I'm now offering virtual private lessons online, subject to schedule availability.
I had done some experimentation with lessons over Skype in the past. Now with the pandemic, we've all upgraded our communication setups, and the online tools have gotten much better. So it's even more practical and viable.
I'm happy to announce that I'll be resuming private lessons for hand tool woodworking this summer in my basement workshop in Ayer, MA. The anticipated start will be late June, 2021.
By that time, it will have been at least 2 weeks after my second coronavirus vaccination. I require that all participants have completed their round of vaccinations at least 2 weeks prior to any lessons. For everyone's protection, I'll be adding a portable HEPA air filter unit capable of cycling workshop air several times an hour.
Private lessons mean you get to choose what to spend time on, and at what pace and schedule. I have a standard curriculum of eight 3-hour sessions, but you can pick and choose what things to spend more or less time on, and how much time you want to spend per class.
You can bring your own tools, or use any of mine. I can provide inexpensive practice materials, or you can provide your own.
Quintessential Phil: a welcoming smile and the ever-present pencil tucked behind his ear at the December, 2011 Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event at FIM in Beverly, MA.
I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing in January of Philip C. Lowe. Phil was an icon and a master of the woodworking craft.
I never took an actual class from him, but I consider him one of my primary teachers. I had read his articles and reprints in books and magazines for years before I got the chance to meet him.
That came at the May, 2011 meeting of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM), of which Phil was a member and Cartouche Award recipient. The meeting was held at his Furniture Institute of Massachusetts (FIM).
I was very nervous and shy about meeting one of my heroes, but he was instantly friendly and disarming. That's what comes through in everyone's description of Phil. Not only did he love the craft, he loved sharing it with others and passing it on.
Over the next 8 years I had the privilege of attending several SAPFM meetings and demonstrations at FIM, as well as participating in a number of the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Events held there.
Phil was what I call a "shut up and watch" guy, as in, shut up and watch what he's doing, because every move is a lesson in skill and efficiency. He was amazingly fast at handwork, the evidence of 50 years of experience. I learned a great deal that way.
Phil was obviously in business to earn a living teaching woodworking, and here I was a mere hobbyist showing him the online class I was offering.
It didn't bother him a bit. He watched with an appraising eye, then said, "That's good. You should also show this, and that," as we discussed some additional things to present. The consummate teacher and mentor.
That's the Phil Lowe I will always remember. Nothing but supportive. I continue to feel privileged to be one of the custodians of the knowledge he passed on to us, which I will continue pass on to others.
One of my treasured lessons from Phil.
There are some wonderful remembrances of Phil at the North Bennett St. School, where he was a student, then instructor, then department head, before heading off on his own to found FIM; and at Fine WoodworkingΒ and here,Β where he was a contributor for over 30 years.
52 Boxes In 52 Weeks, The Taunton Press, $24.95, 224pp, May, 2018
Full disclosure: I was given a copy of this book by the publisher for review.
This is a wonderful design book by Fine Woodworking senior editor Matt Kenney. It's the result of a challenge he set for himself to practice his design skills: design and build a small box every week for a year.
The boxes are largely simple in construction, using a limited set of techniques, since the construction process was not the main point of the exercise. Instead, he explores a wide range of shape, proportion, materials, and decoration.
The idea is that like any other skill, practicing design allows you to refine it, analyzing what you like or don't like about each iteration. That also broadens your perspective as you explore the limits to a wider degree than you might otherwise.
The end result is a collection of boxes with different appeal to different tastes. Reproducing these boxes would make great gifts. They are beautiful, with a clean, spare design.
But more to the point, Matt wants to encourage you to explore your own design space. This was his result, his personal aesthetic. Yours may be different.
Design Principles
He follows several design principles, outlined in the introductory chapter.
First is proportion. He says this is critical. Good proportions result in intuitive beauty. Poor proportions can turn even the finest project clunky.
Second is simplicity. These are not heavily adorned. He limits them to just a few distinguishing design elements.
Third, he ensures that all elements are in proportion to the scale of the box.
Fourth, he develops the details, thinking about every little one from the joinery to the widths of rabbets and the amount of shadow line and reveal.
Fifth, he chooses the wood carefully, including its grain and imperfections. Every little knot or wave in the grain is meant to be where it ended up. Design is intentional, not accidental. Wood is a natural medium with natural variation. The design challenge here is to make use of that variation.
He further utilizes the grain by making it continuous all the way around each box. That provides a natural flow and continuity rather than a jarring transition. Achieving continuous grain is one of the few technical descriptions in the book.
Sixth, he adds a small degree of color. He uses milk paint to add to the natural wood color, sometimes harmonizing with it, sometimes contrasting.
The book itself follows this. The various page elements adorning the text and photos pick up the color flash of each project.
Finally, he softens the inside with a carefully fitted piece of fabric. The proportion of the pattern and the color must complement the scale of the box and the color of the wood.
These provide the parameters for the variation in design.
Techniques
In general the construction techniques are simple, but a brief chapter on box-making techniques details the following:
Resawing to achieve continuous grain.
Crosscutting and mitering.
Lids that don't need hinges.
Stable bottoms with various decorations.
Finishing with shellac and milk paint.
Several of the box projects include specific techniques such as wedge-shaped sides, drilling out round interiors, fitting lifting strips around a lid, and making pulls, feet, and bases. The most detailed one shows the steps for making kumiko, a Japanese decorative lattice.
One thing to note is that these are mostly small boxes in thin stock, so the work requires precision. I had the pleasure of watching Matt work on several of these when we happened to be demonstrating at the same Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Events. Watching him fit the joints and dividers, carefully shaving them on a small shooting board, was fascinating.
Building boxes like this will not only improve your design skills, it will improve your fine hand skills.
The Boxes
The remainder of the book shows several pages on each box individually. Matt describes what went into the design and what he was trying to explore with it, then describes how he constructed it.
This portion of the book opens with a two-page spread showing all the boxes. It's especially nice to let your eyes range around this layout to compare the variations. Different things will jump out at you.
There are flat boxes, wide boxes, short boxes, tall boxes, divided boxes, stacked boxes, and boxes with drawers. Each features just a couple of design elements of color and fittings.
My favorites were the divided boxes. I like compartments. I guess they appeal to my sense of organization.
It's interesting to come back to this spread after having read through all the box projects individually. That changes what jumps out at you.
One of my favorites, a flat divided box made primarily of cherry, with a green milk-painted lid in the center.
As Matt notes, the idea of the milk paint and fabric may put some people off at first, but seeing them used with the other design elements, all in careful restraint, is convincing.
I would never think of hiding cherry under paint, yet the warmth of the wood and the green milk paint in the photo above complement each other nicely, contrasting with the dark kingwood pulls. The result invites you to lift the lids and see what they contain. It's just beautiful.
These projects all have a delicate, graceful elegance. Some may appeal more to you than others, but they would all make wonderful gifts. The book is an excellent starting point for exploring and refining your own design aesthetic.
Woodworking With Hand Tools: Tools, Techniques and Projects, The Taunton Press, $24.95, 240pp, April, 2018
Full disclosure: I was given a copy of this book by the publisher for review.
This is another gorgeous book. It's an anthology of 33 hand tool articles collected from the past 10 years of Fine WoodworkingΒ magazine, by the following authors:
Christian Becksvoort
Brian Boggs
Tom Calisto
Dan Faia
John Reed Fox
Chris Gochnour
Garrett Hack
Andrew Hunter
Matt Kenney
Philip C. Lowe
Tim Manney
Jeff Miller
Norman Pirollo
Timothy Rousseau
Matthew Teague
Vic Tesolin
Bob Van Dyke
They all do excellent work. Phil Lowe and Garrett Hack in particular are a couple of my woodworking heroes, whom I've been following for years.
The book is divided into 3 parts, with excellent photography to capture the fine details. In addition to western style tools, there are several articles on Japanese tools. It's an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning or expanding hand tool woodworking skills.
In general, the articles cover the details of fine work after the parts have been roughed-out and dimensioned, although there is one article on rough stock preparation with Japanese tools that applies equally well to western tools.
Most of the authors use a combination of power and hand tools in their day to day work. They typically do the rough work of breaking down lumber and getting it close to final dimensions on machines, then shift over to hand tools for the final dimensioning and detail work.
Tools
Part One contains 14 articles on tools. In addition to a general article covering an essential hand tool kit, they cover squares, gauges, and calipers; and scrapers, specialty planes, chisels, and small handsaws. Three of the articles cover sharpening: card scrapers, cabinet scrapers, and using diamond sharpening stones.
Vic Tesolin's article "4 Planes for Joinery" is my favorite in this section. These specialty planes are invaluable for fine tuning precise joints.
Techniques
Part Two contains 12 articles on techniques. They cover general tool use techniques, stock preparation, fine fitting and cleanup, mortise and tenon and dovetail joinery, and custom moldings and scratch stocks.
My favorite in this section is Phil Lowe's "4 Chisel Tricks". This article changed the way I made tenons when I first read it in the magazine.
Projects
Part Three contains 7 articles on building tools and jigs used in hand tool work. They cover building custom handsaws and scrapers, specialty grooving planes, a cutting gauge, bench jigs for precision planing, a Japanese tool box, and a shaving horse.
In this section, my favorite is Norman Pirollo's article "4 Bench Jigs for Handplanes" (I guess the reason my favorites follow a theme of 4 is that they reflect versatility!). These jigs are critical to efficient and precise work. I always tell people the shooting board is the precision secret weapon for hand tool work.
While I've called out a few personal favorites, all of the methods shown in all the sections are excellent. They reflect their authors' long experience with the craft.
The layout is easy to read and follow. Here Phil Lowe explains how to sharpen and use a cabinet scraper.
Closeup photos capture details of the tools in use. Here Chris Gochnour shows how to tackle concave and convex curves with a spokeshave.
What's great about a book like this is that no matter how much you know, there's always something new to learn. It might be an entirely new way to tackle a task, or a subtle refinement of a method you already use.
These increase your versatility, allowing you to adapt to the situation when things aren't going as expected.
