Galerie - Het Noeste Leven

Recently I had the pleasure of teaching bowl turni

Recently I had the pleasure of teaching bowl turning on a pole lathe alongside with Amy Leake, also known as @woodmungler. She is mainly known for her elegant, handled bowls. Luckily she had brought one which I could purchase from her (the blue sycamore bowl). She inspired me to try and make a handled bowl again. I've done a couple before, but remembered the process to be one big struggle. But, being more experienced now I took it up again and guess what, it did not seem such a pain anymore. I actually had quite some fun making it. Admittingly, there are still a couple of aspects of the bowl that deserve some more attention, but, on the whole I'm pretty pleased with the progress I've made. The result is the little pole lathe turned birch drinking bowl. #bowl #quaich #drinkingbowl #polelathe #greenwoodworking #craft

Just a couple of more weeks until the next edition

Just a couple of more weeks until the next edition of VikingFest at the @prehistorischdorp. Of course I'll be there as well. In these few weeks I'll be finishing some new product which I'll show here and which I will bring to the VikingFest. will you be there as well? Just remember to buy your tickets in advance through the website of the @prehistorischdorp as it just might be sold out soon. #vikings #vikingfestival #vikingfest #greenwoodworking #polelatheturning

After being out of stock for a while, a new batch

After being out of stock for a while, a new batch of Wood Tools axes has arrived. 👉Now temporarily with a 10% discount!* Due to a flooding a few months back, machines broke and production was down at Wood Tools. Luckily everything has been fixed by now and production has started again. So, I ordered a big box of their axes. *Sadly the prices of the tools, and the axes above all, have increased and I had to put at least part of that increment ontop of my own prices. But, as that would be a real bummer if you were just about to order some new tools, or if you were waiting for me to restock, you can get the axes with a 10% discount until next Wednesday (18 May). That's only 54 euro for a Wood Tools axe. Now who wouldn't want that? Oh, and of course I have the Wood Tools spoon knives and fire hose sheaths as well. #woodtools #robinwoodaxe #woodworkingtools #greenwoodworking

So today I've been playing around with different s

So today I've been playing around with different styles of decorating my bowls. As some of you might know I've been teaching at the @ritorniamo21 festival in Italy last week. One of the other teachers there was Lukasz Plaskowski, perhaps beter known as @kukurykowski. As I love his style, I've bought a couple of his bowls. Two of those have lead to the bowl that is shown in the first photo. First I did my own version of his green bowl that is shown in the second picture. Than I tried to copy his bowl that is shown in the third picture. Obviously I'm not as good at carving straight lines as he is 🙂 Well, let's just say that's because I do not have a proper small gouge. I've just ordered one, so soon I'll have to try this again. And to make best use of my lack of straight carving skills, I made another bowl, which I first treated with an iron acetate solution to get this lovely deep colour in the wood, then painted the outside with a plant based sienna red paint and finally carved some random cuts. And voila, here's my new bowl, thanks to the crafts of and inspiration by @kukurykowski. Thanks Lukasz! #bowl #bowlturning #polelathe #kreidezeitnaturfarben #decoration #carving

Yesterday and today me and several other turners,

Yesterday and today me and several other turners, like @yoav.kafets, @woodmungler and @kukurykowski have been introducing and teaching pole lathe turning in Italy to 12-15 year old pupils at the @ritorniamo21 festival, organised by the @lartisana.vda museum. The children were really motivated and we've had fun. Tomorrow will be the last day of the festival with a little over 40 kids, so we'll have plenty of time to let all of them have a go at the pole lathe. #bowlturning #polelathe

And now the new lathe is finished and up and runni

And now the new lathe is finished and up and running 😀 Yesterday I showed how I finished the legs of the lathe and today the remaining parts were made. Of course the lathe had to be tested as well. Conclusion: the changes in the design of the uprights are a succes. The next lathe will be made according to the same improved construction method. But man, do I look grumpy when I'm having fun 🤨😄 #polelathe #lathe #diy #handmade #bowl #bowlturning

Just another day at the office 🙃. Today I've b

Just another day at the office 🙃. Today I've been working on new pole lathe for teaching bowl turning. I still really enjoy this plot of land we bought last year. Actually I'm falling more in love with it as it's starting to feel more and more like home with this soft bed of shavings, lovely surroundings and a wonderful choir of birds in the background. #birdsong #polelathe #greenwoodworking #outdoor

