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WOODCRAFT TRAINING 2010
To book on any of these courses, e-mail click here to check availablity of places, and I will send you a booking form. I also provide one-to-one tuition or woodcraft instruction to groups, young people or adults
Houghall College NCFE Greenwood Certificate Course This popular course started 15th January 2010 and will finish early May 2010. More information on the East Durham College's website, follow the link:- website of East Durham College
Organised by Houghall College, Durham, a more committing course for those who want to learn, more intensively, a broader range of woodland craft subjects. Approx. 32 taught days at 2 days per week, includes chainsaw training and assessment and business start up modules. Upon successfully completing the course students are awarded the nationally recognised NCFE Certificate in Green Woodcraft (Level 2) Contact Joe Shipley at Houghall 0191 375 4736 / joseph.shipley@eastdurham.ac.uk for more information, or myself Maurice Pyle maurice pyle
Woodcraft Courses 2010
Mainly based at the Flintmill Workshop, Beamish Museum, Co Durham. We will be using clean, straight grained timber put to one side from the previous winter. All courses are tutored by Maurice Pyle unless otherwise stated
Making Wooden Bowls is not a new course for us but Bowls Workshop is the same subject with a different format. On Day 1 every student will make a low bench to take away at the end of the course. The low bench is a simple device to hold your bowl blank whilst it is being shaped, it consists of 4 rustic legs with through tenons, wooden pegs or dogs with wedges to hold the bowl blank firmly in place. On Day 2 you will use your newly crafted low bench to make a wooden bowl from locally sourced freshly felled hardwood. Maximum number of students 6.
The essential course for aspiring green woodworkers. The bodging skills of cleaving, trimming, shaving and turning will be taught using a few simple hand tools such as axes, drawknives, gouges and chisels. You will learn how to use a shavehorse and a pole lathe. On this course people often make their own shavehorse to take away. This could be your opportunity to get fired up and inspired to learn a new and highly satisfying creative skill. Maximum number of students 6.
Essentially two courses in one, a total of twelve students will be split into two groups of six, each group will spend one day learning to carve spoons and one day learning to turn a small bowl on a pole lathe. Carving a spoon, ladle or scoop from a piece of green roundwood is an immensely satisfying, creative process and creates a practical item that can be personalized to make a wonderful gift, if you can bare to give it away! By working with the grain, freshly cut wood reveals itself as a flexible material, easily worked with sharp tools. During the course of the day we will consider the unique properties of wood, especially in the green, work safely on a simple spoon design using axe, sloyd and curved knife and consider the philosophy of crafting the everyday objects around us from sustainable, renewable materials. Tutor David Knight, a skilled and patient tutor, finds green wood carving an immensely satisfying way of relaxing in his spare time and is fascinated by Scandinavian design in spoons, bowls and tools. Turning a bowl on a pole lathe is incredibly satisfying. We will be using axes to shape the rough blank then turning tools, including hooked tools to shape the bowl on our treadle operated pole lathes. We will use reasonably freshly felled native species such as alder or birch. Tutor Maurice Pyle has been a professional green wood tutor for more than 15 years.
