Very interesting. Thanks for sharing! A slow but easy method that was used in Greece in the past was to coppice the willow (or other wood) in the end of winter and keep it tied in bundles so that the tip and bottom of each stick always face on the same direction in the same bundle. Obviously the tip of the stick was never cut to length to clearly tell tip from bottom. Right before spring starts to set in (in South Greece this point in time is marked by the flowering of almond trees) the bundles are untied and each stick is planted in the ground as if to plant it for producing new plants. This was usually done in the south side of walls running roughly east to west for optimum sun exposure. Once the stick start to show signs of life (sap running through the bark) they are pulled out of the soil and debarked by a lengthwise split with a knife followed by hand-peeling.
Thanks, I've been planning to make more videos and revive the channel for a few years. I wish the circumstances were different, but I (like many of us) finally found the time do things like this.
Thank you for sharing this video and your experience. Were these fresh stems? I'm assuming that you didn't find it worthwhile to presoak the willow before hand. Do you think soaking would be necessary for sry stems? It looks like the tool was very effective for your set up.
how do the round sides strip the willow does its just compress it enough to make the bark separate from the wood like how friction blisters form or its it actually scraping the bark like you would with say the back of a knife? ive tried searching for the term willow break but all i come up with is people making woven willow fences.
Hi Jim, there's surprisingly little about them on the internet. if you google "willow brake basketry" a few sites will pop up selling them. This page has some info/pics: loiswalpole.blogspot.com/2014/04/stripping.html. You have it right, it basically rubs the bark enough that it separates. I've seen a brake which did scrape, but normally it's the friction that does the work. This, as you would imagine, produces a smoother surface than scraping.
Nice - first time I’ve seen a mechanism like this so some truly practical and applicable (at least in my world) knowledge has been shared. Thank you
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing! A slow but easy method that was used in Greece in the past was to coppice the willow (or other wood) in the end of winter and keep it tied in bundles so that the tip and bottom of each stick always face on the same direction in the same bundle. Obviously the tip of the stick was never cut to length to clearly tell tip from bottom. Right before spring starts to set in (in South Greece this point in time is marked by the flowering of almond trees) the bundles are untied and each stick is planted in the ground as if to plant it for producing new plants. This was usually done in the south side of walls running roughly east to west for optimum sun exposure. Once the stick start to show signs of life (sap running through the bark) they are pulled out of the soil and debarked by a lengthwise split with a knife followed by hand-peeling.
Glad to see you're back, Justin.
Thanks, I've been planning to make more videos and revive the channel for a few years. I wish the circumstances were different, but I (like many of us) finally found the time do things like this.
Hello again! Nice to see more videos from you after such a long break.
Thanks a lot! I felt pretty bad not finding the time to get any videos made (life and all that) but moving forward I'm going to try to prioritize it.
Thanks for sharing that! It's a great alternative to the metal willow brakes!
Thank you for sharing this video and your experience. Were these fresh stems? I'm assuming that you didn't find it worthwhile to presoak the willow before hand. Do you think soaking would be necessary for sry stems? It looks like the tool was very effective for your set up.
Very cool.
how do the round sides strip the willow does its just compress it enough to make the bark separate from the wood like how friction blisters form or its it actually scraping the bark like you would with say the back of a knife? ive tried searching for the term willow break but all i come up with is people making woven willow fences.
Hi Jim, there's surprisingly little about them on the internet. if you google "willow brake basketry" a few sites will pop up selling them. This page has some info/pics: loiswalpole.blogspot.com/2014/04/stripping.html. You have it right, it basically rubs the bark enough that it separates. I've seen a brake which did scrape, but normally it's the friction that does the work. This, as you would imagine, produces a smoother surface than scraping.
@@BasketmakerII thanks for the clarification and the link