short films of inspirational people

No woodworking or crafts in this post just some inspirational people living lives to the full, believing in what they do and going their own way. Maybe taking the road less travelled.

First up Lloyd Kahn, I first came across his inspirational book "Shelter" 20 or more years ago. What a treat to find him on the internet, he took up skateboarding at 65, that's the kind of guy he is. "You should have some fun every day"



And Lloyd has a fantastic eclectic blog

Next up "if I only scrape a living at least it's a living worth scraping" 



and this one is not for those with vertigo but shows amazing dedication, worth double clicking  to get full screen



and last one, an old one I may have posted a few years ago but worth seeing again, Danny MacAskill. A mate of mine taught him unicycle when he was still at school, his teachers told him he was wasting his time on bikes.

Saville Row tailoring behind the scenes

Yesterday I had the delightful experience of seeing behind the scenes at No.1 Saville Row home of Gieves and Hawkes. I was astonished at how many people work in the cellars below the shops on the Row and how much handwork is involved. This is the view down the long room where most of the work is done, there are hardly any sewing machines virtually everything is done by hand, laying out, cutting, stitching and that takes a lot of people, all specialists in their own trade.

And this is one of the specialist trouser makers. I did not note his name but he has worked there for many many years just doing trousers, doing them quickly and doing them well.

They all deny that there is a hierarchy but  everything that follows is dependent on the work of the cutter. The cutter is responsible for the design of the bespoke garments. Bespoke for those that don't know means you have a unique pattern made specifically to fit you. This is different from "made to measure" where an existing pattern is tweaked and sized up or down to get as close as possible to a fit. There is also a lot if difference in how it is made with made to measure being made in the same factories with the same machines as off the peg suits. Bespoke is hand made all the way. In the background is head cutter Davide Taub who's blog gives an insight into the more interesting cuts and designs.

 

Having measured the client and discussed their requirements a pattern is made and the fabric is cut. 

Much of this was familiar to me as I spent a year in the 1980s working on a cutting table of a lingerie firm in Liecester.

 About 10 years ago the actual act of making on Saville Row looked under threat. High rates and rents meant that if left to market forces all the workshop space would be converted to sales space trading on the Saville Row name, but how long would that name maintain it's value if the bespoke business moved out? The Saville Row Bespoke association have done much to avert that potential decline and amongst their initiatives has been setting up a pre apprenticeship scheme at Newham college. This is one of the Newham College students on her first day on the Row watching and learning.

One day maybe I would love a Saville Row suit but at present they are out of my price range. For those interested in the differences between various suit options and what you get for your money I enjoy Thomas Mahon's blog, he even gives advice on how to get a decent suit for £200

Elvaston woodland festival, traditional crafts

Last weekend I was turning bowls at this wonderful woodland festival and wanted to share images of some of the other great craftspeople working there. This is John Richardson chair-maker, he was rushing a beautiful old ladderback chair. It had nicely turned back legs and off centre turned feet on the front legs.

 This is the mulch-talented greenwoodworker Steve Tomlin making a rake with a sloping head for raking hay on hills. He had an amazing home made "stale engine" which I don't have a photo of but you can see it on Steve's blog.

 Everything Steve does he does really well. I loved this steam bent ash hay rake.

This was the first time I had met Neil Taylor but I like his work. He is much inspired by John Brown's fantastic Welsh Stick Chairs book and makes stools and chairs with lovely finishes and textures. Nice website too.

 Alastair Hayhurst was hurdle making, no two hurdle makers work the same way and I was interested to watch the way he rives his hazel feeling the bend in the rod with the left hand and feeding it through with the right.

 Then weaving it into the hurdle.

 I loved these wood and canvas canoes built by Graham Warren at Chesterfield, next best thing to a birch bark?

Highlight of the show was that we are allowed to camp on site and all get together round a campfire, a wonderful evening, times like this work doesn't feel much like work.

and just to finish off some pics of my friend Owen Jones the swill basket maker.

