First Trip of 2009 - Pic Heavy

[Kepis]

Took my eldest out for his first trip of the new year today, youngest electing to stay at home and have a pyjama day instead.
We took the trip up to the woodland i have use of and after a brief discussion on the spot we should go to we ended up at the exact same spot as our last trip just over a week ago.

Walking in



first job, get a fire going and get the kettle on, according to the car when we arrived it was +1 degree C, but with the little bit of wind there was it felt a lot colder, being at the same spot as before we took full advantage of using the pot hanger i made a week ago, which we had "stored" in the woods



We had a few projects we wanted to try out on this trip, one of them being a bushcraft bow saw, so i harvested a green hazel shoot and set about warming it over the fire so i could bend it easier



unfortunately, just after this following photo was taken the stick snapped, so i got another one



the second shoot worked well and i was able to bend it into a nice curve, i made a small slit in the end of the hazel to accept the saw blade and then hammered the rest of the blade into place



once the blade was held by the slit, i pushed a chesnut twig into the outmost hole on the blade to stop it pulling through, did the same on the other end, and hey voila, a bow saw





It worked surprisingly well and we used it all day to collect our firewood, even after the abuse it's had today the blade is still taut and straight and the saw now resides in my back garden.

For a change Simes wanted to be in charge of the camera, as he said i should feature in some photo's now and again.

So my hands batoning a lump for the fire with my machette



and Simes having a go, he tried this last week with the axe but wasnt overly happy about using it as it was a bit too heavy for him, so i took my machette with me this time, he now wants a machette for his birthday as he found it much easier to use for this task than the axe, plus he said he felt safer with it



Time for a tea break after all that hard work, during the process of making the tea, i got a small burn on the top of my thumb, so before the lad grabbed his FAK, i asked what he would do if he didnt have his FAK with him, got told he would use Birch Polypore as a plaster, so we made a plaster from the fungus





which lead us nicely to the next task i wanted to try, which was making a strop from the Polypore, so we harvested this beast



and set to work carving the wooden base plate and cutting the fungus to shape











then glued the two parts together, ok i cheated and took contact adhesive.



trimming the top of the fungus



and the finished result, brings the edge back wonderfully and has the added bonus of removing all the gunk that accumilates on the blade, tannins, sap etc, Simes loves the strop and has already claimed full ownership of it.





also practiced some traps but didnt get any photo's and just sat by the fire drinking tea and having a good old chin wag and enjoying some quality time, got home just before it got dark, roll on Sunday when we are up the woods again.

[Bernie Garland]

Another good one Mark thanks for sharing

Bernie

[JP]

cracker mate, nice one...

[JonnyP]

Good stuff Mark..

[Spamel]

Nice job, looks like an action packed day! I'm surprised he feels safer with the machete, their often thought of as being the most dangerous of all the tools used in the woods due to the long cutting edge. He seems to be doing Ok though.

I've never tried the bent hazel method for the bow saw. I'm impressed that it kept the tension on though, I may have to try that out to see how well it performs. Another one for the projects this year.

[Kepis]

Cheers guys.

I think he feels safer with the machette Spam as it's lighter and better balanced than the axe, not as top heavy, the hazel saw surprised me as well, the lump of hazel i used wasnt the thickest around, but despite the use it had all day it's still as taut & tight as the hinge on my wallet, and believe me thats tight i was half expecting the splits in the end to run and to have to chuck some binding around to stop the split, but they didnt split any further at all

[Spamel]

Originally Posted by Kepis

Cheers guys.

I think he feels safer with the machette Spam as it's lighter and better balanced than the axe, not as top heavy, the hazel saw surprised me as well, the lump of hazel i used wasnt the thickest around, but despite the use it had all day it's still as taut & tight as the hinge on my wallet, and believe me thats tight i was half expecting the splits in the end to run and to have to chuck some binding around to stop the split, but they didnt split any further at all

Cool! I would have thought some binding would have been necessary, but I suppose the tension in the wood is going the other way so not affecting it that much. Very interesting. How long did it take to get the wood properly heated up to make it more flexible and the blade in? I'm interested if it is worth going to all the effort to make a bucksaw if this is quicker, easier and just as effective. Minimal effort and all that!

[Kepis]

not long at all Spam, about the time it took me to have a ciggie i suppose to heat and bend the wood, then 5-10 mins or so fitting the blade, doubt if i shall bother taking/making a bucksaw with me, when i can just carry a 24" saw blade and let nature provide the rest.

[Leon]

Looks like a belting day out and the strop is first class !
Hazel was a good choice as its good in tension and compression, also good for archery type bows

[Spamel]

Originally Posted by Kepis

not long at all Spam, about the time it took me to have a ciggie i suppose to heat and bend the wood, then 5-10 mins or so fitting the blade, doubt if i shall bother taking/making a bucksaw with me, when i can just carry a 24" saw blade and let nature provide the rest.

That's not very long, and all pretty steady I suppose. You could even be brewing up as you go, a concurrent activity! I shall try it out soon.