Lets Learn Together!
Folk Craft Revival is all about learning traditional skills and become more self-reliant. Learning to make, build, do, create– or simply learn for the sake of knowledge! If you love to work with your hands, have a fascination with the old ways, want to learn how to do practical projects or have a desire to become more self-sufficient you’ve found a new home…. Welcome!
The projects and tutorials on this website focus heavily on reviving traditional folk skills and craftsmanship and are presented in two formats: the Folk Craft Revival podcast focuses on learning traditional skills from topic experts, the blog articles are a record of my experiments while trying new projects. Hopefully you’ll enjoy what you find here!
RECENT PODCASTS
021 Introduction to Scrimshaw with Rich Williams
Scrimshaw, the mariners art. I loved learning about this traditional folk art! Many of you know that I tend to personally lean towards the traditional rural/peasant crafts-- what would have been common practice by people living their daily lives. I love to learn...
020 Designing and Building Rocket Stoves with Tom Mills
Rocket stoves have held a fascination for me for awhile-- it's amazing how intentionally controlling the way in which a fire burns can dramatically impact its performance. I've wanted to build one for awhile and figured now was a good time to chat with someone who...
019 Willow Chair Making with Justin Roberts
Rustic looking bent willow chairs. I think of them as being a product of the Great Depression, others think of them as being emblematic of gypsies. . . Regardless, they look like they would be fun to make! Knowing how to make these willow chairs is one of those...
RECENT POSTS
2019 Reading List
I talked about my reading and learning on the podcast a few episodes ago and said that I would post my reading list for 2019. I believe that the books (or any content for that matter) someone is reading or owns can tell you quite a bit about them. Here you'll see both...
Primitive Skills Gatherings: Learning Traditional Skills
There are a number of ways you can get started in learning traditional skills. Books for one, that's how I started, and how most of us who became interested in traditional skills more than 15 years ago had to go about learning things. In addition, there have also been...
Making Traditional Glue-on Broadheads (Saxton Pope Style)
It's the day before archery season starts. . . And I'm in the middle of making a batch of broadheads. A wee bit late you might say. True, I will readily admit that this project got delayed a little longer than it should have. I would've liked to have these ready...
Making a Homemade (DIY) Arrow Spine Tester
I’m making a batch of arrows for the upcoming archery season-- with my own shafting from lumber. Whoop-de-do you might say, but for some reason I’ve always bought my arrow shafting and just assembled them, something I intend to remedy this time around! However, I know...
Traditional Snowshoes Part 2: Making the Frame
I've always loved being outdoors exploring.... and have always been somewhat limited during the winter months. Not to say that I didn't do things outside, but it primarily revolved around snow forts, sledding and the like. Not quite the freedom of wandering for hours...
Traditional Snowshoes Part 1: Making a Form
After reading The Winter Wilderness Companion last month I've had a hankering to get outdoors and do some snowshoeing.... But I seem to lack the essentials! So I did some research and got myself another book, Building Wooden Snowshoes and Snowshoe Furniture by Gil...
5 reasons you should learn artisan, primitive and folk skills
Modern life, in my opinion, is lacking in many areas. I feel like it has become progressively more distant and disconnected from the natural world. Which has tremendous benefits... but they come hand-in-hand with increasing drawbacks as well. I feel like we have lost...
Sourdough Waffles
I've experimented with sourdough bread off and on for about the last six years, but only enough in the last year or so to get consistent, repeatable, results. Or enough to REALLY understand what I'm doing and why. And that bothers me. I'm a bread lover, a serious...
Easy DIY Wet-Scrape Hide Scraper
Confession time.... I've been working hides for probably the last 6 years with sub-par tools. Shocker eh? I always seem to start tanning as a last minute project without thinking about it in advance and just use whatever I have on hand. Which has led to some...
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My goal here is to revive an interest in learning how things used to be done, to inspire people to began working with their hands, and to share the joy that comes from making what you use.
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This Weekend Project Blog is Brought to You in Part by my Passion For Working With My Hands to Create Useful Things!
Here you’ll find the chronicles of an inveterate tinkerer with a passion for quality, beauty, and all that is homemade or handcrafted. These projects and tutorials focus heavily on reviving folk skills and artisan crafts– with some adaptation for modern life/tools/equipment. In essence, this is a collection of foxfire-ish folk skill tutorials with an emphasis on fine workmanship.