Phil Greene demonstrates the smoothing stage on the outside of the hull of a canoe he is building.
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The ability to work with wood was an asset on rural farms where lifestyles required self-sufficiency and living off the land was common. As a boy, Tom carved his toys - small boats that he floated...
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Ducks use their tails to signal whether they are at rest or in danger. Tom carves the tail so that it feathers slightly upward, a sign that the duck is at ease with its surroundings. The process uses...
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To float properly, the body of the duck must be hollowed out with a hand drill and chisel. Buoyancy and stability are achieved by combining a hollow interior with lead weights applied to the underside...
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Tom's toolbox is a museum of traditional woodworking implements. It contains a 150-year-old drawknife, a hatchet, his father's wood rasp, his grandfather's brace and bit, a mallet of resilient...
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No carving tool keeps an edge without occasional sharpening on a stone. Farmers and woodworkers brought hand-powered grinding wheels to the Americas during the 16th century. Many artisans and farmers...
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Tom uses keen eyes and a drawknife to carve the slope of a duck's back from the natural curve along a block of white cedar. The basic forms of a tail and the base of the neck are revealed during body...
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Decoy wood needs to be light and resistant toward water and waterborne, termite-like insects that bore into wood. Atlantic white cedar is an excellent variety of such wood, but the tree’s population...
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A visit to the woodbarn of Tim Green, an artist who carves bowls.
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Wood Song Canoes, Phil's business, gets its name from the feeling he gets as he quietly glides through the water in a well made wooden boat. We visited Phil and his son as they "baptized" a new boat...
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In June 2002, an 18th century Cherokee canoe was found in the cold clear water of the Chattooga River. Early Cherokee canoes called dugouts were burned and scraped out of single tree trunks. The...