Last week we said farewell to Paul Sellers and the team at Rokesmith, who have built up an incredibly successful business over the last two years.
Paul Sellers and his son Joseph moved into a small unit at the Sylva Wood Centre two years ago. During their time with us they took on several new staff members, and the company expanded their online tutorials, published a book, and offered several woodworking classes at the centre. We were delighted to include a talk from Paul in our inaugural WoodWords event in 2016, while the company sponsored a number of plots in the Future Forest.
In a generous gesture, the team have made a short film to reflect upon their time with us at the Sylva Wood Centre, featuring interviews with a number of the craftspeople. We wish Paul and his team every success in their new larger unit, just a few miles away, and look forward to future collaborations.
Following the sell-out success of this course last time, we are pleased to offer a new one-day course: learn how to make a green wood stool. Working with green wood using simple hand tools, by the end of the day you will make a ‘basic’ three-legged stool under the expert tuition of green woodworker Peter Wood.
Green stool making course at Sylva Wood Centre
Course date: 27th October 2018, 9.30am – 4.00pm
Learn about different tree species and understand why different woods are suitable for different tasks, how growth effects its use, and look at wood suitable for cleaving.
Learn how to cleave wood.
Learn basic axe work to rough shape the stool legs.
Use a shaving horse, drawknives and spokeshaves to shape three stool legs.
Shape a simple stool seat using planes, inshaves, travishers and spokeshaves.
There will also be a pole lathe for participants to ‘have a go’ at turning as time allows.
Sylva Foundation is delighted to announce the opening of the Forestry Yard at the Sylva Wood Centre. The Forestry Yard will be occupied and run by Face North Forestry, a local and expanding forestry contracting company.
The Forestry Yard at the Sylva Wood Centre, with Nick Keighley of Face North Forestry
The Sylva Wood Centre is a growing hub of wood-using businesses: currently 13 wood-based businesses operate from the site; from boat builders, to woodcarvers and fine furniture makers. The focus of the Sylva Wood Centre is to support the growth of wood-based businesses and in particular the use of home-grown timber. The addition of the Forestry Yard will help the Sylva Wood Centre to achieve this last goal, shortening the supply chain between woodland and end use.
Nick Keighley – Face North Forestry
Thanks to a Countryside Productivity Grant, Face North Forestry purchased a new mobile sawmill. This will allow the business to select timber to be milled, which may have previously been used for firewood, adding value and locking up carbon for the long term. This timber will be available for use by the businesses at the Sylva Wood Centre; in fact Face North Forestry are already collaborating with two of the businesses.
Meanwhile, the new forestry building was part-supported by a capital grant to Sylva Foundation from LEADER, whose funds are distributed by the Oxfordshire Leader Action Group (LAG) made up of representatives from local trusts, organisations and district councils. The LAG is chaired by South Oxfordshire district councillor Elizabeth Gillespie, who said:
“Our group visited the forestry yard and we were all impressed to see how the funds are supporting the local environment and small wood businesses based at the Sylva Wood Centre.”
Nick Keighley of Face North Forestry said:
“Moving into the Forestry Yard at the Sylva Wood Centre will allow me to grow my business. I have always been frustrated by good quality timber not being used to its full potential, but local supply chains have been decimated over the last few decades with the closure of many small sawmills. The yard will allow me to add value to the timber I fell, while being based at the Sylva Wood Centre means there is a readymade customer base for my products”
Paul Orsi, Director for Forestry at Sylva Foundation said:
“The addition of the Forestry Yard at the Sylva Wood Centre is crucial to seeing more local timber being used by the businesses we support. The development of the Forestry Yard was supported by a LEADER grant which was vital to allow us to take this project forward”
£1.55 million available to boost rural areas in the county
Grants of up to £100,000 are available to community groups, small businesses farmers and foresters for projects that support the rural economy.
The Oxfordshire LEADER fund aims to support a wide range of activities in the countryside such as assisting local small businesses, supporting local heritage and cultural events, attracting tourism and visitors increasing foresters and farmer’s productivity and helping to diversify services.
Contributions are available for capital costs such as building work, equipment and for projects located in the Oxfordshire LEADER area until September this year.
