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A full day of basketry with
expert tuition
This
course has been designed to guide total beginners step by step
through each stage of the basket making process making it easy to
understand. Go home with your own hand made basket and the knowledge
needed to continue the craft! |
New Bushcraft E-Books by Jon Ridgeon
Step by step tutorial guides - £3.50 each or all five for £10
Hand drill Fire Lighting; Net Making; Weaving a Melon Basket; Wood
Carving; Spoon Carving; Making a shave Horse.
Click here
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Latest Blog Posts
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Post - 21/09/2011 -
Birch bark containers |
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I recently made these two Birch bark pots,
they are stitched differently to the way I have previously made
containers; this is now my new favourite method. As well as
being very decorative, the 'stepped' stitching ensures that the
bark doesn't split along its grain, which would be likely if so
many stitching holes were made right next to each other along
the same line. Making stitching holes through two layers of bark
also helps the bark not to split.
The container on the right is made from the
bark of a dead tree. When stripping the bark from the logs the
wood inside had actually started to rot away but the skeleton of
bark was still good to use, that's because of all the natural
tar it contains. the smaller container is made from fresh bark I
managed to salvage from some logs left behind by tree surgeons.
This bark is such a nice material, its a shame so much of it
just ends up on peoples fire heap!
Some of the crafts I make are quite
intricate, so for a change I thought I'd show you how to make a
simple little bark box like this...
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| Strip your bark from felled or naturally fallen
trees. The only tools you need to make this little box
are a pen knife, a ruler, and something to score lines
with. The folds are simply held together by two stick
pegs inserted through slots in the bark. |
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Start by cleaning up the outside
of the bark. removing any loose material. Pulling your thumb
over the bark side-ways works well. |
Now cut the bark
into a neat rectangle. |
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Carefully score the
folding lines onto the bark as represented by the diagram. I
used a bradawl for this job. |
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Fold the corners up |
Make four small
slots ready to receive the pegs which hold the folds securely in
shape. |
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Cut two sticks to length and
shave them down thin. If they are a bit flexible that will help
with the fitting. |
Insert the pegs on
either side... job done! How simple and effective is that! |
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Also see my tutorial on how to make other
simple birch bark containers/ pots..
click here
And my step by step guide to making a Birch bark basket
Here |
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Post -
19/09/2011 -
Primitive Trapping |
| Trapping is only something you'd do if you needed to feed
yourself, it should then be carried out with much care and
respect. However, it can be fun to learn how to lay traps with
no real intention of actually catching anything; that's what
I've been practicing today.... I find it fascinating how a few
carefully prepared sticks can be assembled with a snare to
create a very effective trap. The trap here on the right is a
type of Rabbit snare. Many types of trap utilize a toggle which
is held in place by another stick; when the stick is dislodged
the toggle is released and up goes the noose. A trap like this
can surprisingly be set to an extremely fine tolerance. Of
course, tracking skills and good knowledge of your prey's
behaviours will also mean the the difference between success and
failure; or the difference between a humane and inhumane catch. |
Click images to enlarge |
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| In primitive situations when you are using a snare made from
natural fibres, the animal needs to be lifted off the ground to
prevent it from biting through the snare line (or its leg) and
escaping. This is done by attaching the snare to a springy
branch, when the animal sets off the trigger mechanism, the
noose tightens around its neck and the tensioned branch lifts
the animal upwards. This tension also prevents any chance of the
noose loosening. Placing sticks either side of the trap and
the animal trail guides the animal into the snare opening. There
are other things that need to be thought about too, such as
trying to make your trap as inconspicuous as possible; masking
your scent (usually by smoking your snare and parts over a
fire); and making as little disturbance to the animals trail so
that it will not become suspicious... animals are more clever
than you'd think!
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Another 'neck hold' trap. This is another
example of a toggle based snare with the main line under
tension. The central stick would be baited in the middle. She
snare is held up with tiny 'Y' shaped sticks. It should be easy
to see how this works. |
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A simple 'Eye' made from a section of naturally hollow Elder
wood helps the snare to slip freely along. |
Please respect my wishes and only
use these traps in survival situations. Never leave a practice trap set!
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Post -
17/09/2011 -
Harry Potter Elder Wand |
| I'm not actually a big Harry Potter fan but I
made this wand with the intent of selling it :-) I
thought it might be an interesting item to show and share. I
carved it from genuine Elder wood with just a normal Bushcraft
knife. The Elder wand is said to be the most powerful wand there
can be. You'll think I'm mad but the finished wand strangely did
feel quite powerful in the hand. I guess the power of intent is
quite strong and maybe wands could be used to direct your
intent. We've all heard about the power of the mind; people
using their mental power to stay strong and overcoming illness
is a good example. |
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Post -
14/09/2011 - A
New Kuksa Cup Carved |
| I recently finished carving a new Kuksa cup from Sycamore
wood. This is now my number one drinking vessel. I use it all
day every day. Water tastes so much better these now...
Click here to see
my kuksa carving tutorial. |
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I have crafted this fish trap from Willow growing in
the local fields. The construction is started like an
average basket with a spoke layout, although far more
spokes constantly need to be added in. A twine weave is
used throughout the construction. On its own the willow
structure would be quite flimsy so I have integrated
several wooden hoops on the inside to give it rigidity,
they are bound into place using Lime bark fibres.
I have been trying to use the trap in a lake, for bait
I suspend bread and sardines in the centre of the basket
structure. You can put the bait inside a sock to keep it
all together. So far I have only caught 3 small Rudd but
hoping for some bigger catches soon.
If you wish to have a go at basket making you can
follow my inspirational guide
here |
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Most recently I have been collecting as many types
of edible seed as possible from the local fields and
woodland, then working out how to process them to use
as food. I started out with Collecting Soft Brome
Grass seed, then Yorkshire Fog grass seed, Cocks Foot
grass, Ribwort Plantain seeds and also Pendulous Sedge
seed. As you can see below I have managed to collect
quite a large quantity of the Soft Brome Grass seed.
Using a coil basket made from sedges and badminton
racket I was able to collect 16kg in just 3 and a half
hours! Some of this seed was still a little green but
I dried it off in the sun on a large cotton sheet.
Some types of seed are harder to process than
others. With grass, each seed is encased in a husk
which needs removing before the seed can be eaten or
ground into flour. The brome seed first of all seemed
impossible to de-husk efficiently, with most seeds you
can parch them, rub them and then winnow the chaff
away but this did not work with the Brome. The
processes I worked out are far too in-depth to write
about here so I may be writing an article on the
subject soon.
I should mention that if you decide to collect
grass seed to use as a food, you must research Black
Ergot fungus first! This grows on some of the seed and
if eaten it can potentially be fatal. It is to be
taken seriously.
So far I can say that Pendulous sedge and Yorkshire
fog have been the most successful seed I have
gathered. Particularly the Yorkshire Fog seed which
tastes like sesame once parched. Fantastic! Pendulous
sedge doesn't suffer from the Ergot fungus so you'll
be safe if you stick to this seed for now.
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Sacks of Soft Brome seed and
gathering equipment |
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Soft Brome seed (some still a
little green) |
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Drying the seed on a sheet in the
sun |
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Gathering method |
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Parching Yorkshire Fog seed ready
for rubbing and winnowing |
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Example of Pendulous Sedge seed
after parching, rubbing between hands and then
winnowing |
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Grinding seed into flour using a
Metate and Muller. Flour can now be used to make bush
biscuits or added into bread etc. |
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Contact me via Email:
jon@jonsbushcraft.com
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"With this simple basket weaving guide even a child with just an Elementary
education can weave one of these amazing baskets!" |
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