[Pushed in]

It does need reporting, if a deep stretch of canal and with high banks it could be difficult to get out if you are on your own and potentially life threatening. This behaviour is incredibly dangerous, what if they plunge someone with a heart condition into freezing cold water, the shock alone could be enough to kill them.

[Another Sunk Boat.....Banbury]

On 30/12/2021 at 18:48, tree monkey said:

Put this monkey in the poshest suit and within about 10mins I look like l scrounged it out of the reject pile from oxfam, I have now accepted this as a talent 

You must have the same Taylor as me

[Words from our leader]

Over ten mins of video with many shots of CRT workers doing vital jobs but not a single shot of a CRT work boat in its natural habitat, abandoned on a lock landing stage.

[Chainsaw Xmas trees]

On 19/10/2021 at 19:42, matty40s said:

Have you not seen some of the other works that bewildered creates next to locks out of fallen trees?? These are quite reserved in comparison.

 

 

I want to do more of these but the problem I have is finding logs big enough to carve. Not only do they need to be big, they need to be in a fairly prominent location (otherwise why bother?) they should preferably be of a hardy wood that will last (did one in willow, doubt it will survive more that a year or two) and they need to either be in the middle of nowhere or with enough space around that I can carve with a safe area for pedestrians to pass by whilst I’m working.
That, unfortunately, is a lot of asks; especially as I need to get to it before a bunch of dodgy boaters turn up to cut for firewood 😁

[Chainsaw Xmas trees]

On 19/10/2021 at 20:28, Old Son said:

Some people have a fantastic imagination. That is brilliant 

It’s easy to have imagination when you steal other people’s ideas. That particular piece is based on the work of Ryan Cook professional chainsaw carver. I’ve no doubt Ryan got the idea of the woodspirit climbing out out the log from other carvers. Most chainsaw carvings are variations on a theme, original ideas are hard to come by.

[Chainsaw Xmas trees]

On 19/10/2021 at 15:53, Athy said:

All your own work?

The pair only took about an hour each to cut, detail and finish. The only difficulty in making these was securing them to the work bench in order to use a chainsaw on them. 

[Chainsaw Xmas trees]

 Carved from a 2ft by 10in log using a chainsaw to shape, blowtorch and nylon sanding wheel to highlight

[Mowing the towpath]

On 08/10/2021 at 11:03, Grassman said:

 

Last month my wife sprained her ankle getting of the boat because the canalside overgrowth was hiding a hole in the bank.

 

On a slightly different issue, for the last 4 winters I've been part of a group of volunteers cutting back the offside vegetation working from a boat and using pole chainsaws, wood chipper etc. This winter we were expecting to carry on from where we left off in March but CRT have said we will instead be working various sections of the towpath that have been allowed to 'get out of hand'. 

 

We are all boaters and the reason we signed up 4 years ago was specifically to deal with the offside vegetation because it had got so bad, and probably wouldn't get done otherwise. I know CRT are having to really push the benefits to the public in order to try and secure future government funding, but this is a step too far, so we have all refused to do it. Besides which if in the past if we saw an encroaching tree or branch on the towpath side one of us would nip across and deal with it anyway.

 

Their decision has lost them 8 trained and experienced volunteers, and the offside veg will be left to get even worse, causing mayhem in places especially now the canals are becoming ever busier.

And I bet they thought you were all being belligerent by refusing orders.

[Leighton lock]

11 hours ago, stagedamager said:

looks great, i love it! 

We still have your art in pride of place by drydock. I hope you are both well?

This one if I remember correctly   Just to let you know the oil leak has stopped as far as I can tell. I did an oil change a couple of weeks ago and removed the puppy pads that were left down there. I put some clean pads down to see if there were any leaks and what they pick up is very minimal and to be expected of an old engine. So thanks again for the excellent work and service.

[Leighton lock]

5 hours ago, tree monkey said:

That's impressive, I'm not subtle or clever enough for stuff like that, do you use a carving bar?