In my case, this book finally gave the best explanation I've seen for why to burnish a card scraper on its flat faces, and the result of that step. I joke that I collect scraper sharpening methods the way other people collect baseball cards. This was a refinement of my current method, and it worked wonderfully when I tried it.
There were several other instances like that where just one or two photos were sufficient to add to my repertoire. Each increment in technique like that improves my capability.
The key to making these skills work is to practice them. In fact, the first article on techniques covers a set of skill-building exercises.
It's useful to take the methods outlined in all the articles and first try them on some softer wood that won't fight you so much, then try them on the harder woods you plan on using for actual projects.
This book is an excellent compendium, covering a broad range of techniques.
We're very lucky in New England to have a rich concentration of these excellent instructors. Through membership in theΒ Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM)Β and participation inΒ Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool EventsΒ and open houses, I've had the privilege of meeting and watching 6 of the 17 authors, particularly Phil Lowe. I've incorporated a number of their techniques into my work.
As a bonus, here's a video of Phil showing the cabinet scraper sharpening method in his article. I recorded this for him at one of his SAPFM demonstrations.
How To Whittle, The Taunton Press, $19.95, 144pp, March, 2018
Full disclosure: I was given a copy of this book by the publisher for review.
This is a gorgeous book. It features 25 projects that are a mix of functional and decorative items, carrying on a centuries-old tradition.
Josh Nava is a hand carver in Nashville, TN, and is the co-founder of Suburban Pallet, which specializes in hand-crafted goods made from repurposed timber.
Whittling may bring to mind sitting around the campfire or on the porch, carving on some fallen twigs with a pocketknife to pass the time. The end result may be a memento to keep or just go into the fire.
The items in this book are of a more permanent nature. This is what I know as treen or treenware, treen meaning "of the tree". Treen was common when everyday household items were carved from wood.
The book starts with a 20-page chapter on techniques, covering choosing wood, tools, sharpening, safety, knifework, preparing blanks, and finishing.
The projects are covered in 112 pages, 3-5 pages each. It ends with a page on resources, and an index.
One of the points Nava makes is that whittling is a very accessible craft. It requires few tools, and the work is done in green wood, using mostly found material.
The results are beautiful and practical, useful for decades. Whittled items show a distinctive faceting that lends a rustic elegance and reveals their handmade provenance. These are personal. Meanwhile, making them teaches you properties of wood, elements of design, and hand skills.
"Green woodworking" means using freshly cut or fallen wood that hasn't yet been processed or dried. I'm familiar with it from the books of Drew Langsner, as well as demonstrations by his protege, Peter Follansbee, and the work of Robin Wood.
Nava does a wonderful job of distilling this into a concise, easy to follow book. The projects provide enough coverage to give you a wide range of capabilities.
This book will have you scouring the neighborhood and countryside for fallen trees and branches. Wind storms will mean good harvest days. Here in New England, there's ALWAYS someone who has something down.
It's a good way to useΒ urban timber, so you might want to check with tree services and municipal maintenance departments for material.
Tools
The tool list is short:
Knives: used for medium and fine shaping. These are somewhat specialized, particularly the hook knife. They're not common pocketknives.
Small hatchets and hand axes:Β used to prepare blanks (that is, preparing tree trunk sections or branches to the rough blanks that will be shaped into objects) and for rough shaping.
Remember that this is for green wood, possibly some fairly large branches, so a longer saw with coarse teeth is best; he recommends 10-14".
Robin Wood covers some information on where to obtain knives and axes. While it is somewhat dated, you have the benefit of experienced opinion.
As with any tools, investing in quality items will avoid heartache later, so beware of buying the cheapest based on price alone.
Techniques
The skill list is similarly short. For knifework, Nava goes through five cuts that he uses throughout the projects. To prepare blanks, he outlines five general steps.
Projects
Nava opens each project with a page showing a photo of the finished item and a list of materials and tools.
This was my favorite item. Look at the gorgeous faceting of that fork.
He covers each project in a series of steps over the next several pages, using clear captioned photos. The writing is very easy to follow. The whole process has a wonderfully relaxed, organic feel to it.
The layout is easy to read and follow.
Whether you use the item yourself, give it as a gift, or sell it, the user will always be reminded of the person who made it. That's the personal connection in such handcrafts.
One thing I like about this is that you can use almost any wood. That means if there's a cherished old tree at a family house that you remember growing up, if some of it comes down, you can turn it into something that the family can continue to use for decades.
It's also a completely portable style of woodworking that offers great satisfaction. A small canvas bag of tools can go with you anywhere, and you can leave behind works of art and function.
If you sell your work, this is something you can do at fairs and craft shows. With your wares displayed for sale in front of you, you can be working on more the whole time. Then it's production and demonstration as well as commerce.
This also offers an opportunity to engage an audience and pass on the craft. You can let people try the tools after a quick lesson on safety and technique if you're comfortable doing that.
This is a wonderful book that will give you hours of enjoyment.
Psst: Don't tell my wife, but I ordered the set of Mora knives, the Marbles camp axe, and the 14" Silky Bigboy 2000 with extra large teeth that I linked above. This looks like fun!
I'm cross-posting this to both my woodworking blogΒ www.CloseGrain.comΒ and my software engineering blogΒ FlinkAndBlink.blogspot.comΒ (under the LearnToCode label), because even though there's no woodworking in it, this is all about building stuff, so it bridges the worlds. It's the maker ethos.
If you're interested in learning to code, and building the stuff that you're coding on, this is for you. This is all about working on embedded systems, from the hobby level to the professional.
I admit to instant and total nerd-crush. Limor Fried, who goes by the name Ladyada online (for Lady Ada Lovelace, The First Programmer) is the founder of Adafruit.
Adafruit is a small electronics manufacturing company in Manhattan, NY, that focuses on teaching electronics to makers of all ages. You can read about themΒ here.
Electronics is another of those hobbies that I wanted to pursue as a teenager, but never could due to lack of funds. Fortunately I've advanced beyond that impecunious stage of life, and seeing this has fired instant obsession (hence the shopping list below!).
I'm familiar with that feeling of obsession settling on my shoulders. It propelled me into hand tool woodworking, turning into a book. It propelled me intoΒ violinmaking. It propelled me intoΒ boatbuilding.
Each time, the pattern is the same. I buy a bunch of books, watch a bunch of videos, dig through a bunch of blogs and forums, then buy a bunch of tools and start playing. Last year it propelled me into small engine repair and oxy-acetylene welding after I found Taryl DactylΒ (yes, blog posts will be forthcoming).
Now, in my copious free time (that's a joke, son), I'll finally be realizing that dream to get my hands dirty with electronics.
I owe this to Matt Pandina, whom we recently hired at work. It quickly turned out that Matt is a maker and likes sharing information. He has some nice stuff on Google Groups under the monikerΒ artcfoxΒ (in fact, one of his articles was coincidentally the answer to the embedded systems programming problem I use when interviewing candidates!).
He made a comment about how Adafruit is doing manufacturing in Manhattan, and I asked, "Who's Adafruit?". That was all it took. Thanks, Matt!
I was tickled to read Fried's favorite quote in theΒ Entrepreneur MagazineΒ article about her:
βWe are what we celebrate.βΒ βentrepreneur and inventor Dean Kamen.
Kamen is one of my other heroes. She whose hero is my hero is my hero!
When I saw Kamen listed as keynote speaker, I scooted down early and got a chance to talk to him and tell him I wanted to work for him (he probably gets a lot of stalker geeks like that!). Came close the following year, but logistics didn't work out.
Electronics Learning Resources
On the business side, Adafruit sells kits, parts, tools, and books. That's pretty cool (along with being able to pull off a manufacturing operation in Manhattan). But what's truly spectacular about them is their online learning resources.
Fried is a big proponent of open source, sharing the knowledge. So the Adafruit website is chock full of information. There's also an extensive YouTube channel.
You'll also finds lots of cross-pollination with others in the maker community. There are magazines, blogs, and videos by the score, by independent makers like Matt, and by larger organizations.
I've just barely begun to scratch the surface. This is great, because I know how to program embedded systems, but I don't know much about the components that go into them and connect to them. It's the combination of hardware and software that really makes something work.
Pretty much everything I know about digital electronics I owe to Forrest P. Mims 35 years ago. Now, after that brief hiatus, I can take the next step.
Basic Electronics Lab Skills
Step into Collin's lab!
Among the resources is a series of very accessible quick guides and videos by Collin Cunningham. Of particular interest to the electronics beginner such as myself is this set of basic electronics lab skills (you can scan through all these for quick grok of the big picture by setting the speed in the YouTube window settings (the gear icon) to 2x, then come back and watch at normal speed for a second pass):
Soldering and Desoldering: how to solder components together properly, and how to pull them apart for salvage and rework.
Ohm's Law: understanding the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance.
Once you have these skills, you are unleashed. Just like hand tool woodworking, it takes a little investment in tools and equipment, and a little time practicing with them.
These form the basis of the shopping list below. And of course they lead to lots of other interesting videos, like Collin's videos on the basics of various components:
Batteries: the basics of using batteries to supply DC power to projects.
Solar Cells: using solar cells to keep the batteries charged.
Power Supplies: using an AC power supply to supply DC power to projects.
Pulse Width Modulation: using a PWM converter to change DC input voltage to lower effective DC voltage, or as a simple digital-to-analog converter (DAC).
Switches: understanding the different types of switches for manually controlling projects.Β
There are also a number of other introductory Adafruit written guides by various contributors (as well as oceans of more specialized and advanced guides, check them out!):
These are the tools, equipment, supplies, and books to do the work. With the exception of the oscilloscope, these are all links to the Adafruit shopping pages. Prices as of April 8, 2018.
Permatex 80050 Clear RTV Silicone Adhesive Sealant, 3 oz, $11.18. RTV is a universal technician's friend. Gobs of it serve as adhesive, sealers, hole plugs, gaskets, wire holders, vibration dampers, etc. There are a number of different formulations.