Oxfordshire LEADER is welcoming expressions of interest for support until September this year and all funds will be allocated by March 2019. For further information on the programme and criteria for funding, visit the website http://www.oxfordshireleader.org.uk
If your project is eligible, you can contact Sophie, programme manager, on 01235 422245 or email Oxfordshire.leader@southandvale.gov.uk for further guidance.
The new Charter for Trees, Woods and People will launch on 6th November — the 800th anniversary of the Charter of the Forest. Sylva Foundation has been a keen supporter of this Woodland Trust-led initiative. Last year we collected stories from hundreds of woodland owners (read more), and behind the scenes we’ve been lending our weight to help make this national celebration of trees a success. We’ve also been quietly busy at the Sylva Wood Centre, helping one of the main celebratory moments come to life in the form of 11 dramatic sculptures.
The Tree Charter Poles are being carved from 15′ oak logs by Sylva Wood Centre-based sculptor Simon Clements. Each of the sculptures represents one of the ten principles from the new Charter, while the eleventh, known as the ‘Champion Pole’, represents the Charter as a whole. The logs were donated by Crown Estates and procured by Grown in Britain.
Charter Pole logs being delivered from Crown Estates
Charter Pole logs being delivered from Crown Estates
Nick Keighley preparing the poles on his Woodmizer
Nick Keighley preparing the poles on his Woodmizer
Simon Clements and the Charter Pole logs
Simon Clements and the Charter Pole logs
Simon Clements at work carving a Charter Pole sculpture
Simon Clements at work carving a Charter Pole sculpture
Simon takes over the story . . .
A 15 foot oak log is quite a thing to have delivered to your door; there is no chance of missing it. So 11 of them represent a serious log pile and that makes starting a project quite daunting especially for Nick Keighley of Face North Forestry who runs the Woodmizer mobile sawmill from his base at the Sylva Wood Centre, and had only just taken delivery of it when the logs arrived.
The original plan was to have the logs de-barked before we received them, but since the process chews up the timber so badly that we would have needed to recut them before carving, we thought it was easier to run them through the sawmill straight away. It was not an easy task as we weren’t looking for planks but a cylinder of solid oak with no sapwood or bark. This meant that Nick needed to roll the logs onto the sawmill make a pass with the saw, roll the log a few degrees make another pass then continue around the log. We provided him with a plywood disk with the correct Diameter (400mm) to act as a template, but it was very much a case of learning on the job which Nick did brilliantly.
We estimated that the 15 foot logs were about a tonne in weight after sawing so they needed very substantial trestles to support them and these needed to be adjustable to save back strain. A trip to Dave at Cobalt Blacksmith in Nuffield and some chalk drawings on the forge floor resulted in a pair of scissor-type trestles with a chain locking system. We ended up with two pairs so we could work on two poles together.
Brian is an student of mine who bravely agreed to have a go at some of the lettering and has proved to be a natural letter carver, there are around 300+ letters on each pole It takes about 15 or 20 minutes to carve each one so he is an extremely useful member of the team. Steve my other helper has left us to learn cabinet making in Lyme Regis but will be back in time to help with the last few poles in the New Year (he doesn’t know this yet!).
Once the poles were on the trestles they needed to be rounded out to remove the slabs left by the saw. The first two poles, which had gnarly grain, were planed with a 4” power planer; boring, messy and noisy. Once we had a good smooth surface to work on the poem stencils were wrapped around the pole so we could write out the poem reading from the bottom up. The poem words wrap around the pole and are carved into a ribbon with the other carvings placed between the twists of the ribbon.
Once we started work on the later poles we found that the timber was so good that it could be rounded out with a drawknife. The second and third poles were lovely to work; with long straight grain that showed pink as the drawknife sliced through the surface, and because they were denser than the previous two poles it took them longer to open up
Then it was a matter of drawing the designs directly onto the timber and starting to carve. Roughing out the designs was done with a variety of power rasps and cutters, (Rotarex and Arbourtech) on 4” angle grinders, and then followed up with carver’s gouges and mallets.
Because of the nature of green oak all the designs needed to be bold simple shapes, rather than delicate or highly undercut, as the Oak began to open up as soon as it was placed on the trestles. Each pole required about 30 hours of drawn design work which was sent to the Woodland Trust to be signed off before work could begin.
