Forging an axe with Nic Westermann

My finished axe head

I first heard about Nic Westermann on the Bushcraft UK website, At the time there were only a handful of people producing greenwood working tools and it seemed like a prerequisite to making them was being Swedish. Nic's spoon knives were starting to create a bit of a stir and he was posting pictures of some fantastic carving axes. Fast forward several years and Nic is arguably the most respected tool maker in the greenwood working community.

The Main Man

Last year Richard and I spent a day with Nic in his workshop forging axes under his expert guidance. I'd met Nic a couple of years previously at Spoonfest and he struck me then as being a very nice and down to earth kind of guy. He kindly offered to let us camp in his back garden the night before so that we could make an early start the next day, so we arrived at his house in Wales at about 5pm. Nic had warned me that I should probably bring some insect repellant as it can get a bit midgey this time of year, advice that I stupidly ignored. I've never really been a victim of insect bites, when those around me have suffered I've always emerged unscathed and felt somewhat smug as if being unattractive to biting insects was some kind of super power. However, I had obviously never encountered the particular breed of insect (which I can only describe as pure evil) that inhabits Nic Westermann's garden. After 10 minutes of struggling to put up a tent whilst performing the insect dance, we ran like a pair of teenage girls being pursued by a rabid mutant dog and took shelter in the car. Nic came to the rescue and kindly let us sleep in the back of his van, which was midge proof and very comfy (though I'm sure that if I strained my ears I could probably hear the sound of a thousand tiny collisions on the side of the van as the nasty beggars tried to break in).

This is what we started with

The next day we woke early, had breakfast in a charming little roadside cafe and then headed over to Nic's workshop. Experience had obviously taught him what was achievable in the available time and so he gave us an overview of the proposed timings of the day that would enable us to forge an axe head each, grind them and heat treat them and hopefully finish at decent hour that evening. Now I'd watched Nic forge an axe in under an hour whilst demonstrating at Spoonfest and in my over-active imagination I could hear the distant voice of Nic a few hours in the future saying something like: "Wow! you guys are naturals, you did that really quickly, we've still got time to do a couple of spoon knives, some gouges and if you keep this up we'll be making adzes before the day is through." I'm such an idiot, did my near death experience after failing to heed Nic's bug repellant advice teach me nothing? Nic knows what he's talking about.

Nic striking for Richard

Nic is a fantastic teacher and coming from two professional teachers I think that is considerable praise. He takes something that is quite mystical by nature and approaches it methodically and in stages that are easy to understand. In fact I think Nic has a gift when it comes to his analytical approach to tool making. This has allowed him to refine his tools and his processes and it is probably what has earned him the deserved reputation that he now enjoys. The day flew by and I think that Nic was genuinely impressed that we had only taken about an hour longer than we planned.

and for me

At the end of the day we had both finished and were as pleased as two very pleased people with scale burns and midge bites up and down our arms and shiny, razor sharp axes. To be honest though there was one drawback to the day. About a month beforehand I had developed tennis elbow and so lifting a heavy hammer repeatedly was quite painful. Fortunately Nic's method meant that most of the heavy work was done by the striker and I would just have to move around different punches and forms, but even this hurt at times. Nic was very understanding though and was always there to step in when needed. He even acted as striker for Richard.

Starting to punch the eye

All in all the day was great fun and a bit of a dream come true for me and Rich. I would love to have a go again and even have plans to set up my own forge in the future. Until then I might sign up for one of Nic's bladesmithing courses with the Greenwood Guild or even try axe making with him again, this time, hopefully, without a dodgy elbow.

http://nicwestermann.co.uk
http://thegreenwoodguild.com

Rich grinding the edge profile

The power hammer

Rich's axe (and his grubby hands)

Rich's axe with handle

Mine with handle

Catching up

In the words of the late great George Harrison: 'It's been a long, long, long time'. I'm not going to apologise for not keeping up with the blog, because I've done that at least once before and I don't want to come across as insincere. I do feel guilty though. I try to post quite regularly on Instagram and I'll often share those posts on Facebook, but I've neglected the Holt & Heath Facebook page and especially this blog. I will try to do better.

It's been about 8 months since the last post, so I'm sure you can imagine that a lot has happened. I'm still carving spoons and turning bowls, but have also finally managed to finish my Welsh stick chair as well as a few other items of furniture. I've been on a few courses including a fantastic day with the ultra talented Nic Westermann forging an axe.

I've also read a lot of books. Some about woodworking, some that are about how to live a better life and some that are about both. I'll try to share my thoughts on those too. So, I've got a lot of catching up to do. I'm not going to write an epic post now, but watch this space and hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things.

Leicester Countryside Show

This year was our third year at the Leicester Countryside Show (formally known as the National Forest Wood Fair) and the first time that we didn't have torrential rain. At the moment we only do two shows per year and with the disastrous weather we had experienced at the last two Leicestershire shows it was very nearly just the one, but I'm glad we went as the weather was fabulous.

One of our customers was Chris Fleming, a fellow woodworker who makes beautiful furniture and also does some green woodworking including some really nice shrink boxes. You can check out his website here. I chatted for a while to Chris and his wife, who seemed to be a really lovely couple and I was flattered when they bought one of our bowls, but what I appreciated most was that they pointed out that our bowl display sucked.