Replica Tudor Bowls from the Mary Rose

I have been making some replicas of Tudor bowls from the Mary Rose, Henry VIIIs ship which sank in 1545. I spent many years helping the archaeologists studying the originals to understand how they were made and wrote up the chapters in the book "Before the Mast"
After turning them on my pole lathe I let them dry for about a month then brand them

 The brand was made for me about 15 years ago by a chap in Sheffield and shows how different trades used to rely on each other. There need to be a lot of craftspeople around to need the services of a stamp, die and brand maker.

 Bowls after branding.

and after oiling. I only have a few of these and they are ready for a show in London where there will be a display of original bowls from the Mary Rose and I will be doing some demonstrations of how they were made. It is at Carpenters Hall and is organised by the Worshipful Company of Turners. Details here

Mary Rose replica bowls are on the website here. but I won't have any for sale until after the October event in London.

I am a quaich making machine and loving it

The past 2 weeks I have been turning in the workshop and loving it. This little bunch are in maple, sycamore, ash and hawthorn.

 The smaller ones are my normal size 3.5" at the rim, these are perfect for a dram on your own or at their best passing round a group of friends perhaps round the fire, wonderful.

 I particularly like this little hawthorn one, an undervalued wood, it has great colour and texture and is as hard as apple or any of the fruitwoods.

 The one on the laft is a 5.5" rim and holds over 1/3 of a bottle of whisky, these have proved fairly popular for wedding gifts. Folk tell me they fill them and pass them round the whole reception which is a lovely bonding sort of thing to do. I tend to pass one round at New Years Eve. Now the one at the back is a huge quaich with a 7" diameter rim which is also extra deep, I would like to do one of these with an engraved message around the rim one day.

For folk that are new to quaichs you can read about the history of them here or see some in my online shop here 
Most of these will be on show in London in a couple of weeks when I am part of the Worshipful Company of Turners "Wizardry in Wood" exhibition at Carpenters Hall.

filming for BBC Paul Martin's "Handmade Revolution"

We have been working with the producers of this new BBC series since February and are quite excited about how it is looking.

Today Paul Martin and crew came to film in my workshop for an episode which will air in October. He made a bowl and I carved the spoon, by the end of the day he was tired but happy and he did a great job.

 I started planning the day before with daughter JoJo turning a bowl so I could check out how long it would take, how the wood was working and sharpen up my tools.

Today the National Trust were flying a helicopter up and down the valley airlifting sacks of stone onto the moor for footpath work. I know on camera you are supposed to do soundbites but we had 1 1/2 minutes quiet whilst they were loading down the hill then 2 minutes noise then 3 minutes quiet whilst they were up the hill and 2 minutes noise again all day.

 crew setting up.

 Paul launching in with huge enthusiasm

Close attention of camera and sound men.

 outside nearly done.

 hollowing the inside

 nearly there

 finished bowls

 Paul is genuinely passionate about traditional crafts and has agreed to be patron of the Heritage Crafts Association.
If you are inspired to have a go at carving yourself I have bowl carving and spoon carvoing courses coming up with spaces details here 
Or if you'd rather just buy a nice bowl and spoon have a look in the gallery here 

a video message from Wille Sundqvist

At our recent SPOONFEST event one of the highlights for me was having Jogge Sundqvist come and speak about his craft, the way it is routed in tradition yet he has found his own 21st expression of that tradition. I along with Jogge and many other carvers owe a debt of gratitude not only to the many generations that carved out the vocabulary of forms and techniques that we use today but particularly to Wille Sundqvist who's teaching and writing has helped popularise the whole subject of traditional carving with axe and knife. I was just blown away when Jogge turned up with a short video message from Wille on his phone. Thanks to the technical intervention of Daughter Jojo and village friend Dave Mount we were able to show the message before Jogge's talk, it is short but has a lot of meaning for me. I just ate my breakfast with the spoon Wille is holding in the clip.