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Dec 15
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Free Giveaway Coming Soon

By Uncategorized

question-markIn the spirit of winter, all things handmade, and gifting, The Year of Mud will be running a free giveaway in the next two days. We have been gifted a lovely handmade item, but we’d like to pass the goods on to one lucky reader. I think we have been fortunate to receive the generosity of many individuals in the recent past, so we’d like to at least help spread the good karma a little further.

Please check back on Tuesday, December 17 for the details on how you can enter the giveaway. I promise it will be really simple, and you might end up with a really sweet handmade item in time for the New Year. Check back soon!

Dec 12
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My New Windsor Chair: Finished

By Woodworking
Continuous Arm Windsor Chair 01

The newly finished continuous arm Windsor chair

I have been dreaming about making this chair since February of this year, and I finally had the chance to make one when April and I visited Greg again in Tennessee a couple weeks ago. I had the pleasure of sitting in one at Kelly Mehler’s (after making a bowback chair), and those arms… I just loved them. I had to make one. So, here are a few shots of my newly finished continuous arm Windsor chair, which is now receiving a lot of love in our new living quarters. It’s a comfy one.

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Dec 06
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We’ve Landed

By Homesteading
forest-retreats

A look at our new (transitional) home in Berea, KY! (Photo taken in early spring)

We have landed in Berea, Kentucky. We… live here now. That’s a strange thing to say, after investing so much of our lives into Dancing Rabbit for so long. April and I are both intensely excited for our future here, and it’s merely just begun.

I guess we haven’t officially moved just yet, as we are still DR members. Until the day we sell our two homes, we need to retain membership. And we haven’t moved everything out here just yet — basically just the essentials for living here through the spring. Our bee hives, valuable furniture, boring machines, scaffolding… you know, things that wouldn’t really fit in a small vehicle have been left behind for now.

Anyway, here’s what we’re looking at for our new lives in Berea for the next few months.

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Dec 02
Love1

R.I.P. Bill Coperthwaite

By Design
Bill Coperthwaite

Bill Coperthwaite, age 83, died November 26, 2013

Sad news — Bill Coperthwaite, a modern role model for folks striving to live simpler, more handmade, more just lives, died in a car crash on an icy road earlier last week. Bill was best known for his work in promoting the building of yurts and living simply. But that is something of an understatement.

“It’s the best way I know,” Coperthwaite said in a 2003 interview, describing his lifestyle on a 400-acre tract with waterfront along the serene harbor. “Each of us tries to live in the best way we know how. I want to contribute to the problems of the world as little as possible. I really believe we must find simpler ways to live or society will collapse.”

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Nov 29
Love0

Celebrate BUY NOTHING Day

By Photos, Woodworking
Russian Spoon Carving

Family carving spoons in Russia, early 1900s

Today is Buy Nothing Day. Why don’t you celebrate and Make Something instead? Follow the example of these Russian folks around the year 1900, for example. Their spoon carving operation is a family business, and their wares are brought into the bustling town in huge, brimming baskets. I love these great photos. It’s sad that you would never see something like this today.

One can hope, though. Click ahead to see more sweet spoon carving photos from early 20th century Russia.

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Nov 26
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A Heavy Duty Homemade Door

By Doors & Windows, Carpentry, Strawtron
Two Custom, Homemade Doors

Two custom doors in the second story of the timber frame house

The second story of our timber frame & straw bale house has shorter than standard wall heights. It is definitely standing height, but the beams (or top plates, more specifically) that support the rafters are at head height, and another curved tie beam is similarly placed. We have two door locations upstairs, one to access the north storage loft above the porch, and a second for the walk-out balcony on the west, so we were faced with having to size and build our own homemade doors from scratch. Since I have never built a DIY door before, I was fairly intimidated, but the process wasn’t that bad once I got started. What I came up with were some super heavy duty, insulated doors made with tongue and groove boards, complete with some burly strap hinges to support the weight.

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Nov 24
Love0

Swedish Carving Techniques Book Now For Sale

By Resources, Woodworking
Wille Sundqvist, Carver & Author of Swedish Carving Techniques

Wille Sundqvist working away

Here’s just a quick update on the Taunton Press reprint of Wille Sundqvist’s Swedish Carving Techniques — it’s now for sale through their website. Ragweed Forge also has copies for sale for slightly less than MSRP — check it here.

As a side note, I love the above picture of Wille Sundqvist at work — the man is now in his upper 80s, but it doesn’t look like he’s stopping anytime soon.

Finally, a great quote from Bill Coperthwaite, another great individual worth mentioning at a later date: “I want to live in a world where people are intoxicated with the joy of making things.”

Nov 21
Love0

Swedish Carving Techniques Book to be Reprinted!

By Woodworking, Resources
Swedish Carving Techniques Book: Wille Sundqvist

This praised spoon carving book is finally due for a reprint

One of the most highly praised and sought after spoon and bowl carving books in recent times is Wille Sundqvist’s Swedish Carving Techniques. I am terribly excited to have found out that the book is due to be reprinted, and will be available for sale from Taunton Press in mid-December of this year. A mere few weeks away, really. The book’s going rate for even a used copy is typically upwards of $120. I believe the new reprint will cost between $30-35, which is greatly appreciated.

UPDATE: The book is now for sale directly through the publisher, in limited quantities. At $24.95, it’s a steal!

Needless to say, I am extremely excited about this bit of news, as I have been searching the internet for a copy for a reasonable sum for months.

Nov 19
Love0

Hand Forging Axes in 1960s America: A Short Film

By Resources, Video, Hand Tools
Forging an Axe By Hand

Forging axes by hand in America in the 60s

I recently enjoyed watching this insightful video about making and forging axes in Oakland, Maine in 1965 at the Emerson Stevens shop. This particular shop was the last surviving company to produce axes in an area once known for forging and blade-making. To watch these individuals work and to witness the process is a real treat, yet the film is permeated with a certain sadness as the filmmaker realizes that we are watching something that is soon to wither away into history.

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Nov 17
Love1
how to build a diy wooden spiral staircase

Our Work is Done: Building The Roundwood Spiral Staircase

By Carpentry, Timber Framing, Strawtron

how to build a diy wooden spiral staircase

At last, I’m here to report that April and I finished building our wooden spiral staircase.  Over the course of five days, literally up to the day before we left Dancing Rabbit, we installed the risers and treads. The spiral staircase design came from our dearest Tom Cundiff, who instructed us on the layout over the phone and in person during our last Timber Frame Workshop. It took us a while to fully grasp the layout and the flow of things, but once we understood the principles, it went fairly smoothly. Well, the actual building was extremely physically taxing, but I digress.

And so this is our attempt at a DIY wooden spiral staircase. Here’s how we built it.

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