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Binding a Besom Broom — The Birch-Twig Broom on a Hazel Handle

创建者

YourGrandma

2. 七月 2026

Binding a Besom Broom — The Birch-Twig Broom on a Hazel Handle

The besom is the oldest broom: a fat bundle of springy birch twigs bound around a hazel or ash handle. Every household swept with one, and it cost nothing but a walk to the woods. There are no nails and no glue — the head is held by tight withy bindings and a single wooden peg, and it only grips harder as the birch dries and shrinks. This blueprint binds a besom from cut brush to finished broom using hand tools alone.

初学者

说明

Cut the birch brush

Cut generous bundles of thin, whippy birch twigs — the 'brush'. Winter-cut birch, taken when the tree is bare, is springiest and lasts longest. Keep the twigs long and unbroken.

此步骤所需材料：

Birch Brush1 束

所需工具：

Billhook

Wilt the twigs supple

Lay the cut brush somewhere cool for a few days until the twigs lose their brittleness and bend without snapping. Supple twigs pack tightly and bind without cracking.

此步骤所需材料：

Birch Brush1 束

Cut and point the handle

Cut a straight length of hazel or ash about a thumb-and-a-half thick for the handle. Trim it clean and whittle one end to a long blunt point so the brush seats around it.

此步骤所需材料：

Green Wood Poles (1-2m)1 个

所需工具：

Billhook

Knife

Soak the binding withies

Soak split willow withies in water until they are fully flexible. These flexible ties will cinch the brush to the handle; they must bend sharply without breaking.

此步骤所需材料：

Willow Withy2 个

Water5 升

Lay the brush around the handle

Stand the pointed handle upright and lay birch twigs evenly all the way around it, butt ends up along the handle and tips hanging down. Keep the bundle even so the finished broom is not lopsided.

此步骤所需材料：

Birch Brush1 束

Bind the top band

Squeeze the twigs tight against the handle and wind a soaked withy hard around the bundle near the top of the brush. Pull it as tight as you can and twist and tuck the ends to lock the band.

此步骤所需材料：

Willow Withy1 个

Bind the second band

Wind a second withy band about a hand's width below the first and cinch it just as tight. Two bands stop the brush from splaying and spread the sweeping wear.

此步骤所需材料：

Willow Withy1 个

Peg the head to the handle

Whittle a small hardwood peg. Start a hole through the handle between the bindings with the awl, then drive the peg through with the mallet so the head can never slide off the handle.

所需工具：

Knife

Awl

Wooden Mallet

Trim the sweeping end

Trim the hanging tips of the brush level across the bottom with the billhook so the broom meets the floor evenly and sweeps cleanly.

所需工具：

Billhook

Season the besom

Stand the finished besom in a dry place to season. As the birch dries it stiffens into a firm brush and the withy bindings shrink even tighter — the broom is ready to sweep.