another visit to tinkers bubble and back to bath to visit old haunts.
I paid another trip to tinkers bubble in January. This time they had a forestry weekend so we spent our time chopping down trees. I had been looking forward to a chance to work in the forrest.
First the team established which trees we wanted to cut down. In this case douglas fir that was shadowing one of the residents, Pedros garden. Then we decided in which order they should be cut. For example if one tree is in the way of another it should be cut first. This might sound obvious but I guess it's a bit like a big game of pick up sticks...
You might remember that tinkers bubble don't use fossil fuels for anything that they do on site. For this reason cutting trees down is a bit more fun. Most people these days use chainsaws and power tools, tinkers bubble do things the traditional way using two men saws, axes, and a few other tools.
to start cutting a tree down first you decide which way you want it to fall. You should put warning signs all around where the tree might fall so no members of the public go there. Your first cut should be on the side facing where you want the tree to fall and it should be approximately level. Every so often it's good to check that's the cut is still facing the direction you want it to go by touching the two corners of the cut and looking in front of you. Using a two man saw you need to use a lot of teamwork. For example if one person is pulling the saw in the wrong direction the other person should spot this and tell him or her to correct it. Also, if you cut is going slightly the wrong direction, you can change the angle of the saw, correcting eachother as needed. When you're about 1/3rd of the way through, it's time for you to get your axe out. There are two types of axes in tree felling. A felling axe and a snedding axe. I will get to the snedding axe later,but as you might expect it's the felling axe you use to fell a tree. you have to chop into the tree at an acute angle that goes down to the saw line you did before. It's quite difficult and i didn't really get the hang of this skill, maybe next time.... luckily the person in charge of our team, Ed, was very good at it and we quickly got it done. You also need to chop off the bark around the corners of the gob you have made. This takes away the stretchy supple living wood which wouldn't split along with the rest of the wood as the tree falls, and might cause the tree to twist and fall unpredictably. The result looks a little like ears and that is what they are called.
Next is the fun bit. We make a cut at the back of the tree. it is important to start this cut perfectly in order to make sure it meets up at the right position of the gob. You line the saw up so that it should meet the gob just above first saw cut. While cutting this one you have to warn people around you but the tree might fall down soon. If you want you can call "timber" as it falls but usually you're a bit preoccupied with sawing and then getting out the way as the tree falls. Well before that the couple sawing will have agreed who is to take the saw. The tree makes an almighty crash as it falls to the ground.
Our team was always very careful to cut everything perfectly and to tie a tree to another tree before starting. It's a good idea to tie a rope from the tree you cutting to another tree. This has two uses. Firstly, it stops the tree from falling the wrong way. Secondly, if the tree gets stuck on another tree you can winch it down. Some of the other teams managed to get there trees stuck and they hadn't remembered to tie the tree to another tree so they spent a lot of time using wedges and hitting the tree with a sledgehammer, sawing in random places to try and get the tree to fall.
Once the tree is down it's time to process the wood. Before you run in to get to your tree you should look up and check there are no branches hanging in the other trees. If they fall down well you're trying to sure it might hurt. This is actually the biggest danger; more deaths occur just after the tree has come down. when you're sure the coast is clear, it's time to get that snedding axe out. Snedding axes are smaller than felling axes and designed to take off all the branches of the tree. They need to be cut off as close to the trunk as possible. A saw or billhook can be used for this job too. The tree will be processed into three types of wood: brashing, firewood and workable logs. The brushings can be put in a big pile. Firewood can also be stacked in a pile, but should be supported on two logs so that they can be dried out. Larger logs which will be used to make planks of wood can be sawed and moved to convenient places ready to be transported.
To cut the wood into manageable sizes, you can use two men saws, bow saws, or even axes for the small bits. When cutting logs sometimes it can be a bit of a pain. This is because of the following problems: firstly the saw might get stuck. The wood will pinch the saw as you get close to the bottom if it is supported on 2 sides. To prevent this you can't lift the log and place a branch just underneath your cut. Another problem might be that you can't get your saw all the way down because the log is in a ditch. You might need a smaller saw or even to use a bow saw. Of course all this is hard work and it's good to have 3 people on your team: two people too saw and one person to rest and also to check what you're doing. It involves quite a lot of problem solving, along with good physical work and can be good fun if approached in the right way.
As tinkers bubble don't use any fossil fuels we couldn't use tractors to transport the logs, so they have charlie the horse. He can be harnessed onto a rope which is attached to the logs, and then he can take them down the hill to the sawmill. I watched some of the experienced members work with him, and it seemed quite difficult to communicate to him what you wanted him to do at times, but when he understood it was a joy to watch. He didn't like any logs or twigs under his feet so we had to be careful to clear them all away. He only worked for one morning because he was a little out of practice and you need to be careful not to overtire them.
