The classic text on coppicing and woodland crafts, redesigned for a new generation of woodspeople. If you're 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 don't, there's 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 job – the time-honoured woodsman's billhook being the most important of all – and the devices you'll need. He shows how to select wood for each purpose, from ash, traditionally used for tool handles, to chestnut for making perfect fences. There's 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.

Includes how-to information.

Accompany woodsman Ben Law as he celebrates the amazing diversity of craft products made from materials sourced directly from the woods. Including brooms, rakes, pegs, spoons, chairs, baskets, fencing, yurts and even a caravan, the items are hewn from freshly cut green wood, shaped by hand and infused with a simple, rustic beauty. Detailed instructions and advice are given for each craft, along with essential knowledge about tools and devices.

Green woodworking involves the use of freshly-felled timber (unseasoned wood), and embraces a number of traditional woodland crafts, including turning and carving. This book contains over 300 patterns for traditional craft designs, from fences and gates to light pulls and door wedges – all with detailed dimensions. Each item has annotated black-and-white patterns, a brief description, historical information and details of the materials that should be used. Both a historical record and a sourcebook for those looking to use their green woodworking skills to make traditional items of beauty, the book covers: Special tools and devices Fencing and gates Garden furniture Green wood in building Wooden tools Turnery and treen Benches and stools Chairs Baskets Plus: walking sticks, spoons, whistles, tent pegs and boot removers

First published in 2002, Living Wood is both a practical manual and an inspirational guide, updating much of the information included in Mike's best-selling book Green Woodwork. Living Wood covers: • Becoming a green woodworke--Mike's story, from playing in the woodlands to owning a share in a woodland in Herefordshire • Buying, managing, and harvesting a woodland; • Developing woodland facilities, including tracks, steps, huts, a barn, a kitchen, and a compost toilet • Setting up a woodland workshop--plans for a shelter and updated designs for a shaving horse, a pole lathe, and other green wood-working tools and devices • Making ladder-back chairs, including cleaving, steam-bending, and techniques for ultra-tight joints without glue • Seating chairs with bark and with cord • A comprehensive list of suppliers, woodland organizations, and books Now in its fourth edition, Living Wood includes a selection of photographs of Mike’s latest workshop at Brookhouse Wood.

Coppicing is an ancient method of enhancing woodland biodiversity. The key to successful coppicing is to nurture the new coppice shoots. In return, a coppice will provide an endless supply of wood for a wide range of uses, and the authors present detailed instruction on how to produce many kinds of woodland products from besom brooms, firewood and charcoal to more challenging items such as hazel hurdles and coracles. Topics covered in Coppicing & Coppice Crafts include; how to find a suitable woodland and the pitfalls involved; the equipment, tools and resources that you will need, together with health and safety issues; tax issues, the law and what you can and cannot do; all aspects of coppice management including pests and diseases, and how to plant a new coppice; the flora and fauna of the coppice and how it should be managed; a wide range of coppice woods and crafts and how the products are made; wood as a fuel, including charcoal-making, the best types of wood to burn, wood-fired boilers, woodchips, pellets, kindling, logs and much more, with a useful glossary, bibliography and list of addresses.