Broomstick?

[silvergirl]

My kids have been asking for a broom each for christmas , however I'm not sure if I'll have much time to make them (exams next week!, I'm studying honest ).

I have two options at the moment -
Find one for sale, I want two traditional good quality brooms that can sweep up 1/2 an acre of leaves (and double up as a witches broom of course).

Or make some. I have made them in the past but I have had problems making them robust enough, they tend to shed twigs.

Does anyone have tips advice on what I should be doing, which woods etc. How to attach one the tail so it doesn't disintegrate.

Or suggestions where I can buy them, local garden centre doesn't seem to have them. And I don't want anything involving plastic.

 

[Toddy]

There's a man called Robbie Gordon, who lives up near you. He demonstrates rope making and broom making at heritage centres, parks days and events. He made mine and it's lasted over a year of regular use so far. He writes articles and poetry in the Doric.
I don't know how to get in touch with him other than through a friend of a friend, but if you can't find him any other way.......

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Mike Ameling]

If your brooms are shedding twigs, they you are probably not getting the wire wrapping/tie tight enough. It isn't that easy to do. You almost need "mechanical advantage" to tighten the wire wrap up enough.

One little "fix" would be to use a little glue worked into the twig bundle. This would help hold everything in place. And if you choose a clear drying glue, it would be hard to see. Yes, pine pitch would be a little more traditional, but can be mess-ier.

BTW, did your kids just get through watching/reading the Harry Potter stories? That might point to their interest in brooms at the moment.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[silvergirl]

There's a man called Robbie Gordon, who lives up near you. He demonstrates rope making and broom making at heritage centres, parks days and events.y

Thanks Toddy, I'll ask about. It may have been him I met at edinburgh Treefest in the summer. Did a brilliant ropework demo. Of course I didn't ask for contact details

If your brooms are shedding twigs, they you are probably not getting the wire wrapping/tie tight enough. It isn't that easy to do. You almost need "mechanical advantage" to tighten the wire wrap up enough.

One little "fix" would be to use a little glue worked into the twig bundle. This would help hold everything in place. And if you choose a clear drying glue, it would be hard to see. Yes, pine pitch would be a little more traditional, but can be mess-ier.

BTW, did your kids just get through watching/reading the Harry Potter stories? That might point to their interest in brooms at the moment.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

Thanks for the advice Mike, I'm not sure how to apply the mechanical advantage, but I'll try some experiments.

And yes the kids have just been reading Harry Potter, which I suspect is the reason.
My daughter wants a wand too. Unfortunatly see seems to think it will work.

 

[Eric_Methven]

You should be using birch twigs for the besom head, and ash or hazel for the handle.
To gain the mechanical advantage Mike speaks of, simply gather a good size bundle of birch tops, pass a one foot loop of rope around them, put a stick through the loop and twist. This will tighten around the bundle compressing it tightly. Use a piece of twine to tie the stick temporarily to the bundle to stop it unravelling. Take some strong wire, or you can be very traditional and use split ash withies and wrap these around the bundle above and below the rope. Tuck the ends in tightly so they won't come adrift then release the rope. You should now have a tight head of birch tops. Use an axe to trim the top end straight across so all the twigs are the same length above the top binding.

Next, sharpen the handle so it's like a pencil at the bottom. Turn it upside down so the top of the handle is resting on the floor. Now take the besom head, also upside down. Place it over the sharpened handle and push it down. Now lift both pieces and bash it smartly on the floor a few times. This will force the head onto the handle. It will also make a much tighter fit with the bindings. The handle should pass through the length of the head up to and including the lowest binding.

That's all there is to it. The tight friction fit will keep the handle on.

Just one other thing. Many people take a few slices off the top of the handle to make a sort of chisel point. They can then stick this into the ground when the besom is not being used. In any case, the besom should be stored upside down or you will find the twigs all bend in one direction and it makes it harder to actually sweep the floor with.

I've made hundreds of these over the years as a by product of charcoal burning. There's no need for glue if you try the above method.

