{"id":21713,"date":"2023-04-26T11:51:31","date_gmt":"2023-04-26T09:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gardensillustrated.com\/?p=105124"},"modified":"2023-04-26T12:35:23","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T10:35:23","slug":"sieve-and-riddle-the-company-making-handmade-garden-sieves","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/rss_feed\/sieve-and-riddle-the-company-making-handmade-garden-sieves\/","title":{"rendered":"Sieve and riddle: the company making handmade garden sieves"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Steve Overthrow read that the craft of sieve and riddle making had officially died out in Britain, he knew he had to act. Photographs Lisa Linder <\/p>

By Natasha Goodfellow\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 26 April 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Not so long ago, sieve<\/a> making was big business. Farmers needed sieves to sift grain; miners used riddles (a sieve with a coarser, handwoven mesh) to sort coal; bakers used them, and of course gardeners would have had several to hand for preparing seed trays, sifting compost<\/a> or for ridding their soil of stones. Most of these demands still exist, but the skill of sieve and riddle making has all but died out, replaced, like so many things, by automated machinery or by low-quality, often plastic, replacements that might be cheap to buy once but are not made to last.<\/p>\n

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Steve\u2019s sieves (featuring a pre-woven mesh) and riddles (with a hand- woven mesh) are made using local ash wood.<\/span><\/figcaption> \u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

This is anathema to Steve Overthrow, a former vintage-car mechanic and amateur woodturner with a passion for well-made tools<\/a>, old machinery and the Victorian era \u2013 and in particular the technique of steam bending, something he\u2019d seen practised by Owen Jones, an oak swill basket maker on the BBC\u2019s Victorian Farm series in 2009.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise then that in 2017, when Steve read that the craft of sieve making was officially extinct, his interest was piqued. \u201cI started researching immediately,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a combination of everything I love \u2013 tools, wood and steam bending. I was really keen to have a go.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Steve holds a 22-inch (55cm), cockle-fishing riddle of the type he sells to in-shore fishermen around the country.<\/span><\/figcaption> \u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

When Steve was made redundant just a week later, a plan started to form. He believed enough in handmade tools to think it could be a business, but first he had to make a sieve. \u201cWood doesn\u2019t bend naturally,\u201d he says, \u201cit has to be manipulated, and I created huge piles of firewood in the process.\u201d It wasn\u2019t just the sieves he had to make. Since he was starting from scratch, he had to engineer all his own tools as well \u2013 no problem for a man inspired by the Victorians\u2019 spirit of invention. A long, plywood box with a wallpaper-stripper pump at one end serves as his steam bender, into which he places strips of ash wood, sourced from the hills around his workshop in Langport, Somerset. Once these have the necessary flex, they are placed on a piece of conveyor belt and rolled around one of a number of improvised forms \u2013 from an old Guinness keg to a can of baby formula \u2013 to give them the desired diameter. A customised patio scraper has become Steve\u2019s \u2018crook\u2019, which he uses to separate the warp wires of his riddle meshes, once attached to the hoops, to enable him to thread through the weft.<\/p>\n

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This 18-inch (45cm) riddle with a 1cm mesh is the most common size for garden jobs \u2013 used to sift stones and twigs out of growing beds.<\/span><\/figcaption> \u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Other processes have benefited from the advice and encouragement of Mike Turnock, a retired riddle maker with whom Steve connected after Mike\u2019s sister saw a post online about Steve\u2019s sieves. \u201cHe\u2019s given me help with things I couldn\u2019t possibly have researched,\u201d says Steve. \u201cHe\u2019s taught me about the grades of the wire, and showed me how to make the tightening tool that I use after I\u2019ve woven the mesh.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Each of Steve\u2019s sieves and riddles comes with a handmade, signed label detailing a description of the product and the date it was made.<\/span><\/figcaption> \u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

As word of his skill has spread, so too has his customer base, which now includes ceramicists (who need sieves with a very fine mesh) to shell fishermen who use them to collect cockles and shrimp, alongside coffee lovers who need small sieves to sprinkle chocolate on their brews. Steve is proud to be a member of the Heritage Crafts Association and The Guild of Master Craftsmen, and every one of his models is designed to last a lifetime, a quality recognised by one buyer who advised Steve to incorporate some faults to keep himself in business. \u201cThere\u2019s quite a few people on the Earth,\u201d smiles Steve, \u201cI\u2019m sure that won\u2019t be a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

USEFUL INFORMATION Contact details sievesandriddles.co.uk<\/a>; 07564 478503.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Steve selects the wire size before he picks the pattern of the mesh. He uses both galvanised steel and copper wires.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Steve rolls the steamed wood around various forms \u2013 here an old Guinness keg \u2013 to achieve the desired diameter.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
\u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

The warp wires of the riddle are individually pulled through and secured before the weft wires are added to form the mesh. A tool called a crook separates the warp wires to make this easier.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
\u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

A long, plywood box with a wallpaper- stripper pump at one end serves as Steve\u2019s steam bender into which the strips of ash are placed and left until they are pliable.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Lisa Linder<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

An array of hoops (used for the top of the sieves) and batts (the lower part), between which the pre-woven meshes are sandwiched. Large-diameter sieves may also have support wires added underneath the mesh.<\/p>\n

Looking for garden sieves to buy?<\/a><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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