Total cost: $1269 for everything (I ordered 2 spools leaded solder and 1 leaded Chip Quik, no lead-free items, 10 DC barrel jacks, and all the screwdriver/tool sets, since you never know which tips and shanks will fit, and some cases need special access tools to open), with free shipping from both Adafruit and Amazon. Plus they threw in a free half-size breadboard and a Circuit Playground Express.
Back in my teenage days, $10 was a major expenditure, and $100 was simply inconcievable. This is starting to add up to some real money, but it will leave you armed with the tools, knowledge, and skills sufficient to launch a career.
The really nice thing is that Adafruit provides a curated list of things to choose from, so you're getting the benefit of their experience and recommendations, all guided by that maker ethos. That was a big plus for me.
Bridging three centuries of maker technology.
Once I've gone through some of the books, I'll pick out a selection of microcontrollers to play with.
The class covers the use of tools like these: handsaws, handplanes, and chisels.
Updated December 19, 2020: Thank you to the people who have participated in this and who have helped spread the word on it. The pandemic of course means that I can't offer this currently, but I had decided to stop before that, due to lack of interest.
I'm very pleased to announce that my free hand tool woodworking class for veterans and active duty personnel is now part of Ayer Shirley Regional School District Community Education, and will be conducted at the ASR High School in Ayer, MA.
For details on registration, see theΒ ASRSD Community Education classes pageΒ and page through to the Hobbies section. The class is Woodworking For Veterans, 7:30PM to 9:30PM for 12 Wednesdays from March 21 to June 13 (no class during April school vacation week). Space is limited to 4 people per 12-week session. All tools and materials provided.
For details on the what and the why of the class, see my original description of the JOTMOST program.
A big thank you to Dennis McGillicuddy, Vietnam veteran, for putting in the time and effort to find a public venue for the class. Thanks also to Pat Russell, Community Education coordinator, and Steve Tulli, technology teacher at ASR High School for making his room available.
I like to give credit where credit is due. These are the acknowledgements and references for the information inΒ my book, Hand Tool Basics.
I'm a self-taught woodworker. That really means I had many teachers, the many live demonstrators and authors of books, videos, and magazine, online forum, mailing list, and website articles who have provided useful information.
Use the information I provide as a starting point. There's plenty more than what I cover; woodworking is a global activity with centuries of history, creating an infinite variety of techniques. I hope that I'll give you the skills and knowledge to be able to assess and incorporate any new information you find.
In general, the tools and methods I show in the book follow American and English woodworking styles. Continental European and Asian styles share many of the same techniques, but there are some differences in the tools. Where information is available, I strive to show historically accurate methods. In general it's safe to assume everything I show has at least 100 years of history. Some things have 2 or 3 hundred. Dovetails date back to the ancient Egyptians.
We are but the custodians of knowledge, passing it on to the next generation.
Acknowledgements
Below is the list of my teachers, in roughly chronological order. These are my primary references. They offer a range of perspectives that don't always agree with each other but still manage to get the job done, showing that it's worthwhile to look at the variety of techniques available.
If you'd like further information on any of the topics I cover in the book, I highly recommend seeking out their work, or even better, a chance to spend time with them in classes or demos. It's always good to have an opportunity to watch someone closeup and drink in the details. Just one new detail about an otherwise familiar technique can make it worthwhile.
Don Weber: Don's cover story in the April, 2004 issue of Popular Woodworking is what set me off down this path. He built a table from a log using nothing but hand tools. I was absolutely enthralled. It took me a few years of fumbling around to gain traction, until I started followingβ¦
Christopher Schwarz: As the editor of Popular Woodworking, it was Chris' articles on hand tools that put me on the road to success, in particular his articles on sharpening and planing. His books and videos form the core of my woodworking library. He went on to found Lost Art Press, where he continues to publish excellent books and videos on hand tool woodworking. He changed my woodworking forever, and gave me the knowledge to start appreciating other teachers, likeβ¦
Roy Underhill: When I first saw Roy's PBS show The Woodwright's Shop, long before I knew anything about hand tools, I thought this guy was bouncing off the walls like a superball shot from a cannon. But once I started learning, I realized every episode was crammed with a breathtaking amount of pure gold. His books and DVDs are another core component of my library. While I'll never be the showman he is and be able to do a half-hour video in one take, I've taken a number of cues from his show in my instructional format.
Philip C. Lowe: I've been following Phil's articles for as long as I have Chris Schwarz's. He's what I call a museum-class woodworker, because when museums need to restore or reproduce a finely detailed period furniture piece, he's at the top of the list. He ran the furniture-making program at Boston'sΒ North Bennet St. School for 5 years before starting his own Furniture Institute of Massachusetts, and is the winner of the SAPFM 2005 Cartouche Award. I got to know him when he gave a series of live demonstrations to SAPFM members on building several magnificent furniture pieces.
Michael Dunbar: Mike ran the Windsor Institute in New Hampshire, where he taught chairmaking. He's published a number of articles in Popular Woodworking. He takes a very no-nonsense attitude, as exemplified by his "Sensible Sharpening" method of sandpaper on flat substrate. His repeated frustration at having students show up to classes with basic tools they didn't know how to sharpen or use was what led me to start teaching. My goal was to provide that basic knowledge so people could get on with the more advanced topics of the specialized classes offered by others.
Charles H. Hayward: One of Chris Schwarz's heroes, Hayward was editor and "one-man publishing phenomenon" of The Woodworker from 1936 to 1966. He wrote a number of practical books that are simply spectacular. Anything you can find by him, don't hesitate, just get it! In fact, Chris has since anthologizedΒ several volumesΒ of his writings fromΒ The Woodworker.
Robert Wearing: Wearing, another of Schwarz's heroes and an acquaintance of Hayward in Hayward's later years, wrote an excellent book that has been re-released by Lost Art Press. This was the source of the three classes of saw cuts terminology.
Bernard E. Jones: Jones wrote two encyclopedic books in the 1910's-20's which have been reprinted several times, one of which is now available from Popular Woodworking.
Garrett Hack:Garrett is a professional woodworker and author in Vermont. I've always loved his designs. He's a master of unique stylistic details done with hand tools.
Jim Kingshott: Kingshott was a British woodworker who put out several outstanding books and videos in the 1990's. He's like your favorite uncle. But of course, Bob's your uncle!
Adam Cherubini: Adam's "Arts And Mysteries" column in Popular Woodworking was a huge influence on my work. With his emphasis on 18th-century work, he showed me I could do everything by hand starting from the raw lumber, and taught me how to use wooden handplanes.
Patrick Leach: Patrick is one of the Internet's premier antique tool sellers, with everything from $20 user planes to $10,000 collector's items. He's partly responsible for the unusually large number of chisels you see on my tool wall; his house is dangerously close to mine. But he's also the definitive reference for information on antique Stanley tools. His website www.Supertool.com is encyclopedic, covering the entire line from the late 1800's through the first half of the 20th century.
Pete Taran: Like Patrick, Pete is another encyclopedic source of antique tool information, this time on saws at www.VintageSaw.com.
Erik Von Sneidern: And like Pete, Erik is another antique saw specialist, focusing exclusively on Disston saws at his Disstonian Institute, www.DisstonionInstitute.com.
Aldren A. Watson: WatsonΒ was a professional woodworker, author, and illustrator in Vermont.
Lie-Nielsen Staff:YouTube videos from founder Thomas Lie-Nielsen and demonstrators like Deneb Pulchalski, along with live demonstrations at their Hand Tool Events, cover a great deal about how to use and maintain their tools. I think this educational component is an important part of the company's success, completing the connection with their customers.
Alan Breed: Al is another museum-class woodworker. He's the guy high-end auction houses call when they want a reproduction of an antique that's on the block for millions of dollars, so the sellers will have something to fill the empty spot. He runs the The Breed School in New Hampshire, and is the winner of the SAPFM 2012 Cartouche Award. For a number of years, he's been incredibly generous sharing his time and knowledge in a series of live demonstrations to the GNHW Period Furniture Group on building period pieces.
Paul Sellers: Paul is a British woodworker who put out an excellent book and DVD series. He used to run New Legacy School of Woodworking in Penrhyn Castle, North Wales, possibly one of the coolest school venues around. He's another very no-nonsense guy, attempting to demystify the craft and bring it to the masses without complicated methods.
Christian Becksvoort:Christian is a professional woodworker and magazine author in Maine who specializes in hand tool work.
Peter Galbert: Peter is a professional chair maker in Massachusetts. He's also an inventor, creating several very useful tools and versions of existing tools. He was the one who showed me how to get the most out of a wooden spokeshave, and watching his YouTube videos resulted in a huge improvement in my turning skills on the lathe.
References
Some of these may be difficult to find because they're out of print. But they may be available used or as reprints.
Books (including a few useful references from authors not listed above)
These are an excellent way to join with like-minded people to learn and discuss hand tools, their use, and how to deal with problems. In fact, as my skills developed, it was seeing the questions posted on these from beginners struggling through the same learning curve I had climbed that motivated me to put together a video course and book.
Some forums are extremely active. Participation is global, with people coming from all different cultural backgrounds.
I found these to be a great asset in my learning. Just be prepared for a wide range of information, often conflicting! You'll have to learn to sort through it. That's where I came up with the concept for my "Fistfights And Fundamentals" segments.
These are moderated forums to ensure that everyone stays on their good behavior, but discussions can get heated and feelings can get hurt. Read their policies and spend some time lurking (Internet-speak for reading without responding) before you join in. Don't take things personally, and don't make things personal. Be polite. Remember that different people have different experience, training, and opinions.
There are others besides these, in English and many other languages, as well as Facebook groups such as Unplugged Woodworkers.
Finally, I'd like to thank the MBTA. Other than the shop work and photography, I did nearly all the work for this book and the original video series while riding the Commuter Rail.Β Yes, I wrote a book on the train!Β I did all the video editing, photo selection, and writing on my Mac laptop an hour each way to and from workΒ in Boston.
Thank you to all the folks who took care of my commute and gave me a safe, warm place where I could focus on woodworking!
Book cover, showing the plane till in my basement workshop.
If you'd like a copy of my book, Hand Tool Basics, published by Popular Woodworking Books, it's now available online atΒ ShopWoodworking.com.