It has been a personal highlight seeing these huge slightly pink oak poles rounded out and made ready for the carver’s chisels. Of course so far the poles are all sitting horizontally in storage after our work is complete, and though they look good and very intriguing, I’m really looking forward to seeing the champion pole go up, which will be the first pole to be lifted into place on its custom made stone plinth in the grounds of Lincoln castle.
Matt Estlea – craftsperson-in-residence at the Sylva Wood Centre (2017-18)
Instead of following the traditional approach of making a living from furniture making, Matt has begun exploring the potential of mixing his interests, woodworking and videography, into something that builds an online brand for himself. He runs build-alongs, tutorials and ‘Tool Duels’ on YouTube drawing from both his 5 years experience at Rycotewood, and being an employee at Axminster Tools & Machinery for 4 years. This has given him a unique position in not only understanding the specifications and selling points of tools, but also how to use them to their best potential in a practical environment.
Talking about taking up craftsperson-in-residence at the Sylva Wood Centre Matt said:
“On leaving Rycotewood, many students say that they miss the communal aspects of the workshop. Moving to Sylva was a natural progression for me where I could enjoy my own space yet still enjoy the benefits of being surrounded by a creative and inspiring community.”
Work has started constructing our new FORESTRY YARD at the Sylva Wood Centre – thanks to support from Oxfordshire Leader funding.
Forestry Yard, Sylva Wood Centre
We’ll soon be welcoming a forestry business to the yard, complete with a mobile sawmill and firewood processor (also supported by Leader funding). Meanwhile a joinery business, recently moved down south from Scotland, is refurbishing the old pigsties nearby as it future home.
The site which was derelict just three years ago already supports more than 30 local people. We can’t wait to see the yard stacked with locally-sourced timber from well-managed woodlands.
A one-day course to learn how to work with green wood using a pole lathe and make something to take home at the end of the day. Learn with expert green woodworker and experienced tutor Peter Wood.
For centuries the Bodgers used the methods you’ll learn on this course to produce a variety of items. You will work a freshly sawn log though each stage needed to make a useful household object, such as a garden dibber or baby’s rattle to take home. Each student will have the full use of a pole lathe, shaving horse and set of greenwood working tools.
On the course you will learn:
how to safely use the tools provided
how to carefully select logs for working
how to cleave (split) the logs for working
how to shape the wood using a shaving horse and drawknife
Following the sell-out success of this course in February, we are pleased to offer a new one-day course: learn how to make a green wood stool. Working with green wood using simple hand tools, by the end of the day you will make a ‘basic’ three-legged stool under the expert tuition of green woodworker Peter Wood.
Greenwood workshop 11th November 2017
Course date: 11th November 2017, 9.30am – 4.00pm
Learn about different tree species and understand why different woods are suitable for different tasks, how growth effects its use, and look at wood suitable for cleaving.
Learn how to cleave wood.
Learn basic axe work to rough shape the stool legs.
Use a shaving horse, drawknives and spokeshaves to shape three stool legs.
Shape a simple stool seat using planes, inshaves, travishers and spokeshaves.
There will also be a pole lathe for participants to ‘have a go’ at turning as time allows.
The Future of Forestry was this week’s theme on the BBC Radio 4 flagship environmental programme Costing the Earth.
BBC Costing The Earth
The main question posed was whether Britain could revive its forestry and provide for more of its own needs.
BBC reporter Tom Heap came to interview Sylva’s CEO Gabriel Hemery at the Sylva Wood Centre. He also spoke with one of our resident furniture makers Jan Waterston, our current craftsperson-in-residence in partnership with Rycotewood Furniture Centre. The programme also featured Stuart Goodall from Confor, and Matt Larsen-Daw from the Woodland Trust.
Stunning fine furniture
Environmental art
Bespoke items for your home and garden
Live demonstrations and workshops
Children’s area and activities
Food and drink (weekends only)
Enjoy the new Future Forest and Community Orchard
Meet the beekeepers And more . . .
If you would like to print a poster to help us advertise the event please download it here. Thank you!
