Higher Ground Handmade

A little card wallet in the sun

Hand cut from scrap boot leather, and saddle stitched, this will keep your cards collected correctly for years to come.

The last photo shows it next to the first wallet I ever made. It's made from the same leather, and after almost three years in the pocket, it has taken on a beautiful and unique patina.
The new one will also change with years of use.

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Wow.

This stunning knife has just arrived alongside an equally lovely hook knife.

Thank you

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Sorry I haven't been posting much, I had to carry a bunch of furniture through this door.

Moved house, back to an old neighbourhood.

Most of the boxes are empty now, and the plants are watered, and hopefully I can finally get some time in the shop to make nice things for you all to see.

How do you split your logs?

A few months ago, I picked up some cold chisels at a thrift store for less then the cost of gas to get there.

Using a long flat bladed chisel, and my homemade, hand forged hammer, I 'draw' my line across the end grain.

Once drawn, I begin to work from both sides of the line, trying to make sure it is splitting in the intended direction.

Then, a stout little chisel joins the party, and, if necessary, an axe 'wedge' or a maul will come to play.

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Now that the holidays are well behind us, I can show you this prototype gnocchi board.

This is version 2.0
Hand carved from dry bigleaf Maple, using axe, knife, and V-parting gouge.

Tool finished and coated with a hemp/walnut oil blend.

I'm hoping to have some of these available in the near future!

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Arbutus menziesii.

Delicious, fresh Pacific Madrone.

I've always just known them as Arbutus trees, and they are without a doubt my favourite type of tree.

Jutting out from the coast, bent and twisted and wild.

Let's see if I like the wood as much as I like the tree.
(In a while, after some moisture loss)

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These ugly, snowed on, rain soaked plum wood blanks are actually pretty lovely to work.

They've held much more moisture than I thought they would, and I've actually had to let them dry a bit after the axe work.

But surprisingly, there's not any spalting, rotting, punky-ness, or discolouration.

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Back on the axe.

This is one of the plum blanks that waited patiently in the yard through buckets of rain and a sprinkle of snow.

It seems to still be wood, so I will try and make it a spoon.

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Anyone else store their blanks like this?

Actually, at the bottom of this rock I live on, it doesn't dip much below freezing very frequently. I'm pretty sure it was +7°c when I took this photo.

Nonetheless, I split these blanks before starting my workshop renovation, and they're going to wait patiently right there until I get to them.

Without the 'snow' on top.

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#2020