It's available in both hardcopy and e-book formats. It's a direct companion to my video series,Β Intro to Hand ToolsΒ (more information on the series, including the free Part 1 and sample lesson, is atΒ Intro To Hand Tools Downloadable Videos).
Whether you want to augment your power tool woodworking with some hand skills or you want to do everything with hand tools, whether you have a big shop or just a tiny space, this is for you.
The images in the book are taken from the digital video I recorded for the series, and its organization and content match the series. The book is therefore a matching visual reference for hand tool woodworking, with some 1400 captioned photos.
Why have a book version identical to the video series? Several reasons:
Some people prefer learning from videos. Some people prefer learning from books.
It's nice to have both so you can sit back and watch the videos, then have the book with you on the workbench as you follow the steps for a procedure.
The dynamic images in the video allow you to watch the tools in motion, while the static images in the book freeze the action so you can take your time examining details. These complementary views help you get the whole picture.
You can see my acknowledgements and references here. These are the people who gave me the knowledge.
Here are the full Contents and Index pages so you can see what's covered. As always, I like to show multiple ways of doing things, so you can tackle any situation based on the tools you have available, your personal preferences, and your current skill level.
HereΒ are a few sample pages representative of the layout and level of detail in the book.
From Chapter 1: The Tools, showing a selection of the tools covered.
From Chapter 5: Mortise and Tenon Joinery, showing some of the fistfights and fundamentals.
From Chapter 6: Dovetail Joinery, showing some of the steps laying out and sawing a tails-first through-dovetail.
Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have any questions about anything in the book. One of the challenges is getting just the right explanation that conveys the information to all readers regardless of their experience and skill level, and sometimes that fails.
Book cover, showing the plane till in my basement workshop.
I'm very excited to announce the publication date for my book, Hand Tool Basics, from Popular Woodworking Books: January 12, 2018!
It will be available for pre-order at ShopwoodWorking.comΒ in mid-November. The price will be $34.99. As a bonus, I'll also be posting SketchUp images here of some of the jigs in the book.
The images are taken from the digital video I recorded for the series. The organization and content of the book match the series. The book is therefore a visual reference, with some 1400 captioned photos.
Why produce a book version identical to the video series? Several reasons:
Some people prefer learning from videos. Some people prefer learning from books.
It's nice to have both so you can sit back and watch the videos, then have the book with you on the workbench as you follow the steps for a procedure.
The dynamic images in the video allow you to watch the tools in motion, while the static images in the book allow you to take your time examining details like how to hold a tool.Β
A big thank you to the editing and layout team at Popular Woodworking! They did an outstanding job with the written and photographic material I supplied.
The images here are screen shots from the author review document, so the image quality is reduced from the final copy, but they show what to expect.
Here are the full Contents and Index pages so you can see what's covered. As always, I like to show multiple ways of doing things, so you can tackle any situation based on the tools you have available, your personal preferences, and your current skill level.
HereΒ are some sample pages representative of the layout and level of detail in the book.
From Chapter 1: The Tools, showing a selection of the tools covered.
From Chapter 5: Mortise and Tenon Joinery, showing some of the fistfights and fundamentals.
From Chapter 6: Dovetail Joinery, showing some of the steps laying out and sawing a tails-first through-dovetail.
Once it's out, feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have any questions about anything you see. One of the challenges in a book is getting just the right explanation that conveys the information to all readers regardless of their experience and skill level, and sometimes that fails.
Life has been busy, busy, busy lately. Hence the lack of posts here.
My book draft is now in the hands of the team at Popular Woodworking Books, with some 1400 captioned photos.
My shop time has been occupied teaching individual classes. That's produced good material for some upcoming technique blog posts.
I've started reading through my stack of boatbuilding books. That'll take a while, but Greg Rossel's excellent Building Small Boats has been a great first step, detailing the sequence of operations.
A Place To Build Boats
The next step in the journey is the other big thing occupying my time, a place to build boats. That place is in East Boothbay, Maine, where my mother-in-law has now bought a house. She'll live there in the warm months, then with us in the cold months. Meanwhile, we'll spend weekends and vacations there. Eventually, we'll retire there permanently.
The two main criteria for the house were that it be near water, and that it have a space for my woodworking, specifically large enough for small boatbuilding. We had previously owned a house near the Damariscotta River in Boothbay, Maine, so we were familiar with East Boothbay. That was our general search region. It's spectacularly beautiful, as you can see from this image search.
The house she bought meets the criteria wonderfully. Built in the mid-to-late 1800's, it sits directly across the street from the historic shipyard waterfront of East Boothbay, on the bend of the Damariscotta a couple miles upriver from open ocean.
They've been building ships and boats there since the 1700's. Two small yards are still active, Hodgdon Yachts, America's oldest boat builder, building high-end sailing and motor yachts, and Washburn & Doughty, building commercial tugs and fireboats.Β
Hodgdon Yachts is on the site of the former Goudy and Stevens yard, where Louis Sauzedde (www.TipsFromAShipwright.com) worked on the replica of the yacht America as a teenager in the late '60's.
In between those yards is a public boat ramp and a separate kayak ramp. There's another public boat onto Linekin Bay less than a mile away. Ocean Point Marina, where we used to keep our old boat, is 50 yards upriver, on the other side of the mouth to the tidal millpond.
So near water, check. About 100 yards from house to ramp. The river is visible past the Washburn & Doughty buildings. Their launchings are always an event.
The workspace is behind the house, a small barn with loft and one-car garage. It's perfect. There's a big sliding door in the wall that opens to an ideal spot for a small boat construction frame, leaving plenty of space on the side for workbenches and general woodworking. The loft upstairs is perfect for, well, lofting! And sailmaking.
Rear view of the house showing the barn.
At some point this will become Close Grain North, where I'll teach private classes in hand tool woodworking, violin-making, and boatbuilding. Of course, I have to learn how to do those latter two myself first. See one, do one, teach one.
There are many other small boatbuilders in the area, as well as riggers and sailmakers. The shop of Nathaniel Wilson, master sailmaker, whose work graces the USS Constitution, among many other historic ships, is a couple houses upriver from the marina. That's only a quarter mile walk from the house.
I picked up this great poster for Nathaniel Wilson at the Maine Boatbuilders Show in Portland in March.
The whole area is just steeped in it, with 300 years of history. I even met a lady who's a former instructor at the WoodenBoat School and staff editor at WoodenBoat Magazine. For an aspiring boatbuilder, you couldn't ask for anything more.
I continue to learn about other schools in the area. In Bristol, on the other side of the river, there's the Carpenter's Boat Shop. Then just down the road from that there's the Maine Coast Craft School.
The latter school is particularly interesting because founders Kenneth and Angela Kortemeier have taken over the torch from Drew and Louise Langsner's Country Workshops in North Carolina now that they have retired. Kenneth was an intern at Country Workshops in the 90's (Peter FollansbeeΒ is another Country Workshops alum).
Boothbay Region Historical Society
When we first found the house, I was curious about the history of the barn. I was aware of the long history of boat and shipbuilding in the area, so I wondered if it might have been used as a workshop by someone building small workboats for the bigger ships.
I contacted the Boothbay Region Historical Society, and over the course of a few emails, historian Barbara Rumsey very graciously gave me some information.
The real-estate listing said the house was from the 1880's, but based on tax records, she felt it could have been built in the late 1860's. She also felt the barn was probably a small livestock barn, since it was common at the time for families to have a few animals.
I visited the Society, where Barbara showed me how to go through their copies of the old tax collector's books. That was fascinating. The book for each year was a hand-written account of every resident and their taxable property, roughly alphabetical by last name.
People were taxed on their land, buildings, and various types of livestock. There was even a heading for musical instruments over $15 (a significant sum in the 1880's). Anyone who had an ox was very popular; they were like the guy with a truck you could hire to help haul stuff.
What she had found was that the house's street address appeared in the book for 1882, listed under the name Alvin Goudy and occupied by his mother. That gave me a starting point.
Working back through earlier records, I found Alvin Goudy's name first listed for that location in 1867. Working forward to see if taxes increased due to property improvements (for instance, adding the barn), there didn't appear to a major change. So it's possible the house and barn have been there since 1867.
What I wasn't able to determine was what Alvin did for a living. Presumably he was of the same Goudys as Goudy & Stevens shipyard. Lacking any other evidence, it seems likely the barn was indeed used for livestock.
After we closed on the house, I stopped by the Society again to say hi, and found Barbara talking to another gentleman. She said he was one of my neighbors in East Boothbay, Nat Wilson. I said, "The sailmaker!"
Indeed it was. I told him sailmaking was another thing I needed to learn, and I would love to visit his shop. He invited me to stop by any time. The mind boggles. What more could an aspiring boatbuilder ask?
Hobie Tandem Island
Since building even a small boat is 100 to 200 hours of work, it'll be a year or two at hobbyist pace before I have something ready to put in the water. In the meantime, I'm happy to enjoy some rotomolded plastic fun.
So under the heading of YOLO, I bought a Hobie Tandem Island, which is an amazing trimaran sit-on-top tandem sailing sea kayak. It has pedal-powered Mirage drives. The pedals power fins that move sideways, inspired by penguin fins; they're even reversible so you can backup as well as go forwards. You can paddle, pedal, or sail!
This thing is a marvel of mechanical engineering. The modular assemblies go together quickly and easily for use, and detach just as easily for breakdown. As a tandem, it's large, 18' long; as a trimaran, it's heavy, 240 lbs. fully rigged.
But those outriggers (called "amas") make it incredibly stable, able to handle any kind of conditions, even out to open ocean. That's perfect for the Maine coastal river estuaries. It has molded-in fishing rod holders, and Hobie says it's even suitable for bluewater trolling. I've never been a fisherman, but this I can get behind!
How To Transport A Hobie Tandem Island, New In Box
We spent a small fortune on Thule pickup truck bed and roof racks to transport the boat from Sebago Sailing And Watercraft in Raymond, ME. But with a boat that long, I wanted a good secure support to avoid damaging it or the truck. And now we have a very versatile hauling setup.
