APTGW - Essex Bodgers Meet Sat 26th October
Mokuzai oyobi sen'i rōdō-sha no minasan, kon'nichiwa [Japanese] - (Hello wood and fiber workers)
News - by Wendy of the Wool:
The Walled Garden's Autumn Celebration took place on Sunday 6 October with Richard demonstrating spoon carving and selling spoons and other woody goodies, Bowl Mike carving bowls, David Wilkins giving his general cheek to the public and Merlin demonstrating turning on his pole lathe. Jamie also popped down to show support in the afternoon which was appreciated! Although we didn't have the glorious sunshine of 2023, we were lucky not to have any rain until just after we packed up. A nice day was had by all and it's great to see the garden on its busiest day of the year.
A new face, Bob, One of the Garden's volunteers, approached us at the Autumn Celebration mentioning that he had done some carving some time ago and had some tools that he may want to sell as he no longer uses them. Bob then popped along last weekend to one of our group meets and it seems he may actually be thinking about taking up those tools to do some carving again in the future after some nice chats with the Essex Bodgers.
At the last group meet we welcomed back Chris who had a spoon carving lesson with Richard along with David Wilkins. We were dodging the rain with a few stop start showers and then quite a downpour in the afternoon – so we took refuge in the classroom and poly tunnel.
The rest of us continued with our individual projects – carving bowls for Mike, detailed Santa carvings for Dave the Ranger and Jamie, and Wendy worked on yet another head draft for the needle-felted dog she is working on.
As usual we enjoyed many hot beverages and chats and were graced with a visit from the Tunnocks Fairy as well!
Word Of The Week - R2 of the Wood
Oak Apple:
An Oak Apple or Oak Gall is a large, round, vaguely Apple-like Gall commonly found on many species of Oak. Oak Apples range in size from 2 to 4 centimetres (1 to 2 in) in diameter and are caused by chemicals injected by the larva of certain kinds of Gall Wasp in the family Cynipidae. Oak Apples may be brownish, yellowish, greenish, pinkish, or reddish.
The adult female Wasp lays single eggs in developing leaf buds. The Wasp larvae feed on the Gall tissue resulting from their secretions, which modify the Oak bud into the Gall, a structure that protects the developing larvae until they undergo metamorphosis into adults.
Oak Galls have been used in the production of ink since at least the time of the Roman Empire. From the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century, Iron Gall ink was the main medium used for writing in the Western world.
Gall nuts are a source of tannin in the production of Iron Gall ink. Tannins belong to a group of molecules known as polyphenols and can be taken from different parts of plants such as leaves, pods, fruits, and Gall nuts.
Along with Gall nuts, other important ingredients in the production of iron Gall ink include iron sulfate and gum arabic. The reaction between the tannins from the Gall nut and the iron produces a complex that gives the iron Gall ink its color. The gum arabic makes the ink more viscous and helps bind the ink to the writing surface.
Members Services (See Listings at bottom of page)
A new section of our Newsletter where local members can offer charged services to other local members. For example: Craft Courses, Tool Repairs, Lathe building, Lathe for sale etc. If you have a service you would like offer here, please reply to this email.
Listings will be approved at our discretion and are limited to local sole traders. There are no listing fees. We do not take responsibility over any transactions, so please be mindful of where your money is going.
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 near bottom of page.
Hope to see you there, and please reply 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
Members Services
Spoon Carving Lessons - R2 Wood
Learn Spoon Carving split into 3 separate lessons, held on different set days as shown below.
Lesson 1 covers axing out a squared blank.
Lesson 2 covers spoon design and axing the outline of our spoon.
Lesson 3 covers the knife work to finish our spoon.
There are three options to choose from:
One Lesson - £50 - offer price £40
Any Two Lessons - £90 - offer price £75
All Three Lessons - £130 - offer price £110
Lesson Dates:
Sat 09 Nov Lesson 1 - 2 places available
Sat 23 Nov Lesson 2 - 2 places available
Sat 07 Dec Lesson 3 - 2 places available
All prices are per person. Offer is only for paid up APTGW members on the dates shown above. Guests are welcome, but will pay the regular price. Please contact Richard at info@r2wood.co.uk to enquire or book.
Sharpening Service - R2 Wood
I’ve launched a sharpening service for greenwood carving tools, offering APTGW members a 5% discount. Covering Sloyd and Spoon knives, Axes, Adzes, Gouges and more. Please contact Richard at info@r2wood.co.uk to enquire.