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Considering a lathe....

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> Basswood is a traditional material for knockers and I have lots of it

Reply to
Darrell Feltmate
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I am new to ricing but have learned a lot this year. Wild Rice is an interesting plant. It is a grass rather than a true rice. I have read up on it a bit but haven't heard about that particular bit of history. Wild Rice is sacred to the Native Americans in this area. In their legend it says thay the creator told them to travel west until you find the food that grows upon the water. The Indians have used it as a cash crop and subsistence food for as long as they have been here. Interestingly both the Indians and the archeologists agree, the plant is ancient and pre-dates humanity in this area. Minnesota seem to be the center of the wild rice universe but it grows throught the great lake region including Canada, but mostly in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. It used to have a much wider range before it's habitat was disturbed. Also, I learned that these rice beds are large geographic features which can be seen on sattelite photography. So I can just Google Earth to find the rice!! Word of mouth is also helpful. I have well known ricing areas within one mile of my home.

Now there are thousands of acres of commercial rice paddies that are harvested with chemicals and machines. There remains, however, a market for truly wild harvested rice even though it is a lot more expensive. Wild harvested rice has several culinary advantages over commmercial rice including that it is better tasting and cooks in 1/5 the time. Here are a few links for your further study, there is even a video:

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Reply to
lwhaley

Mon, Sep 11, 2006, 1:48am snipped-for-privacy@infinet.com (J.=A0Chris=A0Tilton) doth claimeth: =A0 I always thought that rice grew best in warmer climates - I did not think it grew that far north.

Wild rice ain't rice. Google it.

JOAT I am not paranoid. I do not "think" people are after me. I "know" damn well they're after me.

Reply to
J T

Mon, Sep 11, 2006, 6:50am (EDT-3) snipped-for-privacy@paulbunyan.net (lwhaley) scribeth thusly: also a do-it-yourselfer or I wouldn't be gathering my own food from the wild.

Obviously not hard-cor DIY, or you'd make your own wood lathe - out of wood. I've got plans for one somewhere you can basically extend as long between centers as you want. The plans show about 8' if I recall right. There-s plans on-line too.

You might ask the Native Americans what kind of lathe their ancestors used for their knockers, maybe they have plans available. I like small knockers myself.

JOAT I am not paranoid. I do not "think" people are after me. I "know" damn well they're after me.

Reply to
J T

Thanks Darrell for that very excellent link. Oh yea, I know that I could carve my knockers rather quickly with the drawknife, and I have one. You are right to say it doesn't sound nearly as much fun. and even though it will take me a while to learn to turn a good one, i believe that i will eventually be able to turn one out faster and better on a lathe and I have plenty of wood in my forest to practice on. I am looking for knockers that are perfectly smooth, except for that taper. It would be harder, I think, to get it so smooth with a drawknife. There would be alot of sanding either way but it looks to me like the lathe would really expedite sanding.

Reply to
lwhaley

Or uncertified either for that matter...

Reply to
Harry Culpepper

Reply to
Darrell Feltmate

Thanks JT for that suggestion. Another guy emailed me with similar advice, a spring-pole lathe. I know what they are like, for sure, and it will do the job. I'm a machine guy myself and love the power tools but a great suggestion nontheless.

I would ask them Indians about their toos but, gosh golly, they don't talk to me. When I said hello to some guys with what looked like heirloom tools they would not say a word to me. Some Indians probably resent seeing our white faces out in the same rice as them. I guess I would be pissed too if I was a Native American. I am rich and white so what do I care? A little reverse discrimination don't bother me too much.

However, I know that tribal leaders have said that they want the whites to harvest also. Ricing has been declining among young Natives and they welcome all who continue the traditional ways. It seems youg people are more interested in video games and hourly wages than they are hard labor for little wages. The act of ricing actually propagates the rice because a lot of grain falls into the water. It also encourages the wildlife, mainly birds, since they are not able to feed on the rice until it falls on the water. The DNR even buys unprocessed grain for the purpose of re-seeding damaged beds.

Ricing on the Indian Reservation is allowed only to those are members of the tribe and/or residents of the reservation. The best ricing is on these reservations so they have plenty of space to harvest without having to see my white face, is one way to look at it. We do our ricing outside the reservation boundary, obviously.

Lawrence

Reply to
lwhaley

That was the first thing that came to mind when I read the OPs post. I doubt the "Native Americans" made theirs with a lathe. Likely hand carved.

Reply to
CW

AFAIK the lathe was unknown in the America's before the European settlement.

Reply to
Ralph E Lindberg

That's what I thought.

Reply to
CW

the Indians around here have their own commercial sawmills and woodshops on the reservation. Modern natives have access to all of the same techonology as we have in the dominant culture.

I hardly find it relevant whether or not the lathe was available hundreds of years ago since very few, if any, knockers of that vintage would be likely to still exist. whether or not their tools are carved or turned I do not know. what I do know is that they have the capability. The knockers I observed were very smooth and could have been either turned or carved.

We have no way to know without them telling us or by a more up close observation of their tools which would be, at the least, impolite. I imagine that each ricing team has it's own unique tool fashioned by the ricers them selves or just borrowed from tribal members. Personal property doesn't mean so much to them, it doesn't seem, and they may not even make a great dictinction as to which individual or family "owns" the tools.

Bottom line: It's their business so I don't ask. It's called respect. If I spend enough time on the lake and at the landing, opportunities will arise for me to grab a quick look and that will have to suffice.

Reply to
lwhaley

Fri, Sep 15, 2006, 5:17pm (EDT-3) snipped-for-privacy@paulbunyan.net (lwhaley) doth sayeth: I hardly find it relevant whether or not the lathe was available hundreds of years ago since very few, if any, knockers of that vintage would be likely to still exist. Personal property doesn't mean so much to them, it doesn't seem,

Depends, some tools are kept in families for decades, and used. A for instance is throwing sticks, a version of boomerangs. Passed down from generation to generation, and still being used. Another for instance, if I'd gotten the tools I'd been promised by my grandfather, I'd be using tools over 200 years old now. As is I do use a few that are around 100 years old, or older.

I wouldn't count on personal property not meaning much to them.

JOAT I am not paranoid. I do not "think" people are after me. I "know" damn well they're after me.

Reply to
J T

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