The boat was in two packages. The main hull was wrapped in a long bubblewrap bag. The amas and all other parts were in a cardboard box about 14' long. Both fit side by side on the racks. Captain Mike, a tall fellow (who also has aΒ timberframing business), helped us load it up. His wife Maura had been my contact for buying it.
The boat loaded on my wife's F150 pickup truck. Mounted to the bed is a Thule XSporter Pro rack. On the roof is a pair of Thule AeroBlade bars. I secured the packages to the racks with 25' lengths of half-inch climbing webbing fore and aft.
To unload the boat on our own, I used a retired climbing rope and a pair of carabiners to rig a 2-to-1 haul system from the upper door of the barn. My wife, Cat, belayed the rope to sway the front end of the box down off the rack while I stood on my toes and lifted off the other end. That allowed her to lower away easily. Then we repeated that with the main hull.
Cat belays the box.
Belaying the main hull.
I unpackaged everything and laid it out, then followed the instructions on assembly. It didn't take long. The boat is made to break down for transport with minimum fuss. I had also bought a heavy-duty two-wheel dolly that included a cradle for the amas.
The boat fully assembled with sail unfurled. You've heard of sailing on the mooring? This is sailing on the driveway.
This boat also takes a spinnaker. That'll be next year after we've spent some time buzzing up and down the river and out the mouth.
I've figured out what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be Harry Bryan. Harry is a boatbuilder in Letete, New Brunswick, Canada, just across the border from Maine on the Bay of Fundy. This is a breathtakingly beautiful area of wooded, rocky coastline, crystal clear water and enormous tides.
Harry lives off the grid, building wooden boats with a few alternatively-powered power tools and a bunch of hand tools. His philosophy is one of slowing down, going back to the land, making rather than buying, relying on yourself, your skills and ingenuity, and never stop learning.
He's extremely inventive, combining traditional boatbuilding methods with creative solutions. Anybody for a treadle-powered bandsaw?
It is an idyllic life, no doubt with its challenges, but he and his wife have succeeded, raising a family and enjoying time with their grandkids. The appeal and the draw of this life are powerful.
Harry is like Phil Lowe and Al Breed, what I call a shut-up-and-watch master of the craft. If you get a chance to spend time with them, you don't interrupt them, you just shut up and watch, absorbing the decades of knowledge and experience. Whatever they want to show you is well worth your time.
At the time we had recently bought a small vacation house close to the nearby Damariscotta River, where I kept a 23' O'Day sailboat that was built the year I graduated from high school (we had to sell the place in order to afford getting the kids through college, but we'll be back, count on it). I resisted the siren call to build my own for a long time, because I knew there was no going back.
Everybody who knows someone with a boat knows what boat crazy is. But wooden boats, and building them, is a special kind of insanity. Why mess about with all that rigamarole when you can throw a sleek gel-coated fiberglass modern creation in the water?
First of all, because, indeed, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.
Second, wood adds to that romance. The history of thousands of years is under you as you glide across the surface. Plus wood is such a wonderful material to work with, engaging all the senses. You become part of it.
Finally, there's the pure satisfaction of using something you've made yourself with the skill of your own hands. Even the simplest boats are complex shapes. Building them is much more an exercise in hand tool work than power tools.
Sure, there are dozens, if not hundreds of board feet of planking to get out and plane to thickness, and hundreds, if not thousands, of screws to drill and drive, so a benchtop planer and a power drill/driver are huge labor savers for very repetitive tasks.
But most of it is handcrafting lines that are curving continuously and fitting parts that meet at odd compound angles. Even driving screws is worth completing with a brace and driver bit to give you that delicate feedback to know when they're seated just right.
When you're done, you can enjoy the fruits of your labor in an intensely sensuous fashion. The Damariscotta River is a lovely small river that opens out to open ocean, with spectacularly gorgeous rocky, pine covered coastline. The tidal range in that area is a good 10'. That means it's actually a reversing river, flowing upriver on the rising tide, and downriver on the ebb. There's even a small reversing falls at the head of the river in the town of Damariscotta.
This also means the river has many personalities, from a glass-still surface at slack tide, to a fast race when the downriver flow joins the tidal flow, to the chop and wild wind of a late November storm. You feel the power of nature, held in check or unleashed.
Whether it's the mesmerizing burst and glide lazily pulling in a rowboat across the glassy river at slack tide, or the full heel of a sailboat close-hauled to the wind sluicing across the current, or a gentle drift from the head of the river Β down to the mouth after having sailed up beat on beat on the flood, you feel it with your whole body. You are joined with that power, harnessed to it in a vessel of your own making.
The Internet has also provided a vast treasure trove of articles, forums, and videos. Β I often watch videos at 1.5x or 2x speed. The YouTube player has a speed setting for this in Settings. The Vimeo player doesn't have a speed setting, but the unofficialΒ Vimeo repeat and speed extensionΒ for Chrome works well, allowing any speed.
There are many more to be explored, but three video sites in particular have caught my attention.
Off Center Harbor
First is OffCenterHarbor.com, an inexpensive membership site (it uses Vimeo for video when logged in, although some videos are also on YouTube). This is where I found the Harry Bryan videos.
This was the tipping point for me, what tempted me to approach the black hole until I got sucked in. For this I can blame Al Hansen, from the Guild Of New Hampshire Woodworkers Boatbuilding subgroup. He recommended it at a Guild meeting where I was giving a demonstration on hand tool tag-teaming.
OCH is filled with videos, some how-to, some just to drool over. It's headquartered in Brooklin, ME, about halfway between Boothbay and Harry's shop in Canada. They have a number of videos of Harry at work, explaining some of his nefarious devices and showing the boats he's designed and built.
Based on these, I've ordered several plans from Harry, as well as for the Off Center Skiff. One of these will be my first build. Although there's also that Nutshell pram, that's cute. Auuuggghh!
Traditional Maritime Skills
Second is Traditional Maritime Skills, the YouTube channel ofΒ Marcus Lewis, from Cornwall, UK. He has a variety of videos showing building small sailing dinghies up to larger sailboats.
Tips From A Shipwright
Third isΒ Tips From A Shipwright, the YouTube channel of Louis Sauzedde, from North Kingstown, RI. Louis is another shut-up-and-watch guy, a short, wiry ball of energy, the living embodiment of the saying "When ships were wood and men were iron."
In addition to a great series on a new build, he has lots of videos of restoration work. He doesn't hesitate to open up all the planking of a boat to fit in new frames, or unstitch the entire bow to replace the stem.
You can read a nice article about him in the sample digital issue of WoodenBoat Magazine, entitledΒ "A Modern Traditional Boatbuilder."
Schools
In my online travels, I've come across a couple of schools. I'm sure there are many more.
The Northwest School of Wooden BoatbuildingΒ isΒ in Port Hadlock, Washington. They have a very niceΒ introductory video. I like the philosophy of self-sufficiency and using boatbuilding as an approach to developing general hands-on skills, learning how to make anything.
Suppliers
I've also found several suppliers. As with schools, I'm sure there are many more.
WoodenBoatΒ is the site dedicated to all things wooden boat. Browsing it is a sure sign of that slide into insanity. But what a glorious insanity it is!Β
Jamestown DistributorsΒ is a family-run business in Bristol, RI, and is the sponsor for Louis Sauzedde's videos. They have parts, tools, adhesives, and finishes.
ToplichtΒ "Equipment for traditional ships and classic yachts, supplier for boat builders" in Hamburg, Germany. They appear to be a go-to supplier for all kinds of common and obscure fittings and supplies. They sell oakum!
Duckworks Boat Builder's SupplyΒ is a small family-owned business in Port Townsend, WA. Their website includes an online magazine.
I'm very pleased to announce that my 7-part course Intro To Hand Tools is now available in downloadable video form atΒ Popular Woodworking Magazine'sΒ ShopWoodworking.com.
Each part consists of a series of segments, for a total of 12 hours of video instruction.
Learn how to use these and other hand tools.
Part 1: Welcome! is available for free on their YouTube channel. It covers general introduction, a quick summary of the tools, safety, and details about the types of handsaws and handplanes.
The remaining 6 parts are available for purchase at $4.99 each:
The Queechee Gorge near Woodstock, VT, on the drive home, beautiful even on a gray day.
Friday and Saturday, October 7 and 8, I demonstrated hand tool techniques at the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event at Shackleton Thomas, in Bridgewater, VT, run by Charles Shackleton, furniture maker, and his wife Miranda Thomas, potter.
Also at the event were Matt Bickford with his wonderful wooden molding planes, book, and DVD, and Isaac Smith of Blackburn Tools, selling saws.
I was promoting my Intro To Hand Tools online course at Popular Woodworking University.Β SeeΒ this blog postΒ for a full episode guide, tool list, and sample videos.
And newly available, the course parts can now be purchased individually asΒ digital downloads from Popular Woodworking's online store, along with my recorded webinars and digital magazine issues containing my articles.
My setup, with workbenches, boxes of tools, Nick Offerman's book, and large-screen monitor in the background running my trailer.
I did my usual ad hoc demonstrations as people asked questions and I offered to let them try anything they saw on the workbench.
Two things proved especially popular: Terry Moore's scraper sharpening method, and Yoav Liberman's gouge sharpening methodΒ (where I add a concave surface to the block, and use it with my in-cannel scribing gouge).Β Both of these tools present particular sharpening challenges, so people are eager to see effective methods.
I must have sharpened my scraper 15 times over the two days. Since I had only brought white pine, Lindley Brainard, the shop manager and one of the Shackleton Thomas furniture makers, let me pick a few nice pieces of hardwood from the basement scrap pile so I could demonstrate real scraping.
The results were glorious. I produced a cloud of white, brown, and reddish shavings in maple, walnut, and cherry as people watched and tried it for themselves. I really should have gotten a photo. You could have stuffed a nice comfy throw pillow with the pile of feathery shavings.
I've included Terry's method below, because I've gone through at least 5 other methods before I settled on this one, and it's worth sharing.
Pizza With The Shackletons
As I mentioned in my post about last year's event, Charles is the cousin of Ernest Shackleton, who accomplished one of the greatest feats of leadership and survival of the past hundred years. If you're not familiar with the story of the Endurance, take some time to read this.
