Tuesday 17 May 2011

Hugginn and Muninn...Laburnum Shawl Pins...



spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving  spoon carving first steps

I've been busy making more tuning pegs for Ben's larger Ngombi harp. He can now play happily without the harp de-tuning...
Once that job was finished I wanted to explore the possibilities of using little Hugginn and Muninn on a couple of shawl pins. 
The Saxon spoon I made some weeks ago with little Munninn sat on the end, was received very well, and stirred a lot of interest in people...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving spoon carving first steps
 
And Sarah has finally finished her shawl.  
I had previously carved her a pin that looks a little like Odin.
Which gave me an idea...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving spoon carving first steps

Hugginn and Muninn.

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving spoon carving first steps

Munnin...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving spoon carving first steps

Hugginn...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving spoon carving first steps


spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving

I have carved these two pins from a billet of Laburnum. 
An incredibly hard and beautiful wood.

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving

 Coffee coloured on one side and cream on the other...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving

 I used a flame to blacken one of them...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving

 And left the other one natural in colour...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving

I started carving the first pin using a MaChris made from 01 steel and found that the 01 is a little fragile for this tough wood.
The result was micro sized chips on the cutting edge. 
So I bought out the big guns...A MaChris carving knife made from Silver Steel.
(  BS-1407 ) 
This hard steel coped with the Laburnum without a murmur...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving spoon carving first steps

One of these may be travelling up the road in a few days...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving

 I'm not sure if I will have to post them or whether they will make the journey under their own steam...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving

I've also been finishing of  a basket of Kuksa blanks...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving

 And I have also made myself a new spoon from a nice piece of Apple...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving spoon carving first steps


spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving spoon carving first steps

This one is staying in my kitchen...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving spoon carving first steps

Well...I have to get working on putting sharp edges on my knives and Axes as I have a couple of chaps arriving at the end of the week for a Kuksa carving course. I am thoroughly looking forward to introducing another couple of people to the carving/Bushcraft world...

spoon+carving+first+steps+spooncarvingfirststeps+bushcraft+carving spoon carving first steps

Happy Days...
Enjoy...J

Monday 16 May 2011

A few stills from a Dartmoor Search and Rescue teams training exercise.


dartmoor rescue group

A few months ago I was chatting with my old mate Keith about the possibility of letting Sean (Silver Fox) make a promotional video for the Ashburton Search and Rescue teams fund raising effort. Keith cleared the idea with the section committee and subsequently invited Sean and myself along. Sean has made three movies, which I have already posted. Sean encountered some technical difficulties trying to film at night with limited light sources, but with a lot of heavy and time consuming editing he has produced a very enjoyable set of films.

dartmoor rescue group


dartmoor rescue group 
We met Keith at the team stores where the current emergency vehicles are kept
Here Sean is filming the interior of  the Land Rover. Inside is carried some of the team kit, M.I.B.S stretcher, air winch-able aluminium stretcher, radios and other important kit.

dartmoor rescue group

. Here Sean is chatting with Keith about how the S.A.R team operates.

dartmoor rescue group

 The team meet once a week on Dartmoor for some kind of training event. These weekly training exercises are also augmented with weekend training, dotted through-out the year. So a big time commitment from all the volunteer members. Tonight the scenario was based around a quick search for the missing person (miss per) with the training leaning toward dealing with the casualties immediate problems and then recovering the casualty from a deep gorge using one of the light weight aluminium stretchers. The winter training season was drawing to a close when we filmed, however, this evening was very cold, sub zero, with a stiff breeze causing a big chill factor. I was already looking forward to a Cognac by the fire at home. The team training corps consider winter training, at night, the most valuable. Once the light summer evenings arrive, the training takes on a different feeling with less navigation and searching and more rope work/ water rescue events.
 We arrived at the rendezvous to find the control vehicle being set up ready for use. This is the main command and control vehicle from where the search is directed. Here you can just make out one of the team members setting up the main antenna. Once he has attached the antenna to the mast and cleared the immediate area, the mast will be extended.

dartmoor rescue group



And 'Control' will become active.

dartmoor rescue group

 Whilst this is happening, the other members will form small search teams, they will be briefed by their respective team leaders, and deploy into the dark night. All teams will have wireless communications with 'Control'.
 Here is one of the search team navigators working out the best route to take his team accurately and safely into his search area. All team members are highly skilled navigators and have to pass stringent navigational tests before being accepted into the team. The team members will each take on a specific job within their small search units for the duration of the search. In each team you will find a Team leader, Radio operator, navigator and first aider.
 The chap in this photograph became a team member just after me, back in the day, he has served for approximately 14 years now.

dartmoor rescue group

 Here you can see Sean at the casualty site the next day. Note the difficult terrain underfoot...

dartmoor rescue group


dartmoor rescue group


dartmoor rescue group

 The miss per was found and treated. During any first aid it is most important to make the casualty comfortable and warm. Here you can see a K.I.S.U or bothy bag covering the casualty. The more people that you can fit comfortably inside the warmer it gets.

dartmoor rescue group

 And here in the daylight with some of my neighbours...

dartmoor rescue group

One of the teams approaching our position...

dartmoor rescue group

 The volunteer casualty was found, treated and eventually evacuated to the safety of the initial rendezvous.
 Once the exercise has finished (End Ex) the whole team is de briefed. During a de-brief, valuable lessons can be learned, standard operating procedures reviewed .
 The team 'Controller' takes centre stage...

dartmoor rescue group

 And then every one retires to the local Public House for a warm by the fire and a pint...

dartmoor rescue group

The Mountain Rescue team members, up and down the country, are all volunteers and give their time with great enthusiasm and professionalism. If you see a collecting tin in your local, don't hesitate to give some change....
It will have a decal like this...


 Thank you on behalf of the 
Dartmoor Rescue Group 
(Ashburton Section)


 Sean and I spent the next couple of days on and around the moor taking in the sights and sounds...


dartmoor rescue group

Enjoy...

Carving a Dragon Kuksa.

Carving a Dragon Kuksa.  I have been carving Kuksa from green Birch for 15 years or so, I’m self taught. From the beginning, I limited mysel...