Hey Alex, great to finally meet you last year. Hope to see you again soon - Bodgers Ball perhaps, I'm about 50 miles out of London if you want to come check out the workshop and have a carve :-)

Im having doubts over stability Steve as it won't have the weight of the bigger one. It may have to be shorter than the bowl mate necessitating sitting to use. Watch this space, I'll film it when done!

Standing by

+Oneday Woodcraft What about adding weight under the log between the legs, sand bags, stones or whatever, like when you hang a weighted bag from the centre column of a camera tripod for stability.

+David Stovell that's a good approach. I was thinking 1/4 logs for legs, weight lower down like you suggest, heck, I could do both!

Delighted to have helped you along the way Buzz :-)

paul bibby Likewise! Good luck with your kuksa carving

Very sensible skovbo65, I've been meaning to make a small table along those lines

Todd Ross I'd advise using fair dry timber. Green wood will shrink and move/warp so worst case can split or you could lose all your levels.happy building

Not yet.... I like your thinking :-)

Hey Ollie, I don't have much experience with oak due to the abundance of other woods which don't have a tannin issue. I would look into salt water boiling any kuksa you do carve to leach the tannins away. Likewise I'm thin on the ground on burr experience! The knots in burrs do break out so a sharp axe and careful work are needed, I'd be reaching for a saw whenever appropriate. If you're only going to use hand tools then working or a least roughing out green would be needed. Cling film (plastic food wrap) or a plastic bag help slow drying and reduce the chance of splitting. Turn the bag inside out every day or so. That would also help if you have limited work time. Once carved, i store kuksas in a plastic bag in a cool spot in the house whilst i finish them off as the surfaces dryout. Then outside the bag for a few more weeks. If you've got a few to play with, get one on the go in a few weeks once the woods mellowed a bit, see how it behaves, try another, keep some back (shaded from sun and wind), they'll stay fresh for a while. There's a high chance that you will need to fill knots. I've used thorns for small holes, epoxy for larger (looks good mixed with gold (brass) powder). Lastly the English Oak I've used is fairly open grained so you'll have to think about sealing it for hot liguids. I use beeswax and linseed and a lot of elbow power, chemical based sealants are easier. Hope that helps! Get stuck in and don't be put off if they crack, burrs are tough to work with :-)

+Oneday Woodcraft thank you for the reply, so I got the burls and they were in bad shape so I went ahead and kept some really nice limbs about 6-9 inches across. I'm gonna let them dry and hope for the best. I never worked with oak so I'm gonna have to play it by ear so to say, but I see the grain is very tight and dense with should help me but also will be harder to carve. either way I will learn as I go and again thanks for the reply and keep up the good videos

carve it asap, wetter the better

Steven j It's a Hans Karlsson Adze, one of the gouges is HK too. The swan necks you get from Nic Westermann (in very limited supply) and the dogleg gouge is a custom but HK do them too

Oneday Woodcraft thanks! I was hoping it wasn't a Nic W. in they are pretty much impossible to get. But thanks so much for replying you just made my week!

Steven j you are welcome. Don't be put off and keep subscribing to Nic's waiting lists!