Friday afternoon, Charles came through and invited us all to pizza at his house. My wife and I joined the caravan following Lindley's car up the narrow winding roads in the hills above Bridgewater to an absolutely spectacular spot. The entire valley lay before us in magnificent Fall color as the last rays of the sun dropped below a cloudless horizon, a fire crackling in the firepit in the yard.
I expected this to be a delivery from one of the local pizza parlors. But no! Nothing so mundane. Miranda had made up dough and toppings, and we each made up a pie. Then, Charles shoved them into the stone oven built into the giant fireplace in the living room of their antique Colonial house. Because, of course, that's how you have pizza!
Along with the LN crew and some of the Shackleton Thomas employees and spouses, Charles' brother Arthur and his wife, artist Carol BoothΒ were visiting from Ireland.
Charles Shackleton baking a pizza. The fire was actually orange, not purple!
It was a magical evening, the kind that lives in your memory forever. There we were, enjoying pizza fresh from the hearth in a home with a deep connection to history, with a group of happy woodworkers. I probably had too much wine as I basked in the warmth and companionship of new and old friends.
Our Accommodations
My wife and I spent Friday and Saturday nights at the lovelyΒ Deer Brook Inn just down the road in Woodstock. Innkeepers Phil Jenkins, Win Coffin, and Reba Burress provided excellent food and service.
Phil bought the inn this past Spring after having previously owned the beautiful 1842 Inn in Macon, GA. You can read a nice article about the new ownershipΒ here.
Terry Moore's Scraper Sharpening Method
This is actually an article I did for theΒ Guild Of New Hampshire Woodworkers'Β quarterlyΒ Journal. I've made one addition to the original text regarding burnishing, as noted below. This is the exact procedure that I showed people, and it worked every time, with great repeatability.
Fig. 1: Using a freshly sharpened card scraper to thin down walnut strips to 1mm for practice bending violin sides.
I've recently taken an interest in making violins by hand, and after having watched a number of videos and read several books, I was very happy to see a meeting of the Granite State Luthiers at BJ Tanner's workshop in Manchester.
The topic of the day was sharpening. Several attendees demonstrated their setups for sharpening chisels and plane irons. I showed freehand sharpening a chisel on oilstones with my portable sharpening station. Terry Moore demonstrated sharpening a card scraper. This was the one that stood out for me.
Terry is a founding member of both the Guild and the New Hampshire Furniture Masters, with decades of experience. This is why I love being a member of the Guild. Amateurs and hobbyists like myself get to mix with and learn from masters of the art, who are happy to share their knowledge. Terry graciously gave me permission to write up his method. Sharpening is challenging enough for beginners, but scrapers are downright voodoo mystery. I collect scraper sharpening methods like I collect planes and chisels, always eager to acquire another one. I've settled on one that produces good results. But when I tried Terry's method in my own shop, I found it far superior. The proof was in the gorgeous fluffy shavings I was able to produce on a variety of hard and soft woods. The method I've been using isn't all that much different from his (and in fact all the methods are pretty similar), but he's distilled it down to bare essentials that quickly produce superior results. Simple, fast, effective, and repeatable. That's an almost magical combination. Scrapers are valuable tools for furniture and cabinet makers, but they're absolutely essential for luthiers. In addition to flat surfaces, stringed instruments have a variety of simple and compound curves that must be rendered smooth and fair. Scrapers are the final tools used to produce these graceful satin surfaces. Instruments also require very thin materials. Violin sides need to be 1 mm thick. Planing stock this thin can be difficult. It's very easy to damage the piece. Scrapers can be used to thin down the stock after it has been resawn and planed flat at some more manageable thickness. In addition to being able to take very fine, delicate shavings, scrapers can take them at very controlled points. This allows you great precision in fine tuning the thickness.
Even a simple scraper, just a rectangle of metal, has an anatomy. It has two long edges and two short edges. Because it has some thickness, each long edge will actually be sharpened to two working edges, one on each side of the scraper, front and back. So you up end with four sharp working edges. A working edge is called a hook, because you draw the metal out to a tiny hooked cutting edge.
Terry's method, like most others, consists of three stages: filing, honing, and burnishing. The trick is in the details. He's a believer in keeping it simple, not turning it into a religion. A quick sharpening and then back to work on the wood.
You can adapt this slightly to the tools you have. Like Terry, Iβm honing with a fine India stone (oilstone), but this should work with any kind of stone. One step common in most other methods that he doesnβt do is lay the scraper down and burnish the old hook flat. He simply files down past it in the filing stage, which all the other methods do anyway.
Fig. 2: The tools: scraper, wooden holder, chunk of fine India stone, mill bastard file, and burnisher (with or without handle).
The first key point is to mount the scraper in a vise. Terry demonstrated on a metalworking vise. I use a face vise with a simple wooden holder as a clamping aid. It's just a length of wood a little longer than the scraper, roughly square in cross-section, with a slot sawn down most of the length. Slip the scraper into the slot, then clamp the holder in the vise. It concentrates the clamping force to keep the scraper from slipping in the vise.
Fig. 3: Slip the scraper into the holder and clamp the holder in the vise.
I have a T marked on the holder to show the top front orientation. The T mark helps you keep track of which of the four hook edges you've worked on, although Terry's simple procedure makes it pretty easy to keep track. Filing Using a mill bastard file, file the top edge of the scraper to remove the old prepared edge. Terry used a draw-filing motion. Filing should take 10-20 seconds. Hold the file oriented across the top at an angle to the length of the scraper. By aligning the file teeth visible on the top side with the edge of the scraper, you know that the cutting teeth on the bottom side are properly aligned across the edge to cut the metal. The key point is to hold it dead level, so that you file the edge flat, square to the sides. Run the file sideways down the length of scraper with moderate pressure. You should feel it start to bite and remove metal. Take enough passes to be sure youβve removed the old hook edge, 5-10 strokes.
Fig. 4: With the file level across the top edge, push it sideways along the length of the scraper.
Fig. 5: The file needs to be dead level so that it files the edge square to the sides.
Every 5 or 6 filings, joint the scraper to maintain the straight edge. Hold the file level and oriented lengthwise along the scraper. Run the file down the length of the scraper for several strokes.
Fig. 6: Holding the file level, lengthwise along the scraper, joint the edge flat.
Honing Using a fine oilstone with a little oil on it, hone the top and sides of the scraper. Honing should take 20-30 seconds total for the top and both sides. Lay the stone across the filed edge oriented roughly diagonal to the length of the scraper. Again, the key point is to hold it dead level. Run it down the length of the scraper for several passes, 5-10 strokes, shifting it around to spread the wear across the surface of the stone. The goal is to remove the file marks, leaving polished metal.
Fig. 7: Holding the fine stone level, run it up and down the filed edge several times.
Now hone the front side. Lay the stone flat across the front face of the scraper and move it back and forth along the length for a few passes, 5-10 strokes. Repeat on the back side.
Fig. 8: Lay the stone along the front side of the scraper and run it back and forth across the length.
Fig. 9: Hone the back side.
The result is that the thin top edge of the scraper and the front and back faces meet at square, sharp corners down the length of the scraper. These will be the cutting edges. Burnishing This last step is where things tend to go wrong. People are usually able to file and hone the edge straight and square without any problems, but burnishing is the voodoo part. Burnishing turns the hook on each long corner of the scraper edge, drawing out the metal to its working edge. The problem is that people tend to overdo it. As Terry points out, most people have a long burnisher with a handle. That means theyβre able to apply a lot of force and leverage as they run the burnisher down the edge. But this just ends up over-turning it. Then they compound the problem by making multiple passes. This is the secret to Terry's method. He has a short, stubby burnisher that he prefers to use, but with a long burnisher he showed how to choke up on the end, mimicking the stubby shape. The key point is that you use just the end of the burnisher with moderate direct pressure, not heavy leverage. Burnishing should take less than 5 seconds total for both sides.
Fig. 10: Hold the burnisher in your hand...
Fig. 11: ...and choke up on it, leaving only the end exposed.
With the burnisher in your hand, hold it near the end to leave just about an inch exposed. Take the tip in your other hand and set the small exposed portion of the burnisher on the edge of the scraper at the near end.Β
This paragraph is the addition to the original article, adding the step of burnishing flat across: Holding theΒ burnisher level, flat across the edge, push it along the length of the scraper for one quick stroke. Zip! Don't use too much pressure! Just light hand and finger pressure. Set the burnisher flat on the far end, and pull it along the length of the scraper for another quick stroke. Zip! That's it, zip, zip, just two equal, flat strokes in opposite directions to slightly mushroom the edge out to each side. The residual oil from the stone provides lubrication for the burnisher. Then do the same thing, but with the burnisher tipped over each face of the scraper.
Tip the burnisher down over the face of the scraper by about 5 to 10 degrees; you may need to experiment a bit to find what angle works best for you.
Fig. 12: Hold the tip in your other hand and set it on the edge of the scraper.
Fig. 13: Tip the end down somewhere between 5 and 10 degrees.
Push the burnisher along the length of the scraper for one quick stroke. Zip! Set the burnisher on the far end the same way, and pull it along the length of the scraper for another quick stroke. Zip! That's it, zip, zip, just two equal strokes in opposite directions.
If you curl your fingers into hooks and pull them up the face of the scraper, your fingernails should catch on the tiny hook edge you've just turned. Don't run your fingers along this edge, it's extremely sharp!
Fig. 14: Hook your finger and pull it along the face of the scraper toward the edge. Your fingernail should catch on the hook.
Now burnish the second edge, on the back face. You can leave the scraper as is or spin it around in the vise. Two strokes, zip, zip. That's it. Repeat Now flip the scraper over in the vise and repeat the process on the other edge. This is where the T mark on the wooden holder helps you keep track of which edge and face you're working on.
Fig. 15: Flip the scraper in the holder over and repeat on the second edge.