This weekend I'll be demonstrating medieval bowl a

This weekend I'll be demonstrating medieval bowl and cup turning again in the @prehistorischdorp historical open air museum. I'll have a selection of products with me for my little shop. #medieval #viking #franks #reenactment #greenwoodworking #bowlturning #polelathe #lathe

Workshop season has started again and everything i

Workshop season has started again and everything is set up. And of course it's not just pole lathes, shave horses and chopping blocks. No, a place for enjoying a break now and then, with a nice cup of coffee or tea and a cookie, is just as important. #greenwoodworking #course #spooncarving #bowlturning #lepelsnijden #houtdraaien

One of the things that makes turning cups on a pol

One of the things that makes turning cups on a pole lathe so hard, is that the wood is always stuck in between the centres of the lathe. Therefore it's impossible to hollow out the cup all the way. There should always be a so-called core left inside during the actual turning, so the center actually has something to hold on to. The leaves very little room to work with when doing the actual hollowing and you want the core to be as thin as possible. When you go too thin however, the core might snap of before you've finished the cup. This happened with these two. Luckily, the walls were already pretty thin and I was able to saw off the remaining part that needed to be hollowed out. I made two pestles out of the same walnut wood, and voila, two sets of mortars with pestles! not all losses are lost. #mortar #mortarandpestle #greenwood #polelathe

Experispoon #9 This weeks experispoon is not just

Experispoon #9 This weeks experispoon is not just one spoon, but several, or actually several little scoops. They all got a different finish. One natural and three painted. Which one do you like most?

Today I finnished the rip saw that I wanted for ma

Today I finnished the rip saw that I wanted for making two beams out of one large one. I bought the saw blade from a German webshop, but thought that the frame was too expensive on one hand, and on the other hand it would be nice to make one. I even learned to weld to make this saw. It's great to acquire new skills (that being said, I definitely need more practice. Welding is not that easy). At first I was struggling a bit on the position from which to saw, but in the end, it all worked well. I made the handles of two wine barrel staves, as the curve would result in a ergonomic angle that would cause less strain on the wrists. To attach the saw blade to the frame I bought a piece of 40x80 mm rectangular metal tubing and ground two 40 mm pieces of. On one end of both of them I ground a slit, to fit the blade. I drilled a hole in one of them to able to attach a winged bolt, so I could tension the blade. To able to actually tighten the bolt I welded a nut over the hole in the piece of tubing. The photos will explain the rest. #framesaw #ripsaw #makeyourowntools #woodworking #saw

Finally experispoon #8 is here! As I've not been

Finally experispoon #8 is here! As I've not been feeling well and tired for about a month or so, and have been quite busy in the remaining hours, it took a while before I got to making experispoon #8. But, as energy levels are up again, here it is! And, because you all had to wait so long, I added a little bonus video at the end. 😀 I made this spoon because I have some prune wood, which has this beautiful difference in colour and darkness between the heartwood and the sapwood. I thought that making a deep scoop would make these colours come out nicely. Besides some last tweaking, I'm pretty happy with this spoon and I think I'm going to make more of these. What do you think? Any recommendations in terms of shape? #spooncarving #spoon #prune #handcarved

More bowls! Most of these bowls are alder and som

More bowls! Most of these bowls are alder and some are birch, but all of them were turned on a pole lathe. Did you know the pole lathe has been around since at least the 13th century, as several paintings of a pole lathe from that time still exist today. But, given the large number of bowls and cups that were being turned during the viking age, the pole lathe was probably invented about 500 years earlier. (Before that, lathes existed as strap lathes or bow lathes). As the new demo and festival season is drawing near, I'm finishing the piles of bowls that were still on the drying rack from last year. They were burnished and got a lovely layer of linseed oil. Time to make room for new batches of bowls, cups, shrink pots and more. #bowlturning #greenwood #medieval #vikingage #reenactment #viking #craft #handmade

