General thoughts of whether better to buy a metal or wooden shed particularly if I want a stove with a chimney?

[Tris]

Yes but what about comment above that clay will just wash away. Seems to be conflicting advice!

See my comment above about large eaves overhang. It's all about designing for the material you are using


You either spend time or money with this sort of project. Any cob, cordwood, roundwood, shingle or lath and plaster construction will be very time consuming, good if you have a bunch of mates who want to get involved but a slog if you are doing it alone

 

[woodlearner9810182]

I am going back to the idea of a bender now.

How does the bender compare in terms of shelter in winter and price to a cheap shed?

Only the cost of some bendy wood and a tarp. Maybe this would be a nice middle ground between more permanent shed structure and just a wiley tarp. The whips, not sure of their correct name in this context, giving a bit more support than just lashed to a tree, while still being moveable easily.

How much would it cost for enough willow for a 10 x 10? I plan to buy willow cuttings from one of the well known sellers soon anyway so could see if they can send some of those for making a bender at the same time.

Just looking and they sell whips x100 in various lengths from 1m to 3m. Should I get the longest I can? 100 x 3m is £140. Still much cheaper than a bought shed. Then builder's tarp for £50 or so. Will that do the job to get me setup?

Any other stuff? What about for a base? Should I still buy that hard plastic stuff or don't have to bother much about a base due to the lightweight nature of the bender?

This article makes it sound very simple: https://www.stewardwood.org/resources/DIYbender.htm

Shame the images are not visible.

What size tarp would I be looking at for 10 x 10 ft? https://www.screwfix.com/c/tools/tarpaulin/cat8940029

I have no concept really of which to choose especially since the bending nature makes the calculation less straight forward.

Here is another link I had saved when I was looking them up before. Hazel used in this one but I guess the same techniques would apply to willow: https://coppicecrafts.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-hazel-bender.html

 

[Jameshow]

I am going back to the idea of a bender now.

How does the bender compare in terms of shelter in winter and price to a cheap shed?

Only the cost of some bendy wood and a tarp. Maybe this would be a nice middle ground between more permanent shed structure and just a wiley tarp. The whips, not sure of their correct name in this context, giving a bit more support than just lashed to a tree, while still being moveable easily.

How much would it cost for enough willow for a 10 x 10? I plan to buy willow cuttings from one of the well known sellers soon anyway so could see if they can send some of those for making a bender at the same time.

Just looking and they sell whips x100 in various lengths from 1m to 3m. Should I get the longest I can? 100 x 3m is £140. Still much cheaper than a bought shed. Then builder's tarp for £50 or so. Will that do the job to get me setup?

Any other stuff? What about for a base? Should I still buy that hard plastic stuff or don't have to bother much about a base due to the lightweight nature of the bender?

This article makes it sound very simple: https://www.stewardwood.org/resources/DIYbender.htm

Shame the images are not visible.

What size tarp would I be looking at for 10 x 10 ft? https://www.screwfix.com/c/tools/tarpaulin/cat8940029

I have no concept really of which to choose especially since the bending nature makes the calculation less straight forward.

Here is another link I had saved when I was looking them up before. Hazel used in this one but I guess the same techniques would apply to willow: https://coppicecrafts.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-hazel-bender.html

Wickes do one which is semi transparent .

So you could have windows in it.

Hessian then wool or poly bottle insulation followed by the tarp?

Use bubble wrap insulation where you want through light..

The good thing about bender shed is that it won't chaff the tarpaulin as much as a timber frame...

You could use blue water pipe instead of the willows...

 

[woodlearner9810182]

Wickes do one which is semi transparent .

So you could have windows in it.

Hessian then wool or poly bottle insulation followed by the tarp?

Use bubble wrap insulation where you want through light..

The good thing about bender shed is that it won't chaff the tarpaulin as much as a timber frame...

You could use blue water pipe instead of the willows...

What is chaff?

 

[Nail]

What is chaff?

Chafe.

Rub and abrade.

 

[woodlearner9810182]

Chafe.

Rub and abrade.

Ok, did not know it was the common word.

So many specialist terms in woodworking/coppicing and such I have never come across.

 

[woodlearner9810182]

I have been thinking that the name 'bender' is a bit of a red herring isn't it? What I mean is that I don't have to use bendy wood at all do I? As such I would have enough would to make a square/rectangle shaped frame from the wood I have already.

I have been thinking of clearing a space in the small bit of woodland I have so that I can take advantage of the woods as a bit of a barrier. Then I can make the frame from the cleared wood.

Most of the trees are pretty thin (this is separate from the 30-50ft ones discussed earlier), only about 15-20ft high, so easy to work with.

I can use the copious brambles for lashings and would only have to get a good sized tarp.

Any blueprints for a 'none' bender?

Seems like general woodland shelter is what I am looking for.

