Megan and I are teaching two scholarship classes for The Chairmaker’s Toolbox this fall. I’m teaching a chair class (surprise) Sept. 15-19. Megan is teaching a Dutch toolchest class (double surprise) on Oct. 17-19.
For these classes, we supply all the materials, plus lunches, morning pastries and a yay-you-did-it dinner for the students. If you would like to contribute a little something to offset those expenses, we have created a link that allows you to do that.
Note that these contributions are not tax-deductible. If by some chance we collect more money than we need, we donate the excess to The Chairmaker’s Toolbox.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to help these classes in the past. The Chairmaker’s Toolbox is absolutely creating the next generation of woodworkers. We’ve had some amazing students who are now professional woodworkers and are teaching others. So it’s working.
A great exhibit on early Michigan logging I found recently during a trip.
Almost every week – especially during the summer – we get messages from readers who want help with an upcoming trip. They are headed to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and would like a list of woodworking stuff in the area that they can visit.
For me, answering these questions is time-consuming. I have to go back and consult my notes, my blog and my photo library. Then I have to find the websites for these places and write a sentence or two about why this place is important.
Well, I’m not going to answer these questions anymore. Instead, I’m going to send readers to the blog entry you are reading that explains how I research an area for woodworking sites before I visit it.
And we’re also not going to publish a woodworking travel guide. Most published travel guides are for people who are too lazy/clueless/disconnected to do a little research themselves. And we don’t have the resources (or desire) to publish such a guide.
(Apologies if I sound salty. I’m not.)
Note that my woodworking interests are different than yours. I don’t get goo-goo eyes for veneer mills, ornate palace furniture or places that sell only exotic hardwoods. I like to look at furniture made for normal people, old workshops, factories and museums that specialize in vernacular furniture and architecture.
Anyway, here’s what I do before I travel.
Many open-air museums have relaxed rules about examining the furniture.
House Museums, History Museums & Open-air Museums
This should be obvious. Seach for the name of the place you are going, <place name>, plus the word “museum.” Remember that Americans tend to think of cities as places. Other cultures might think in terms of provinces or regions. Usually this sort of search will call up a lot of the high-class places that feature oil paintings and sculpture. If they have any furniture, it’s likely to be fancy.
And that’s why my next search is <place name> plus “history museum.” Every little town with more than 100 people is bound to have a local history museum. And these hidden gems almost always have furniture pieces that were owned by the founders or made in the area. Plus, the volunteers who work there are almost always a fire hose of information about the area. Searches on the internet don’t always turn up every museum or installation because some of them are too obscure.
Next search: <place name> plus “open-air museum.” Or start here. This list is huge, but most of the open-air museums I have visited are not on it. What’s an “open-air museum?” Typically it’s a place where a bunch of buildings from different eras have been gathered. (Usually the buildings were going to be torn down.) Most times, these building are filled with furniture and wooden decorative objects – spoons, plates, goblets, racks, buckets and on and on.
You get to see pieces in context. A visit to one of these museums can fuel a lifetime of research.
If I’m headed to a big city, I’ll try <place name> plus “decorative arts.” Some museums lower themselves to have a decorative arts wing. And one of the decorative arts is furniture.
Or I’ll look for museums of “farm life” or agriculture.” You might have no interest in farming, but the exhibits will be filled with handmade woodwork. I think you need to see handmade hayrakes and pig benches and dough bowls.
Finally, I’ll look for “house museums.” Sometimes the words “house museums” don’t call up what you want. These places might be called the “Aiken-Rhett House” or the “Nathanial Russell House” (two of my favorites in Charleston, S.C.). Sometimes these house museums are masquerading as a history museum or a museum about a person, such as the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio. So when you look for <place name> plus “museum,” scan the list for museums that are the “Fancy Lord & Lass House.” They’ll have furniture. It might be fancy. But they probably also had servants. And their furniture can be quite compelling.
Craft Fairs & Craft Galleries
Most towns and cities have craft fairs and farmer’s markets on the weekends. There you will find woodworkers: carvers, turners and furniture makers. You might also find a blacksmith or two (for hinges, hooks and nails). Go to Germany during November and December, and you’ll find endless amounts of woodworking at each town’s Christmas market. And you’ll find woodworkers to talk to as well.
Antique Malls & Galleries
I love antique malls when I’m looking for tools and oddball furniture ideas. And I love antique galleries when I want to see expensive stuff (even if it is expensive vernacular stuff, like at Robert Young Antiques). Also, if you are going to Europe, look for “folk art” galleries or “art brut” galleries. Over there, “folk art” is not just “art,” it also encompasses furniture and decorative objects. And Europe has a ton of it.
Factories Old & New
I love visiting factories that make furniture, tools and almost anything else (paper, paint etc.). While visiting Holland, Michigan, a few years ago Lucy and I found a lot of old Arts & Crafts factories in the area. Plus the corporate headquarters for Herman Miller. What, they don’t offer tours on the website? Don’t be shy. It doesn’t hurt to walk in, be nice and ask if someone could give you a quick tour. (I’m always happy to give a warehouse tour to visitors who ask.)
A crazy selection at Keim.
Lumberyards & Mills
Another obvious one. If there are interesting lumberyards or mills in the area, I’m going to pay them a visit. And if it’s a mill or a kiln, I’m going to ask nicely for a quick peek or tour. Plus, I just love looking at wood. While at Keim Lumber in Millersburg, Ohio (Amish country), I spent an hour looking at their wood selection. They specialize in domestic species that other mills won’t cut, dry or sell. Have you ever seen Tree of Heaven for sale? They have it.
