Razor Strop

Next time you are out and about in the middle of a stand of Betula cast about for a bracket fungi that looks like this.

It's called Piptopourus Betulinus or Razor Strop.A very useful thing indeed.Take it home and carefully remove the pours underneath the fungi with a sharp edge tool,remove the uppermost layer,and you will end up with something akin to this.

Dry the fungi slowly and carefully,plenty of air,and when you are happy.........STROP! It's an extremely light and hard wearing material,I have used this one for many years.

Knife Sharpening

Jon has been busy carving recently so has needed to do lots of this!

First he soaks the Japanese whetstones in water.

Using the rougher side first, he sweeps the blade 10 strokes up and 10 strokes down, and then 10 strokes alternate.

Then he wipes the blade to remove the larger particles from the bevel.


He repeats the sharpening process using the finer side of the whetstone until he is happy that the knife is sharp.

Then he wipes the blade again before stropping. He strops to break the very fine foil edge off the blade that has formed during the sharpening process.

He uses a leather strop - an old leather belt.


And when this is all done, the blade is sharp enough to shave with...

...and he can return to his carving work.

A warm welcome

So.
Jon had been for a lovely walk in the snow, all the fires were lit and the curry was simmering on the range.

The animals were fed and full and snugged up for the night.

He settled down in front of the computer to do a bit of work...

...when he came across some very interesting blogs and noticed that many of them were members of Woodlife - a wildlife, tracking and bushcraft network.
So he took a closer look.
Before he knew it he had signed up too.
And Wow! what a warm welcome he received.
Within minutes of joining he had heard from members who were all very positive.
Why don't you have a look too?

Carving a Kuksa

Jon has had a great deal of interest in his beautiful hand carved Kuksas.

Many people are fascinated to see how he carves them and to learn that it takes two days to carve one.


So, picture yourself in our conservatory, with Jon being visited every now and then by our chickens!

First of all he selects the piece of wood he wants to use. This is some Silver Birch which is his favourite wood to use for a Kuksa.

Then he carefully centres up the wood and splits it. He wants to use the natural lines and markings in the wood to create each unique Kuksa.

Having drawn a circle in pencil he then starts removing the waste wood.

He keeps the shape he wants in mind as he carefully keeps on removing the waste wood.

All the while he checks the shape he is carving.

He keeps on carefully removing the waste wood...

.. all the time improving the shape...

... until after some hours of careful work...

... he is ready to begin to hollow out the bowl of the Kuksa.

Using his hook knife he starts at the outside edge and works towards the centre across the grain.

He carefully works to hollow out the bowl of the Kuksa.

Until it nears completion.
This Kuksa needed a flat base.
Jon uses an old knife to scrape the wood smooth.

Finally Jon finishes it with Walnut oil, which brings out all the details of the grain, and breathes even more life into the Kuksa.

Then it is ready to be used and enjoyed.