ART
BEAUTY & WELLNESS
CRAFT
CULTURE & HISTORY
ENTERTAINMENT
ENVIRONMENT
FOOD & DRINKS
REVERSE ENGINEERING
SCIENCES
SPORTS
TECHNOLOGY
WEARABLES
Willow Stakes: Soaked and Pointed Osiers (Hasluck, 1903)
Basket stakes as the basket-maker prepares them: osiers dried for months, soaked in a trough until pliable, cut to length at about half the thickness of the bottom sticks, and pointed with two slanting cuts so they drive into the woven bottom.
Fresh green osiers are never used.
Source: P. N. Hasluck, Basket Work of All Kinds (1903), pp. 12-13 and 31. Picture: the book's page on damping osiers.
Beginner
Months of drying, then several days soaking
Instructions
1
1
Season the osiers
Season the osiers
Never use fresh-cut green osiers: leave them several months until thoroughly shrunk and dry.
Materials for this step:
Willow Withy1 pieceTools needed:
Knife2
2
Soak until workable
Soak until workable
Lay the brown osiers in a trough of water for several days, until the water has penetrated them and they are pliable; handle a rod or two now and then to judge. If water hangs on them when you start, stand them on their top ends a few minutes to drain.
Tools needed:
Trough
Water3
3
Cut and point the stakes
Cut and point the stakes
Choose rods about half the thickness of the basket's bottom sticks and cut them just long enough to finish in the border. Point each with the shop knife: two slanting cuts about 2 1/2 in long, one down the back and one at the side.
Tools needed:
KnifeMaterials
1- 1 piecePlaceholder
This blueprint makes
CC0 Public Domain
This blueprint is released under CC0. You are free to copy, modify, distribute, and use this work for any purpose, without asking permission.
Support the Maker by purchasing products through their Blueprint where they earn a Maker Commission set by Vendors, or create a new iteration of this Blueprint and include it as a connection in your own Blueprint to share revenue.