Oh and as for the 'main' woodland my mum gave me some other information yesterday. We were on a walk and I pointed out what looked like the ones in my wood and she said they are oak! Only reason I ruled them out as such is because I thought oak didn't grow straight up but she said they will if they are in competition with one another and also that there are different types. I am just used to the lone great oak in the middle of a field or one or two in the hedgerow that are able to grow outwards as they please.

So potentially more material to work with? Not right away as those are much bigger but something to think about especially as quite a lot have fallen on their own already, probably even more after all these gales.

Also before someone else says it no there is no tree preservation order.

I am not so sure they are oak actually as they don't have the wavy leaves but rather rounded ones however the bark looks just like that of oak as I recall.

 

[Nail]

While there might not be a preservation order on them, it’s worth thinking if chopping them down is the morally right thing to do.

Buying a woodland area to enjoy then chopping down mature oak trees down to make a throwaway shelter then plant lots of willow seems a bit counter to what I would think buying a woodland is about.

 

[woodlearner9810182]

Well I wrote lots have fallen on their own. Do I have your permission to use those?

 

[Nail]

Do what you want as I’m sure some random person on the internet that you don’t know has little bearing to you but you came asking for opinions and have a very wide range of ideas going on here. You hadn’t made it clear that you were thinking of using the fallen oak trees and I think my desire to preserve them from senseless felling is no bad thing. The smaller of those trees is likely older than you and provides a habitat for many things.

Why did you buy the woodland, out of interest?

 

[woodlearner9810182]

Why did you buy the woodland, out of interest?

Needed more room for tipping toxic waste.

 

[Nail]

Ah, handy space then!

Are you planning to dig it in?

 

[woodlearner9810182]

Ah, handy space then!

Are you planning to dig it in?

Your question seemed in bad faith implying I just bought it on a lark and do not care about the environment.

I am the most conscientious person there is yet everyone will poke holes in any suggestions I put online because it is easy.

There is no decision that is 100% pure and good. Everything in life is compromise.

 

[Nail]

Your question seemed in bad faith implying I just bought it on a lark and do not care about the environment.

I am the most conscientious person there is yet everyone will poke holes in any suggestions I put online because it is easy.

There is no decision that is 100% pure and good. Everything in life is compromise.

I think you’re being overly defensive.

You might have bought the plot to build houses later. You might have bought it to preserve nature. You might have bought it to observe woodpeckers. You might have bought it to farm Christmas trees.

I don’t know - that’s why I asked.

 

[John Brown]

I have to say that these are the strangest threads.
You seem to have no knowledge of different tree species, have, as far as I know, posted zero pictures, and unless I've missed something, you've done nothing but ask questions.
I'm all for research, and getting your ducks in a row etc., but it would be interesting to know what progress you've made so far.

I'm not having a go at you, I just wonder what's going on.
You've been given a ton of advice, but seem to keep moving the goalposts.

 

[woodlearner9810182]

I have to say that these are the strangest threads.
You seem to have no knowledge of different tree species, have, as far as I know, posted zero pictures, and unless I've missed something, you've done nothing but ask questions.
I'm all for research, and getting your ducks in a row etc., but it would be interesting to know what progress you've made so far.

I'm not having a go at you, I just wonder what's going on.
You've been given a ton of advice, but seem to keep moving the goalposts.

Well I've been away for about 3 weeks due to the string of storms and general bad weather. Not able to make much progress remotely so I had been researching in that time.

The drive is not trivial.

I have just been watching some of kris harbour's first videos on his roundhouse project. It was interesting to see he uses many of the techniques discussed in my threads - tyres for the base, roundwood framing, cordwood for the walls.

 

[John Brown]

Well I've been away for about 3 weeks due to the string of storms and general bad weather. Not able to make much progress remotely so I had been researching in that time.

The drive is not trivial.

I have just been watching some of kris harbour's first videos on his roundhouse project. It was interesting to see he uses many of the techniques discussed in my threads - tyres for the base, roundwood framing, cordwood for the walls.

Fair enough. The weather has been pretty crappy.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I get the impression reading the thread that there are lots of ideas but almost no focus. You need to be clear what your priorities are.

If you want dry shed quickly that will probably last 5-10 years + the best route is to buy one. If you have the money - great. If not perhaps a few days labouring or similar will generate the cash. You need a level base - otherwise very quick and a known quantity.

If the construction process motivates you - buy the materials for a conventional shed. The cost is likely to be similar to one ready made but size and heating could be to your needs. Time taken for a single person build (estimate only) would be 1-3 weeks depending on competence and design.

If priority is environmental + satisfaction - do what you can with materials to hand. It will be cheap providing you avoid bought in special materials (eg: cement). As a first project it is likely to be leaky, probably materially fail within a few years, and take quite some time to complete.

 

[Jameshow]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/26682059...486&ssuid=&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/27529010...486&ssuid=&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Might be a good idea?

 

[BillHoughton]

Also I needs feeding regularly so you need to be on hand.

I needs feeding pretty regularly, too; but I have, at least, learned to organize my own food, so y'all don't need to be on hand when it's feeding time. Good thing, too, since I'm over the Pond from most of this crowd.