what material for basket making

[john scrivy]

Could any one give me some sound advice as to what wood i could best use for basket and fish trap making and what preparation i might need to do with the wood first many thanks

 

[spamel]

I suppose you could use willow bark to make a basket.

 

[jon r]

Hi John!

Ive made a fish trap from Hazel wands before but that wasnt woven. http://www.bushcraft.ridgeonnet.com/crafting a fish trap.htm

Willow has to be the best for woven basketary. Ive never had much sucess with that though so i'll let someone else explain.

 

[mayfly]

Willow withies are by far the most versatile things you can use. Soak them (immerse) for a couple of hours and then let them sit wrapped in damp hessian for another few hours. They will then be supple and good to work with. Chris

 

[Dave Budd]

a friend of mine made a bunch of fish and eel traps for Ray Mears last series, they were all from willow. If you get willow then it needs to be dried to season it and then soaked for a couple of days to soften it, then it will work great

Linda Lemieux (wood and Rush in Chagford, Devon) is the basket lady mentioned

 

[spamel]

I suppose you could also use lime bark, birch bark and any other bark that flexes without cracking.

 

[mayfly]

Linda Lemieux (wood and Rush in Chagford, Devon) is the basket lady mentioned

Were those the one's he used to catch crayfish? She's on The Basketmakers Association list here. I've done a couple of courses with Sue Kirk in Kings Cliffe which were great, and good value. She also sells bundles of home grown seasoned willow very cheap. I'm really very bad at it but it is a lot of fun

 

[Dave Budd]

yep, that's her I'm not sure about the crayfish one, I didn't see that episode, but she made about 1/2 a dozen for the prehistoric hunter/gatherer bit. Unfortunately they didn't use them becuase of the lack of fishing rights! Ray did wave one around briefly though linda was the woman with teh wild hair and the coiled rush basket that they cooked some pulp in using hot rocks.

I don't know Sue Kirk I'm afraid, though her name is familiar. I've also just realise that the BA has the wrong url for me (I'm one of the few suppliers of basketry tools )