Shrink Pots

Recently I have become inspired by shrink pots. A shrink pot is a container that is made from a hollowed log of green wood. The bottom is made to fit the inside of the hollowed log and inserted into a groove that is cut near the bottom end. The green wood will shrink and lock around the bottom, resulting in a nice watertight container. There are wonderful examples of these pots online, and I wanted to have a go at one as well. I made one from apple, with an oaken bottom. Unfortunately I split the thing while hollowing it out, and could only rescue it by sawing it in half. It has lost a lot of height because of that. But I am still happy with it. It was a nice exercise and now I know I can make a shrink pot with the tools I have, and do not need fancy implements as groove-cutters or gouges. I drilled a hole through the log first with a 25mm  flat bit, and hollowed it with my spoon knife from there. Then I cut the groove with the tip of my carving knife, whittled the base to fit and tapped it into the groove. Now the drying process will finish it. It isn`t all that large, but I am happy I made it. I`m quite sure I`ll make more of them.

Yesterday I also had another small project. I made a not-from-birchbark sheath for a carving knife. I needed a blade-cover, and lacking nicer materials I decided to apply the technique used to make a birch-bark sheath but use cardboard and parachord instead. It is not pretty, but it works quite well and I had some practice for when I come across suitable birch bark.