Traditional Woodland Crafts

The classic text on coppicing and woodland crafts, redesigned for a new generation of woodspeople. If youre lucky enough to have access to a patch of woodland, this book contains everything you need to set up, manage, and profit from a thriving coppice. But even if you dont, theres plenty of information on traditional woodland crafts here for you: learn how to work with bought coppiced wood to make all manner of products, from the archetypal besom broom and humble tent pegs to sturdy gate hurdles. Woodland crafts expert Ray Tabor guides you through a range of heritage woodland conservation methods. He introduces the best tools for each jobthe time-honored woodsmans billhook being the most important of alland the devices youll need. He shows how to select wood for each purpose, from ash, traditionally used for tool handles, to chestnut for making perfect fences. Theres also an in-depth exploration of the essential art of riving (splitting wooden poles by hand). Full of invaluable advice, historical information, useful diagrams, and evocative photography, this book will help you reconnect to nature and the environment and gain immense pleasure from creating beautiful crafted products using heritage methods.