I’ve bought a block of land in a growing tourist area (markets, national parks etc) but theres no power. I’d like to go up there in the hot summer months and do a lot of handwork, have a good selection of tools and shooting boards and might be able to borrow power from a neighbor once a week or may have a generator.
Suggestions for small things to make relatively efficiently and sell? Theres the old keyed mitered boxes but can’t think of much more beyond trays and cutting boards.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Replies
You could carve bowls, spoons, and such.
Why not sell the sort of stuff that used to sell when that was all that could be done?
Shaker boxes spring to mind and you could make them whilst selling, which always adds appeal.
Pole lathe turnings are always impressive. Sharpening is an issue without a grinder but you can do it with stones if you have to.
You could always try making puzzles and bits like this chap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK9oyvhRpA8
Also marquetry does not really need a scrollsaw, or at least, those can always be foot powered.
Then as John says, there is greenwood carving - people love spoons and bowls. If you have land then the material is likely free.
Become the local tourist attraction: set up a shaving horse and build chairs Curtis Buchanan style.
As the others have mentioned, green woodworking (making things from recently cleaved and not-yet-dried chunks of tree trunk) has a long tradition, with everything done sans-power and using a range of hand tools & techniques. Green wood is easier to work than is dry timber, so that lack of power is not such an issue.
In Britain, there's still an extant (but only just) coppice-work tradition. This is a set of woodland crafts in which the source is the quickly-renewing slim trunks that grow in multiples from a chopped-down tree bole. There are dozens of items within the coppice tradition, all made green wood style.
There are quite a few books that illustrate the working techniques and the various products, including gates & fencing (hurdles), carved & turned bowls, ladder-back & other styles of chairs, woven baskets of many kinds and even charcoal-making (with the "waste"). ......
Have a look for books by: Rebecca Oaks; Ben Law; Raymond Tabor; Peter Follansbee.
Lataxe
Woking in the wild can be done with a carbon steel wok and either an open fire or propane burner. Fresh veggies and cubed steak or chicken are my go-tos. A little salt & pepper is all ya need.
(Yeah, I know... I waited a bit but in the end I could not resist.)
Haha, I was about to pull the trigger on that as well.
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