First the team established which trees we wanted to cut down. In this case douglas fir that was shadowing one of the residents, Pedros garden. Then we decided in which order they should be cut. For example if one tree is in the way of another it should be cut first. This might sound obvious but I guess it's a bit like a big game of pick up sticks...
You might remember that tinkers bubble don't use fossil fuels for anything that they do on site. For this reason cutting trees down is a bit more fun. Most people these days use chainsaws and power tools, tinkers bubble do things the traditional way using two men saws, axes, and a few other tools.
to start cutting a tree down first you decide which way you want it to fall. You should put warning signs all around where the tree might fall so no members of the public go there. Your first cut should be on the side facing where you want the tree to fall and it should be approximately level. Every so often it's good to check that's the cut is still facing the direction you want it to go by touching the two corners of the cut and looking in front of you. Using a two man saw you need to use a lot of teamwork. For example if one person is pulling the saw in the wrong direction the other person should spot this and tell him or her to correct it. Also, if you cut is going slightly the wrong direction, you can change the angle of the saw, correcting eachother as needed. When you're about 1/3rd of the way through, it's time for you to get your axe out. There are two types of axes in tree felling. A felling axe and a snedding axe. I will get to the snedding axe later,but as you might expect it's the felling axe you use to fell a tree. you have to chop into the tree at an acute angle that goes down to the saw line you did before. It's quite difficult and i didn't really get the hang of this skill, maybe next time.... luckily the person in charge of our team, Ed, was very good at it and we quickly got it done. You also need to chop off the bark around the corners of the gob you have made. This takes away the stretchy supple living wood which wouldn't split along with the rest of the wood as the tree falls, and might cause the tree to twist and fall unpredictably. The result looks a little like ears and that is what they are called.
Next is the fun bit. We make a cut at the back of the tree. it is important to start this cut perfectly in order to make sure it meets up at the right position of the gob. You line the saw up so that it should meet the gob just above first saw cut. While cutting this one you have to warn people around you but the tree might fall down soon. If you want you can call "timber" as it falls but usually you're a bit preoccupied with sawing and then getting out the way as the tree falls. Well before that the couple sawing will have agreed who is to take the saw. The tree makes an almighty crash as it falls to the ground.
Our team was always very careful to cut everything perfectly and to tie a tree to another tree before starting. It's a good idea to tie a rope from the tree you cutting to another tree. This has two uses. Firstly, it stops the tree from falling the wrong way. Secondly, if the tree gets stuck on another tree you can winch it down. Some of the other teams managed to get there trees stuck and they hadn't remembered to tie the tree to another tree so they spent a lot of time using wedges and hitting the tree with a sledgehammer, sawing in random places to try and get the tree to fall.
Once the tree is down it's time to process the wood. Before you run in to get to your tree you should look up and check there are no branches hanging in the other trees. If they fall down well you're trying to sure it might hurt. This is actually the biggest danger; more deaths occur just after the tree has come down. when you're sure the coast is clear, it's time to get that snedding axe out. Snedding axes are smaller than felling axes and designed to take off all the branches of the tree. They need to be cut off as close to the trunk as possible. A saw or billhook can be used for this job too. The tree will be processed into three types of wood: brashing, firewood and workable logs. The brushings can be put in a big pile. Firewood can also be stacked in a pile, but should be supported on two logs so that they can be dried out. Larger logs which will be used to make planks of wood can be sawed and moved to convenient places ready to be transported.
To cut the wood into manageable sizes, you can use two men saws, bow saws, or even axes for the small bits. When cutting logs sometimes it can be a bit of a pain. This is because of the following problems: firstly the saw might get stuck. The wood will pinch the saw as you get close to the bottom if it is supported on 2 sides. To prevent this you can't lift the log and place a branch just underneath your cut. Another problem might be that you can't get your saw all the way down because the log is in a ditch. You might need a smaller saw or even to use a bow saw. Of course all this is hard work and it's good to have 3 people on your team: two people too saw and one person to rest and also to check what you're doing. It involves quite a lot of problem solving, along with good physical work and can be good fun if approached in the right way.
As tinkers bubble don't use any fossil fuels we couldn't use tractors to transport the logs, so they have charlie the horse. He can be harnessed onto a rope which is attached to the logs, and then he can take them down the hill to the sawmill. I watched some of the experienced members work with him, and it seemed quite difficult to communicate to him what you wanted him to do at times, but when he understood it was a joy to watch. He didn't like any logs or twigs under his feet so we had to be careful to clear them all away. He only worked for one morning because he was a little out of practice and you need to be careful not to overtire them.