Trent Park

A couple of us decided to take a trip out to a forest to try some green wood whittling. During the seasoning (drying) process (which may take some years for large logs), wood loses around 40% of its mass as water leaves the fibres, leaving the wood stable and unlikely to crack or warp too much when it is finally used. Before this has occurred, the wood is called green. Green wood is usually much softer and is frequently used for carving smaller or disposable objects where stability over time is not important.

We settled on Trent Park in North London and as we arrived and started to make our way through the oak-woods we decided to penetrate the forest beyond the designated paths. Our explorative spirit brought us to crawling through dense vegetation of fern and nettles for ten minutes before we gave up and made our way back to the trails.

Most of the fallen wood in the forest was in a semi-disintegrated state and so totally unsuitable for whittling but were on the other hand a perfect growing ground for mushrooms. We were instantly mesmerized by the fungi life-form and abandoned our search for wood in favor of the bizarre and diverse species of mushrooms.

We came across a great many different types. Slimy, dry, miniature and some that looked like an exploded alien. The most useful mushroom for a whittler is probably the birch bracket (also known as razor strop fungus) which - sliced and dried - can be used to get a really fine edge when honing of a knife.

Characteristic spongy cap of the bolete family of mushrooms

As we strolled out of the woodlands and onto the open fields, we came across a dislocated limb from an oak-tree that Jack cut up with the foldable saw. The wood was very damp and quite hard, but we still managed to carve some odd spoons.

On the way home, we drove past the 1930s Piccadilly Line extension's beautiful stations at Southgate, Oakwood, etc., built in a kind of English garden city-Bauhaus-Stijl, geometric fundaments and elegant window frames.

Wood frame

My sisters wooden frame glasses. Think they are made by some Japanese designer.

Some Show

This is some images from the first BTWC show a couple of months ago. More can be checked out on our flikr page shortly.

Bird by Alex

This fantastic wood-suit was made by Urara and the accompanying cat hat is made by Anna.

Different woods on display and Lyle´s head

Knives and an ulu in the center made by Mark from a cross-cut of a railway track, ebony, and copper pins.

Study for whittlings by Shelly

A close-up of whittling by Adam C

Beer-God by Brian

The BTWC zine, poster, and a copy of serpent-box used by religious snake handlers in USA. Serpents were made for the box as a part of our show program.

Jack held a talk on the mathematical basis of the patterns found in plywood.

Homer plaque by Jack

Freak in a cage by Jana

A small display about John Dillinger, the infamous criminal who managed to escape from prison using a secretly carved wooden gun.

Spoons

These spoons were done by Jamie, an old-time BTWC member.

While on residency in Rotterdam a couple of months ago, he set up a whittling club in his studio, all properly equipped and furnished with homemade wooden furniture including a Rietveldt pallet-chair.

The spoon above was made by Millie and the crazy spoons below are from the digital database of the British Museum

BEE

I whittled the bee below after seeing a really nice gilded carving of a bee from the throne of Thibaw Min in the Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford. There are many useful products that originates from the honeybee and that are of great use in wood work. The various applications of bees-wax is well known, but there is also such substances as propolis which are used by instrument makers since ancient times to give the wood a beautiful stain.

Thibaw Min, the last king of Burma

Bees are in general received with much less hostility and disgust than other insects, which is totally understandable. Besides that they make delicious honey, there is actually almost nothing that is not cool about them. They live in a geometric grid with a queen and feed their kids some weird stuff potruding from their heads called royal jelly. When the queen needs to be replaced they all gather round her and give her the "cuddle-death" by overheating her. Then they nurse a couple new virgin-queens which after they have hatched will fight each other (under a battle-cry called piping) till there is only one left.

The two pictures above were taken at the Horniman museum where one could see the internal workings of the hive between two panes of glass. One of the guys that worked there pointed out to us the waggle dance that the bees do when they try to communicate to each other the direction of the best flowers.

A confused and tired bumble bee taking a break on my shoulder.

A good article about bees from Cabinet Magazine.

Fish &c. -- the 8th meeting of the BTWC

Photocopy hand-out for the 8th meeting

Definition from etymonline.com:

scrimshaw

1864, back-formation from scrimshander ("Moby Dick," 1851), scrimshonting (1825), Amer.Eng. nautical word, of unknown origin. Scrimshaw is an Eng. surname, attested from 1154, from O.Fr. escremisseor "fencing-master."

Arrrrrrrrrhhhh. Skrimshanders avast. Whittling mediates all sorts of social and artistic functions; the word applies as much to an action performed on some material as it does to one performed on an abstract notion, such as TIME. During months at sea, sailors, and particularly whalers, passed time carving in the tooth and bone of their catches, creating an art form known as scrimshaw. In the 1980s, our voracious demand for soft ice cream made with delicious whale-blubber brought whales to the brink of extinction, so we now have to carve in wood.
Recommended Reading: Chapter 57 of Herman Melville's Moby - Dick, or, the Whale
Recommended Viewing: Bart the Fink esp. Captain Macallister's scene with Handsome Pete.

Whittlers assemble

Ben T started on his Montauk monster. A mysterious creature from the sea.

Sheeran made a bundle of rope

Ray with Ray-bans

Cut of the week: Jacob laughs hysterically, thinking he has cut off his fingertip. It turned out to be ok, but the blade went through the fingernail.

Spherical oyster-like object by Millie

Scrimshaw by Jack. Basically just pencil on cuttle-fish bone.

This comb by Ben T is yet to be finished

Cuttlefish figure by Jana

Think Jamie whittled this one.

This unfinished head was whittled by Jamie out of aromatic cedar.

The chills of death by Adam