Green woodworking

In the context of woodworking, ‘green’ refers to the use of wet or unseasoned wood that has recently been felled or harvested. Containing a high moisture content, the water in freshly cut wood will eventually evaporate, causing shrinkage which can help to ensure tight joints. Being much softer than seasoned timber, this wood is easier to shape with hand tools.

With a long and fascinating history behind what is now called green woodworking, it is important to remember that working with green timber would have been the norm throughout history. Much our knowledge of green woodworking was lost during the industrial revolution when the mechanisation of manufacturing lead to a dramatic decline in woodcraft.

The last of the greenwood crafts to succumb to the industrial age was the chair making industry of Buckinghamshire where ‘Bodgers’ (woodsmen who specialised in making chair legs and braces) could still be found turning chair legs in the Beech woods until the early 20th century. Not until the 1980s did green woodworking experience a revival in the UK, inspiring the process of relearning this largely forgotten skill.

Jennie Alexander’s book “Make a Chair From a Tree: An Introduction to Working Green Wood” written in 1978 helped to resurrect the craft. Experiments with turning green wood led Jennie to research the use of unseasoned wood in craft work, providing an invaluable resource for modern green woodworkers.

British green woodworker Mike Abbott has furthered the effort to restore the UK’s bodger tradition, writing books and teaching workshops on chair making and the use of the spring pole lathe. Since then, a number of books and schools focused on traditional woodworking and craft have appeared throughout the UK.

Green woodworking techniques generally involve splitting and working with the grain rather than sawing through it, causing minimal distortion of the wood during shrinkage and seasoning. Softer flowing surfaces are therefore produced but with increased strength, as the wood’s linear fibres remain intact. A closer understanding of different trees and the nature of their wood is required.

The techniques of green woodworking cross many disciplines, from boat and house building to expressive arts, furniture-making and home crafts. Green oak timber framing for example is experiencing a revival. This technique used mainly for barn and house construction, whereby frames are assembled from large sawn or hewn timbers connected with mortise and tenon joints and fixed with wooden pegs.

Rake making, hurdle making, broom making, spar making, coppicing & coppice crafts, pole lathe turning, spoon carving, bowl carving, chair making, basket making, shingle making, cleft wood products

• Very little woodland is left in the UK, and most of what remains is softwood plantation – native British broadleaf woodland supports a richer diversity of wildlife. Re-establishing economic demand for these woodlands encourages their planting and protection. Hence, every bit of wood used from the UK may also mean less de-forestation or illegal logging elsewhere in the world.
• Loss of skills – the preference and popularity of electrical tools coupled with a lack of skilled green woodworkers presents a threat to future viability.
• Market issues – many green wood products are traditionally low in value which makes it difficult to make a viable income as a green wood worker. Many will supplement their income through teaching, community forestry projects or general forestry work. 
• Access to raw materials – there are a number of tree diseases, such as ash dieback, that could affect the supply of raw material into the future

Association of Pole-lathe Turners and Green Woodworkers – Bodgers

Small Woods Association

National Coppice Federation

Many green wood workers will offer courses at a range of venues across the UK, such as:

Small Woods Association 

Greenwood Days

The Woodland Skills Centre

The Green Wood Guild

The APTGWW has a membership of 1200 in the UK and around the world. This will include full time professional makers, amateurs and hobby makers.

Since work can be done outdoors in the fresh air directly after the tree is felled, this manner of woodworking is healthy in providing a sense of connectedness to the trees and natural environment generally.

 Most green woodwork is produced from coppiced hardwood – coppicing is the practice of cutting back trees before they reach maturity, after which they re-grow. Trees managed this way are known to regularly survive their common lifespan. Humans have been coppicing for so long that some insects and plants have evolved to prefer this type of habitat. Hence, coppicing is a sustainable system of woodland management.

 Green woodworking is generally far more sustainable, as wood that one has themselves cut has an embodied energy rating (the amount of energy used in harvesting, transportation and processing) of practically zero. Hence, it provides a means of producing furniture and utensils with a very low impact on nature.

1.   https://www.lowimpact.org/categories/green-woodworking 
2.   https://www.firesidewoodcraft.co.uk/post/what-is-green-woodworking
3.  http://www.rivenwoodcrafts.com/history-of-green-woodworking.html