Had a random week this week, but managed to start to learn to a skill I'd always wanted to learn how to Scythe.
I'm going to talk about that in my other blog, but it involved meeting a very interesting chap who teaches people how to use Austrian scythes and how to sharpen them. Part of the sharpening process is called peening, which is the cold treatment of the metal by hitting it on a small anvil. To do this well you need a rest for it and this little set up is sometimes referred to as a "peening pony".
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My eldest daughter using her "new" wooden plane given to her by a friend.
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As soon as I saw it I thought that the small stool like "pony" would be an ideal project to build with my daughter. It was a great little project using fallen branches from one of our old oak trees and some scraps out of the firewood pile. When it was nearly done she mentioned about carving something onto the front of it.
So I suggested she sketch out a design and then we could see about putting it on the pony. She looked at the scythe resting outside and drew a simple design with it's shape. I asked her what tool she would like to use first - "V tool" was her reply, she's going to be better than me soon!
This was her first time using the small (ish) carving mallet I made, as it was oak she was carving into. She went slow and steady, didn't rush and only made one little mistake. I loved how well she used the mallet for the rhythmic tapping needed to outline a picture.
When she had lined in I gave her a gouge (14mm No6) to just lower the background around where she carved. The only thing I did was help keep it stable as she carved and trim two bits that were tricky to remove from the background.
It's fair to say she was as pleased as punch with it! A lovely simple carving on a piece of oak.
I love having something like this personalised in such a lovely way. She's always so keen on this little project and it was great to find the time this afternoon to make this with her.
So not exactly my carving this week but I hope you'll forgive me for that!