student from Spain working and learning in my big cold workshop. I love working with people who want to learn and already have good skills.

Ana mentioned one day as I dropped a long 2×2 inch stick end first on to the concrete floor, that they have a musical instrument in the Basque region of Spain that made a sound just like the dropped stick. It is called the txalaparta; it consists of at least 2 planks place supported on trestles and is played by 2 people with 2 sticks each.

Having watched a lot of these videos I am impressed by the range of rhythm and sound that a couple of sticks of wood can produce. I once made a pair of clap sticks from yew and because they were shaped asymmetrically and had knots in I could get all sorts of different notes from them, depending on how and where I hit them.

From what I have managed to make out so far, the txalaparta developed from cider making. Apples were mashed in large wooden troughs with long sticks before being put into the apple press. I am sure that when mashing the mashers would sometimes bang their sticks in time with each other. As we all know work, and repetitive work is over quicker if we sing or beat out a rhythm together.

You tube video in Basque but well worth watching, sorry embedding has been disabled on youtube

To find out more have a look at the wikipedia entry on txalaparta.

Bentley Weald Woodfair, East Sussex

This will, I think, be my longest ramblings to date. This show is my favourite, not because I sell well at it but because of the people, the layout, and location, and the great cross section of the forest/wood/craft displays.

It did not rain once, but the dews where heavy. Lucy again came to help, but not Natasha, as it’s school term. We love being able to take our bell tent and camp behind the stall. I have only done this show once before 2 years ago and I may not be able to go next year as it might clash with my stepdaughters wedding.

I always make new friends at this show and meet up with old ones. Anyway we took about 6 hours to get to Lewes and started setting up at about 3pm.

Lucy cooked dinner and I got back to setting up after a walk around the site. Early to bed as I needed to get up at 7am to be ready for opening at 9.30 the next morning. I always like a quick walk around the tool and wood stalls before the show opens or as it opens, to see if there is anything I need or want. A quick look at The Timber Mill and spied a couple of lumps of burr elm, John came over with his tape and measured up and we agreed on a price £75 which included a small piece of walnut with a hole in. I am always looking for good bits burr, either people want too much for them or I am to skint or too tight. I include a couple of photos of John’s sculptures, these are not sandblasted as I initially thought, but carved out with a knife: we are talking about hundreds of hours work. This guy is meant to be retired!

This first day was good and I sold a swing seat as well as a couple of large dragonflies. Lucy and I got talking about the importance of fire as a necessary part of our lives especially in the winter. We both love to spend hours staring into the fire just dreaming, something we can not do at home as we have no fire place.

Fire has always represented spirit, again something that many of us are no longer in touch with. Trees are solidified sunshine and, when burnt, this sun is released again as light and heat.

So when the dusk came down and we wanted to find some company, we took a walk across the field directly towards an open fire, like moths to a flame. We walked straight to a stranger’s fire circle and introduced ourselves to Mike and Ben of The Shack Company. What hospitality, with us being offered, a seat, and beer or whisky. Those who know me know that I can be bribed easily with good whisky. Now this was a 12 year old Glenlivet. Ben then said he also had a 10 year old Ardbeg, now this is just heaven, a fire, whisky and good company, all the things we need for a good time. A great night was had with Mike keeping the fire well fed and roaring. I hope I did not talk too much drunken drivel.

On the Saturday I met up with an old friend, Ben Law, who was doing a book signing on the Permanent Publications book stand. It was good to catch up again and glad things are going so well for him. If only more people were allowed to build their own dwellings and work the land in such sustainable ways. I am waiting for the time when I have enough money to buy land and to build a low impact family home.

It is always a pleasure to meet up with Andrew Cowan of Thermoecology Ltd, just one of his many businesses. I first met Andrew on an Ancient Tree Forum weekend in Cornwall and then on at Bentley. The first thing he did was to wave a copy the magazine he now edits, Essential Arb. Andrews’s knowledge of trees and tree physiology and ecology is immense, but there is so much we, as human beings, still have no knowledge of. It was great sharing our last evening’s dinner, and our conversations about tree roots and fungi etc. www.theromoecology.net .Hopefully I will get it together to write a article for the mag some time.

One thing I would like to do one day is to make a dugout canoe. I met Jeff Higley and had a chat how he made his canoes. As you can see from the photos, the log is hollowed out and then steamed and the sides bent outwards.

This was in the zone B, the Glynbourne wood, with the local coppice group and heavy horses. On the way out of this area was the archaeological area with examples of Saxon Iron age and Mesolithic buildings and many different groups demonstrating ancient woodland crafts.

As some of you know I have lived in benders and tipis for long periods of time, and love this natural way of life. I have also helped build a couple of bronze/iron age round houses on Dartmoor. Our ancestors knew certainly knew far more about the natural world than most of us can ever even dream about. I often acknowledge my own link to my ancestors, from the first stick they picked up and used as a tool to probably the most important tool of all time – the knife.

Coming out of the woods and walking up to the house was Max Brownrigg and his dancing lively tree spirits made from branches of wood. He runs tree spirit making workshops with children and adults. I feel that anything that makes people think about trees as being alive or having a spirit is a good thing as over the past few centuries we have come to view nature as a commodity to be harvested and traded for our often greedy needs. We need to give all of nature back its life and interconnectedness. Good work Max.

Our next door neighbour was Christian who made beautiful curvy lamp bases from veneers glued together and finished with 15 coats of lacquer. I could not find his name in the show guide and as I did not take a card, I can not remember his surname or website. I have to thank Christian for all the info about the good shows to apply to. There are so many really bad show organisers out there that just rip everyone off, and it is always good to speak to people about the good the bad and the ugly. I will write about my horror experiences at shows sometime.

Bentley is very enjoyable. We all work hard and party hard, and it is worthwhile for me but I have noticed that the credit crunch is biting, as I should have sold a lot more than I did.

We started packing up on the Sunday, but as we have such a long journey it would have been dangerous to try driving home that night. Working a 10-11 hour day and then a 5 hour journey is not fun, one tends to fall asleep, not a good idea when driving.

We got back on Monday after visiting Eddie Powell at the Sculpture Park in Churt, Farnham. The bloody satnav tried to take the van and 10 foot trailer down a public footpath on the way there!

Unpacked Tuesday and relaxed for half a day and then back to work. So pack the van on Wednesday and unpack on the Tuesday, that’s for a 3 day show, not to mention all the weeks making the stuff I sold –or didn’t.