Yurt Building

NEW dates for the 2011 Yurt Building Course:

YURT FRAME Session ONE : 4th, 5th, 6th November 2011

YURT FRAME Session TWO : 2nd, 3rd, 4th December 2011

YURT COVERS : 3rd March 2012

FRAMES:

It will be a six day course spread over two long weekends. The aim of the course is for each person to complete their own wheel and have the skills and confidence to go on and finish their yurt.

You do not need any previous woody experience or specialist woodworking skills to make your own yurt successfully.

It is a very practical, hands on course which is why, with only a small group, we ensure that everyone gets a high level of personal and professional instruction.

As well as learning how to make your yurt you will also get a chance to put up a yurt and have a look inside the various yurts which we use for Cornish Yurt Holidays (all sizes from 10'- 20', our yurt bathroom, and the yurt pod) before we take them down for the winter.

We only use coppiced wood and hand tools on the course so there will be the minimum of power tool use, this makes for a better atmosphere in the workshop and shows how few tools you need to make a yurt.

It will also cover:

  • A bit of yurt history, different styles and design, know your gers from your yurts.
  • How to see the wood from the trees: coppicing and wood selection
  • Use of hand tools and the shaping of all the different components
  • Wood steaming and wheel making, including branding, spoking, binding, wedging and oiling.
  • Shaping and steaming the roof poles.
  • Peeling and steaming the trellis
  • Drilling, knotting, sanding, oiling...
  • Making the doorframe.
  • By the end you will have made your own spoked and morticed wheel and made a start on the rest of the components* .
  • Unless you have alot of spare time and a ready supply of suitable wood it is wise not to be too ambitious with your first yurt which is why we recommend that you don't make anything bigger than a 12 or 14fter. If you have any queries about this give me ring or email beforehand.

COVERS: There is rarely time to look at the covers in much detail during the frame making part of the course which is why we are running a separate one day course looking at different canvas options and canvas patterns in more detail. You will learn how to make a simple roof canopy, how to finish and join the wall sections, and how to mark up and fit the canvas ready for finishing.This is being run as a separate course.

For those who don't want to sew their own covers we can supply you with our own professionally made covers from our workshop.

Course starts at 9.30 each day and ends at 5 pm

Accomodation: free camping here or local B and B

Number of people: Six

Location: Yurtworks, St. Breward, Cornwall , PL304LP. The workshop is situated on the edge of Bodmin Moor with views across North Cornwall towards the sea.

Cost: £420 per person for six days on the Yurt Building course and £75 for the one day Yurt Covers course, includes homemade lunch and refreshments .

The wood for the wheel lathes needs to be very high quality and consequently we supply that on the course @£25 per wheel.

Yurtworks is one of the longest running yurt making businesses in the UK and our courses are one of few run by a professional yurt maker. We have been making yurts for over 13 years and have visited yurt makers in the Kyrgyz republic in 1999 and Mongolia in 2004 and 2005 .

BOOKING:

To register on the course contact us by phone: 01208850670 or email: timhutton@yurtworks.co.uk
To secure your place a 50% advance payment is payable, with the balance payable one month before the course starts.

* It's best seen as a winter project rather than something that you achieve in six days. You will need to have time at home to do some work on it between sessions. The course aims to give you the confidence and know how to complete what you cannot do during the supervised sessions.