green woodworking

#030. Rebecca Oaks, author of the book Making Charcoal and Biochar, joins us to discuss charcoal, it's history and uses, traditional methods of making it, what it looks like from a small scale charcoal burners perspective, and suggestions for making some at home. I will be undoubtedly making a few batches this summer-- for use in the garden and the grill if nothing else!
In the quest to learn to make things from the ground up, charcoal making is arguably one of those fundamental skills that many folks never realize they needed to know. These days the average person most likely only consciously uses charcoal for grilling food at a summer bbq, but at one point it was a substance that fueled much of the technological advancement that occurred. Metal ores were smelted using copious amounts of charcoal, gunpowder is mostly ground up charcoal, and charcoal is still used in a vast array of industrial applications. Lets learn about making some for ourselves!

Resources mentioned in this episode can be found at:

folkcraftrevival.com/30

#018. We talk about a variety of fun topics in this episode including yurt building (and touch on some other traditional/natural building techniques), managing a coppiced hardwood forest, English green woodworking, and traditional lime wash and lime production in the UK. Alex and his wife run Little Foot Yurts which produces handmade yurts from coppice wood they've harvested themselves. Additionally, they also run an event catering business renting out the yurts they've made, and teach workshops on yurt building.

Links to any resources mentioned in the episode can be found at:

folkcraftrevival.com/18

#015. We talk about the construction and use of pole lathes, compare them with modern electric lathes and discuss what drew Jarrod to pole lathes to begin with and why he chose to focus on turning rather than other traditional crafts. This was a fun conversation that also delved a little into the philosophical realm as we talk about the reasons for pursuing production work, focusing on one design or craft to obtain mastery, "realcraft", and functionality.

Catch the links to any resources mentioned in the episode over at:

folkcraftrevival.com/15