Stools for schools and other odds and ends

A local school recently asked if I could supply them with various items of wooden seating to use in the small area of woodland they have access to. Of course, I was delighted to supply them with what they needed!

I took the opportunity to try out a new idea for making the benches. I started with a couple of slabs trimmed from coppice stumps, and used the chainsaw to cut a V-shaped notch into each:

I then used these to support the log being made into a bench, which gave two immediate advantages - first, it stops it rolling around, and second, it elevates it a bit, so you don't have to bend down so low when working on it:

The next step was the usual one, as shown in my video on how to make a bench, cutting notches for the feet in what will eventually be the underside of the bench:

Now for the next new bit - rather than setting the bench on its feet to cut the seating area, I rotated it a quarter turn:

I then pushed the feet into the notches, just to check they were exactly vertical:

Then, I was able to walk along with the chainsaw, using it to slice a thin layer off to make the seating area. This is easier to do in a straight line from above than doing it from the side with the saw horizontal, and much more comfortable too!

The only downside was that having the saw at an angle tended to leave more chain marks on the wood:

But they quickly disappeared once I put the bench horizontal and did a quick skim over with the trailing edge of the chainsaw bar:

And I was left with a rather nice bench!

The school wanted some simple log stools as well, so I selected some suitably-sized logs to cut up and transported the results with my log trolley:

I even managed to get it all into the trailer and the car in one trip!

Here's the end results, delivered to the school field:

In other news from the woods... the Bluebells are growing, having had the first shoots pop out the ground in the second half of January:

And this hen pheasant has been following me around. She nearly ate some bird feed from my hand! Far too tame for her own good I think...

Back in Rye, we did get a light covering of snow one day in January, but it only lasted a couple of hours and there was no time to go to the woods and photograph it there...

I've also been playing around with my Carry Freedom Y-Frame bike trailer, and now have it set up to run on my mountain bike. I tested it out hauling about 25kg up and down a hill, but I'm not convinced I'll be bringing all next winter's firewood back this way...

Talking of firewood, the insulation I installed in our dormer roof a few months ago has certainly done the trick - it looks like we might be using about 30% less firewood than before!

Till next time...

Mike

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Chainsaw sculpture - making a bench in under 5 minutes

Here's a quick video to show a really simple way of making a log bench. We've been using these in the woods for years, and I needed to make a couple of new ones this weekend to accommodate groups of children on school visits to the woodland:

Here's the two finished products, which only took about 5 minutes each to make with the chainsaw. You can vary the height of them by using different size 'feet'.

Mike

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Benches for sale!

OK, maybe not these actual benches, which I've just made ready for the school visit on Thursday, but some more like them:I don't know if anybody would like one, but if you live reasonably near Rye and like the look of them then drop me an email (click on my name at the top right of the page), and I'll see what I can do. Being chestnut they are durable and can be left outdoors without preservative - they'll get a "weathered" look, but won't disintergrate.

Mike

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