Our new spoon display

I'd recently spent a bit of time putting together a new spoon display, which I think worked, but the bowls were just kind of plonked there. I will definitely give it some more thought for the next show we do. Any advice would be welcome.

One of the things I tried for the Leicester display was labels made with this fantastic Dymo label maker that I picked up at a carboot sale at the beginning of the summer.

I've always loved the effect of Dymo labels and I've found a few vintage ones over the years, but I'd never seen one like this chromed metal beauty. Unfortunately the labels were a bit small and not entirely practical.

So I'm now looking forward to coming up with some new ideas for next years shows. At least our sign was a hit again.

Car Boot Axe

Last week I picked up this little axe/hatchet from a car boot sale for £1. I often see rusty old axe heads or neglected/abused axes and I'm a bit of a sucker for them, especially as I only pay £2 - 50p for them and they are usually good, old steel. This one was a bit different to my usual findings though. Normally what I see are yankee pattern, Kent pattern and the occasional Rhineland pattern heads, this is something different altogether.

When I picked it up the first thing I noticed was the handle, which was more like what I would expect on a lump hammer. Then I realised how chunky the head was. It reminded me of my Roselli axe. The Roselli axe is a great all rounder (I did a review of it here), but it excels at splitting (for an axe its size).

When I started putting an edge back on this new axe find I noticed something strange about the grind. The beard section was a much thinner grind than the heel, which is really quite thick. I haven't measured the angles yet, but there is quite a difference. I also noticed that the handle is offset similar to what you would expect on a right handed side axe.

This has got me thinking that either these two features (differential grind and offset handle) are deliberate features, that would make this more than just a kindling splitter, or it was poorly made and hafted. It would seem strange to me to have an offset handle on anything other than a carving axe, but the obtuse angle of the grind is not my idea of an ideal carving axe. I guess I'll just have to get it sharp and give it a go.

What is your relationship with your spoon?

To most people this would sound like something of a strange, if not silly, question. To the growing number of bodgers, whittlers and green-woodworkers, those with an interest in spoon carving, the question would no doubt be answered somewhat differently to most. But even for those wooden spoon aficionados it is still a question worthy of consideration.

I find it curious that spoons and the other utensils with which we eat are so little considered; indeed they are something that on the whole we take for granted, reaching blindly into the cutlery draw when required and drawing out whichever knife, fork or spoon first comes to hand.

We use cutlery in this way several times each day without once giving the knives forks and spoons we are utilising any thought, let alone a second thought. And yet the role they play in facilitating our eating - arguably the most essential of life sustaining activities  - belies the indifference with which most people view them.

When you examine the application of a spoon or fork in the abstract, considering the fact that a spoon is the interface between the food on your plate and your mouth; that it will not only be pushed into your food but then placed repeatedly into your mouth, coming in repeated contact with your lips and tongue, it brings the importance of spoons into much sharper focus. Let's face it, there are not that many things that we place regularly into our mouths, and if there were such an instrument to be thus employed we would want to scrutinise it fairly closely. And yet, do we employ such an approach with our eating implements? Really, there are not many things that have such a role of daily importance.

Sadly, I have come across much evidence that many, if not most people do not consider this aspect of their meal. I have eaten at various friends' houses or in restaurants where I have been left to question the choice of cutlery - heavy, ill-balanced, gaudy, badly designed. With far more thought having been given to the form than the function cutlery becomes an ornament upon a dining table rather than a tool with a job to perform, and whilst I would not suggest that cutlery should not be well designed and decorative should it be at the expense of function?

So what am I trying to say? Pay more attention and give more thought to the things you put in your mouth?

The Greenwood Guild

Last month I went with some friends to visit the Green Wood Guild in Stepney East London. The Green Wood Guild was set up about two years ago by Barn (the spoon) Carder and runs regular courses and workshops. They've produced this lovely video, which will do a much better job than me of explaining what they're about.

I encouraged the wives of some of my friends to buy them one of the Guild's whittling gift boxes for Christmas. The gift box included a Mora 106 carving knife and a voucher for their whittling introduction course. We used this as an excuse to have a boy's weekend in London and spent a couple of hours whittling at their workshop in Stepney City farm.

Doing a bit of chip carving on the train

The course was a nice introduction to working with a knife as instructor Tom taught us some different   grips to use whilst carving a spatula. There was a really nice atmosphere and everyone had a great time. I would definitely recommend checking out their website, they offer a very enjoyable alternative to anyone spending a day out in London. They also run some longer courses (day and weekend) and for those that live a bit closer they do evening classes. 

Jeff demonstrates the chest lever grip

Vince demonstrates the thumb push

Jamie demonstrates the shoulder push grip

Dave demonstrates the pull the knife towards you without stabbing yourself in the chest  grip

Nick acts weird

Some of the woodenware on display

The finished article

New Website

I've been working on putting together some kind of online shop for a while now, and I've found it really frustrating. Making things out of wood is much easier. I've had a few enquiries about sales over the last few weeks, so I thought I'd better just bite the bullet and go live with it. I'm sure this will just be the start of several versions, but with everything else I've learned as I've got, so why would this be any different?

Anyway, here's the link if you want to take a look: Holt & Heath Handmade