Garden Life

The weather was fantastic and we spent most of the weekend living in the garden. In between bouts of playing with Jed I managed to carve some kitchen utensils from Sycamore and Lime. Also spoons from Cherry & Apple.





Strange day Sunday.
We went off to a boot fair (people selling and buying junk in a field) early and arrived to see a "NO DOGS" sign. So no junk for us . . . although you do hope to find some treasure like a book or tool. Decided to go up to High Beach in Epping Forest for a bacon butty and a cup of tea but the caff was closed. So we had a nice walk in the woods and I skanked a nice straight piece of freshly felled Silver Birch (which is a wood I find it strangely difficult to get hold of). When we got back to the van the caff had opened but despite me shouting "Hello" for 5 minutes nobody came out to serve us. We came home and made our own bacon sarnies.


In the evening I lit a fire in the barbecue and we sat out till late.

Tractor seat

I thought this old tractor seat could be good on the shavehorse . . .


It feels really comfortable - you could shave all day. I'll have to find some way of fixing it.
I think it was from a DB, a Fergie or a Fordson but someone else may know better ?

1st Bowl

. . . turned on an electric lathe.


Went round to my mate Bill Munroe's this afternoon and had my first proper lesson on a power lathe. He showed me how to make a lidded box and then I had a go at making a small Ash bowl.
Someone mentioned using fruit to give a sense of scale and the avocado was all I could find - it is quite a big one !
The shaping happened very quickly but I couldn't feel the rhythm of the machine or contact with the process. Funnily enough another friend, Jon Warwicker, came round today with 2 spacers for the tailstock of my treadle lathe to bring it up to the same height as the headstock. I'll have a go on that - still using leg power but spinning round the same way rather than reciprocating.


Bill also gave me this lovely old box handled spoon gouge and a bottle of red wine - what a generous guy.

Somewhere in England

Elton Hall was a great venue for a craft show and Charlie & Emma had worked really hard to make it a good one - something for everyone. What a shame about the weather though. You'd think we'd be used to it by now having grown webbed feet in the last 2 summers but it's still depressing. The only bonus was that the rain stopped in time for us to pack up in the dry.
I always enjoy meeting up and chatting with the other craft demonstrators that we may not have seen for some time. Mark Cottrell was there with his sons Henry & Roger. He comes from a line of broomsquires going back at least 100 years - not many people working today can make that claim.
Jed really enjoyed his first show - mainly eating sheep shit and tufts of wool.

Spinning tops

I've been preparing some blanks for making spinning tops for a demonstration this weekend at Elton Hall near Peterborough.

Drilling those 7/8th inch holes through a 4 inch Ash billet with a brace and bit keeps you warm.

This is the finished turning

I quite often hear children asking their parents what I'm making?
"Must be a chair leg because that's what people make on those old lathes" . . . isn't it?

Some tops in Ash & Chestnut

Fire loves me

I got this heart shaped burn last weekend when I drunkenly and recklessly picked up a brick from the barbecue.

New lathe

We camped on our plot this weekend and after being inspired by the lathe makers at the Bodger's Ball recently I decided to make myself a bowl turning lathe.


The bed is a lump of Cedar of Lebanon which I've had for quite a while - smells lovely to work - I thought all the legs were Sweet Chestnut but one turned out to be Oak and the poppets are Elm. I'll look forward to finishing it soon...


A Dude turned up for the evening barbecue looking a bit fierce but soon lightened up with the convivial company.

Jed loves it over there. We tie his lead to a long bit of rope with a smallish log tied to the other end (a bit like a ball and chain!) so that he can get around but not run off. He's very good at tying himself and everyone else in tangly knots and useless at undoing them.

When I got up the other morning he seemed to have doubled in size overnight. Here's a picture with one of my sandals (size 11) for scale.