Tomorrow I start a 3 day advanced woodcarving course. On our basic courses we use clean straight grained wood and concentrate on teaching the techniques of using axe and knife safely and efficiently, on the developers courses we get more into design issues and to make the best spoons you need crooks.
This all means I get to spend a day wandering some lovely woods crook hunting.
These woods are on an old millstone grit quarry, the base of the wood was old oak coppice long ago singled out. The waste from the quarry was tipped down the hill and lies amongst the trees.
Further up the quarry itself is covered in birch mostly 50 or so years old and prone to windblow. This is what I was looking for, been lying a month or so but still fresh enough.
Cutting a crook.
here are a few more.
Lots of these about.
And a few gorgeous old hollow oak stumps.
Off to another woodland where I have permission to thin a dense stand of birch for some bigger stuff for kuksas.
Then it was back home and sharpen 8 carving axes, 8 knives and 8 hook knives and we are all ready to go.
This all means I get to spend a day wandering some lovely woods crook hunting.
These woods are on an old millstone grit quarry, the base of the wood was old oak coppice long ago singled out. The waste from the quarry was tipped down the hill and lies amongst the trees.
Further up the quarry itself is covered in birch mostly 50 or so years old and prone to windblow. This is what I was looking for, been lying a month or so but still fresh enough.
Cutting a crook.
here are a few more.
Lots of these about.
And a few gorgeous old hollow oak stumps.
Off to another woodland where I have permission to thin a dense stand of birch for some bigger stuff for kuksas.
Then it was back home and sharpen 8 carving axes, 8 knives and 8 hook knives and we are all ready to go.
