Kuksa carving at Sallerton Wood
About the Course
COVID-19 ~ Courses will start running again at Sallerton Wood from August onward. Full precautions will be taken in our spacious outdoor workshop area.
A Kuksa is a traditionally hand carved Scandinavian wooden mug or bowl, used for eating and drinking. These two-day courses will cover all the rudiments of carving by hand and tool selection to create your very own beautiful and unique vessel, using traditional techniques and starting with a freshly-cut greenwood log. The principles and practicalities of tool sharpening will also be covered during this course.
The course is run over two days to cater for individual designs and allow all abilities of student to achieve a great finish to their work and may also offer time for other carving projects. The skills learned will be applicable to other carving projects that you might embark on in the future, such as spoon carving.
The course tutor is Andy Morton, an experienced worker in green wood and in timber-framing. There is a limit of 6 students per course to allow for good personal tuition throughout the course.
Each participant will be allocated their own set of tools at the beginning of the course to use for the duration. Sallerton wood is extremely well stocked with straight grown Ash and Alder, perfect for green woodwork projects.
Sallerton Wood is 10 acres of beautiful mixed deciduous woodland with a stream running through it. It is situated south-east of Launceston, close to the River Tamar on the Devon/Cornwall border. All courses take place within the heart of the woodland itself. There is a large well-equipped workshop shelter, and a timber-framed utility shelter for cooking and tea-making. The utility shelter is equipped with a large dining table, pans, utensils, and a wood-fired clay oven and rocket stoves for use during courses.
Wild camping is offered within Sallerton Wood. Facilities provided are a site within the woodland to pitch a small tent, a compost toilet, piped spring water for washing and cooking, and drinking water supplied separately. There is a small washroom containing a wash basin and shower, both with hot and cold water. For those who do not wish to camp, or require more than the wild camping facilities offered, there are many local accommodation options, and some suggestions are available on request or via our website.
For more information about Sallerton Wood and all of the activities there, please have a look at the Sallerton Wood website.
To book a place on this course, select an available date in the Available Dates calendar, then click on the button under the calendar labelled 'Make a booking request', or the button labelled 'Ask a question' if you have questions.
We run a variety of other woodworking courses at Sallerton Wood. Please click on the button at the end of the Course Description labelled 'See more from this course organiser' to view the full list.
If you will be redeeming a CraftCourses gift voucher on this course, the voucher code must be provided at the point of booking.
What's included in the price?
All tools and materials required for your course are provided. Hot drinks and biscuits and/or cake are provided, as are ingredients for sandwiches for making your lunch, and fresh fruit. There is an additional charge of £10 per person per night payable at the end of the course, for those who wish to camp on site.
Contact
Andy Morton at Sallerton WoodKelly
Lifton
Devon
PL16 0HH
All reviews for this course organiser
This craft course provider has been awarded Platinum status for receiving 50 or more 5 star ratings from previous students.
The Students' Choice award ensures that course providers get recognised for their efforts in the teaching and practice of UK craft.
They also allow tutors to gain valuable feedback on their courses and for new students to find the course that's right for them.
Suitable for
- Accommodation offered
- Adults
- Corporate days out & team building
- Engagement, birthdays & anniversaries
- Hen dos
- Parking provided
- Seniors
- Stag dos
- Suitable for beginners
- Teenagers
- UK Holiday
Available as a gift
Learn about gift vouchersReviews
We had a really lovely couple of days. It was so nice to be in the woods, listening to the stream while being completely absorbed in chopping, sawing and carving a bit of wood!
Andy was very calm with a relaxed style and was always on hand when we had a question.
Response from Sallerton Wood:
Thanks very much, Deb, for posting a review. We're pleased that you enjoyed the course and the proximity of woodland and stream whilst working on your kuksa. Hope to see you and Mick back at Sallerton Wood again one day.Amazing course, with great expertise and teaching skills by Andy, friendly and informative throughout in a beautiful peaceful location. Without a doubt I will be booking again in the future, can’t recommend enough.
Response from Sallerton Wood:
Thanks Ben, for your review, and we're glad that you enjoyed the course and the environment in which it took place. We're looking forward to seeing you back at Sallerton Wood again before long.I had seen the Kuksas on a visit to Oslo so it was a nice surprise to receive the course from my daughters as a Christmas present. I'd done a little carving before but this was in a different league.....
I needn't have worried. From the outset, the five of us on the course were made to feel at ease as Andy explained the philosophy of the Sallerton Wood project and took us through the stages of making our Kuksa from cross cutting a large alder log to forming the blank and then finally carving the finished cup.
The skills used along the way were extensive and developed a keen appreciation of the material and how it changes during the processes used as well as fine tuning our manual skills where a surprising degree of dexterity was required.
I cannot speak highly enough of Andy's obvious love of the environment, his enthusiasm for his art and also his skill and patience as a tutor, knowing when to offer a suggestion or advice whilst always leaving you feeling that you had ownership of your own work.
As a place to experience Green Woodworking, Sallerton Wood is ideal. The ten acres of sensitively managed deciduous woodland provide the raw materials whilst Andy, Jane, Alan and friends have created a working environment designed to allow the courses to function regardless of the weather all backed up by excellent woodland facilities. Browse the website and see the smiles on the faces - then sign up for your own course. You will not be disappointed.
Response from Sallerton Wood:
Thanks very much for your review, Clive, and we're pleased that you enjoyed the course. We hope to see you back at Sallerton Wood again one day.I have only done one review of a course run by Andy Morton, a Chair making course, I have actually done five courses. 1st stool making, 2nd Chair making, 3rd Shaving horse making, 4th another Chair making and most recently a Kuksa making course. The course its self was run over two days which turned out to be just the right amount of time to complete it.
This is a bit different than the normal chair and stool making courses, there is allot of hand carving which I had never done and I wasn't sure I would be up to the task. I needn't have worried as Andy in his usual calm and easy way of explaining how to get from log to Kuksa made it a really enjoyable two days. The only thing I would advise is you take a good pair of gloves as most of the carving is done by hand with allot of pressure on the palm of you hand. A really great two days in fantastic surroundings in the heart of the Devon countryside and I now have my very own hand made Kuksa made by me.
I'm sorry Andy I haven't reviewed all the courses I've done but they are all absolutely brilliant and I shall be back later next year for another chair making course, I'm hoping to get a dining set!
Although I've completed quite a number of greenwood projects in the past, I've done very little carving and was a little unsure how I'd get on. It proved to be the perfect way to learn the techniques of carving and how to make use of the different gouges and come away with something useful and to be proud of at the end of the two days. Most of all I enjoyed creating my Kuksa right from square one; from log form and using super-sharp hand tools in the peaceful woodland surroundings that Sallerton Wood offers, which made carving far easier and more enjoyable than I imagined!
Response from Sallerton Wood:
Thank you, Jane, for posting that review, and we're glad to hear that you enjoyed the Kuksa carving. We look forward to seeing you again at Sallerton Wood in the future.