Piptoporus betulinus

We felled a Birch tree that was dying from Piptoporus betulinus, the wood was still sound in parts of the stem some was really brittle and the crown was completely dead. I cut some of the stem in two and the wood was very interesting, there were signs of Compartmentalization and brown rot from the Piptoporus betulinus (birch polypore)

I started a Kuksa and a spoon from the wood which gave off a nice menthol smell when the wood was carved, the smell is probably to do with the degradation of cellulose and hemicelluloses by the brown rot fungus in its early stages in the pieces that I saved.





It should hopefully produce a good effect to the Kuksa with the comparison between the brown and white wood.

Alder spoon

I started a spoon today made from Alder,Its great wood to carve and I love the colour it goes, I will leave this spoon to dry for a few days before finishing.

Finished the Chestnut bowl

I finally finished the Horse Chestnut bowl I had been working on, it has been drying for about a week now and yesterday I made all the finishing cuts and oiled it with Linseed oil.


I had debated whether to sand the bowl but decided against it and instead used my bent gouge chisel to finish the inside and my knife to finish the outside, I think its turned out well and I'm really pleased with it.

Made a sheath for my adze

I made a sheath for my adze yesterday, the dye is almost dry so I thought I would get some photos of it.
The sheath is made from some old scraps of leather that I had lying around, it was cut from a piece that I was experimenting with when doing some tooling.
Its 3mm thick veg tanned, wet formed around the adze and dyed dark brown, I used a sam brown stud for the fastener at the rear of the sheath, the pattern that was tooled into the leather was mostly removed when it was wet formed but some of it has survived, as it was made to protect the cutting edge it doesn't matter as it will do its job for now.

Horse Chestnut bowl

With the glorious weather we have been having recently I have been getting in from work and have been working on a bowl made from Horse Chestnut, I started this bowl with my new adze and then rough shaped with the axe, knife and spoon knife. I really like the shape but in a bit of a dilemma whether to sand it or not, I like the tool marks but thought with the shape it might look good sanded.

Spoon for a work colleague

This is a spoon that I made for a colleague at work, he had seen some of my spoons that I use everyday at work and asked if I could make one for him. We were re shaping a Birch tree and there was a couple of really good bits for spoons so I made him this spoon, he wanted a nice simple shape and I think it turned out ok.

Finished another Kuksa

I finished this Kuksa this morning, it has been drying for a few days now, I gave it a few coats of Linseed oil to finish it.



Its made from Willow and I used the spoon knife to carve the inside, from now on I will be using the Hans Karlsson adze to remove the bulk of wood.



I also just recieved this Polar whittler blade in the post from a friend of mine.



I like the look of these blades as a carver and plan to handle it with this piece of Alder burr that I have had in the cupboard for a few years now.

I managed to get some time when I got home from work today to have a go with my new Hans Karlsson adze, my first impression is good, it has alot of control but still has good weight and clout, the angle of the cutting edge is very good for hollowing out and very sharp, it removes alot of wood in no time at all, it will save me hollowing out with the spoon knife.

I have only just got started with this project which will be a bowl, I have hollowed out the inside of the bowl which is out of Horse Chestnut from a tree we felled today.

A bowl for the kitchen

This is a bowl I made for the kitchen to keep eggs in, its made from Willow and was done with a spoon knife to carve the inside of the bowl, I shaped the outside with the axe and finished off with the knife.

Curly Birch knife

This is a knife I made back in 2007, its a Carlsson blade, hand forged from round spring steel from a horse harrow, Buffalo horn, Brass spacer and Curly Birch handle. The sheath is made from Curly Birch and leather, with a horn button.
I really like this knife, it has to be my favourite and I enjoy carving with it.

Spoon for my daughter

I made this spoon for my daughter when she was born, as she is now on solid food the spoon is getting used daily.

Its made Cherry and finished with Linseed oil.

Postmans been today

I got home from work today and 2 parcels had been delivered.


The first was from Woodland craft supplies.
Its an adze and a bent gouge chisel by Hans Karlsson a Swedish Toolmaker.



It has a weight of 600g and a 5cm curved blade, the head is 15cm long and the handle is 23cm.



The gouge is 55 30mm width.

I love buying new tools and I cant wait to use them now, I just have to make a new bench that holds the wood so I can rough out the bowls.

I also got a package from an Ebay purchase.



This will be another project one day to re handle it and give it a re grind.

A bowl for a friend.

On the 20th of March it was a friends Birthday, as we were going on his narrow boat to tow another friends narrow boat to Poynton for engine repairs, I decided to make him a bowl from Willow. It was a great day, made even better stopping along the way at a few pubs for lunch and a couple of drinks. I made a short slideshow of the day can be seen here.

Apple Burr Kuksa.

This Kuksa was made from Apple Burr, which are quite hard to find (and work!) from a tree we had to fell. I kept most of the Burrs for myself and gave the rest to a knife maker friend of mine for scales. I love this Kuksa as the colours which emerged when it was oiled in Linseed oil are amazing.

Making a Kuksa.

I have made a few Kuksa's in the past as I enjoy making them, most have gone to family and friends as gifts.

Above is a Kuksa I made recently, it is a type of drinking cup made by the Sami people of northern Scandinavia. Its made out of Willow from a job at work, I used an axe, knife and spoon knife, I added some Kolrosing to the handle for decoration, I used coffee for the Kolrosing and the Kuksa is finished with Linseed oil.

Here is a short slideshow of the making