Handworks 2015 & the H.O. Studley Tool Chest

On May 15-16, 2015, smack dab in the middle of Iowa farm country will be the woodworking event of the decade, if not the present century.

During those two days at the Amana Colonies, Handworks 2015 will take place – the largest gathering of hand-tool makers, practitioners and enthusiasts. The cost to attend is nothing. Handworks is a grassroots event organized by the good folks at Benchcrafted, and is about as far away from a high-pressure sale as Amana is from Wall Street.

Full details are at Handworks.co.

A few minutes away, Don Williams of The Barn at White Run has arranged for a public exhibit of the H.O. Studley tool chest and workbench. This is the first time these objects have been on display since the chest left the Smithsonian (and it might very well be the last time they are on display for another lifetime). This exhibit is being arranged without any corporate or public sponsorship. Williams, who spent a life-long career at the Smithsonian, is personally arranging the exhibit. The cost to see the exhibit will be $25.

Full details are at StudleyToolChest.com.

Lost Art Press will be at Handworks selling our full range of books, and many of our authors will be there to sign their books. Roy Underhill will be there to sign his new novel, “Calvin Cobb: Radio Woodworker!” and deliver the keynote address on Saturday morning. We also will have copies of Williams’ book on H.O. Studley. Chairmaker Peter Galbert and George Walker will also be there.

The list of hand-tool makers and woodworkers who will be at the Handworks event is like nothing I’ve ever seen since the first Woodworking in America in Berea, Ky. They are coming from all over the world. The following is a preliminary list and will likely change a bit during the next 12 months. Check the Handworks web site for the most current list.

Anderson Planes
Bad Axe Tools
Benchcrafted
Blue Spruce Toolworks
Blum Tool
Brese Plane
Claire Minihan
Czeck Edge
Daed Toolworks
David Barron
Elkhead Tools
Hamilton Tools
Hock Tools
Jeff Miller
Knew Concepts
Lie-Nielsen Toolworks
Lake Erie Toolworks
Lost Art Press & Friends
Eccentric Toolworks
Roy Underhill
George Walker
Lee and Lindsay Lee
M.S. Bickford
Old Street Tool
Plate 11 Bench Co.
Patrick Leach
Philly Planes
Peter Ross
Sauer and Steiner
Scott Meeks
Slav Jelesijevich
Tools for Working Wood
Veritas
Vesper Tools
Vogt Toolworks

This year, the Handworks event is expanding into a second barn and adding green woodworkers, blacksmiths and timber-framers into the mix. Here are some of the exhibitors there:
Jarrod Stone Dahl
Peter Ross
Claire Minihan
Lee and Lindsay Lee
Jim Sannerud
Peter Galbert
Tim Manney
Carl Swensson
Don Weber
Greg Pennington
Mike Siemsen

If you attended the first Handworks event in 2013, then you know that the 2015 gathering will be something special, if not extraordinary. Not only will you get to talk with fellow hand-tool enthusiasts and learn about the tools we use from the makers themselves, you’ll also get to wander around the beautiful and bucolic Amana Colonies.

I hope you’ll consider joining us there.

— Christopher Schwarz