Willow bark container with

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Tank

Full Member
Aug 10, 2009
2,015
278
Witney, Oxfordshire
Morning crafting with bark.

I managed to get the willow bark off in one, it was a bit touch and go at one point due to the a few knots but it released with a bit of care.

This time I had time to soak my spruce roots, and selected the straightest and most consistent length, it was a bit thicker than I wanted but I worked in through my hands to soften any stiff areas.

I added a rim to the container but I wish I had a thicker bit of bark as I feel this may be a bit thin.

The roots and bark are a lovely material to work

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Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,972
4,621
S. Lanarkshire
That looks so good :cool:
I think it's lovely to see such work, and I do appreciate just how much work it is to make it so soundly. That's a fair chunk of willow to get off in a useable condition too.

Thanks for the photos :)
 

Tank

Full Member
Aug 10, 2009
2,015
278
Witney, Oxfordshire
That looks so good :cool:
I think it's lovely to see such work, and I do appreciate just how much work it is to make it so soundly. That's a fair chunk of willow to get off in a useable condition too.

Thanks for the photos :)
Thanks Toddy. So glad it came off cleanly. It's make a nice size container.

I made a other from a smaller branch but used some braided Elm bark to bind it together.

Really enjoy making these containers and always on the look out for more bark to play with.
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Tank

Full Member
Aug 10, 2009
2,015
278
Witney, Oxfordshire
They kind of make you want to hold them, smell the woods, move them around in your hands, don't they ?

Seeing the blade cover makes me wonder, Have you tried the bark knife sheath?
About half way down this page....

I was surprised at how robust and enduring it was.

M
I was just holding the first bark container I made and considering re-doing the binding... but I kind of want to leave it to so I can see how I have progressed.

I have not seen that style of sheath before, I will have to give it a go some time.
 

JonathanD

Ophiological Genius
Sep 3, 2004
12,809
1,480
Stourton,UK
I’d leave them as is. It’s always good to look back on old work and see how you used to do things and how your skills have evolved. Everything I’ve fixed or redone, I’ve regretted later.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,972
4,621
S. Lanarkshire
I think things we make have a life, and things we use show that. Everything pristine, perfect, untouched, unused, unworn, unrepaired ? unaged, can be very uninteresting somehow.
It's like the tools we use, the ones we pick up instinctively knowing they'll fit the hand, that we know how to use them to do what we want.
I don't care that my wee paring knife is nearly thirty years old, that it's not some hand hammered sixty layer special. It's my wee knife......iimmc ? or the basket that Fi made for me twenty years ago that I use to store spuds. It's ageing, it's mellowed, it has loosened slightly, but it's still the tattie basket.
The fruit bowl my Dad turned nearly sixty years ago no longer gleams, it's a soft gentle still 'right' fruit bowl. My rolling pin was my Granny's, I have no idea how old it is, but it's mine, and I use it still.

Natural materials have a life, I have no problem with them showing that. That they also show how our skills have improved, our knowledge has grown, is no bad thing :)
 

Tank

Full Member
Aug 10, 2009
2,015
278
Witney, Oxfordshire
That’s more like it. Nice clean folds. That’s where things can go wrong for me when I‘ve done it.
Always looking to improve, this one I did some measuring on

Now I need to go out and find better roots in softer ground so they are hopeful more consistent and with less kinks.



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