Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Wild Plum Adze

DIY Adze
Here is an adze I cobbled together recently. The blade is a copy of an 18th century British Light Infantry tomahawk. The handle is a Wild plum (Prunus americana) branch that I had to trim from over a trail. I lashed the head on using a nylon cord, but rawhide would have worked better. For being an improvised tool I was impressed with how well it worked.
I was inspired by the journals of Lewis & Clark becase they mentioned that they made most of the tool handels they needed on thier journey to the Pacific from Choke cherry (Prunus virginiana) trees that grew along the Missouri River.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Roycroft Packframe

This is Roycroft packframe that I made for a recent class. The frame itself is made from Gray dogwood and is lashed together with jute twine. The shoulder straps are bandanas. (I usually carry at least four bandanas with me because they have so many uses.) I have often used packframes for backpacking, and for hauling trail building materials over the years and I have always been impressed by what a person can carry with a good frame.

Attached to the frame in the pictures is my poncho, a wool blanket, and three pairs of wool socks. The space above the poncho is where I lash my shoulder bag that I use as a day pack.


Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Buck Saw

This is a bucksaw that I put together recently for a improvised equipment class I taught. I had never mad one before this and it worked REALLY well! I tested it out by felling a 6" diameter Ironwood tree/Eastern hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) and it worked as well as a store bought model.

The uprights and cross braces are made from Gray dogwoods (Cornus racemosa) . The blade is from a local hardware store and it set me back $2.99. The turnbuckle at the top is jute twine wrapped six times before it was twisted.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

More Green Woodworking

I was given a Frost spoon knife for Fathers Day. Prior to getting a real spoon knife I had been using a hoof knife usually used to clean horse hooves. The kuksa, bowl, and spoon pictured hear were carved using the hoof knife. The ladel was carved using my new spoon knife.



Kuksa

Spoon

Bowl

Ladel top

Ladel side

I still carry the hoof knife in the field because it packs better than the spoon knife, but the spoon knife make the finishing work much smoother. Stay tuned for some more DIY projects!