Heartwood

• T. Touris –

GreenWood – Three Days in Pittsboro, North Carolina

In late April, 2022 I had the pleasure of attending the GreenWood Wright’s Fest in Pittsboro, North Carolina. The event was three days of workshops and demonstrations in working freshly cut wood (green wood) into useful and beautiful objects.

Among the many activities, teachers and presenters showed how to carve wooden spoons, strip bark from hickory logs to make woven chair seats and baskets, turn wooden bowls on a foot-powered spring pole lathe, and how to convert fresh pine logs into beams and cut timber frame joints.

This last activity is what piqued my interest in the festival, because one of the (too) many plans for our homestead is to build a timber frame greenhouse. Also, the workshop was being taught by none other than Roy Underhill. Known to many woodworkers as “Saint Roy”, Underhill has spent the past 43 years preserving the craft of traditional woodworking through his PBS show the Woodwright’s Shop.

For 37 seasons, Roy and his guests have demonstrated how to make everything from a log cabin to a Shaker table using only traditional hand tools. He’s inspired countless viewers to pick up a hand plane and make shavings. His show was required viewing during my early years of learning woodworking. 

As a teenager and college student I couldn’t afford a Norm Abram (host of the PBS show The New Yankee Workshop) shop full of power tools. Instead, I learned that it was possible to make some pretty nice things with hand saws, planes and chisels.

The day-long workshop began with the drop off of several pine logs. We then proceeded to mark the logs and with axes hewed them into straight, rectangular beams. As the air filled with the scent of fresh pine and the sound of thumping axes, Roy instructed us on the various techniques for ax work, throwing in occasional quotes from Thoreau and Monty Python. 

After breaking for lunch, we returned to cut mortise and tenon joints using saws and chisels. The beams were then joined into a “bent”, which is a single section of a timber frame structure. Several bents can be joined together by additional beams to create a sturdy shed or perhaps a small greenhouse. The day too quickly ended with the raising of the single bent for the tired crew to admire.

The following morning, I had the pleasure of watching Oliver Pratt demonstrate how to turn a bowl on a spring pole lathe. This ancient type of foot-driven lathe uses a reciprocating motion to turn a piece of wood back and forth. Wood is cut away on the downward stroke using special hooked cutters. It was fascinating to watch Mr. Pratt form a bowl from a roughly hewn piece of green soft cherry wood. His legs, arms, hands, and eyes all operating together in a steady rhythmic motion. Pratt then allowed us to try our own hands (and legs) at the activity. After a bit of initial fumbling, I managed to create a few nice shavings, giving me enough of a taste to put a pole lathe on my to-build list.

After the festival, I headed out to see my kids and celebrate my daughter’s birthday. Her gifts were a beautifully made bowl and a spoon with a handle carved like a butterfly wing. The festival and the great people that were part of it, have inspired me to continue to reveal and share the beauty that can be found in wood.

Another fest is in the works for October 2022; learn more and register at https://greenwoodwrightsfest.com/

T. Touris is a retired-computer-programmer. He spends his free time designing and working in wood on his small woodland lot in Canadice, NY.