Time required to do the entire scraper is 1-2 minutes. This is so fast and simple you should never hesitate to do it if you feel the scraper isnβt performing as well as it should. Have your scraper sharpening kit ready to go at a momentβs notice so it doesnβt feel like a chore. Testing The Scraper Setup a piece of test stock as if you were going to plane the surface. Hold the unsharpened short sides of scraper in both hands and use your thumbs to bow out the center. This bow cambers the cutting edge; experiment with various degrees of bowing. Set the bowed edge on the workpiece with the scraper straight up. Start tipping the scraper forward and moving it forward. At some point between vertical and 45 degrees, you should feel the hook edge bite into the wood. Experiment with a few degrees more or less tilt to find the best bite. Then with moderate pressure, run the bowed scraper at this tilt angle down the length of the wood. Lean forward with your whole upper body as you extend your arms. Your response to this action should be GOOD GOD LOOK AT THAT! The scraper should produce amazing fine fluffy rolls of shavings similar to those from a fine set smoothing plane. It should NOT just be producing dust.
Fig. 16: The fluffy rolls of shavings on a piece of mahogany after the above sharpening.
Lean back, returning the scraper to the near end of the piece, and take some more shavings. Don't scrape repeatedly in the same spot, or the bowed edge will scrape a divot into the wood. Spin the scraper around and flip it over to try all four hook edges. Don't be surprised if they all perform a little differently, requiring different degrees of bowing and tilt to work effectively. Turn the board around and try it from the other direction. On a flat surface, scrapers often work just as well in either grain orientation. That's less true on angled or curved surfaces. In general, you went to scrape with the grain, down the slope across it. Test the scraper on several different woods. Softer woods tend to fuzz up unless the scraper is very sharp. On hard tropical woods, it's like shaving glass. What If It Doesn't Work? What if your results aren't as advertised? What if all you get is dust, or unimpressive shavings? Dust from the scraper is a sign that itβs not sharp enough (also a sign that it needs to be resharpened). Try again, and pay particular attention to the key points. Poor shavings are a sign of either poor sharpening, or poor use. First, experiment a bit more with the bowing and angling of the scraper. Bow it more heavily, tip it down further. Once you're sure it's not a usage problem, try sharpening again. As simple as the procedure is, it may take a few attempts to get it right. Some details are very objective: filing and honing square across the edge, and honing along the sides. You should be able to hold the file and stone level on the edge and flat to the sides easily without any kind of guide, but there are also simple guides available if you're still having difficulty. And it doesn't hurt if you use more pressure or strokes than necessary with the file or stone, you just may end up removing a little more metal than you need to. Overdoing it won't hurt. The only mistake you can make is using too little pressure or too few strokes. Once you've adequately filed and honed, you should have two good sharp corners along the edge. But other details are much more subjective. Specifically, the angle and force of the burnishing. Remember, two strokes, zip, zip, at an angle 5 to 10 degrees down from level, with moderate pressure. Not enough angle, or not enough pressure, will fail to turn enough of a hook. But overdoing it is a real mistake. That will over-turn the hook. Achieving the right hook is a delicate balance and takes a little practice. The hook itself is a delicate and subtle thing. There's that voodoo again! You can slightly unroll an over-turned hook by laying the scraper down flat, standing the burnisher up at an angle with the tip caught in the hook, and lightly drawing it down the length of the edge. That may salvage a sharpening job. Reburnishing You can often get a couple of burnishings out of an edge before having to go all the way back to a full sharpening, although this method is fast enough that a complete resharpening is easy. First unroll the hook entirely flat. Lay the scraper down flat and lay the burnisher down flat across it. Draw the burnisher along the edge once or twice. Now if you run your fingernails across the scraper to the edge, they won't catch.
Mount the scraper in the vise and repeat the burnishing. That should restore a usable hook.
You can do this a couple of times, but eventually metal fatigue and wear will reduce the hook to an unusable state. At this point, resharpen the scraper completely. Practice Session Take an hour and repeatedly sharpen, test, unroll, re-roll, and re-test the scraper. Invest the time to completely resharpen it two or three times, with multiple burnishings in between, as you explore the limits of the tool. By the time you're done, you'll have significantly developed and refined your skill. You should notice a definite improvement in the effectiveness of the scraper and your efficiency getting it there.
Nick Offerman's Good Clean Fun with my travel toolboxes at the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event at Shackleton Thomas Furniture, in Bridgewater, VT this weekend.
Most people know Offerman from his role as small-town functionary Ron Swanson on the TV show Parks And Recreation,Β whose desk trinkets include a Claymore antipersonnel mine facing anyone approaching his desk.
But woodworkers know him from his Fine Woodworking articles as a fellow woodworker who has a nice side gig as an actor and humorist.
Ok, you probably mainly know him from the show as I did, and were tickled to find out he's also an honest to goodness woodworker, running the real businessΒ Offerman Woodshop. I was just as tickled to get the opportunity to review his book.
This is his third book, the first one that is wholly about woodworking. His two previous books were Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living and Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers.
He writes with a reverently irreverent style. If Mark Twain had been a woodworker, this is the book he would have written. Informative, yet informed by a dry and acerbic wit.
His reverance is for the craft and the skill. Yet he doesn't take himself too seriously. Much of the character of Ron Swanson is clearly imbued with Offerman's true self.
The book is a combination of brief autobiography, woodworking knowledge (including a great chapter on wood, with an excellent analogy for understanding grain and wood movement), profiles of woodworkers he admires and those who work in his workshop, and projects. There's a lot of solid, practical information.
Plus, as it says on the cover, assorted tomfoolery. It's all good clean fun, with some recipes thrown in to enjoy while you're having it.
I always love finding the connections between people, and I'll point out a few here. Some tenuous, but they bind us together nevertheless with a sense of community. That's another strong theme in the book, community.
Offerman got his early woodworking knowledge from his Dad. That ability to swing a hammer got his professional woodworking career started as a scenic carpenter in the theater, and he admits to an affinity for scenic carpenters in his workshop today.
One thing that's clear, he's on the same page with most of the woodworkers I know who value working with your hands. And lament the loss of that in our present society and educational system. And wish to restore that capability. That's the first connection I'll note. Right there with you, brother.
Nick squaring up the leg mortises in the Berry Stool project. Photo by Josh Salsbury, courtesy of Dutton.
Inspiring people to learn how to do things with their hands appears to be one of his main goals in writing the book. That's just as clear, based on his choice of profiles and projects. I'm also very happy to see Offerman promote and encourage the work of others in his profiles. The book isn't just about him. Like I said, it's about community.
Among the profiles is Mira Nakashima, daughter of the late George Nakashima, who specialized in Japanese-inspired works featuring live-edge tree slabs. In 1976, I lived two towns over from Nakashima's workshop in New Hope, PA, and would often ride past on my bike. Those were the days when schools still had shop class, and as a high school student I loved woodshop. I would see the sign and wonder what they did there, but never stopped to find out. Of course, that's just random coincidence.
Another profile is Chris Becksvoort, the "modern master of the Shaker style", as Ron Swanson giggles with glee in one episode of Parks And Recreation. I've had the pleasure of watching Becksvoort demonstrate techniques at several Lie-Nielsen Open Houses in Warren, ME.
The strongest connection among the profiles is Peter Galbert. I've demonstrated at several Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Events where Peter and his colleague Claire Minihan have also been presenters. I think of PeterΒ as an inventorΒ as much as a woodworker, for his innovative tool designs. It was Peter who taught me how to finesse a wooden spokeshave to vary the shavings from light to heavy, and watching his YouTube videos led to an order of magnitude improvement in my lathe turning skills.
These are people worth learning from. The profiles are all interesting reading as Offerman outlines what he admires in them. There are some good tidbits of professional woodworking business knowledge thrown in, and some inspirational surprises.
Here's the full list of profiles:
Laura Zahn
Jimmy DiResta
Mira Nakashima
Christian Becksvoort
Bear Mountain Boats: Ted Moores and Joan Barrett
Laura Mays
Peter Galbert/North Bennet Street School
Garry Knox Bennett
Josh Salsbury clamping the top of the Jupiter Side Table project. Photo by Christine Fuqua, courtesy of Dutton.
The projects span a range of skill levels. Nakashima-style slabs feature in several of them, that's clearly a major influence in his shop. Even the simplest ones impart useful knowledge to entice the beginner, and there are a number of nice projects to engage the interest of more experienced woodworkers.
The styles are contemporary, reflecting what I would consider a California esthetic, considering the strong influences of James Krenov and the College of the Redwoods among the people profiled, similar to the work of David Marks.
The methods of work are a combination of machine and hand tool woodworking. There's also a bit of metalworking that would be fun to explore. Even if the designs aren't to your tastes, these make good projects to acquire skills you can apply to other designs.
In addition to furniture-making techniques, there's information on finishing and ebonizing, and strategies for avoiding or correcting mistakes. If you're interested in working with big natural-edge slabs, there are several tips for working on them.
My favorite project is the slingshot dining chair by Michele Diener. Chairs are a particular challenge, because they take a beating. They have to survive being kicked, pushed, dragged, and bumped daily for years, yet not collapse under someone sitting on them. Meanwhile they have to be comfortable and lightweight.
Here's the full list of projects:
Matthew Micucci: Pop Top
Krys Shelley: Pencil Holder
Matty Micucci: Kazoo
Krys Shelley: Whisky Coasters
Nick Offerman: Berry Stool
Josh Salsbury: Jupiter Side Table
Nick Offerman: Beaver Tail Paddle
Rick Offerman: Scrappy Birdhouse
Jane Parrott: Craftsman Lamp
Matt Offerman: Slab Cribbage Board
Thomas Wilhoit: Claro Walnut Slab Table
Michele Diener: Slingshot Dining Chair
RH Lee: Slumber Jack Bed
Nick shaping the blade of the Beaver Tail Paddle project with a Lie-Nielsen Brian Boggs spokeshave, one of my favorite tools.Β Photo by Josh Salsbury, courtesy of Dutton.
If the excellent project drawings cause a ping of recognition, it's because they're by John Hartman, an illustrator for Fine Woodworking magazine, among others.
Before the last project, the book finishes up with an assortment of recipes contributed by the shop denizens for their lunches and cookouts.
