Sawing a spurtle

[tombear]

This AM, without breaking anything, I turned the basic shape of what in East Lancashire is called a spurtle. It's a wooden oat cake turner.

If you are using a I device that may be upside down, I've no idea why. Anyroad, I now have to do the nasty bit, hand saw the waste away to leave the blade . I'll finish it by carving and sanding. My question is in relation to the grain, for maximum strength, how should I saw it? The woods seasoned beech. It should be obvious but I can't make my mind up for some reason.

Hopefully the two waste pieces will make a couple of shallow spoons.

Thanks!

Tom

 

[British Red]

Not quite sure what you are asking in terms of sawing Tom? Are you asking what saw to use or how to clamp the wood or which side to cut?

Looks like a great tool BTW

 

[Fraxinus]

Saw it so the end grain of the blade is as close to 90 deg the flat plane as poss'. looking at the photo that would be the uppermost and lower part resting on the book.

Rob.

 

[tombear]

Sorry, do I saw down the grain or across it or even at a diaganol across it. It's as simple as that, but for some reason I can't decide! What to use and how to hold it I'm fine with.

Looking at similar spatulas slightly off following the grain seams to be popular with hand carved to make them pretty. I just want mst mechanical strength when lifting with the flat side.

Confused of East Lancs....

 

[Fraxinus]

If you cut it as posted above you will get to see the medullary rays/flecks

like that, the other way will give a grain pattern like looking straight at your photo, what it lacks in looks it gains in flexibility.

Rob.

 

[Paul_B]

I take it you want the flat spurtle style for oatcakes and not the porridge stirrer type of spurtle? Personally I like the rounded spurtle design but with what you have turned it looks like the oatcake turner is definitely your aim.

If I understand the above posters right for strength you get a better product if you cut it at 90 degrees to the growth riggs of the original bit of wood. That way you get a kind of lamella look across the flat part of the finished spurtle. I guess the theory is flat wood can split at the grain, or between growth rings. Makes sense if I remember my material science correctly. Wood being a composite so like other composites has differential strengths depending on orientation of the fibres. That is unless you can design the composite to arrange the fibres in different orientations.

Sorry off topic.

BTW Spurtle is also claimed by the Scots just like bag pipes, tartan and haggis!!!!

 

[Toddy]

Oh thank heavens someone making a proper spurtle and not pretending that a kiddy's chair leg is the finished piece

+1 to what Fraxinus said

M

 

[tombear]

Cheers Rob, here goes!

atb

Tom

 

[Toddy]

Haggis….pretty much British to be honest, just still made up here longer.
Bagpipes…..European roots definitely there, but the great pipes are kind of something else
Spurtles….any woman who ever stirred porridge of any kind needs something like that. My Dad made mine for me, and he's been deid for over thirty years and it's still as sound now as it was the day it was made.
Tartan….it's a balanced twill weave, not just a checked cloth. It's a weaver's thing really, and it's a way of using hand spun and home dyed in small quantities wool yarns; checked cloth that looks as though variation was intentional.
Checked woollens are ubiquitous to W. Europe, but tartan is a specific weaving, and it's British…..that again lasted longer and was more developed in Scotland than elsewhere. The Irish got themselves tangled up in sumptory laws that restricted their colour range according to their social 'class', and that didn't bite deep here, but did there. The English went in more for vat dyeing (they had towns and burghs which restricted things like dyeing to specific people) while the Welsh went in more for blocks of colours….those beautiful Welsh blankets for instance.

Anyway, spurtles useful things

M

 

[Fraxinus]

Oh thank heavens someone making a proper spurtle and not pretending that a kiddy's chair leg is the finished piece

M

Cheers Rob, here goes!

atb

Tom

Your welcome.

 

[General Strike]

BTW Spurtle is also claimed by the Scots just like bag pipes, tartan and haggis!!!!

Don't forget the TV (John Logie Baird) and Radio (Willie McOnie)!

 

[Paul_B]

Toddy - Did you ever see a documentary on mummies in what is now China? These were buried in the desert and wore what the archeologists called tartan. I understand there are other regions of the world which produced a tartan like check and weave. I'm certainly no expert (I think you are) so will accept what you say. Although a part of me thinks that if one group can think of something that has it's benefits then other groups could come up with the same solutions independently.

General Strike - I read somewhere about a guy called Nikola Tesla, you might have heard of him. Apparently he patented technology that was later used in Logie Baird';s work. This Tesla guy apparently was a real genius inventor, a mad professor who wasn;t interested in commercialising his ideas. As a result a lot of his patents were bought out by the more famous people of that era for a pittance. Tesla was always desperate for money to pay for his latest project. One of his inventions was a means to transmit electrical energy from a transmitter (think aerial) to a receiver that could be miles away. He was successful with that but it never took off, not efficient and he only managed it due to some deal with the local generating company.

