Every time I teach at Roy Underhill’s “The Woodwright’s School,” he gives me a rash of crap for two things: my waterstones and my plastic, pressurized plant sprayer that I use to moisten my stones.
He now begrudgingly ignores my waterstones, perhaps after I offered data that many early sharpening stones in the Western tradition were also lubricated with water. But the plastic plant sprayer just won’t cut it in the 1930s-era environment that Roy cultivates in his school.
And so this week I bought an old(ish) brass plant mister so that I can avoid the conversation about plastic this year. The mister isn’t particularly old, but it was cheap and works just fine. You can dispense water by tipping the mister forward (like a watering can) or press the top plunger to get some mist from the nozzle.
I’m mentioning this because I am indeed teaching a class in 2015 at The Woodwright’s School. Roy released the 2015 schedule last week and my name wasn’t on it. I got a few messages along the lines of: Did Roy catch you sleeping with his dog?
The answer is no, he did not catch me.
We haven’t set a date for the class yet because Roy is trying to coordinate it with shooting a couple of episodes of “The Woodwright’s Shop.” When we do settle on a date, I’ll announce it here. At this point, I think the class is going to be on how to make the collapsible bookshelves from “Campaign Furniture.” A fun project.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. The headline of this blog entry is in tribute to Megan Fitzpatrick (who also is supposed to be teaching at Roy’s in 2015). A reader complained to Megan’s boss that I was a “bad influence” on her. If you know Megan, you know how funny that is.
Say this sprayer looks much more like the tools in your chest.
Paul
Chris, I attended one of Roy’s classes and one of the other attendees had brought their own tools – Japanese pull saw and some kind of magnetic dovetail jig – both were confiscated for the duration of the day – Roy said “.. we are doing English joinery not Japanese ” that was a lesson in itself.
I know. I have to hide my tape measure in my pants.
“Come and get it if you want it,” is all I say.
Be ready for the day he calls your bluff.
I’m ready. I also keep a roll of quarters there….
Also, my mom thinks so.
“Say no more, say no more”; I still remember the bit gauge picture:)
I had almost forgotten that…almost
Rob Young still cuddles with that bit brace depth stop.
I love to see the two of you together it is always fun and I love the way you catch him off guard with some of your puns and innuendos (test nickels and the one about the nice rack in the tool chest)
The second I saw the picture without reading Roy Underhill popped into my head. Maybe it reminded me of the old school torch he used in an episode to solder.
that’s what I thought also when I saw it.
I wonder what kind of djinn will come out of this. In the end it might be a Japanese one… Take care.
That thing looks a lot like Roy’s alcohol torch. Don’t get ’em mixed up!
Perhaps a dainty Art Deco perfume atomizer for your finer grit stones?
most of my bookshelves are collapsible. I always enjoy the blog. Keep up the good work.
Sent from my iPad
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