We
then went on to look at the next 2 trees to be felled – both leaning and
needing to be match cut; both big enough to warrant a team effort. Having
looked at them both Nick asked us to divide into 2 groups bearing in mind that
they should be evenly matched in terms of ‘youth’ which I took to mean energy,
muscle power and skill. As the oldest, one of the lightest and possibly the
least skilled and with no-one else making a move I opted for the willow and
Andrew and Kieron chose to join me.. That left Stef, David and Penny to tackle
the Oak. I am not sure if this was the even division Nick had in mind but it
was what he got because he did n’t want to be bossy! Nick and Martin (Barbara
was unwell and had stayed home) left us to it but kept an eye on proceedings
and intervened when they thought we needed advice.
Andrew,
Kieron and I formed a disorderly queue with our axes and jostled politely for
equal shares of the work. With their bigger, heavier axes and greater skill
they worked more efficiently than I did but I was pleased that my swings seem
to be improving. We did a neatly matched pair of cuts and then a few blows on
the back brought the tree down gracefully and slowly on its hinge. The top
growth was twisted and tangled, the trunk was still attached by its hinge and
supported on some of the branches so we had to work out how to dismember it safely
without causing it to twist or fall unintentionally. Martin helped us to think
it through and we all had a go at axing off branches. Martin, and later Jill,
joined us to help sned. One branch was now vertical from the trunk which was
still suspended above the ground. Martin decided that for safety he would axe
it off as it needed a cut rather high for any of us to manage competently, but
if we had dropped the trunk there was a possibility it would roll with the
weight that was high up. We discussed other strategies if we were working on
our own with such a situation but they were slower and more complex so we let
him help us out! Then Kieron and I got on the two handed saw and cut the trunk
into 2 more manageable lengths. Despite several brief but intense hailstorms we
got the job finished by the end of the day.
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| The snedding ants get to work |
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| The two handed saw being put to good use by Garry and Stef |
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| A two handed saw will last forever once properly set up. Here's Martin getting an old saw ship shape |
Andrew
had brought me today and used his long wheel base Landrover so that he could
take Penny and her finished Shavehorse home – a shavehorse being difficult to
transport on the bus or her bike! They had loaded it earlier but when we left
we decided to walk up Steve’s ride to his yard and thence to the lane thinking
it would be less muddy. Jill joined us with her bike. When we got to the gate
we discovered that it was locked because Martin, who parks in Steve’s yard, had
already left. Rather than go back we agreed to climb the gate which was netted
on our side at the bottom making it more difficult to get a foot hold. Andrew
lifted Jill’s bike over and we climbed. Penny and Jill managed it with panache;
between being restricted by thermal long johns, jeans and waterproof over
trousers which made bending my knees difficult and an uncontrollable fit of
giggling I did it very inelegantly! A sack of potatoes comes to mind!
Having
travelled to her home Andrew and I were even more more struck by Penny’s
fortitude and determination in getting to the course.
Thursday
was green woodworking as usual and I was very touched that both Nick and Martin
had been thinking about the best way to construct my swing bench given that the
weight is pulling down on chains rather than pressing down on legs. They had
come to similar conclusions and a few more diagrams later we were in agreement.
However the first task was to finish preparing blanks to become the spindles for
the back. How many of these are turned on the lathe and how many remain as
shaped by the drawknife depends on time and progress. Their length also depends
on the curved piece I select for the top of the back and I have discovered that
the longer the spindle is the thicker it must be or it flexes and wobbles on
the lathe which may also affect how many I turn. I spent the morning shaping
the willow I had cleft last week into straight cylinders using the axe and then
the drawknife. The practice I got in over the summer making sawhorses certainly
helped as I was able to do them quite quickly and can make a circle by eye and
feel.
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| Penny getting advice from Barabra on how to work weave her bean support |
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| Sue's finished spurtle |
After
lunch I asked Barbara for the piece of thorn she had mentioned last week. Thorn
is particularly good to turn on the lathe and she wanted me to have that
experience. When we got the piece from the store it had a saw cut part way down
but this seemed to be superficial so I got the froe and started to split it.
That was when I discovered that the cut was too deep and stopped the split. I
need a couple of shorter spindles for the front of the arms so decided to
continue and use the piece for one of those. It was beautifully straight
grained and I quite quickly had the blank I needed. I mounted it on the lathe
and started to rough it to a true cylinder. Nick came to check that I was OK as
I was working outside and the tutors were all busy in the workshop. He noticed
that one end of the work had slipped and was off-centre which was why it was
taking a long time to become round! He cut that end off and re-mounted it for
me but once I had finished roughing I had a short piece much fatter at one end
and rather thin at the other. Martin was walking past and came to see how I was
getting on. After a brief discussion I decided to abandon it as a spindle but
rather than waste the wood and the work already put in I turned it (literally!)
into a spurtle for stirring my porridge. It was beautiful wood to work, nicely
figured and with a smooth finish. To my delight and relief I managed to produce
a fairly even thickness of shaft and to shape quite a nice thistle as a handle.
I must trim the ends off and it needs to dry out slowly and even so may split
but it was good to finish the week on a high note.
Words by Sue Laverack
Photos by Sue Laverack and David Hunter
