Green woodworking

All Greenwood projects start with the process of cleaving the timber, although the process really begins when the tree is selected and felled. This involves splitting the wood which is initially in the round (a complete log fully enclosed in bark). The split is made using an axe or froe…

A pole lathe is an ancient form of turning that easily dates pack to the medieval period in the United Kingdom and relies solely on the power of the operator's legs and the natural spring of a freshly cut ash pole to turn the wood between two poppets. In its…

A shaving horse is essentially a clamp that you sit on that will respond to the force you apply, which clamps the wood in place.  This allows you to use a draw knife to safely shape the wood. Sitting on the “bed” supported by three legs, your feet push an…

Quite simply "green woodworking" is the shaping of wood into useful items whilst the moisture content is still high, preferably before even the free moisture within the cells is lost. Green wood behaves very differently to seasoned wood and can be shaped by cleaving along or slicing through the turgid…

The term “green” is applied to wood that is freshly cut and has not yet lost any of the moisture in  the cells that make up the wood. In this state even the hardest timbers can easily be worked by hand using sharp tools. Once cut, wood will start to dry…