I digress but my point being it often the person able to bring something to market that claims the invention. I think it was Eddison who made some comment about Tesla inventing some of his best ideas, or something along those lines. Logie Baird certainly stood on Tesla's shoulders as indeed all inventors and scientists standing on the shoulders of others. The idea of nationality has no real importance in science compared to the benefits it has given to mankind. Ideas flow across boundaries like the greatest rivers.

 

[Toddy]

It was a twill woven checked cloth, and to most folks that says 'tartan' but tartan is a specific type of balanced weave, and not just checked cloth of coloured wools.
It's a development thing. Many cultures wove checked cloths, especially if they were dyeing in small batches and not in huge pots or vats or on a semi or fully commercial basis.

Your comment about markets is very valid….I think most of the 'chair leg' type spurtles date from the advent of the woodturners looking for other smallish items that were easily made and looked appealling to buyers. I know that in my childhood everyone made porridge, and I never saw a stick spurtle like those until I went to craft fayres. Suddenly they were claimed to be authentic and original
Mine's not like that, and I sometimes wonder why the spoon carvers don't make spurtles too.
I'll get a photo up.

atb,
M

 

[Paul_B]

My parents bought my lass a spurtle. Until then I hadn't even heard of them. It was the spindle kind not the wider, flattened koind the OP is making. Not authentic I have now doubt. Right now it is more likely to be found in my 2 year old's toy basket since he took a like to it. We use spoons and the microwave!! I can hear Scots on here groaning at this English philistine. PS we use sugar in it too, or I do my lass is against refined sugars.

 

[Matt77]

....Tartan….it's a balanced twill weave, not just a checked cloth. It's a weaver's thing really, and it's a way of using hand spun and home dyed in small quantities wool yarns; checked cloth that looks as though variation was intentional.
Checked woollens are ubiquitous to W. Europe, but tartan is a specific weaving, and it's British…..that again lasted longer and was more developed in Scotland than elsewhere. The Irish got themselves tangled up in sumptory laws that restricted their colour range according to their social 'class', and that didn't bite deep here, but did there. The English went in more for vat dyeing (they had towns and burghs which restricted things like dyeing to specific people) while the Welsh went in more for blocks of colours….those beautiful Welsh blankets for instance.....
M

I was doing research just before I bought my Kilt, and I have found that examples of plaid (regarding the type and technique of weaving used to create tartan) have been found on mummies dating back to 1000BC in China and the Russian steppes, and in Salzburg (slightly younger mummy)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherchen_Man

http://ancient-wisdom.co.uk/chinacherchen.htm

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/a-meeting-of-civilisations-the-mystery-of-chinas-celtic-mummies-413638.html

Nice Spurtle - sorry about the thread hi-jack

 

[Paul_B]

BTW in what way does a flattened form spurtle work better with oatcakes than say a spatula/fish slice sort of kitchen implement? Is there an advantage? I only ask because I wonder if there is some refinement behind a particular specialist tool that led to it's shape. I find the idea of incremental design improvements in tools and how the changes happened (like the stone tool developments that came about due to development of language - source a recent paper on experiments on transmission of knowledge of toolmaking or at least the media reporting of said paper).

 

[Paul_B]

I was doing research just before I bought my Kilt, and I have found that examples of plaid (regarding the type and technique of weaving used to create tartan) have been found on mummies dating back to 1000BC in China and the Russian steppes, and in Salzburg (slightly younger mummy)

The Chinese ones were the mummies and "tartan" that I was thinking of. Was it really that far back in time? I think there are examples in Peru or other part of the Andes too but that is a vague recollection and could be totally wrong.

 

[Matt77]

Ha - it took me so long to type this up (Im at work - Shhh dont tell my boss) and you have brought up the points I was making - Sorry !

 

[mrcharly]

It was a twill woven checked cloth, and to most folks that says 'tartan' but tartan is a specific type of balanced weave, and not just checked cloth of coloured wools.
It's a development thing. Many cultures wove checked cloths, especially if they were dyeing in small batches and not in huge pots or vats or on a semi or fully commercial basis.
M

What is the earliest date for which we have found evidence of weaving being done in Scotland?

 

[tombear]

I must be getting slow electrons here, I keep typing in a reply and when I hit send there's several more replies I should have answered.

Anyroad, having started off with a gents saw I attacked the piece with a full size saw ( nearly used the rip saw ) and finished with a few strokes of the fretsaw.

I didn't try and get it too thin in case I made a complete fist of it.

A very sharp mora and a couple of my beloved Surforms corrected my dodging sawing and then I sanded it into this profile and oiled it with walnut oil.

Ive taken it quite thin and the edges are almost sharp, I hope I haven't made it too flimsy. Ill give it a few more coats before I get the girdle out. For a first go from 50p charity shop rolling pin I'm pretty pleased with it
it.

thanks for the input folk!

atb

Tom