Handle, Rim, and Lashing

Days five through seven: shave and bend a white oak handle and slide its tails into the woven sides, trim and tuck the stakes over the top row, fit a rim inside and outside with a filler between them, and lash the whole top together with a narrow splint, crossing in an X at the handle.

3 min
6 steps
2 questions
Lesson 131 of 204

In this lesson

The handle
Finish the stakes
The rim
Lashing
Last looks
Try it

What you need

Material	Spec	Qty	Where to get it
Handle billet	Straight-grained white oak, about 3/8 x 3/4 in, bark-side wood	1, about 28 in long	Your log
Rim stock	5/8-3/4 in wide, about 3/16 in thick	2, about 36 in long	Your log
Rim filler	A narrow splint or a small round	1, about 36 in	Your splints
Lashing splint	About 1/4 in wide, thin and pliable	10-12 ft	Your splints

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The handle

A handle is shaved from strong bark-side wood. The Bittersweet basket’s handle is about 2 feet long, 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, and 3/8 inch wide ¹; for this basket’s 6-inch width and a hand-sized arch, start with a billet about 3/8 by 3/4 inch and 28 inches long (a reconstruction):

Shave it thinner through the middle, where it will bend, and leave it fuller where it meets the rim.
Cut a small notch on the outside of each leg just below where the rim will sit, so the handle locks under the rim.
Taper the ends into long tails.
Soak or steam it, bend it around a form a little tighter than the final arch, and let it dry a day or two.

The tails slide down into the side weaving alongside a stake on each long side ². Cherokee makers note the trade-off: a handle woven in when the bottom is made is permanent, while one added later can be replaced ³.

Quick check

Where do the handle’s tails go?

Finish the stakes

With the last row woven, trim every other stake flush with the top row, and wet, bend, and tuck the remaining stakes down over the top row and into the weaving on the inside. Cherokee makers “fold and tuck the top ends” ³. Some makers simply cut them all flush under the rim ¹.

The rim

The rim is “thick splits around the basket top” ². Fit one rim inside and one outside the top row ¹:

Shave each rim to an even thickness, about 3/16 inch, with a slight bevel on the edge that faces the basket.
Wrap each around, and where its ends meet, scarf them: thin both ends over 2 or 3 inches so the overlap is no thicker than the rim.
Clip the rims in place with the handle notches locked under them.
Lay a rim filler (a narrow splint or a small round) on top between the two rims to fill the gap.

Lashing

Lashing binds the rims to the body ². With a long, wet, narrow splint ¹:

Tuck the starting end under the rims.
Wrap over the rims and filler and down through the gap beside each stake, all the way around.
At the handle, cross the lashing into an X over the handle to lock it.
Finish by pushing the end back up through the first two wraps.

Keep each wrap snug and even as you go.

Quick check

How is the lashing worked at the handle?

Last looks

Let the basket dry slowly, away from heat, and trim any stray fibers with a sharp knife. A well-made white oak basket can last 70 years or more ⁴.

Try it

Before lashing the real rim, lash a short practice section on two scrap rims around a few stakes. Lashing is rhythmic, and a dozen practice wraps make the real ones even.

Lesson complete

Nice work.

1day streak

0/1today's goal

–correct

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Sources for this lesson

1
White Oak Baskets (from Bittersweet). Appropedia. verifiedFrom the Lebanon, Missouri, school folklore magazine Bittersweet (maker Lyn Marble). Logs 4-5 ft long and 4-5 inches in diameter, cut in early spring or late fall. A small round-handled basket: bottom strips 24 in long and 1/2-3/4 in wide; side weavers 4 ft long, 3/4-1 in wide; rims two pieces 1 in x 4 ft; lashing 1/8-1/4 in x 4 ft; handle 2 ft, 1/8-1/4 in thick, 3/8 in wide, from bark-side wood. Soak dried splints overnight. Lashing passes under the rims and through the gap beside each stake, crossing in an X at the handle, the end pushed back through the first two wraps.
2
Craft Revival: Baskets Glossary. Western Carolina University Hunter Library. verifiedTerms: stakes (the foundation); bye-stakes or fillers; row-by-row weaving with an even number of working ends; spiraling; chasing; rim (thick splits around the top); lashing (binding rims to the body); tails (handle ends inserted into the side weaving).
3
Eva Taylor. Hunting the White Oak. Cherokee Central Schools Cultural Department. verifiedTree centers become rims and handles. Preparing splints takes one to two days. Lay 3 splints, cross 3 more, expand with wider sturdier splints, add a border splint around the bottom, bend the stakes up and weave the sides one splint at a time (3-5 hours), fold and tuck the top ends, attach handle and rim; a handle woven in at the bottom is permanent, one added later replaceable. Dyes: bloodroot (orange, 1 hour), yellowroot (yellow, 1 hour), walnut bark (brown) and butternut bark (black), 4-5 hour boils.
4
M. G. Thomas, D. R. Schumann. Weaving and Dyeing Materials (Agriculture Information Bulletin 666, ch. 15). USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. 1997. verifiedThe ideal basket white oak is 4-8 inches in diameter with straight ridges on the bark and a clear, straight midsection of 5-6 feet. A white oak basket can last 70 years or more. There is no commercial source of hand-split white oak; suppliers sell sawn or processed strips.