Wow, hi folks, well it surely has been a while since i last posted on here, i hope all is good with everyone, and your all busy shrafting away.
As for me, well i,m still plugging away, getting out and creating stuff, anyway i waffle.
So, i have been busy with my latest project, i have been making a coracle and carving a paddle for it, and i thought you may like to cast an eye over it.
I cut the Hazel, just as the leaves were staring to show, then bundled them up and left them to start to dry out.
Whilst the Hazel was drying, i made the seat. I decorated it by burning in my design, the fish, i hope will bring me luck whilst casting a line from the Coracle.
Once the Hazel had dried a little, i marked out the diameter, on the ground, with small sticks, then i pushed in the large Hazel wands.
Next, i wove a small skirt around the frame, and then put on the seat, which is upside down, then i used a blow torch to heat the wands up, to make them supple. Using a dry heat source instead of steaming them, helps to drive out the moisture, which will help in reducing shrinkage of the wands, as they dry out. Once heated it was time for some manipulation.
Next it was time to put weight onto the frame to help create a flat bottom. The flatter the bottom, the more stable it will be once floating on water.
After a day or so, i removed the weight, and repeated process with the rest of the frame wands, and back on with the weight again.
Again a couple of days later, weight removed, i square lashed the frame poles together, then i wove more wands to increase the skirt.
Now i removed the Coracle frame from the ground, and trimmed the wand ends which had been buried in the ground, to make neat.
The next job was to put a foot well in and then sew a cover on, the cover is just a cheap tarp, for now, but i will eventually cover it with a Deer hide.
After the cover was in place, it was time to tackle the paddle. The wood i cut was a downed seasoned Spruce, so that became the paddle.
Hewed.
Marked.
And then axed out to shape.
So after some graft,and a lot of sanding, i burned in my paddle design.
And the end result. One Coracle and paddle.
The designs together.
A close up of the paddle.
And closer again.
Well all that,s left to do is take it out for a spin on the water, which I'll do soon, once my hands stop hurting from all the sewing.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to look.
Cheers Stuart.
As for me, well i,m still plugging away, getting out and creating stuff, anyway i waffle.
So, i have been busy with my latest project, i have been making a coracle and carving a paddle for it, and i thought you may like to cast an eye over it.
I cut the Hazel, just as the leaves were staring to show, then bundled them up and left them to start to dry out.
Whilst the Hazel was drying, i made the seat. I decorated it by burning in my design, the fish, i hope will bring me luck whilst casting a line from the Coracle.
Once the Hazel had dried a little, i marked out the diameter, on the ground, with small sticks, then i pushed in the large Hazel wands.
Next, i wove a small skirt around the frame, and then put on the seat, which is upside down, then i used a blow torch to heat the wands up, to make them supple. Using a dry heat source instead of steaming them, helps to drive out the moisture, which will help in reducing shrinkage of the wands, as they dry out. Once heated it was time for some manipulation.
Next it was time to put weight onto the frame to help create a flat bottom. The flatter the bottom, the more stable it will be once floating on water.
After a day or so, i removed the weight, and repeated process with the rest of the frame wands, and back on with the weight again.
Again a couple of days later, weight removed, i square lashed the frame poles together, then i wove more wands to increase the skirt.
Now i removed the Coracle frame from the ground, and trimmed the wand ends which had been buried in the ground, to make neat.
The next job was to put a foot well in and then sew a cover on, the cover is just a cheap tarp, for now, but i will eventually cover it with a Deer hide.
After the cover was in place, it was time to tackle the paddle. The wood i cut was a downed seasoned Spruce, so that became the paddle.
Hewed.
Marked.
And then axed out to shape.
So after some graft,and a lot of sanding, i burned in my paddle design.
And the end result. One Coracle and paddle.
The designs together.
A close up of the paddle.
And closer again.
Well all that,s left to do is take it out for a spin on the water, which I'll do soon, once my hands stop hurting from all the sewing.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to look.
Cheers Stuart.
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