Date: May 06, 2009
Location: JMB, Masardis, Maine
The rain kept us at camp today. In the morning we reestablished a kitchen area that was used last year. We put in a new crossbeam and covered it with a tarp. We had a lesson on setting up tripods and how to use cooking rigs. After lunch we carved pot hooks for cooking over the fire. I built a jig for sharpening my still unfinished crooked knife. I started working on ma new longer bucksaw frame but it won't be finished until tomorrow.
Accomplishments and Observations:
1) restored part of the camp
2)carved pot hook
3)made sharpening jig
4)starting bucksaw frame #2
Initial Reflections:
I need to be careful about accumulating too many unfinished projects! I will try to get either my bucksaw frame or crooked knife done tomorrow.
Current Reflections:
Not accumulating unfinished projects is a good idea for my life in general! I have a tendency to get "excited".
I found working on camp infrastructure to be quite interesting. I think setting up a good long term camp is one of those experiential bushcraft skills that is hard to train without actually spending the time in the bush (vs. flint knapping, knots, etc). Having a quality tarp covered cooking area with a solid cooking apparatus makes a big difference in your quality of life. If you can cook on the fire (with said apparatus) the need for modern gear like stoves is greatly reduced. Good times.
Showing posts with label carving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carving. Show all posts
Monday, 30 January 2012
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
JMB Spring Term Day 7
Date: April 26, 2009
Location: JMB, Masardis, Maine, USA
Summary:
Wind. I was forced awake to reinforce my shelter because the tarp was actually blowing off. This morning was time for building atlatls. I made an atlatl and one dart. It worked better than I would have expected. In the afternoon we built saw frames.
Accomplishments and Observations:
1) Built an atlatl and one dart
2) Built a saw frame
3) Practiced with atlatl
Initial Reflections:
The atlatl was great and worked well. I would like to work with them further. The saw frame was quite challenging. Carving surfaces to be flat is, in particular, quite difficult. The end result of the saw frame functioned and was acceptable.
Current Reflections:
The atlatl really did work well in terms of time invested. A few shaped pieces of wood and a (very basic) stone point gave me a baseline projectile. One would certainly want a lot of experience with atlatls before getting too confident with accuracy. Even well made atlatls take time to build accuracy and I would not call my first atlatl "well made"! The limited range also means you would want to have a good handle on stalking. These aren't complaints, I think atlatls are fascinating tools.
The saw frame was a surprisingly difficult carving project. As I mentioned in my "initial reflections" carving something to be proper flat is hard. It is not a difficult task with a plane but knife carving that surface requires great control. The other difficulty was dealing with the tension in a saw frame. The whole set up must be bound in such a way that the tension keeps the saw blade taut. It was an interesting task and a great way to lower pack weight and/or build in redundancy.
Location: JMB, Masardis, Maine, USA
Summary:
Wind. I was forced awake to reinforce my shelter because the tarp was actually blowing off. This morning was time for building atlatls. I made an atlatl and one dart. It worked better than I would have expected. In the afternoon we built saw frames.
Accomplishments and Observations:
1) Built an atlatl and one dart
2) Built a saw frame
3) Practiced with atlatl
Initial Reflections:
The atlatl was great and worked well. I would like to work with them further. The saw frame was quite challenging. Carving surfaces to be flat is, in particular, quite difficult. The end result of the saw frame functioned and was acceptable.
Current Reflections:
The atlatl really did work well in terms of time invested. A few shaped pieces of wood and a (very basic) stone point gave me a baseline projectile. One would certainly want a lot of experience with atlatls before getting too confident with accuracy. Even well made atlatls take time to build accuracy and I would not call my first atlatl "well made"! The limited range also means you would want to have a good handle on stalking. These aren't complaints, I think atlatls are fascinating tools.
The saw frame was a surprisingly difficult carving project. As I mentioned in my "initial reflections" carving something to be proper flat is hard. It is not a difficult task with a plane but knife carving that surface requires great control. The other difficulty was dealing with the tension in a saw frame. The whole set up must be bound in such a way that the tension keeps the saw blade taut. It was an interesting task and a great way to lower pack weight and/or build in redundancy.
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
JMB Spring Term Day 3
Date: April 22, 2009
Location: JMB, Masardis, Maine, USA
Summary:
I took another walk to the river after waking up. This was followed by breakfast and an entire morning spent on knots. It had just rained so lunch became an impromptu lesson on starting and maintaining fires in wet conditions.. After lunch we did our "plant of the day" nature study and carved bow drills.
Accomplishments and Observations:
1) Learned 3 knots: i) jam knot
ii) slippery sheet bend
iii) non-inverting slippery bowline
2) added Thuja occidentalis (yellow cedar) to herbarium
3) carved bow drill (Thuja occidentalis)
4) got 2nd bow drill coal (I had only managed this once previous to the course)
Initial Reflections:
Knots are hard. It will take a lot of consistent practice to internalize these knots. Lighting fires when everything is wet is also hard! I am interested to see what strategies are available in temperate rainforest to combat the wet, both in terms of fire and bush life generally.
Current Reflections:
I found (and continue to find) knots quite challenging. On top of the obvious practical use of knots, the process of learning them is important for my self knowledge. Like most people I have a tendency to prefer tasks that come easily to me. As knots are a challenge to learn they are useful for building my patience and gaining a better understanding of how I learn.
