New Year New Chair

The weather has been pretty grim throughout the Christmas holiday's wet and windy then. Very wet and very windy, along with the gales and torrential rain you get the idea its been pretty wet. No wandering in the woods or biking So I dug out some Elm and oak, and cut some parts for a chair I have the blueprints in my head at the moment so you will be watching the various stages shortly.

So this year is now coming to a close and a new one just round the corner.I wish all the followers and friends of Talk From The Timber a very happy and healthy new year in 2012:):)

Christmas Rose

A few week's ago we had snow and after the past couple of years I thought we would have snow for Christmas. But now the temp is around 10c during the day, and these warmer temperatures have stirred a little rose bud in my garden and it opened this week just in time for Christmas.Here it is on Christmas eve and I hope all my friends and followers from (Talk From The Timber) have a very merry Christmas :)

Alone in the Wilderness

This really has to be one of my hero's, this guy is a legend .He lived alone in Alaska for many years taking only what he needed and wasting nothing. I have read two books that started as his diaries.These are well worth reading, One Man's Wilderness An Alaskan Odyssey and More Readings From One Man's Wilderness. Take a look this guy is inspirational:) I just found out how to add video's clever stuff:)

Ben's Mill: An Excerpt

Here's a fantastic bit of film that show's an old water powered Wood Mill in vermont .Where Ben made his living,working metal and wood making a multitude of items. There are some amazing machines in his workshop, which is now a museum, well worth taking a look at :)

Opened up

I cut in and the noise from the saw told me the timber was sound, when the slab fell away. I was well chuffed, with the nice hard dark coloured heartwood, with all the holes in them.
I had thought the Ash logs might be a tad rotten, there was a little bit of rot,

but these perished parts just add to the character of this windfall Ash:)

Windfall

On thursday we had a storm, which brought down trees and damaged property. I passed a fallen ash tree that had blown over a road, later when I passed again it was sawn up and made safe .I had a look and saw a couple of 3' long chunks so I stopped and picked up two 10" chunks with creamy coloured sapwood and a green-brown heartwood nice! These will be sawn up ito slabs for stools and chairs . This wood would be left to rot a the side of the road or maybe firewood at best:)

Maybe

Its back! not as much as this time last year, but maybe a little taster of another white christmas . For the third year in a row:)

Three From Trees

I dabbled with a few stools over this past week, two have oak seats with hazel legs . The other is the spalted beech stool with rowan legs that was shown in a recent post . You can see how the oil can bring the the wood to life, this really shows off all the beautiful variations in the timber. Here they are with the natural look that I love :)

Treasure Chest

I finished another small chest complete with my new favourite wooden hinges. This little chest used up the last of the spalted beech boards , some bits of apple wood were shaped into hinges. Here it is all dull and dusty, then oiled up showing off the wild grain pattern this is a place to store lifes little treasures:)

Looking For A Stable

On the last post I had started some hobby horses . Over the past couple of days I finished them off ,here they are ready to find a little stable to call home.

I also selected some Rowan(mountain ash) to use for legs , on the spalted beech stool top that I shaped in the previous post. I figured out the angle for the legs by eye, then set up a sliding bevel for a reference for boring the holes. Once I was happy with them I then marked them, and cut a slot in each leg for a wedge. Which tightens the joint along with the glue when you tap the leg in place. After a dry run I pondered a bit and decided to add some random bracing , this is scribed to fit the legs with my spoon carving knife. Here it is so far:)

Three Horses And Tools For Jon

I managed to get into the shed this afternoon ,I started cutting out three heads for hobby horses. Then they got tidied up and a little detail carved into them  .All they need now is a darker coloured timber plug for their eyes along with some nice reins and some little rough riders to find them on Christmas morning. A chunk of spalted Beech was pulled out of the pile and  I started  shaping this for a stool top as I was there anyway and the chunk needed to be something you know how it goes. Jon here are the tools you asked about, here's what I use for making spoons and bowls,I hope this helps:)

Remember

The Canadian Forestry Battalion was mentioned today on a blog that I follow. Remember all the forces in the past and present that gave and give us what we have today. Here are the cap badges of two timber regiments stationed in Scotland, to provide timber for the frontline :)

Check The Depth

With Christmas around the corner I was out in the shed a bit making some gifts. I finished off the cedar bowl,and started another along with working on a second spalted beech chest a bit smaller than the first this time. Here's how they are coming along, checking the depth of the bowl as its all to easy to get carried away with nice sharp tools. Only to find your bowl with a view through its base.

Board And Bowl

I smoothed a piece of cedar board today for future use with a favorite spokeshave, my old brass macrome that is a really treasured tool.

With of a thicker lump of the cedar, I attacked this with my little curved adze. And started a bowl once I got down to the depth I wanted ,I then tidied up the inside with a couple of spoon knives. It still needs to be finished off but here it is so far :)

Whats A Young Turkey Called ?

I wandered around a little farm this afternoon the usual suspects were in the fields, but the birds were making lots of noise. A golden Rooster was crowing away to his hens. Winding up the Turkeys next door, I asked Matthew what a young turkey is called . He smiled and said a turkling, I laughed for ages. We got to see some younger Hens in a shed they will be let outside when they get a bit bigger. And a pure white dove hid up in the roof space I wondered if he knows what a turkling is :)

The Scent Of Cedar

I've started to prepare a top for a kind of (bable) bench come table.
This timber is Cedar of Lebanon. I wish you could scratch your screen and catch the scent of spice, this aromatic timber gives off. Its not very forgiving it tends to tear where the grain swirls around but skewing the plane or spokeshave sorts this out . Here it is getting smoothed out a bit and a few tools that can help :)

Spalted Beech Chest And Jewellery Box

After a couple of months I finally finished the chest along with the jewellery box that side tracked me, Spalted Beech is beautiful stuff its ideal for these kind of projects. I'm pretty chuffed at how they both turned out here's the chest with its wooden strap hinges and waney front edges with the first coat of finish.

And the little chunky jewellery box with a more wedge shape style of hinge. The wooden hinges are great, they really work a treat. I still have two Beech boards left so I should manage at least one more with wooden hinges of course :)

Oh yes! Mrs Brian loves her new jewellery box so the hinges have passed her test:)