That final project is another interesting one, a knockdown bed. I always find knockdown furniture fascinating because it goes together and comes apart like a puzzle, yet has to be sturdy in use. That poses significant challenges in design and execution.
Nick will be going on a book tour from October 17 through November 5 if you'd like an opportunity to see him.
Here I'll show how to make the portable leather sharpening kit. Leather is a good material for this because it's tough, flexible, easy to work with, and stiff enough to keep things steady on the bench in use. The leather I used is from a half-side piece ofΒ Blacksmith sideΒ from Crazy Crow Trading Post. I also make my strops from this leather.
The kit unrolled, showing coarse and fine India stones and strop.Β
The stone holders are made from 3/4" pine, excavated from solid pieces. I selected stock that was effectively quartersawn. They have a 3/4" border on each side, and 1 1/8" on each end. For 8" x 3" India stones, that comes out to 10 1/4" x 4". The strop is made from 1/2" plywood, sized to match.
For the main holders, I planed the stock down to 1/2" thick. These stones are 1/2". I excavated 1/4" deep recesses in all the holders, so that leaves 1/4" of stone above the holder. The loose center holder is 3/4", with a recess on each side.
Roughing the main holders to thickness with a wooden jack plane. With the iron set for a heavy cut, this is about 30 seconds of work.
Flattening them with a #7 jointer.
I outlined the recesses with a marking gauge, then excavated them with a router plane. This might seem like a lot of work, but it goes easily in this pine.Β Just take it a layer at a time, don't try to hog it all out once. The quartersawn material excavates very nicely.
I did the work on my bench-on-benchΒ to raise it up and save my back. This is much more comfortable standing upright.
Excavating the recesses lengthwise with a router plane.
Trimming up the end waste crossgrain.
Chopping down the endgrain with a chisel to do the next layer.
After excavating, cleaning up the edges. Be careful not to use too much pressure and split the piece along the grain.Β You want the stones to fit snugly. Make the excavation just a hair too tight, then enlarge it one shaving at a time.
Cleaning out precise endgrain corners.
The excavated pieces.
Using a holder as a template to mark out the strop base.
Sawing out the base. Plywood cuts easily with a crosscut saw. A ripsaw catches in the crossgrain plies and tears them.
Shooting the plywood edges to clean them up.
I did all the leather cutting with a chisel. A sharp chisel slices it like a hot knife through butter. To glue the leather and wood, I used contact cement, then rolled it with a J-roller. The cement and roller are available from home centers in the laminate section.
Using the strop base as a template to layout the strop leather with a white pencil.
Using a chisel to slice out the leather, just a hair large. There's a scrap underneath as a cutting board.
Brushing contact cement onto the leather and wood. This needs to dry for half an hour before putting them together.
Lining things up to work out the general size of the leather.
Marking out the side and upper and lower edges of the leather. Remember that there will be spaces between the wooden parts, so make it long. I cut it the same way with the chisel.
Easing the edges of the center holder so that it fits over the stones easily when I close up the kit.
The holders with the stones in place so I can figure out final spacing on the leather.
The contact cement is ready. The dividers hold the pieces apart to allow me to position them precisely. Then I pressed one end in place, slid the dividers out, and pressed the rest down, stretching it as I went to avoid wrinkles.
Applying even pressure all over with the J-roller. This needs to be flat, with no lumps.
Trimming to precise fit. The chisel chops down through the leather easily with hand pressure.
Lightly marking where the edge of the first holder will be.
Brushing contact cement on the back of the holder and its position on the leather.
After letting it dry, positioning the holder on the leather. I pressed it and rolled it like the strop.
With the first holder folded over in position on the stack, using my fingers to evenly space out the side. There needs to be enough slack that the center holder slides onto the stones as you roll it up. Don't make the corners tight.
Brushing on contact cement for the second holder. The blue masking tape works well, I should have thought of that before I did the first one.
After the cement has dried, positioning the stack. I added the screwdriver as an additional spacer I could pull out to press the first end in place. I rolled this afterwards.
Spacing out the second side to figure out where to position the strop. I cemented it in place like the stone holders.
Trimming the edges precisely.
For the snaps, I used a hardware store snap kit and a leather punch. An awl makes a nice improvised punch.
Punching holes for the snap bases.
Using an awl to make the center hole, where the punch wouldn't reach.
Setting the snap bases.
With the kit rolled up, tapping down with a mallet to mark where the snaps line up with the flap.
The marks in the leather.
Now that I know where the snaps will end up, laying out the flap. I made the flap end 3/4" past the centerline of the snaps. I cut the remaining leather off with the chisel, punched the holes and set the snap caps.
The completed kit sitting atop the matching miniature Japanese toolbox.
The sharpening kit and miniature toolbox make a nice portable setup that can be tucked into a larger toolbox. Both fit nicely in the hands.
The goal of the funding is to cover rent and expenses, and add improved equipment to increase membership. Ultimately the goal is for the makerspace to be self-sustaining from membership. For now, the membership isn't large enough. It takes up-front investment to establish the space and bring in equipment and programs that will attract people.
Some of the antique tools I use for teaching, with a few fun curls of wood.
A makerspace is a shared community resource that makes tools, equipment, and workspace available to people who wouldn't normally have acceess to them. This includes tools for working metal, plastic, wood, and other materials, from antique woodworking hand tools to high-tech CNC and 3D printers, laser cutters, electronics, and robotics. It's all hands-on, learning how to apply skills and make things yourself.
It's also a collaborative space, where people share knowledge and techniques. The multi-disciplinary, cross-functional environment stimulates all kinds of creative energy.
See this page for more information and please help keep LCM open!
My setup at Lie-Nielsen Toolworks. The bench with the banner has my tools displayed in Japanese toolboxes standing on end.
It's been a busy summer. First both my kids graduated from college (Yay, no more college bills! They'll just spend the rest of their lives paying off their school loans). Then I spent several weeks getting the house ready for my mother-in-law to move in with us, seeing as we had two empty bedrooms. Then a week of vacation for the fourth year at beautiful Varnum Pond, in Temple, ME.
Meanwhile I've been spending all my woodworking time and commuter rail rides working on my book. This has taken far longer than I expected, so I had to extend the completion date to December.
That's why I'm just now getting around to writing about the Lie-Nielsen Open House back on July 8 and 9 in Warren, ME. They were celebrating their 35th year.
The weather was damp, gray, and chilly, not what you'd expect the week after 4th of July. But at least we weren't roasting in the 95-degree heat that had been plaguing Boston.
As with last year, I was promoting my "Intro To Hand Tools" online video course at Popular Woodworking University. The Fall 2016 session starts Sept. 16. See here for details.
For my booth, I had built 4 Japanese toolboxes from Toshio Odate's book Japanese Woodworking Tools: Their Tradition, Spirit and Use. I fitted out two of them with custom tills to allow me to store and display my tools on the workbench. This was much better than having everything scattered all over the bench.
I spent the time showing people how to use the tools, letting them try things out, and demonstrating myΒ 2 stones and a stropΒ sharpening setup. People are always amazed at what sharp tools can do.
Sue Tolleson-Rinehart, from North Carolina, learning how to use a bowsaw to rough out curves.
I also had a copy of the May, 2016 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine to show off with my End Grain article,Β Woodworking Interval Training. I was thrilled and honored to close out an issue with Roy Underhill on the cover.
This has become quite an event, with demonstrators and visitors coming from all over the country.
Bob Van Dyke, of the Connecticut Valley School Of Woodworking, demonstrating sand shading for inlays.
Tico Vogt demonstrating his Super Chute Board.
Claire Minihan demonstrating her magnificent chairmaking travishers.
Chairmaker Peter Galbert shaving chair parts on a shaving horse.
The Guild Of Maine Woodworkers.
Popular Woodworking Magazine editor Megan Fitzpatrick. I finally got to meet her in person!
Hamilton Woodworks selling a variety of gorgeous marking gauges.
Joshua Klein demonstrating chopping a mortise and promoting his beautiful new publication, Mortise And Tenon Magazine.
Freddy Roman trimming dovetails.
Left, Rory Wood of Rare Woods USA behind his stack of beautiful imported woods. Right, Travis Knapp, who sells Rory's wood on eBay as RareWoodsUS.
Tom McLaughlin of Epic Woodworking. The chair mockup is from his episode of Rough Cut with Tommy Mac on PBS, where they built a library chair.
The Apprenticeshop making oars.
Roger Benton of Lie-Nielsen in the showroom, demonstrating one of their low-angle planes.
Christian Becksvoort with a beautiful small Shaker cabinet in cherry.
Isaac Smith of Blackburn Tools, center, and Matt Bickford, right, with his beautiful moulding planes.
Phil Lowe, of the Furniture Institute of Massachusetts.
Matt Cianci, the Saw Wright, demonstrating saw sharpening.
Garrett Hack working on a lovely small side table.
Isaac Smith's frame and backsaws for sale. I have one of his large frame saw kits, I just need to build it. The thing is awesome for resawing.
The featured speaker for the Saturday night lobster bake was Garry Chinn, founder of Garrett Wade Tools. He was Tom Lie-Nielsen's first and only boss, before Tom set off on his own to found Lie-Nielsen Toolworks.
One of Good To The Grain's contemporary designs, an address plaque.
I love seeing people grow. One of my readers, Diane Decocq, has made the jump to starting her own custom woodworking business, Good To The Grain.
As part of expanding her business, she wants to expand her skills. To do this, she's planning to attend the Southwest School Of Woodworking, in Phoenix, AZ.
She's started a Kickstarter project to fund her studies. This will cover materials and tuition. In return for pledged funds, she offers a variety of custom-made items.
Go toΒ her Kickstarter pageΒ to learn more or help fund her classes. It includes a video slideshow of some of her work.
If you're unfamiliar with how Kickstarter works, you can get more information at their "about" page. But the short description is that it's a website to allow people to fund creative projects and receive items resulting from that funding. This is known as crowdfunding. By helping in small amounts, a crowd of people are able to pool their resources to help achieve something bigger.
The Southwest School Of Woodworking looks like a great place. Good course selection, good list of instructors, good workspace.
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