I used a Sthil MS170 with its standard 12 inch bar to block it out. I then used a die grinder and a Dremel with Kutzal extreme burrs to do the detailing.

Anyone who can use a chainsaw can do these, there are plenty of online tutorials. This is only my 4th large scale chainsaw carving, most of the stuff I carve is Dremel only.

Check out Carving Fusion on You Tube, his videos are fun and informative .

I must get a carving bar at some point but the standard one will do for now.

4 hours ago, Slim said:

Yes but can you get it out of the room? 

Only if the doors to the room are wide enough to get the mini through

[Boats running their engine outside 8 till 8 rules]

A couple of years ago we were moored on a visitors moorings, the opposite bank being permit holders moorings.

We’d been out most of the day, returning early evening, perhaps 5 O’clock. Decided to run the genny on the bank as it is quieter than the engine. After around 15 mins I heard some shouting, I went out to see what the commotion was about to find a very abusive man on the permit holders moorings shouting at me to turn my genny off as it was interfering with his TV reception. 
I happily complied with his request (even though it was quite obnoxiously put) I packed the genny away and started my engine which had at the time a slight exhaust blow. I went back in the boat and noticed the man fuming on his back deck looking daggers in the direction of my boat. I ran the engine until the batteries were fully charged and I had plenty of hot water. I switched off at 5 to 8.

Had the man originally asked in a more civilised manor I would probably have cruised off and charged elsewhere.

 

In life you get what you give. And small victories make it interesting (even if they are a little petty)

 

 

[Leighton lock]

10 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

I can carve the sawdust and woodchips easily enough, but I never seem to find the brilliant artwork inside bits of wood.

 

I know the old joke about how to sculpt an elephant - just remove the bits of wood that don't look like an elephant - but I'm just not very good at it!

 

Hat tip to @Bewildered. Again.

Getting an elephant out of a log shouldn’t be that difficult, let’s face it, you can get four of them in a mini

[Leighton lock]

2 hours ago, Mad Harold said:

Probably carved by a bored boater at a stoppage.

Wasn’t a stoppage but I was bored yesterday 😁

[Leighton lock]

Found this Wizard climbing out of a log at Leighton lock

[Halloween Wood Carving]

I recently carved this out of an Ash log for a Halloween challenge carving competition, he’s 16 inches tall, all from a single piece except the axe

[Allen’s lock]

1 hour ago, Feeby100 said:

Nice face what the square ?

Last year someone decided to harvest some firewood and ended up creating a couple of benches

[Allen’s lock]

This ash tree has been lying beside Allen’s lock for years looking boring, so I decided to liven it up

[Is Spelling Important?]

Spelling is very important. Canal has a c at the beginning to stop people getting confused.

[When you just can’t resist]

Massive log just standing beside the towpath, I couldn’t help myself

[Nesting boxes]

2 hours ago, Idle Days said:

Where is the best place to instal them on one's boat?  

That would be in someone else’s garden

[Nesting boxes]

21 minutes ago, Jerra said:

Thank you.  I will be interested in any results you hear about.

So far the current consensus is that they do nest in them. The face is not an issue it is mostly motion that deters birds.

Several people have confirmed they have had birds nesting in woodspirit nesting boxes for several years.

[Nesting boxes]

4 hours ago, Jerra said:

Great craftsmanship.   I will be interested to hear if any are used as I wonder if the fact they are so face like will concern the birds.   THey are normally very wary of the human form.

These aren’t an original idea they are made by wood carvers all over the world all along a similar theme. I suspect that the birds aren’t bothered by the face and just see a suitable hole to nest in. I could however be wrong, I will check with the Facebook carving group to find out if they have actually been nested in.

[Nesting boxes]

 More fun to make than the Xmas trees

[Fancy firewood]

Whittle Gnome

Various whittle wands.

 

I got a bit bored during lockdown and needed to keep busy somehow

[Fancy firewood]

  More fancy firewoodChainsaw carving

 

Any one for Tiki?

Whittle Bear