A few of my Crafty things

[John Fenna]

I just thought I would share this picture of some of the Bushcraft “bits” I have made.

For the technically minded the picture shows: spoons and “Foon” (fork and spoon) carved from box and sycamore, cup( from pine), awl and needles from bone and porcupine quill, spatula from hazel, containers from birch and hazel bark, cordage from nettle, willow and raffia, arrow from hazel with a bone head, spear head from slate, pine resin/charcoal glue sticks, metal arrowhead (made from a nail in the “bushman” style), pouches from leather and a selection of knives.


The knives mainly have Swedish carbon steel blades, though the one far right is of stainless steel – cut down from a cheap kitchen knife!
Any comments would be welcome as I am basically self educated on this kind of subject , having only recently joined BCUK.

With a wary eye on the Croc

 

[Tony]

Some good stuff there John

 

[spamel]

Good work! Didn't know there were crocs in Pembrokeshire!!

 

[torjusg]

Good stuff, is that ulu of slate or metal?

 

[Cawolf]

Thats amazing, I wish I could do that!

 

[gregorach]

I am basically self educated on this kind of subject , having only recently joined BCUK.

Well, it looks like you're doing a pretty good job there!

 

[Dougster]

There is some lovely work there - well done that man.

 

[jon r]

nice stuff mate! I love the spoons and the containers! Did you make the knives too! Nice work!

 

[weaver]

Fine work John!

You should be teaching bushcraft to the rest of us. How about some how to articles?

 

[John Fenna]

Many thanks for the kind comments, though I do not think I am qualified to teach anyone anything yet!
Well spotted those who:
A/ realize that there are no Crocs(except old ones like me!) in Pembs (photo taken in St Lucia South Africa when I was leading my latest expedition) just to show my pretty face
and B/ the use of slate - which there is a lot of in Pembs, though there is no flint....

 

[steveo]

Your stuff looks good to me John !!!

 

[penvisser]

A few of my crafty things

I think there is quite a lot stuff on the pics !

They all are looking very nice, btw :You_Rock_

 

[Burnt Ash]

Many thanks for the kind comments, though I do not think I am qualified to teach anyone anything yet!
Well spotted those who:
A/ realize that there are no Crocs(except old ones like me!) in Pembs (photo taken in St Lucia South Africa when I was leading my latest expedition) just to show my pretty face
and B/ the use of slate - which there is a lot of in Pembs, though there is no flint....

Ah, now you're talking! I remember a lads' fishing trip to St Lucia 20 odd years ago. I drove an open-topped Landy from Jo'burg to Durban to meet/pick up friends, then up the Zululand coast. Did you go to Cape Vidal? Lake St Lucia was connected to the sea by a channel in those days. Did someone tell me recently that this had choked up?

BTW, I like your stuff. Most importantly, it must have given you great pleasure to make. Sadly, there is limited opportunity for us to test the efficacity of some of our homemade bushcraft gear in contemporary times. I'd guess that slate was not probably our ancestors' first choice of spear head material.

From what I have seen of contemporary less-developed societies, employing pragmatic meso-technologies, the truck suspension leaf spring is the preferred starting stock for knife blades, spears, arrow heads, adzes, etc., etc.

Burnt Ash

 

[stovie]

Great work there John....What's the container (top right in the first picture) made from???

 

[John Fenna]

The container top right, is made from hazel bark (from a tree from my own garden) sewn with willow bark (also from my garden).
The lake was deliberately blocked to avoid pollution from a wrecked oil tanker - or so I was told.
More slate here than leaf springs!
Again, thanks for all the comments.
John

 

[John Fenna]

A picture of my latest projects! All have been inspired by this site or the mag – my results may not be all I would wish, but I think they pass muster. The next attempts may be to a finer finish…
The knife is a standard Mora re-handled in oak (yeah I know the tang is very short and oak will cause corrosion problems, but it felt the right thing to do), darkened with vinager and a wet moulded, 3mm thick, leather sheath made for it which was then hot wax treated.
The cup is a Tesco’s coconut, with an oak (I have loads of this at the moment thanks to being given a broken chest of drawers) handle glued (resin & charcoal) and screwed in place. Thanks to careful selection of the nut (by a nut to judge from the looks I was getting!) and careful fitting of the handle the mug is stable on flat surfaces. The nut is a pleasure to drink from and gives a nutty hint to the flavour of the drink.
The leather bottle (black-jack) is made from 1mm goatskin, saddle stitched with waxed linen thread and proofed by painting the outside with bees wax and swirling moulted wax around the inside.
I thought that the leather would not be thick enough to hold the shape of the mouth so I fitted it with an ash spout, glued (pine resin & charcoal) and whipped into place with a thong that was then also glued. Unfortunately the spout deformed the bottles neck a bit and looks messy – but it works!

 

[Tony]

That cups cool John Would it have worked without a handle at all or does it get very hot?

 

[John Fenna]

Crikey Tone - that was swift!
Yes to both questions - it would work without the handle - but it does get quite hot - great for cold mornings!
I am currently working on bottle mkII (actually taking a break fro m the endless saddle stiching) and hope this ends up looking better than the one in the photo.
I will be looking at making a coconut waterbottle after Xmas. Any Idea if the Ostrich farm is still working in Drefach Felindre - on the south of the Village somewhere - as ostrich egg waterbottles, like the San people used, would be
cool if I could source eggs closer than South Africa. I will not be expeditioning in SA this year as I am leading an exped in Thailand instead.
Cheers for the picture!