Rancid Badger, myself and a few others ran a bark container workshop in Chopwell Woods on Sunday. It was fully booked and everyone seemed to have a grand time.
There's a thread about it on the Out and About section, but I thought I'd post these photos here as you could almost make a tutorial from it.
Steve preparing a 'spud'. Made from a small branch and used to peel the bark.
The tree got hung up in some branches and needed a little persuasion to drop lower.
Me explaining some of the dangers of dropping even a small tree.
Steve starting the first cut, right down the length of the bark.
Peeling the bark with the spud.
Working the bark loose without splitting it. It needs to come of in one complete sheet.
Easing the bark off slowly and steadily.
Here's a closeup of using the spud.
Easing the bark away. Not too difficult this time of year as the sap is still flowing.
Nearly there.
The bark is now off in one sheet. There's enough there for two, maybe three baskets.
Now it's the students' turn.
A closeup if bark peeling.
Here's Steve demonstrating how to dig safely for sprice roots. We'll use the roots like thread to sew up the basket.
Now it's the students'turn to find their own spruce roots. The secret of conservation is not to take too many from the one tree.
Found a suitable root to follow. You need to dig along so you get as much root as possible.
Students' having a good dig around.
This is Ben from LePrevo leathers finding his roots.
Back at base camp.
Laying out the bark body
Scoring fold lines with the awl or the back of the knife
Folding along the score lines to get the basic container shape.
Steve taking the peeled and split spruce root, ready to sew.
After making a hole with the awl, Steve is starting to sew the two sides together.
Here's closeup of the sewing.
Now it's the students' turn.
Here's one of the finished baskets.
These are just a few of the photos I took. It was a very enjoyable day in the woods. You should all try it sometime. All you need is a knife and a folding saw. Everything else, you can get on the spot from the woods.
Eric
There's a thread about it on the Out and About section, but I thought I'd post these photos here as you could almost make a tutorial from it.
Steve preparing a 'spud'. Made from a small branch and used to peel the bark.
The tree got hung up in some branches and needed a little persuasion to drop lower.
Me explaining some of the dangers of dropping even a small tree.
Steve starting the first cut, right down the length of the bark.
Peeling the bark with the spud.
Working the bark loose without splitting it. It needs to come of in one complete sheet.
Easing the bark off slowly and steadily.
Here's a closeup of using the spud.
Easing the bark away. Not too difficult this time of year as the sap is still flowing.
Nearly there.
The bark is now off in one sheet. There's enough there for two, maybe three baskets.
Now it's the students' turn.
A closeup if bark peeling.
Here's Steve demonstrating how to dig safely for sprice roots. We'll use the roots like thread to sew up the basket.
Now it's the students'turn to find their own spruce roots. The secret of conservation is not to take too many from the one tree.
Found a suitable root to follow. You need to dig along so you get as much root as possible.
Students' having a good dig around.
This is Ben from LePrevo leathers finding his roots.
Back at base camp.
Laying out the bark body
Scoring fold lines with the awl or the back of the knife
Folding along the score lines to get the basic container shape.
Steve taking the peeled and split spruce root, ready to sew.
After making a hole with the awl, Steve is starting to sew the two sides together.
Here's closeup of the sewing.
Now it's the students' turn.
Here's one of the finished baskets.
These are just a few of the photos I took. It was a very enjoyable day in the woods. You should all try it sometime. All you need is a knife and a folding saw. Everything else, you can get on the spot from the woods.
Eric