The Woodwright At Foxfire

This is probably my favorite picture of the trip. He called himself a woodwright.

He was the second exhibit we stopped at at the Foxfire museum and the one where we spent the most time and where we learned the most.

There was a sign that said he is deaf, but reads lips. He told us that he read the Foxfire books but other than that, is completely self-taught.  

He was working on the bucket seen on the porch. He was very articulate as he patiently explained what he was doing and how to make and assemble a bucket, beginning with an oak tree.

Most of his tools, he had made himself, including the shaving horse on which he was working.

A shaving horse is an ancient tool that allows him to have his hands free, while using a foot to operate a clamp that holds the wood block secure. He used a draw knife and a hand plane (that he had fashioned from a car spring) to shape the staves. So while he calls himself a woodwright, he is also a blacksmith.

These twin sticks he had measured off and marked by a pencil. They are used to make sure the bucket staves are beveled just right to fit together.

The tool below, he made to cut a groove for the bottom of the bucket to fit in. It is called a croze.

The metal bands on the bucket are temporary until the wooden ones are applied.

The finished products were beautiful.

He was a man with amazing skills and we were fascinated by his lesson.

Credit is due to B for his extensive help in filling in the gaps of my knowledge of this subject. I took pictures and listened. He listened with both ears and already had background knowledge.