Adventures of an Imperfect Man In Search of a Handmade Life
"God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well." ~Voltaire Voltaire was on to something there. Here is a very inspirational family making good in the wilds of Wisconsin. I would love to see more as they sound like some truly genuine artisans and … Continue reading Live Well
Peter Follansbee is up to more good stuff…
I took a break from basket making last week to finally build myself a dedicated lathe for turning bowls. Mine is based on the ones we used when I was a student this spring in Robin Wood’s bowl-turning course at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN. http://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2014/06/05/bowl-class-tip-of-the-iceberg/
I think I first saw this style of lathe in the book Wood and Woodworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York, by Carole A. Morris (York Archeaological Trust/Council for British Archeaology, 2000), then in the work done by Robin Wood and others…
First off, I jobbed out the long slot cut in the 3″ thick beech plank. I traded Michael Burrey some carving work for his labor – I coulda done it, if I wanted to…
Then came boring the hole for the legs. Legs like these angle out in two directions; to the side, and to the end. I mark…
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Still gathering old images of tools, occupations, and craftsmen. Now I just need time to edit and post them in a sensible way. To kick off this series, it's a wood turner and his lathe from the early 15th century (German). I think the artist may have neglected to show the tool rest here. This … Continue reading Occupation, Wood Turner ca. 1425
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLpNNf4V5lU I've had to watch this about a dozen times and I've even posted it before.
Here's an image of Mick's pole lathe where my bowl and plate were created. It's hard to see all the workings from this view but it's a pretty great set-up. Unlike a modern, continuous motion lathe, the cutting is done on the down-stroke (about 2 1/2 revolutions) and the spring returns the system to the … Continue reading Pole Lathe
New mess kit, old spoon. Plate and bowl turned on a spring-pole lathe by Mick Robins. Both made from green alder. I carved the spoon years ago from and Osage orange scrap. Just scraped and waxed the set to make them easy to clean and prevent cracking.
A great short film about a bowl being turned on a treadle lathe. http:// Info from the Vimeo Page: Shot in a couple of hours on 2 separate afternoons, this is Leo who lives in a yurt with his partner and a variety of animals on the edge of Exmoor in the UK. He is … Continue reading The Wood Turner
Preindustrial Craftsmanship 