(6 days, cost £475) 8 - 13 August 2010 Combine a holiday in the breath taking Holoydal Valley, eastern Norway with a relaxing woodcraft course to help build the equipment and devices for an outdoor woodland workshop. Help us to make items such as shavehorses, low work benches, pole lathes, and cleaving breaks. We will be working with slow grown pine and birch, cut from our surrounding woodland. Cost includes tuition, meals and comfortable tent accomodation with 2 people per tent designed for eight, each complete with 2 campbeds and 2 chairs. Although accomodation will be in tents, the course will be based at our small former farmhouse from which inspired wholesome food will be prepared and served. Some meals may be campfire based. Guests will have access to a newly refurbished shower room. Enjoy the special norwegian mountain environment without roughing it too much! You will need to make your own travel arrangements, obtain your own travel and medical insurance and supply your own sleeping bag/bed linen etc. Suitable for any level of experience. Travel is normally by plane and train. May be suitable for non-participating partners Email for more information. maurice@mpwoodsmith.co.uk
(5 days, cost £475) 23 - 27 August 2010 Join us for 5 days in wild and wonderful mid eastern Norway. Four days of inspiring woodcraft with a day off to simply relax or to further explore the landscape on foot. This course will take place under a recently constructed pole and tarp woodland workshop. Making Bowls and Spoons is suitable for all levels of experience from those with no experience to those with previous experience of woodcraft. Tutor Maurice Pyle has been making hand carved bowls and spoons in the scandinavian style for many years, we will draw inspiration from beautiful examples of original wooden ware found in the valley Email for more information. maurice@mpwoodsmith.co.uk
The essential course for aspiring green woodworkers. The bodging skills of cleaving, trimming, shaving and turning will be taught using a few simple hand tools such as axes, drawknives, gouges and chisels. You will learn how to use a shavehorse and a pole lathe. On this course people often make their own shavehorse to take away. Maximum number of students 6
Combine this course with next weekends course 'Build Your Own Pole Lathe and Learn to Use It' to create the basic devices for your own Green Woodworking workshop and qualify for a 5% discount on the total cost (£433).
If you have ever thought of making a pole lathe but put off by the prospect of sourcing the materials and finding the time then this is the course for you. For the first one and a half days, using seasoned dimensioned hardwood and softwoods assembled as kits, you will be carefuly guided through the build up, stage by stage. Once your lathe has passed its maiden 'turning' test, we will embark on learning the basics of green woodworking and pole lathe turning. The empahsis will be on using hand tools safely and accuratly to produce small turned items. All materials, tools and devices will be provided. You will leave with a fully working Pole Lathe. No previous knowlege or experience required. Maximum number of students 6
Starting with a green unseasoned log you will work through a variety of stages firstly with the splitting of a short section of hardwood, then, using traditional handtools such as axes, gouges and spokeshaves to shape a bowl of your own design. Variations include dough troughs, wooden scoops, plates and bowls with handles. Your finished bowl will be quite sculptural and probably unique, and definitely very satisfying to create. Maximum number of students 6
Charcoal burning is an excellent way to convert low value small diameter hardwood into a higher value marketable product. Its also very satisfying to make in the woodland environment. Wether you are looking to earn part of a living from charcoal or simply to want to learn the black art as a hobby this is the course for you. Maurice has been charcoal burning commercially since 1995. Subjects will include: Preparation of the kiln site Siting the kiln Filling the kiln Fitting the lid Lighting up and capping off Changing the chimneys Finishing the burn Emptying the kiln also: suitable species, sourcing timber, grading and bagging, selling and marketing
To book on any of these courses, e-mail click here to check availablity of places, and I will send you a booking form
A variety of subjects are taught at our country workshop within the grounds of Beamish Museum. Whilst we are willing to take our woodcraft training services to other venues our preference is to run courses at our workshop. Here we have the shelter of the Flint Mill to work undercover, traditional wooden holding devices, our pole lathes and of course the raw materials. The Flint Mill workshop is located in the beautiful, well wooded Beamish valley. Seemingly a million miles from anywhere but in fact 5 minutes off a main road. There is almost a medieval feel about the place. Over the years we have run a wide range of woodcraft courses for groups and individuals, tutored by Maurice and other craft specialists. The training offered is from very from knowledgeable and experienced craftspeople, the emphasis is on informality in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. All tools and materials are supplied.
These courses are open to all; no experience at all is required.
Northumberland Wildlife Trust Houghall College, Durham Outdoor Education Centres Swedish Master comes to Beamish In October 2002, Maurice invited master woodcarver Wille Sundqvist from Northern Sweden to instruct two courses at the Flint Mill workshop. Willie is an internationally renowned figure especially for his spoon and bowl carving. He instructed spoon carving for three days and bowl carving for three days. Students came from all over the UK to learn from the 75 year old master. His spoons were just a delight, highly crafted yet extremely functional.
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