A Quick Spoon Blank
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- čas přidán 1. 03. 2021
- I thought I'd share how I make my spoon blanks. Normally I do my axe work everyday, all year round, the same as I've done since around 2009. The axe to me is the greatest extension of the human body, and the oldest tool we know of in existence. When I'm axing, it takes me away to a far place. My escape vehicle, and I can chop, split, carve, and even shave with it just as fast as I can think.
If you've seen my wandering story telling show where I axe out and carve my cups to completion in an hour, the axe is just another part of my body. I can have discussions while chopping, and there is music to the rhythm of the axe.
As you may have read I took the year off from carving which was a first for me. This was due to some pretty severe and painful chronic arthritis in my hands. So I'm very rusty, and this is the first blank I've made in weeks. With each chop I grit my teeth, but I'm slowly building back my strength and also my spirit.
Normally I'm standing while I carve so I can utilize my entire body mechanics from the feet up while chopping. But not too shabby, normally after this first blank I'll axe out another five or ten, and by the end I've gotten into a flow. The flow state is where speed and efficiency kick in, this is what my great friend Del Stubbs has taught me. He says one day I will be able to do this blindfolded, as he used to do while turning bowls on his lathe.
My attempt at a song is a cover of Delaney Davidson, a friend of a friend from New Zealand who writes some of my favorite music of all time. This is a cover of Delaney's cover from an old Abner Jay single called "I'm So Depressed" or "Depression". I recorded this almost exactly a year ago in March 2020 when my hands were so busted and swollen I could barely turn a door handle. It was quite fun for once to explore vocal ranges I didn't realize I had, as I could barely fret a guitar. I never finished it as I don't like to go back and alter a moment in time. But I'm trying to break this habit of hiding and archiving my daily practices such as recording.
There is a lot I think needs cleaning up, and re-sung! But for a recording made mainly on my cellphone and pieced together later, I had a lot of fun getting lost in Delaney's unique macabre and folkie sounds. But it's a snapshot of that time back then, bandaids - clunks and all. If you listen closely you can probably hear the ziplock bags of ice I had taped to my hands while I sang and drank tins of ale all night belting out some hobo minstrel music.
I plan to revisit this song this year, and record it from the ground up again, including drums, clinking bones I found in the woods, harley parts, axe chopping, and the other bells and whistles! Lo-Fi Spooky Tunes at it's finest!
If you hear this Delaney, I didn't do ya justice!! Just a thank you for your music as it got me through some pretty funky and dark times!
-Alex
P.S. Does anyone else love chewing on black birch trees - betula lenta? It tastes like wintergreen as has medicinal properties. The people's of yesteryear used to brush their teeth with twigs from this tree as betulin and other properties are known to fight bacteria and other baddies! Who would've thunk it? - Hudba
So good to see you back shooting videos Alex! Hope you're keeping well and hope the hands are holding up. 🙏
The music, the pants, the axe work, all the bits & bobs scattered about, so many great things about this. Hello from your brother arcanenemopholist on Instagram!
that looks like any moment you're going to cut too much off and ruin the whole thing, but instead it comes out almost perfect. I don't think my eyes have the ability to actually see how much control I'm looking at here.
When I tell people that I've been gnawing on birch bark since I was a kid, they tend to look at me like I'm nuts.
So great to see and hear.
Very skilled use of axe. Liked it!
thanks for sharing your process!!
I was wondering why you chewed the chip-and I'm gad you explained it! Honestly, I do the same thing with cherry sometimes, it has such a great aroma and even flavor when be carved.
Nice axe work, nice song. Great to see you working again but don't do anything that will put you back under ice bags.
Hope you feel better. Will have to try the black birch. How do you like the Little Viking? I have one coming soon.
Thanks so much! Little Viking rocks!
Looks like you've done that a time or two
Peter follansbee axe :)
Not rusty at all! Is that as far as you tend to go with the axe?