Hope this helps,

Eric

 

[rivermom]

thank you so much for this thread. How to make a home made broom is one of those things I always wanted to know, but never got round to asking. And now that it is hedgerow tidying season, I just cant wait to try it.

As regards wands that work, well I always had one. But it only works for Moms, not for kids. You point it at the little blighter, and say the magic words; "Do it now, or else"

 

[Toddy]

Brilliant

My broom is made of broom with a hazel staff for it's handle.
Robbie bundled up the broom and took a short length of rope with a stick tied to one end. He put the bunch of broom on his knee, wrapped the rope around it with the stick end on the ground under his foot, and pulled, hard. He then bound the bunch, whipping it over a loop of cord that he put the finishing end through, and then he pulled both ends into the middle of the wrapping and cut them neatly. He tied up the broom with an axe.
Then he sharpened the hazel stick and rammed it into the bundle, he dunted the butt end on the ground, and it forced the stick into the tied bundle making things even tighter. It's an excellent broom, hasn't lost it's bristles though some are a lot shorter with the amount of use it gets. He did say not to ever let it get too dry, store it outdoors under cover and handle end down.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[xylaria]

This thread is great. I have always used broom and hazel, mainly because that grows most commonly near me, but I have always made a bit of pigs ear of it and had to use PVA glue. Thanks for all the proper instruction. When the kids wanted wands, they made their own, but i sanded the points for safety as my son decided to use sloe. :swordfigh

So Toddy, your advice on keeping the broom outside undercover, why can I see vistors joking about various forms of transport such as bikes and skateboards been stored with broomsticks?

 

[Toddy]

got a bit surreal when I was tidying up the front path with it and my brother came for a coffee. He parked his bike beside the Rowan tree which was looking more than a bit sorry for itself.
I asked him, "You don't know anything about diseases of Rowans, do you ?"
He looked at me, looked at the broom, and replied, "Apart from chronic witch? No ! "

cheers,
M

 

[xylaria]

I have noticed the broom on the inside of the front door is getting old and tatty from getting to dry, so next one I make will definitely live outside by the back door. Burning the pumpkin on the back wall a few days after halloween, seem to quieten down my rather rude neighbour, and one must keep up appearances.

 

[burning]

Thanks Eric, always wondered how a besom was made :You_Rock_

 

[Mike Ameling]

The other way people get that "mechanical advantage" to tighten up the twigs (or broom corn) is to take a length of rope, tie it to something overhead (rafter, door jamb, low tree branch), put a loop in the end where it touches the ground big enough to put your foot in. Then wrap it around your broom bundle, and put your foot through the loop and apply pressure. You can "roll" the broom bundle up and down on the rope a bit to help tighten it all up a bit. Your weight standing in the rope loop applies the pressure. Hang on to the broom bundle tightly - it might try to ... twist ... out of the rope wrapped around it. When you have it tight enough, then bind it with whatever you are using - rope, wire, wooden hoops, etc.

John Seymour has a bit on broom making in his book The Forgotten Crafts: A practical guide to traditional skills. isbn 0-394-53956-7

And there is some more in Country Woodcraft: A handbook of traditional woodwooking techniques and projects by Drew Langsner isbn 0-87857-201-5.

Broom making is also covered in the Foxfire books (can't get to them to check out which one right now), and in one of the 2 SALT books (like Foxfire books but from a coastal New England point of view - and also buried at the moment).

I used a heavy broomstraw broom today to "sweep" 2 inches of new light snow off of the driveway. It worked better than shoveling.

If you rotate which direction you sweep with your broom every few strokes, it will not take that "set" on the twigs/bristles.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[Mike Ameling]

I have noticed the broom on the inside of the front door is getting old and tatty from getting to dry, so next one I make will definitely live outside by the back door. Burning the pumpkin on the back wall a few days after halloween, seem to quieten down my rather rude neighbour, and one must keep up appearances.

It's always fun to ... live down to ... other people's expectations!

And it generally solves more problems than it creates!

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands