Laffing Horse Crafts

Our poor wee barn that we built when we first moved here (and I wrote a blog post about it but can’t find it, now) has bit the dust… well, not dust… it fought with an ice covered tree and the tree won.

However, our friends yurt and storage shed, our old van and camp trailer were, for now, spared.

What I’m hearing, though, is that this is the worst ice storm… worse than the big one of 2000… that most folks have ever (or remember) seen.

However, we have only been inconvenienced, again. Power is out indefinitely, but we have a generator (Gennie) and a woodstove and gravity fed water. We’re OK and we’ll be fine.

However, some orders might be delayed. I’ll be checking email at least once every other day, so email me if you are concerned.

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If you ever have a chance to attend a Bruce Baker workshop, do it… don’t ask questions, don’t debate the cost, don’t look at your prior commitments… just do it.

I went into the three day seminar which was sponsored by the Arkansas Craft School not knowing what to expect, but planning to drink a lot of coffee. I figured seminars were usually pretty boring and did nothing more than impart information and I wanted to stay awake.

Coffee was unnecessary, however, as Mr. Baker dug into it with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm that proved to be infectious.

There’s no way I can put all the information I gleaned from the class here – nor would I, if I could. However, I can say that I am a frustrated MAD designer with no clue about photography!

Take the class and you, too, can find out what it’ll take to take your product to the next level.

Now, however, I’ve got to see if I can keep a hold of this momentum and get it done!

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The story of a hand-turned, hand-carved Laffing Horse crochet hook.

Most of my crochet hooks start as a tree. Seriously… I know ALL wooden crochet hooks start as a tree, but how many folks do you know that go out and harvest said tree?

From this:

Once harvested, the tree is cut into 18″ lengths. This length allows some drying to occur without damaging the ‘heart’ of the wood. It’s also an ideal length to cut down into two sections should there be no damage to the ends in the drying process. It’s also the right length for my woodstove.

Some folks coat the wood with a sealer to slow down the drying and prevent checking. I guess I figure I’ve got enough wood I don’t really worry about it too much.

To this:

Once the wood had dried a while (a lot depends on the type of wood, when harvested, how it was stored, etc.) I split it. Not with a chainsaw or bandsaw, but an axe. Rough edges are then knocked off with a hatchet. I also knock off the bark. The split sections are cut to length (between 9 and 14 inches – the largest piece I can turn on my Jet Mini Lathe. I have a larger lathe (not my lathe, but the same model), but I can’t think of anyone that wants a 36″ long crochet hook. I then  eyeball the center and make a mark with an awl on both ends. I have a center finder and that works great on round or square wood, but not so well on rough stock. One end gets the awl tapped in gently with a mallet. The other end gets the live center, or spur, from my lathe driven in with the same mallet.The chunk of wood is then place in the lathe.

And this:

I start with a big gouge and keep the lathe spinning slowly while I get it down to round. This can often take around 30 minutes. Sometimes it takes more time if the wood is extraordinarily hard as I’ll have to switch gouges and sharpen them, too. Really hard wood can take even the best edge off of a gouge in minutes!

Once it’s round, I use a skew to smooth it out. Using a ruler and pencil I mark off the segments… two-inches for the head and throat, on-and-a-half-inches for the thumbrest, about 4 inches for the shaft and any embellishments. Overall, my crochet hooks run in the neighborhood of seven- inches. Store bought crochet hooks most often are six-inches and those just seem too small.

Using a smaller gouge, I create the profile. Once the profile is completed I turn to a very small skew to gently shave off the wood until it is the correct diameter as measured by a set of calipers. I generally make the hook about one-mm larger than the finished size. The rest will come off later.  This step can take up to another 30 minutes and this step is also the most frustrating… I’ve lost more crochet hooks to catches (bad cuts when the tip of the chisel digs into the wood)! When the wood is only six-mm across, the slightest shake or wrong move can cause it to split… or shatter. Sometimes, the wood will start to bow from the centrifugal force or the pressure from the two centers. That make for some interesting turning! Oh, well, it makes good kindling.

Now that the crochet hook is about the right shape and size, I add whatever embellishments I want to add. Sometimes it’s delicate spires and finials. Other times, I’ll add a captive ring. Once in a while, I’ll leave it alone and carve it by hand after I’ve taken it off the lathe. Depending on the complexity of the additions, this step can take from two minutes to another 30.

The hook is then sanded with about 4 grades of sandpaper starting at around 100 grit and ending up at around 600 grit. It’s in the sanding the the additional material is taken off. It’s measured often at this stage to make sure I don’t get too small. It’s also possible to apply too much pressure with the sandpaper and break the hook here, too. It doesn’t pay to be hasty or to leave large grooves from the gouges or skews. However, all the sanding is almost pointless as the wood is spinning around, against the grain. no matter how fine a grit of sandpaper I use, there are always some scratches around the hook. That’s OK. After I carve to hook, I sand everything, again, with the grain to try to eliminate the worst of these marks.

I apply one coat of an oil and beeswax finish while the hook is still on the lathe. This is silly, I know, as the hook’s going to get carved and sanded again, but it gives me an idea of the final finish and also allows me to get into the parts of the hook that I sometimes can’t reach with my fingers and paintbrushes (which I use to apply the same finish after the hook is off the lathe and carved).

The hook is carved and the neck and hook are sanded by hand until they are the right gauge. I measure this with a handy-dandy Susan Bates knit check (which provides measurements in US, metric, letter and more for both knitting and crochet… of course, I also have a chart on the wall and the calipers).

I use a sander to remove the excess wood of the thumbrest, and an engraver to mark the size. Then it’s back to sanding… and sanding… then some mroe sanding. Finally, I put on another coat of the oil and beeswax mix and let that set for about 30 minutes before I rub on a solid beeswax block and buff.

And voila!

Now comes the really hard part! I have to price it and sell it. This hook is a little more ornate than some… very nice, IMHO… I’d have to ask about $30. but that’s cheap… Let’s see. Time for harvesting and cutting and drying and splitting and trimming and turning and finishing… all told, about 6 hours. And, that’s assuming that it all went right the first time… Hey! I’m making less than minimum wage here

Yeah, but I’m lovimng what I’m doing!

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The Ozark Folk Center’s regular season is over. The new extended season has come to a close, and the preseason fun doesn’t start until late February. Since the center closed, I’ve managed to (almost) get all the orders filled. I’ve taken this “off” time to add another skill to my portfolio… woodcarving!

I’d done some woodcarving before, but nothing like this. I guess my previous work was more along the lines of whittling.

I’ve taken lessons from Bubba and from Charles Widmer (both woodcarvers at the Ozark Folk Center… although Charles is now more a silversmith and Bubba keeps to the wood), and both the lessons were quite different. Charles is a purist and uses only hand tools. Bubba is a pragmatist and uses whatever is available including power carvers and Dremels. Me? I’m a realist and I’m gonna use both methods until I get ‘em right!

That said, I find that a Dremel works better for me on small pieces and hand tools work better on large pieces.

These are some of the spirit faces I’ve put on my broom handles (and photographed… seems I’m real bad about forgetting that photograph part). I don’t have a large piece photographed yet, but I have done one – It’s of the Laffing Horse!

One of these was carved with hand tools, the other two were done with a Dremel. Can you pick which is which?

The first one over there is on display in a museum in Little Rock as part of a Then and Now exhibit. The other two are available on ebay.

The carving did not end there, though. I need raw materials! I’ve said before that in Arkansas, it seems that wood just grows on trees. Identifying those woods is something else entirely!

I spent a day with John Perry (former broomsquire, current potter – one half of the magnificent Perry-Munn team at the Ozark Folk Center) scouting for and harvesting sassafras. What fun! And did I get any? More than 130 48″ lengths are not stacked and drying in my shop… and I didn’t even count haw many shorter lengths are there.

Still not done!?!

Have you ever smelled sassafras? It’s wonderful! Since bringing those sticks home, the chips and curls have been flying as I tear into anything too large to tie as a brooms… these big pieces go on the lathe and I’m turning broom handles and more. Below is a nostepinne (yarn winder) that’s available on ebay.

The first pic shows the center of the nostie which cleverly incorporates a WPI (wraps per inch) gauge for measuring the type of handspun yarn you’ve made. Then, there’s the entire piece (with a bit of yarn for window dressing). Note that there’s a handle (I looked at a lot of these elsewhere and seems folks want to make the handle with all kinds of beads and coves… how’s that comfortable to hold onto?). Then there’s the end with a captive ring (just love doing those little buggers).

Truth be told, I was working on broom handles and the first handle I turned looked like a nostie, so the second piece became a nostie. Kinda like playing word association with power tools. I love having that kind of freedom!

Sassafras turns so nice and comes out quite pretty don’t you think?

What? You want more? Well, later on today, if you really insist, I could post some pictures of the pile of firewood we’re about to go cut

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