As someone who lives in the rainforest I really enjoyed learning wet weather fire skills. It seems like much of the challenge of living in the temperate rainforest is dealing with the wet. We may not spend much of the year below zero but soaking wet at 6 degrees is "not fun".
Location: JMB, Masardis, Maine, USA
Summary:
I took another walk to the river after waking up. This was followed by breakfast and an entire morning spent on knots. It had just rained so lunch became an impromptu lesson on starting and maintaining fires in wet conditions.. After lunch we did our "plant of the day" nature study and carved bow drills.
Accomplishments and Observations:
1) Learned 3 knots: i) jam knot
ii) slippery sheet bend
iii) non-inverting slippery bowline
2) added Thuja occidentalis (yellow cedar) to herbarium
3) carved bow drill (Thuja occidentalis)
4) got 2nd bow drill coal (I had only managed this once previous to the course)
Initial Reflections:
Knots are hard. It will take a lot of consistent practice to internalize these knots. Lighting fires when everything is wet is also hard! I am interested to see what strategies are available in temperate rainforest to combat the wet, both in terms of fire and bush life generally.
Current Reflections:
I found (and continue to find) knots quite challenging. On top of the obvious practical use of knots, the process of learning them is important for my self knowledge. Like most people I have a tendency to prefer tasks that come easily to me. As knots are a challenge to learn they are useful for building my patience and gaining a better understanding of how I learn.
As someone who lives in the rainforest I really enjoyed learning wet weather fire skills. It seems like much of the challenge of living in the temperate rainforest is dealing with the wet. We may not spend much of the year below zero but soaking wet at 6 degrees is "not fun".
Monday, 2 January 2012
JMB Spring Term Day 2
Date: April 21, 2009
Location: JMB, Masardis, Maine, USA
Summary:
I began the day with some solo nature observation down by the river. After breakfast we worked on spark ignition and the use of cotton balls in vaseline as tinder. An introduction to saws was next but we were forced inside by heavy rains. Instead of saws, Tim gave a presentation on wilderness survival and its relationship to bushcraft. Following this was time spent on nature study, specifically the "mammal of the week". After lunch we moved to the newly built common shelter and worked on carving netting needles.
Accomplishments and Observations:
1) ignited cottonballs in vaseline with sparks
2) listened to survival presentation
3) nature study on Lepus americanus (snowshoe hare)
4) limbed portion of hardwood tree
5) carved netting needle
Initial Reflections:
The survival presentation was very useful. I feel I have a better grasp on plan and gear priorities. My netting needle was poor but my carving improved through the process. I couldn't make sparks with the back of my knife because the edges are rounded, I must remember to file them flat.
Current Reflections:
Carving the nettling needle was quite a challenge. My previous woodworking experience was of the chisel/plane variety with very little knife based carving. I was having problems because of the width of the end blade on Mora knife I was using. The blade was narrow and I was inexperienced, so maintaining my grip for fine carving was a difficult. I switched to a slightly larger Mora and the problem went away. I think this was a skill based problem and not a knife based problem. Tim has larger hands than I and he used that same knife with no problem.
This was also my first real exposure to why I wouldn't want to do fine work (like carving a netting needle) with a large knife. I think it would be very difficult to have the kind of control required to do the carving work efficiently with a large knife. By "large knife" I'm talking bowie/tacticool size, not just the "larger Mora" I was discussing previously. I guess what I should do is buy a large knife and try it myself!
Location: JMB, Masardis, Maine, USA
Summary:
I began the day with some solo nature observation down by the river. After breakfast we worked on spark ignition and the use of cotton balls in vaseline as tinder. An introduction to saws was next but we were forced inside by heavy rains. Instead of saws, Tim gave a presentation on wilderness survival and its relationship to bushcraft. Following this was time spent on nature study, specifically the "mammal of the week". After lunch we moved to the newly built common shelter and worked on carving netting needles.
Accomplishments and Observations:
1) ignited cottonballs in vaseline with sparks
2) listened to survival presentation
3) nature study on Lepus americanus (snowshoe hare)
4) limbed portion of hardwood tree
5) carved netting needle
Initial Reflections:
The survival presentation was very useful. I feel I have a better grasp on plan and gear priorities. My netting needle was poor but my carving improved through the process. I couldn't make sparks with the back of my knife because the edges are rounded, I must remember to file them flat.
Current Reflections:
Carving the nettling needle was quite a challenge. My previous woodworking experience was of the chisel/plane variety with very little knife based carving. I was having problems because of the width of the end blade on Mora knife I was using. The blade was narrow and I was inexperienced, so maintaining my grip for fine carving was a difficult. I switched to a slightly larger Mora and the problem went away. I think this was a skill based problem and not a knife based problem. Tim has larger hands than I and he used that same knife with no problem.
This was also my first real exposure to why I wouldn't want to do fine work (like carving a netting needle) with a large knife. I think it would be very difficult to have the kind of control required to do the carving work efficiently with a large knife. By "large knife" I'm talking bowie/tacticool size, not just the "larger Mora" I was discussing previously. I guess what I should do is buy a large knife and try it myself!
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