I've not really had the chance to do anything carving wise so far (though I did sit and sharpen my axe yesterday while watching Christmas TV) but am beginning to think about and plan my first spoon of 2013. I've never really had much success with bent - I seem to put the 'bend' in the wrong place and end up with an elongated bowl, so perhaps that's the place to start.
I'm aiming to make a spoon each week of 2013 - you can follow my progress on Fifty-Two Spoons - have a look at the top right of this blog.
Anyway, since it was quite sunny this morning and I hadn't got out much over the last few days due to the rain and Christmas, I thought I'd cut and chop some firewood, since my wood pile needed replenishing.
Two things I wanted to mention as a result of this activity:
1) I don't own a chainsaw - Julian does and I have borrowed it a couple of times and enjoyed the ease with which you can cut firewood and rough-out bowl blanks. I do have a couple of bow saws, one which I bought from a pound shop and another that I got from a house which was being cleared as the elderly gentleman owner who had lived there had died. Both are a pain in the butt! Hard, sweaty panting work. The blades always stick partway through and I have always found cutting firewood frustrating and unrewarding as a result. A few weeks ago I picked up a couple of Bahco greenwood blades and put one in my old inherited 30" saw and the difference is amazing. It sails through wood without any effort and hasn't one stuck or cinched.
2) The smell of freshly cut wood is amazing. I was cutting some cherry, oak and a kind of pine of some sort, amongst others. The fruit and oak wood smelt amazing (I know my children are watching me through the kitchen windows as I work and laugh each time I stop to sniff the wood). Whatever the pine is, it smells really strongly of parsnips and is amazing.
My log pile isn't much bigger, but I really enjoyed being outside for a bit.
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