Suitable for: Beginners, Improvers, Adults and Families
Considerations: Outdoors based, must be comfortable both standing and sitting for longish periods, can be physically demanding (please contact us with any concerns or access needs you may have and we will be happy to advise/accommodate as best we can)
What to wear: Sturdy shoes, outdoor/wet weather gear, clothes that you can get messy
What to bring: Notebook and pen for taking notes, any helpful tools you may have (tools will be provided)
Refreshments: Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available throughout the day. We also have a fantastic on-site cafe, Embers, run by local chef 'Shropshire Lad'.
The course:
A fun and varied two-day green woodwork course to design and create your very own shave-horse. We'll cover timber selection, splitting and shaping components, and assembling and using your shave-horse. This is quite a demanding two-day course - a great way to try-out lots of different green woodworking processes to create your very own shave-horse and enable you to continue your green woodwork journey from your own home or woodland!
You will learn:
- Different types of shave-horses & design
- Sourcing suitable wood for the various components
- Use a shave-horse to create your legs and other components
- Use traditional tools and techniques (saw, axe, travisher, drill) to prepare your shave-horse 'bed'
- Turning components for your shave-horse on a pole-lathe (optional)
- Assembling your shave-horse using a mixture of traditional and modern techniques
- Setting up and using your shave-horse
Tutor: Tom Dillon
Tom first discovered his passion for green woodwork during a 2010 course at the Centre for Alternative Technology, where tutor Bob Shaw sparked a lasting connection to the woods and traditional craft—setting Tom on a path to make the woodland his life and livelihood.
"In 2011, I was lucky enough to spend 6 months with Mike Abbott as the main assistant on his chair-making courses, which totally changed the trajectory of my life. It was a whole new world to me. I lived off-grid in a caravan, learned about fire for heating and cooking and drying/bending chair-parts, and fell in love with trees and craft and nature, and a simpler, slower, truer way of life.”
Over the next few years, he continued living in woodland settings around Herefordshire, honing skills in green woodwork, coppicing, roundwood building, and small-scale woodland management alongside experienced craftspeople. Since 2014, he has been teaching green woodwork and coppicing through organisations including Ruskin Mill Trust, Small Woods, and Black Mountains College.
“There is nothing quite like cutting, splitting and shaping green wood. Every bit of tree is different, and needs to be listened to and worked with, rather than on. I think humans in our time really need to learn that simple lesson - how to be and work with nature again.
I love spending most of my days outdoors, moving with the seasons, and trying to find that 'flow state' where magic happens and beautiful new things appear in the world.
It is always a pleasure and an honour to welcome folk into the woods and witness them slow down and recalibrate through the simple act of carving a spoon or making their own stool or chair.”
Tom has an MA in 'Special Education - Practical Skills Transformative Learning' from Lillehammer University (2019), is a Forest Schools Practitioner (2010), a Member of 'Association of Pole-Lathe Turners & Green Woodworkers', 'Landworkers' Alliance', and 'Scythe Association of Great Britain & Ireland', and proud Co-owner of Clissett Wood.
