RIVN Woodcraft

Here it is...fresh off the press!

Locally coppiced sweet chestnut roundwood timber framed toolshed with hand cleft shingles.

It has been a journey, this commission, one that I have enjoyed...even if I do have several more grey hairs because of it!

My new coat of arms!

Roundwood chestnut tool shed coming along. This will be clad and roofed with cleft shingles...really excited to see the finished article.

Back from the woods with the next lot of chestnut shakes...just need to release them from their loggy prison.

Straight off the back of the wonderful Spring Plant Fair, I am heading to the .

I am going to be demonstrating next to the Forestry Ring so stop by if you're in the vicinity

We had a great time at yesterday. It was a real privilege to be demonstrating a traditional rural craft at a show that started back in the 1830s.

Thank you to everyone who came over and had a chat and thank you to the event organisers and stewards for putting on an amazing show

Finished off installing these gates this morning with a drop bolt and a handmade up-and-over latch made from a beautifully curved piece of chestnut.

Cleft chestnut driveway gate.

Handmade from coppiced chestnut that grew less than 10 miles away from its new home.

Cleft by hand, drawpegged mortice and tenon joints with some dovetails to boot.

I had a lot of fun making this 💚💚💚💚

I'll be attending SWWAG's plant fair and the fabulous Wyken Hall near Ixworth on Sunday.

I'll have some example pieces of some of my larger items and a small selection of some smaller items available to buy on the day.

This is the first show of 2024 for me...roll on a whirlwind summer.

Next Sunday it’s our annual fundraising event in the delightful grounds of Wyken, with guest appearances from Stanton Musicians. Price includes admission to the beautiful spring garden of Wyken Hall and there’s also a guided walk available in the morning, and food vendors. Hope to see you 😊

Big ol' gate in production!

Plus it's smaller cousin to come.

Made from cleft sweet chestnut grown in .

Sweet chestnut stool / side table.

This has been riven, not sawn, taking on the natural form of the tree from which it was given.

I have learned a lot this winter. I have been managing the sweet chestnut coppice for a new landowner.
With one thing and another we could start until early March which meant we weren't able to cut as much as we had planned.
However, even with all of the stresses that come along with it, I am very grateful for the joys that come from coppicing too

This is loving its new home...a handmade rustic planter made from locally coppiced sweet chestnut.

Made with mortice and tenon joints and cleft and woven laths.

This nest box is the ideal home for a wren or robin.

Handmade from a hollowed out sweet chestnut log with a riven shingle roof to boot...

Rustic nest box for our little avian friends, ready for spring.

Cleft hurdle made from locally coppiced sweet chestnut.

Handmade bespoke stool made from coppiced sweet chestnut and made using hand tools.

Chunky rustic garden archway!

The customer has a beautiful large garden and wanted an archway that drew the eye from their seating area to their paddock and horizon beyond and they wanted something substantial enough that it wouldn't get lost in all the space.

Cleft chestnut frame with draw-pegged mortice and tenon joints and woven trellis made from split chestnut laths.

For the last two weeks I have had a horrible bout of man flu and so I have been on light(er) duties. I have tidied and reorganised my workshop, cleared up my yard space, and built a new website (rivn.co.uk). Starting to feel a bit more like myself so I'm getting back to it next week

Merry Christmas you lot!

A nice bit of rustic garden screening which is hiding an IBC water tank.

Made from locally coppice sweet chestnut and crafted using traditional hand tools. The laths split with froe and cleave brake, the spindles (that's what I'm calling them anyway...not sure they are though...) shaped with a drawknife, and held together with pegged mortice and tenon joints.

The bottom section has been left open to leave the tap accessible and the top section is there to accentuate the bottom.

Cleft sweet chestnut gate. This is the first one that I have made with a heel... I really like it!

Draw pegged mortice and tenon joints hold the frame of the gate together and I have added copper nails and roves to hold the braces in place.

Cleft chestnut gate in progress...more updates to come...

Feeling privileged to add a little RIVN twist to the front of this beautiful old school building in .

This is the largest trellis I have made to date, sitting almost 3m high and 1.8m wide. It is made from cleft sweet chestnut and is fixed together with copper fixings, traditionally used for boat building...practical, as they don't react with the tannins in the wood, and they also add an extra aesthetic detail.

This rustic pergola and archway form part of a large garden redesign in collaboration with ..more to come...

They are now the home to some beautiful
And some climbing jasmine.

They are made from sweet chestnut that has been coppiced, crafted, and installed all within 10miles of each other.

The roundwood framing techniques I have used came from the amazing YouTube videos by .harbour and books by Ben Law

Hand carved house sign made from some milled sweet chestnut and installed on a post and rail fence I installed a couple of months back.

One of my customers wanted a house sign to hang from the fence I made for them...cue several hours of watching YouTube videos and practicing on scrap.

The staining is iron acetate which reacts with the tannins in the sweet chestnut.

This customer had a woven willow fence that was falling apart. They wanted something that complimented their bespoke gate with a similar aesthetic to what they had before.

What we came up with was a design more akin to the continuous woven willow or hazel falences that are popular.

The split chestnut laths lend themselves nicely to being woven and can be arranged so that they push against each other to enable the continuous effect you see here.