I have had a last-minute class opening in my Moravian workbench class at The Woodwright’s School in Pittsboro, N.C., June 14 to 19.
I know this is short notice, but if you can make it, you are guaranteed lots of fun, hard work and the general mayhem that is building a workbench in five days. Of course, there is also beer to be had by all at the bar next door – after class only (sorry). The sign-up page is here.
– Will Myers
Normally around this time every month Chris writes a blog post to tell you that the Lost Art Press storefront in Covington, Ky., will be open on the coming Saturday. But with Chris visiting his (kind of) ancestral homeland, it’s up to me to announce and host the storefront’s open house.
And so, we’re going to do things a bit differently this weekend. Of course, the storefront (at 837 Willard St. in Covington, Ky.) will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday (June 9). But this week, I’ll be setting the shop up for a particular set of activities: whittlin’, chire mekin’ an crown craftin’.
Yes – this weekend, in keeping with the recent research Chris and I have been doing on Chester Cornett, I’ll be setting up the shop for a number of Appalachian craft activities.
Also, “Cut & Dried” has arrived at the storefront and will be available for purchase and perusal. I’ve been reading through it over the past few days, and I’m loving it.
If you’re looking for more to do in the area this weekend:
See you this weekend!
Every so often someone contacts me to ask for advice about quitting a day job and going into furniture making as a full-time endeavor. They’ve taken some classes and built some pieces — sometimes eye-poppingly impressive ones — on their own time. Some have had paid commissions and amassed a months’-long backlog for more paid work that leads them to think it’s time to take the plunge. Inundated by images of other woodworkers on social media — usually without any indication as to which ones are making furniture for a living, as distinct from in their spare time, or those who work at it full-time with support from a well-employed partner* — the people who contact me with this deeply existential inquiry seem to feel they’re missing out on the #selfemployedandlovingit lifestyle.
I invariably ask about their circumstances. Do they live alone? Have a family to support? Is there a partner with a regular source of income and benefits such as health insurance (which, depending on your age and other factors, can easily cost more per month than a mortgage)? I also point out that the good times can’t be relied upon to last; when your household income depends entirely on making furniture — a product that most people consider desirable, rather than necessary — economic downturns can be devastating.**
But self-employment is not the only option. In the past month I’ve heard from three furniture makers who are looking to hire.
Running my own furniture business was my dream, too, when I completed the basic City & Guilds furniture training in 1980. Luckily for me, I was disabused of that dream by my first woodworking employer, Roy Griffiths, who paid me to learn what full-time professional woodworking might mean. (I say “might mean” by way of acknowledging that every woodworker’s situation is different.) I followed that experience with work in another English workshop, then came back to the States and learned a whole new set of techniques and lessons about the business side of furniture making at Wall-Goldfinger in the late 1980s. To be clear, at no time during those years did I view myself as jumping from one employer to another in order to learn; I’m portraying my employment experiences in terms of learning here because I now have a sense of the invaluable education I obtained by working for others.
If you’re contemplating going pro, consider the traditional route — that of working for an established woodworking business. You will learn a ton of new techniques (trust me; every shop I’ve worked in has done things differently) in addition to gaining insight into what making furniture or cabinets on a daily basis really entails. You will also learn about the business of woodworking in the most real-world way. And you will be paid for this learning!
— Nancy Hiller, author of Making Things Work
*Save your outraged comments. I mean no disparagement to anyone. I’m simply pointing out that curated images on social media lead to inferences that in many cases do not match the underlying reality.
**Stay tuned for my interview with Aimé Ontario Fraser, who speaks poignantly about her own experience during the Great Recession. Also check out Paul Downs’s book, which is an excellent read.
This Saturday and Sunday, I’ll be here at the Lost Art Press Storefront running my second class on building the Cabinetmaker’s Sector. The last class was fantastic and yielded a great batch of new sectors.
I’ve had a spot open up at the last minute, and with an error on our event management website the waiting list was disabled and deleted. So – allow me to extend an invitation to one of you out there to come down this weekend and learn some toolmaking! I’ve copied the class description, tool list and cost below. A quick note on the tool list – because this is last minute, don’t be concerned if you don’t have one or two of the tools. I’ll have plenty of extras to lend out during the class.
If you’d like to attend, let me know by emailing me at brendan@burn-heart.com. I’m thrilled to be teaching this class – and I want to get a full class of new sectors out there into the world!
Details below:
Build the Cabinetmaker’s Sector with Brendan Gaffney
June 2-3, 2018
Cost: $300, which includes all materials. (Email me to register a spot at brendan@burn-heart.com)
In this two-day class, students will build their own Cabinetmaker’s Sector, my modernized design for the ancient geometer’s tool, used for drawing, drafting and (in my shop) the layout of dimensions and joinery on woodwork. The class will revolve around the skills of modern hand-tool makers, including careful marking and measuring, mixing metal and wood, hand shaping, finishing and (of course) how to use the tool.
Each student will be provided the wood and the necessary brass hinges and pins, everything needed to produce the sector. The first day will revolve around affixing the brass and wooden tabs into the tools, riveting the leaves together, flattening and lapping the tools and reviewing the principles behind the geometry of the sector. The second day will revolve around shaping the sectors, stamping and inking the sector marks, finishing the sectors and learning to use them in the shop. Every student will leave with a completed sector, plus the knowledge of how it works and how to use it.
Tool list:
Optional (bring ‘em if you got ‘em):
My favorite countersink for wood has always been the square-drive ones used with a bit brace. They are easy to control and, when sharp, are quite fast.
I forgot to bring a countersink for a project I was working on today, and the only thing I had on hand were two that were made to cut metal. I have had them for a couple of years and use them to countersink the screws in the metal spiders on the candle stands I make, but I had not tried them on wood. Come to find out they work great in wood, too.
These are available from McMaster-Carr for less than $20 each. The two I have are part numbers 2724A122 (cuts up to 7/16″) and 2724A132 (cuts up to 9/16″). These cut the cleanest countersink I have ever seen in both soft and hard woods. They also work well powered by a simple hand drill.
— Will Myers