Hi.
I haven't visited Natural Bushcraft for some years now.
I think my old P.C was so full of viruses it simply wouldn't let me log on.
Since my last visit I have been working on my knife, spoon and kuksa designs.
I took a year away from carving kuksa to develop my spoon carving technique and to give
thought about the direction I want to go with kuksa carving.
Well, once I'd decided I'd given the problem enough thought, it was time to take action.
So, I had a word with Albert and headed off to his woodland for some carving material
a fresh windblown, Birch.
My wife Sarah and I own the worlds smallest car which definitely
wouldn't reach the centre of the woodland, so it was time to break out the big packs
and prepare for some tough leg work.
This is the start of a kuksa carve, snedding and sawing carefully chosen lengths of green wood.
The photo above shows me snedding a branch the opposite side of the tree to where I'm standing,
I'm always conscious of where that axe head is headed.
I use a Brucks Small Forest Axe for this kind of work.
I'm not a big fan of this Axe as it isn't particularly versatile, but for felling and snedding work, it's great !
So once back at the 'JonMac Pigsty Workshop' it's time to light the stove and split my chosen timber.
I'm not going to go through the whole carving process here, you can find out how it's done on my blog, but I thought you might like a few 'Highlights'.
The initial Axe work on these pieces is quite violent, but measured in it's ferocity and accuracy, I'm usually quite keen
to get this part done and dusted as quickly as possible. Once I get the knife out I can start drawing the work, getting the proportions to work, joining point a to point b with a suitable curve or line. And hollowing out the bowl with a hook knife. I usually undercut the lip to reduce spillage of your favourite tipple. These are the processes I enjoy the most.
I often bring the work indoors for the fine detail, it's more for the light and a table than any other reason. All of this carve can be accomplished in the forest with three tools plus a 3mm gauge or a hot nail.
The next part of the carve, for me, is the most nerve wracking. Carving the character into the piece.
If I wasn't indoors with a good lamp I would definitely use a head torch whilst carrying
out this part.
So, eventually, after some considerable hours with sharp Axe, Sloyd knife and hook I reach the finish. A couple of coats of oil and it's ready to ship and onto the next one.........
Thank you for taking the time to get to this end of my first post for some years.
Appreciated.
Jon Mac.