Sometimes you have a little piece of wood left, wh

Sometimes you have a little piece of wood left, which just asks to be turned into a useful object instead of immediately becoming firewood. These tiny bowls were saved from the fire. As they were not made in one run and I did not have any plan in mind when making them, they are all different. I especially love one of them, see the second photo. Isn't that one just great? For those wondering wether they will end up in my webshop, no they won't. These tiny bowls are small and all different, not making it worth the effort to make photos and descriptions of all of them. So they will only be available at demonstrations and markets, and perhaps at one of my workshops. This reminds me that I really should make a calendar on my website or Facebook page, so people can see when and where they'll be able to see me in action. The dates of the workshops are mentioned on my site and FB page though, but the rest is not. #woodenbowl #tinybowl #polelathe #greenwoodworking

Sometimes a wooden bowl just cracks. This might

Sometimes a wooden bowl just cracks. This might have several reasons. The first and possibly most common reason when turning green wood is a minor crack that was already present in the wood. These cracks often become visible when the bowl is still on the lathe. When the crack is not too large I often try to save the bowl by either making it a little lower (cracks mostly occur at the top rim) or just finish it with the crack still present. As the bowls warp a little during drying, a crack may appear at that stage as well. Before the bowls leave home I often test them with hot water. This might cause cracks as well (but rather now than later on, when someone else is using it). When the bowls have survived all of this, the danger is mostly gone. But, still, a number of bowls develop a crack (or two). These bowls mostly just end up on a shelf somewhere. As the number of bowls residing there had build up during the year, it was time to take them out and fix those cracks. Stitching them with one or more copper staples will refrain the cracks from growing. Now these bowls (and cup) can still be used for a long time. #bowlturning #copperstitching #fixing #repair

I've made my first chair 😀. I've been wanting t

I've made my first chair 😀. I've been wanting to do this for while now. Historically speaking it's a sound continuation after making bowls and cups on a pole lathe (more on this later on). A couple of weeks ago I made the frame of the chair, under supervision of @vershout . All parts were made from a single green log of ash. The log was split, carved to about the right size with a drawknife and then finished on a pole lathe. Except the back slats of course, they were only split and carved. The back legs were steam bend to get a more comfortable back support. The back slats were boiled and bend for the same reason. The spindles were dried on the stove before the chair was assembled, so they would fasten themselves upon later equalisation of the moisture content of the legs and spindles. Therefore no glue is used on this chair. Now, after a couple of weeks, I added dowels to the back support, so the somewhat flexible slats won't come out. Then I chamfered the top of the legs, sanded the entire chair and oiled it with linseed oil. Finally I made a rush seat. Now my chair is finished and I can enjoy a little rest by sitting on it. One of the reasons I could learn how to make a chair on a pole lathe is the financial support I've received from @fondsvoorcultuurparticipatie. The Cultural Participation Fund (Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie) aims to encourage and increase participation in the arts and culture. #chairmaking #chair #greenwood #greenwoodworking #bodger #rushseat

I've just finished a new set of turning hooks. Of

I've just finished a new set of turning hooks. Of course they had to be tested, and what better way of testing them than turning a bowl from this lovely piece of beech I got from @vershout. These new tools perform wonderfully, especially in combination with this wood. Look at that amazingly crisp surface of the wood! I should get my hands on some beech more often. #bowlturning #greenwood #beech #woodenbowl #medieval #lathe

The 2022 workshop schedule is online! For those w

The 2022 workshop schedule is online! For those who live in the area, or just happen to be there, take a look at my website for the new dates for my workshops (see link in bio, in Dutch only. But for the non-Dutch speakers, I'm happy to send you some info in English if you're interested). This year I'll be offering spoon carving, shrink pot making (and decorating), bowl turning on a pole lathe, and end grain cup turning for those who already have some experience in bowl turning. I'm excited to be able to teach these courses on our new plot of land in the forest, close to the Dutch/Belgian border. #workshop #houtbewerking #vershout #vershoutworkshops #wipdraaibank #draaibank #cursus

My new Valentine's collection is here! Do you wan

My new Valentine's collection is here! Do you want to surprise your Valentine or someone else who could use some love? All these boxes were handmade, without the use of power tools, and were coloured with a non-toxic, plantbased paint, with a mineral pigment. These new shrinkpots are available from my webshop (see link in bio). But beware, last year many varieties sold out fast and due to circumstances I was only able to make a limited number this year. #valentine #valentijn #valentijnsdag #gift #shrinkpot #handmade #jewelrybox

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