A rainy day

IMPORTED POST FROM OLD BLOG. ORIGINAL DATE: 14/08/2007

At last - a rainy day! We've been waiting for one so that we wouldn't be so keen on going to the wood, and would instead work on the pole lathe, which we started months ago, but has fallen by the wayside while the weather's been nice. So, into the garage we went:




The main body of the lathe is nearly done now, though the remaining bit is tricky - drilling the holes for the point to go through. After that, we need to make the tool rest and treadle, then we can move it to the wood...

Our new billhook arrived in the post today - it's actually not new at all, it's an antique one we got from ebay, the reasoning being that the old designs worked best, and being made of softer steel are easier to keep sharp by hand, without the use of motorised grinding tools. We learned about this on a green woodwork course last year. Below is a picture of the billhook, after I've sharpened it. It's main use will be trimming branches from trees that we've felled. It's actually quite a light one (500g), so we may get a heavier one for me to use, and Tracy can use this one. We've got a "slasher" on the way too, which is also a vicious looking tool!


Pete and Tom, however, weren't so impressed with the rainy day (they like sunshine best, and sing more on bright days). They spent most of the time looking out the window:


Mike