devon TWiG

I have seen something similar to that pile in the Tate gallery !!!!. Very valuable apparently ..

Slackbladder , if you know anyone local ( a mate ? ) who is very competent / experienced / qualified it could be worth your while asking them to observe you going about your tasks and point out what may or may not be wrong , and / or observe what they do , or work with them for a little while , a sort of informal assessment without any certificate ( as not required .)

A while back in Devon a guy got fined for cutting grass on a playing field / park with a tractor ,using red diesel he did it voluntarily for years so no hire /reward , I would of thought this was horticulture but it seems this was not the case .

That is not woodcraft ................it is fine art !! Most of us, in light of recent events in Ukraine would not consider it the sort of place that would produce someone that can make stuff like this , Their loss Irelands gain , I wish him well !!! Terry...

Thanks for the comments guys , Not every person will like every thing , that is why it is good to make a wide range of things , It does not bother me if 7 devil is not a fan of the lids and am sure he was just offering his opinion rather than a criticism , and things can come across differently when written than when spoken . I often just like to explore what I can make with all the various woods readily available as Arb waste before it gets burnt !! I have made some things in the past which I do not like that much myself but someone has bought them , other times something I really like does not sell , and some pieces I like so much I keep !! Terry .....

A few recent pieces in Robinia and Laburnum about 9 inches tall

Hi Pan , nice vessel there , some very careful work was required to make those , to avoid wrecking the wood and / or your fingers !! well done .. Terry..

This is quite unbelievable !! they are also wary that some one will take the wood but not the branches ( must be moved first ) obviously not daft but very unrealistic !! or perhaps some one advised them to do it this way .

not all JR,s have short legs ..

The stalk of feathers in pillows have been known to hurt eyes whilst asleep !

I have never heard of anyone having tetanus , has anyone known some one to have it ? I know jabs are normally given if you end up in A&E with a wound , but is it possible from thorn , splinters or bramble scratches etc ?

I notice a lot of people on here get very excited about BIG , W- I- D- E boards , but I have very rarely seen anything made from big wide boards ,( look at almost anything in the category of fine furniture) , mainly due to the problems identified in this thread , also wide boards have a greater tendency to warp twist etc and it is a lot more work than necessary . If you could get a wide long board in a planer / thicknesser , then it is possible by the time the wood is "trued " there is F all left !! Also it is more important than ever to ensure the wood is as dry as its final destination ( household humidity ) I have recently planed some fairly wide boards , firstly I chose the least warped to begin with , then as mentioned used an electric hand planer to remove high spots and get it mostly flat and even , then I used a series of hand planes , a large wooden one ( very old ) and then a smoothing plane before sanding , it is quite a bit of work , but my preferred method is as suggested , cut in to boards that will fit through a planer thicknesser . Terry .

I do not use very many tools and most of my chisels ( not hollowing tools ) I keep in a plastic bucket , sharps end first , with marked handles so I know what is what , I like to keep walls etc clear / uncluttered for ease of cleaning up and not having many dust traps , I clean up with compressed air . Terry...

I was a full time climber for about 20 years and had no aches pains etc , just got a bit fed up with it day in day out ,also like others have said the ground work is often harder !! I went in to a management type job and phcking hated it !!! dealing with people and not trees was **** , always on the phone , trying to use a computer and spending time in an office and could not believe how easily some people could be "so " offended by my lack of political correctness and general uncivilised manner ( after 20 years working with " lads " ) Also the unbelievable increase in H&S, so I took my HGV test , and for the last 10-12 years have been doing that part time with agencies , some tree work and also woodcraft work ( turning , carving etc ) and have a lot of time off in summer to "play " and this suits me very well at the moment !! I really enjoyed being in the Arb industry but things seem very different nowadays and have no regrets doing other stuff now .

Well done Pan ! I have hardly ever seen willow turned and never tried myself , The natural edge looks great and it is not that easy to cut without chipping / breaking the wood and not very finger friendly either if you are not careful ! . Pollard heads can be great pieces of wood especially Horse chestnut and London plane , you just need to keep your eyes peeled for such bits , which to most people is just a rather horrid knotty bit of crap !.. Terry ..

It amazes me that these days that virtually everything , even relatively simple, needs expensive "expert " advise and regulation, but anyone can just work on their own vehicle .. brakes , steering or whatever ! ( I would like to point out that I am not a mechanic trying to protect my own trade ) and how many people fell trees without the relevant tickets ? etc ... seems life is becoming overfull of such nonsense now , soon we will be banned from cleaning our own teeth unless we are qualified Dentists ! ( rant over !! )

Is there not some "superstition " about burning Elder ? ... otherwise this would be hard to resist ( not ! )

They have quite a big creamery on the outskirts of Redruth , lots of the best milk is taken here and they make the only cream I buy !

£20 - £30 per cubic foot , you may get a good price on the better boards, and then be left with cracked / warped boards of odd dimensions you can hardly give away . Depends how much someone wants it really but Oak is readily available in most areas so I doubt any one will travel that far for it but you never know really ! Are there any traditional boat builders near you ?

Hi Pan , yes you are right I turned it from green ( damp ) wood in one go , I then leave it till surface dry and then sand it , and apply an oil finish , it is distorted , though not as much as some others I have made from Oak for example . It gives them a nice "organic" appearance rather than a highly engineered / crafted appearance , a bit like something dug up by an archaeologist or a seed like thing found at the base of an ancient tree . Glad you like it , do you make things yourself ? Terry...

Some excellent stuff there Mark ... and a nice varied range of items and timber , seems you can make almost any thing from any wood .. keep it up and keep sending pics as well .. Is this your full time occupation now ? Terry.

The HC burr is probably one of the best / favourite pieces I have made so far ,so I will probably keep it for myself , thanks for the comments , I do not give any tuition of any sort in a formal manner but if any one is fairly local ( ie not Scottish islands ... ! ) something could probably be arranged . There is plenty of guidance in print and the internet of how to hollow such pieces , and in essence it is quite simple really ( bit like felling trees ) but knowing HOW to do it is a bit different from being ABLE to do it especially getting it right every time ... Terry

Very nice , I have seen this design at Chartres Cathedral in France , it is in mosaic on the floor , originally a pagan site of worship then a cathedral built on top .

Believe it or not I made one from a bit of oak ! in essence it is just a cricket bat shaped piece with a cleft in the bat part , the handle part so to speak is a bit thicker than the metal one would be but it worked , made holes in a few logs to stand xmas trees in , will make another some time with improved design and how I made it .

Oops not sure how I got driftwood chair in that post ( techno numpty !!)