Monday 28 January 2013

Week 13: Return of the two handed saw

Another week of new skills!

Wednesday was spent on the plot and Nick began by asking us to think about how to  fell an Ash tree which had got bent over whilst young and then grown clear. The base of the trunk was virtually horizontal but then curved sharply and the main part of the trunk was vertical. Apparently several of us had looked at it with a view to taking it down and then moved on to something easier! I suggested felling it with the axe just above the curve as if it were a normal straight grown tree and then removing the horizontal section. This would have got it down safely but, as Nick pointed out, the curve could be useful for craft work and my method would lose that option. We considered using a rope to control the direction of fall, the use of a match cut (cutting a V evenly on each side of the horizontal stem so that the two cuts met at the base) and then axing through the top. If that was our chosen method Nick emphasised the importance of doing both cuts at once rather than all of one before the other. After all that thought and discussion we realised that the way we would want it to fall was blocked by a large willow which would have to come down first!

So we moved on and learnt how to fell a larger tree than any we had so far done. We worked as a team to axe the ‘birds mouth’ directional cut which we had learned with bowsaw and billhook on small stuff. Then we used the two-handed saw to cut through the back. This involved learning to keep the blade flat and to adjust effort between the two sawyers to keep parallel to the back of the ‘bird’s mouth’. Not as easy as it looks! Then we knocked in wedges to push the tree over in the required direction.

All we had to do then was sned up the branches – more axe work to sever the branches from the trunk and some good natured competition to establish the pecking order of skilfulness and stamina! To my delight I was using the axe much more successfully this week. I am nowhere near the best but it was a lot less disgraceful than last week. Amazingly we got it all cleared with enough time to fell another willow (but not sned it) before the end of the day.

Sue and Penny at work with the two handed saw.
Wedges and mallet add the finishing touches.
Coed!
Thursday was a strange experience. Kieron had phoned to say that a recurring elbow problem had flared up and he would not be in the woods this week. Penny is cycling in and with snow in the forecast today had decided that discretion was the better part of valour and stayed home. So only 4 of us convened with the 3 tutors for green woodworking in the shelter and the low numbers felt very weird. At lunch time we talked about the richness of a larger group, how glad we are that we are not on a course (as has happened in the past) with only 2 students, and Nick commented appreciatively on the keenness and commitment of this group.

Andrew finished his shavehorse and the rest of us started work on our projects. After a week’s reflection Stef decided not to make a musical instrument as that would involve using seasoned rather than green wood. Instead he wants to make a frame for a shelter which he can put up, take down and transport easily wherever he is working in the woods. He is experimenting with small scale models of components to refine his design. Similarly David has decided that he wants a pole lathe more urgently than he could achieve as his project so will make one at home and instead is working on a trailer to pull behind his bike. I stuck to the idea of a swing bench for the garden and had been using the internet to explore designs, measured up the space for dimensions and begun to think how I might construct it. Martin revealed that he had made one years ago so he worked with me on refining my design.



Much discussion and many doodles later he and I set out onto the plot to source a 5 foot length of straight wood to make the front and back seat supports and a shorter length for the sides rails. I then had to learn to use the cleaving brake to split them. The long one went perfectly but the small one ran out and Martin went to find a replacement for me whilst I barked the long pieces and tidied them up.

Once all four were prepared I laid them out on the shelter floor to mark the joints. It was then that Martin realised that in our design the back support could foul the hanging chains and another discussion began on the best way to fix the back strongly enough without this happening. It had to be worked out before I made the joints because it would affect where I positioned the long rails on the side ones. We came up with a plan just as it was time to leave! With all the joints to make and 9 spindles to turn on the pole-lathe for the back I could well be finishing it on volunteer days over the summer!

It felt really good that we were not restricted to making things the tutors already know how to do; but that within the legitimate restraints of time and available materials we are able to access their experience and skill to find solutions to the challenges of our chosen project. This allows us to learn the skill of thinking through the technical and logistic problems as well as the specific skills of ‘making a joint’ or ‘making a chair’. In this respect it appears to be very different from many of the other, shorter, green woodworking courses available. I think it must be much more interesting for the tutors than ‘another run through’ of the same processes as well! 

Words by Sue Laverack
Photos by David Hunter

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