For Khandles

No, no, Not For Khandles…..Fourc Andles!  Groan, very BIG GROAN!!! I can hear it from here, but the old ones are the best ones and you can only guess how long I’ve been waiting to do that one!

Anyway what prompted this is that I’ve finally got around to putting a new ash handle on a friend’s fork. She’s managed without it very patentially for over a year whilst the job has lingered but then her other for khandle also snapped whilst digging the potatoes so I did this one whilst the weather was bad.

Luckily she was delighted with the new fourc andle, especially because the ash is from a local wood. It’s not cheap getting a new handle put on, I should charge £15 (I won’t say what I charged in this case) and you could buy a new one for that price. But looking at the tines on this fork they are here to stay for a few decades yet and the new tool should easily outlast a cheap imported one. For the environmentally minded amongst us it’s a more sustainable option than buying one shipped from China made with Ore and coal imported from Australia.

Mind you I’ve not managed to reduce the work load as I now have another fork to rehandle and I’ve promised it won’t take a year or more this time.

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Hammers and Tongs

I couldn’t resist it. I can hear the groans from here.  I am always suprised how many sayings are related to blacksmithing, ‘Going at it hammer and tongs’ being one of them. So I spent the afternoon with John at his Forge in Tilford which means I am talking bowlhooks again.

John and Nick have done a lot of work improving the facilities at the forge and it is looking very good these days with new layout benches and more tools in use. Unfortunately, a technical hitch with recharging my camera batteries meant that the recharged ones ran out, and predictably my spares were dead, so you will be pleased to hear that I don’t have a lot of pictures of old landrover springs being turned into bowlhooks this time.

The forge was busy, with both hearths in use, as Andy was being tutored by John and seemed grateful that somebody else would be struggling more than he would!

John allowed me to interrupt his work, some of which I managed to snap – I really liked this pair of door handles commissioned for a music room.

and some ornamental scrollwork for a gate.

I did manage to make a coupe of monster bowl hooks with John’s help. By coincidence, or was it synchronicity Toni, another pole and bowl turner (Bygone Toni on Youtube and at his website http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bygonecountryskills/ ) was visiting the museum and we had useful discussions on the merits of bowlhook design and how to sharpen them – some of which I was able to use as I made these tools. I haven’t seen Toni since I met him at a Kew Gardens show some years ago and I was extremely impressed with the work he does, so it was good to make contact and I look forward to catching up with him again.

On this occasion I decided to make them with the bevel on the outside of the curve for a change. Though in one case I forgot that was my intention so inadvertantly put the bevel on the wrong side and bent it in reverse, so it looks a little weird – but I don’t think that will affect it’s performance and I’m looking forward to trying it out in the next few days.

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