Silviculture & Forestry
If <place name> has trees or public forests, those are a great way to connect with an area. What sort of trees live here? (I use my “Picture This” app on my phone to explore the different species if they aren’t labeled). Botanical gardens can be awesome, or they can be all about flowers.
If you don’t like walking amongst the trees, you probably haven’t tried it.
Curiosity on the Ground
Most of all, talk to people while you’re at <place name>. Tell them you make furniture. Most people will be fascinated and helpful in your search for things relating to furniture, tools and wood.
I think that the internet is incredibly lacking when it comes to exploring the real world. A smile and an honest question can go a long way.
This comb-back chair is based on the chair on the cover of “The Stick Chair Book,” with some modifications detailed below. The finish is fresh milk paint (a recipe from a forthcoming book) tinted with a French mineral pigment called “saffron.”
This particular chair is set up for lounging. This summer, I have been tweaking this design to make it more suitable for reading by the fire. The back is pitched at 20°, and the seat (about 16-3/4″ high) has some additional pitch. The chair is quite comfortable, and I wasn’t keen on selling it (which is rare for me).
The seat, legs and stretchers are in red elm, which is tenacious and lightweight. The arm and comb are white oak, which bends well. And the sticks are fast-growth hickory, which is flexible and strong. All the joints are assembled with hide glue, which we make from scratch here.
In addition to changing the seating geometry, I made some small design changes to this chair that I’m happy with. The stretchers are now oval/rectangular octagons, which makes them a little lighter (visually) but just as strong as equilateral octagons. Above the seat, I omitted two of the short sticks to create some negative space between the back sticks and the short sticks. This gives the chair a bit more of a Welsh feel and breaks up the solid wall of sticks presented in the original design.
The arm has the most changes. It’s steambent, like the original design, but is now fully shaped with spokeshaves. The original design had chamfers. The hands taper to a bit of a point (an old shape that I love), and the tapers lean toward the outside of the chair, giving it a welcoming look. All these design changes will be discussed and explained in the forthcoming revised edition of “The Stick Chair Book.”
The finish is a durable milk paint we make here at the shop. It has a low sheen, unlike the chalky look of commercial milk paint. No topcoat is necessary. The paint, applied by Megan Fitzpatrick, shows some subtle variations of color in places — it’s not an automotive finish. The chair as a whole was shaped entirely by hand, so there are subtle tool marks evident. These are the by-products of handwork.
How to Buy the Chair
The chair is $2,300. That price includes shipping and crating to anywhere in the lower 48. If you wish to buy the chair, send an email to lapdrawing@lostartpress.com before 3 p.m. (Eastern) on Wednesday, August 27. Please use the subject line: “Saffron chair.” In the email please include your:
U.S. shipping address
Daytime phone number (this is for the trucking quote only)
If you are the “winner,” the chair will be shipped to your door. The price includes the crate and all shipping charges. Alternatively, the chair can be picked up at our storefront. (I’m sorry but the chair cannot be shipped outside the U.S.)
We have a limited run of handmade slipcases hand printed with the image of a honey bee (the symbol of workers everywhere). The slipcase comes with a copy of “The Woodworker’s Pocket Book” plus brass mounting hardware. And we are offering the two together at a special price.
This project began when Texas Heritage Woodworks was raising money to help build out the bathrooms in their new building. We bought 200 slipcases to help them (we have bathroom issues ourselves).
But what to do with all these slipcases?
Katherine Schwarz, our newest employee, hand carved a woodblock image of the honey bee. Then she applied the print to the slipcases with a linen-colored paint. Each print is unique, and many of the bees have their own personality as a result (I love the ones that have one big eye and one little eye).
We have only so many of these slipcases. So buy now to avoid disappointment.
The slipcase is designed to be hung on the lid of a tool chest or on the door of a tool cabinet – or wherever you might need to keep the pocket book handy.
We are now selling jars of Soft Wax 2.0 – our favorite finish for bare wood – which we make at our Covington headquarters.
An 8-ounce jar of Soft Wax 2.0 is $25. Or you can buy a kit that includes the wax, an applicator pad and the huck-weave towels that do an outstanding job of buffing out the finish.
We make Soft Wax 2.0 using only three ingredients: purified linseed oil, cosmetic-grade beeswax and a touch of 100 percent citrus solvent (made from orange peels). The finish is non-toxic and can be applied without gloves.
Soft Wax 2.0 is an ideal finish for pieces that will be touched a lot, such as chairs, turned objects and spoons. The finish does not build a film, so the wood feels like wood – not plastic. Because of this, the wax does not provide a strong barrier against water or alcohol. If you use it on countertops or a kitchen table, you will need to touch it up every once in a while. (We have it on our kitchen countertops and love it.) Simply add a little more Soft Wax to a deteriorated finish and the repair is done – no stripping or additional chemicals needed.
Soft Wax 2.0 is not intended to be used over a film finish (such as lacquer, shellac or varnish). It is best used on bare wood. However, you can apply it over a porous finish, such as milk paint. It also can be applied over bare wood that has been stained or dyed. You can easily remove cured Soft Wax 2.0 from a surface by flooding the wood with mineral spirits and wiping it away.
You can read more about the wax and how to apply it here.
