R2 Wood

R2 Wood - Handcarved Spoons, Bowls, Cups

Back to All Events

APTGW - Essex Bodgers Meet Sat 14th September

Bonjou sculpteur bwa - (Greetings wood carvers)[Haitian Creole]

News -  by Wendy of the Wool:
We were very excited to return to the garden after a bout of flu and then a well needed holiday. Unfortunately, the sun had other business to attend to – it was raining when we arrived but it didn't last long.
Richard held a sharpening clinic this week, for those new to sharpening. Star pupil Jamie gave his Mora 106 its first sharpen and did a fabulous job.
Ranger Dave and Jamie also continued with practicing Santa figurines, Mike of the Bowl worked on (you've guessed it!) a bowl, David Wilkins worked on a spoon and produced a lovely little curly shaving during the process. Henry returned and brought along his newly built shave horse together with some honey from his bees and some beeswax products. Richard's chopping block is on its last legs and so he took home a big log to make a new one which is in progress. Potty Steve worked on a spoon? and has also had a haircut as has Richard.
As we fall into autumn (see what I did there) thoughts turn towards the Walled Garden's annual Apple Day which takes place on Sunday 6 October this year at which the group will have a presence demonstrating and also selling woody wares. Please come along to witness this lovely event if you are available even if you aren't demonstrating as you'll get to see how many people in the local area enjoy the garden and see some of the garden volunteers dressed up in period costume as Lord of the Manor and Head Gardener. Plus, the pizza oven is usually fired up for some epic pizza plus tea and cakes!

Word Of The Week - Rich with the shorter long hair:
Chatoyancy:
Chatoyancy, also called chatoyance or the cat's eye effect, is an optical reflectance effect seen in certain gemstones, woods, and carbon fibre. Coined from the French œil de chat, meaning 'cat's eye'. The chatoyant effect is typically characterised by one or more well-defined bands of reflected light, reminiscent of a cat's eye, which appear to glide across the material's surface as the chatoyant object or observer shifts position.

Chatoyancy in wood occurs in various species – particularly hardwoods and the various types of Nanmu woods of China and South East Asia, particularly where stresses from the weight of the growing tree result in denser patches, or where stresses cause burl or bird’s eye. This ‘figure’, which has a striking three-dimensional appearance, is highly prized by woodworkers and their clients alike, and is featured regularly in furniture, musical instruments, and other decorative wood products. Figuring takes on a variety of forms and is referred to as flame, ribbon, tiger stripe, quilting, wibbly wobbly, ooh I’ve had too much to drink, among other names.

Regular Bits n Bobs:
If you have them, bring your lathe, shave horse, and any other fun equipment. We have a few chopping blocks and one kuksa horse, so if you can bring your own please do. Note for those with Lathes, our floor space is mostly concrete, so treadles may not be able to be pegged down.

Our meets don’t just have to be about making wood chips, we encourage members to bring other crafts to the meets, be that spinning a yarn, weaving a basket, making a tool sheath from leather or bark, and even decorative methods for our wooden items. Feel free to showcase your other craft skills as we are interested in sharing and learning a wider range of skills as we grow as a group. If any members would like to lead a session of various crafts for the group, possibly a paid one day course, please get in contact with me and we will see what we can arrange for the future.

About the venue:
The venue has toilets, kitchen, and is accessible to wheelchairs. I will supply teabags, coffee, sugar and cows milk. Please bring your own non dairy milk if needed. If anyone wants to bring biscuits, cake, snacks to share that would be nice, but bring your own lunch, bowl/plate, drinking vessel, and cutlery please.

Members have suggested a contribution for Tea/Coffee a few times, so I have decided to ask for a contribution of 50p. Obviously if you bring all your own bits, there is no need to chip in.

Free secure parking is available within the walled garden. Follow the main driveway all the way down, past the public car park and the “no unauthorised vehicles” sign, then the Walled Garden’s big gates will be on the left. Toot your horn to let us know you’ve arrived.

See site map, and map links at bottom of page.

Hope to see you there, and please contact me  if you have any questions.

Richard Roberts - Group Coordinator APTGW Essex Bodgers

APTGW Membership:
Our meets are free of charge to members of the Association of Polelathe Turners and Green Woodworkers.

Non members are welcome to join us a few times to see if it’s something they’d like to pursue further. We then ask that folks join the APTGW. It’s only £20 per year and membership runs from January to December each year.

Join the APTGW here: https://www.bodgers.org.uk/joinus

For just £20 a year you get:

  • A quarterly Gazette with news views and articles on all aspects of green woodworking.

  • Attend the UK Bodger's Ball always held in mid-May (this is chargeable, but a bargain!)

  • Win prizes for your creations at the many craft competitions at the ball

  • Connect with other Green Woodworkers, tool makers, rural crafters.

  • Learn new skills in a variety of length courses.

  • Attend and participate in the Annual General Meeting which is held at the Bodgers Ball

  • Vote on how the organisation progresses and elect, or even stand for the committee!

Here is a "what 3 words" ink to the location: https://w3w.co/sizes.soup.puddles

Google maps link to location: https://goo.gl/maps/f6rYfb92p6n43Uz99

Later Event: September 28
APTGW - Essex Bodgers Meet