Lee Valley Tools is now selling our curved card scrapers – so if you are an international reader, this is a great way to obtain one.
Thanks to Lee Valley for agreeing to carry this tool!
— Christopher Schwarz
Category: Uncategorized
2 Classes in Florida – Chairs & Toolboxes
I’m teaching two classes at the Florida School of Woodwork in Tampa in February 2020. Registration began yesterday, and let me repeat the two most important words from my first sentence: Florida and February.
The Tampa school is relatively new and has been the location of Fine Woodworking’s Hands On events, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about the school and its facility. Here are some details on my classes.
Chair Making, Feb. 17-21, 2020
We’ll be making the American Welsh Stick Chair that is featured in “The Anarchist’s Design Book.” It is a great introduction to chairmaking – no previous experience required. And the emphasis is on using mostly common woodworking tools and processes. No steam bending or green woodworking is required for this class.
Japanese Siding-lid Box, Feb. 22-23, 2020
In this class we’ll make a reproduction of a Japanese sliding-lid box I measured while I was overseas. It’s a fun project to make. Though the joinery is simple – finger joints and steel dome-head nails – the real challenge is keeping all the details crisp and producing beautiful surfaces.
I hope you will consider joining me. I don’t teach many classes these days, and I’ve never taught this far south.
— Christopher Schwarz
Lie-Nielsen Will be Here Tomorrow & Saturday
Oh my. You are looking a little ill. Are you feeling OK? Perhaps you should stay home from work on Friday and rest.
Lie-Nielsen Toolworks is putting on one of its Hand Tool Events in our workshop this Friday (10 a.m.-6 p.m.) and Saturday (10 a.m.-5 p.m.). This free event is an outstanding way to learn about handwork. All of the tools are sharp and set up. And you have expert instructors on hand who can show you how to use them.
It’s all very laid back. No high-pressure sales tactics. Just tools, wood and good information.
In addition to the Lie-Nielsen staff, there are guest demonstrators, which makes the event even better.
Andy Glenn from The Woodworking School at Pine Croft will weave a hickory bark seat at 2 p.m. Friday and will demonstrate chisel sharpening at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Members of our local chapter of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers will demonstrate inlay and stringing.
Mark Hicks from Plate 11 Workbench Co. will have his travel bench there to show, plus some other items, including a low workbench he’s developed.
Jeff Hamilton from Hamilton Tools will also be here with some of his marking gauges (and I hope some of his marking knives)
We will have our full line of books and Crucible tools on hand. And we are going to give away one copy of the deluxe “Roubo on Furniture.” Measuring 12-1/4″ wide x 17-1/4″ tall by almost 2-1/4″ thick, “Roubo on Furniture” is the largest and most luxurious book we have printed – it sells for $550. No purchase necessary, and you need not be present to win.
Where is It? What About Parking?
Our storefront is at 837 Willard St. in Covington, Ky. 41011. We are in the middle of an old residential neighborhood, one block off Covington’s Main Strasse. Parking is almost never a problem and it is free (no meters!). If you do have to park a block or two away, the neighborhood is perfectly safe.
If the street parking immediately around our building is full, try Pike Street, which is one block over. There are lots of spaces there.
Where Should I Eat? Or Get a Beer Afterward?
Our shop is walking distance to dozens of great restaurants and bars. After you check out the tools, you can easily get a great meal or a nice drink.
On Saturday, Tuba Baking Co. is having its grand opening. They are at 212 Pike St., a five minute walk from us. Amazing authentic pretzels and other German delights.
We are also very partial to Libby’s Southern Comfort. They are the cure for anyone who has a fried chicken deficiency.
A more complete list of places to eat is here.
— Christopher Schwarz
I am this Dang Clock
I bought an old Westclox school clock for the shop right before our building’s 2018 Christmas party. Why did I buy a clock for a party? Read this.
When I received the old clock I plugged it in. Nothing happened. So I did the natural thing with old mechanisms. I made sure it wasn’t heating up, and I walked away.
About 30 minutes later, the clock was running. After some testing, I determined it was losing 10 minutes a day (this model has no way to adjust its run speed). So I did the natural thing with mechanical devices. I corrected the error every morning and let it run.
Nine months later, the clock is running perfectly. I haven’t touched it in a month.
Unlike many digital products, mechanical devices tend to work better the more you use them. The more I use my laptop, the more disk errors accumulate, the processor slows and eventually something crashes and I have to restart. With my old machines, the more they run, the better they run. Yes, there is maintenance (lubrication, of course). But a squirt of grease while the machine is running is all it takes to keep things moving.
I operate the about the same. Mornings are hard. When I teach at schools where they want you working at 7 a.m., I warn my students that my mental capacity hovers at 40 percent until 9 a.m.
I’ve always been this way, even when I was 16. Coffee helps. But being awake and moving is the only real solution. By 11 a.m. I will talk your ear off (about woodworking). And I’ll go until midnight – until I pull the plug on my brain.
I was reminded of all this today because I had to buy a turntable. My old 1970s-era BSR finally crapped out for good. I tried some of the new turntables that have flashy electronics but few mechanical amenities (you want me to change the belt to go from 45 to 33 rpm like on a drill press?). I have not been impressed.
So I went to the local used stereo store where I’ve been shopping for 23 years. I’m not an audiophile. Vinyl is just the way I prefer to consume music. So I told them I wanted to spend $200 or $300 on a turntable. And they said: That’s not possible.
All the vinyl enthusiasts have scooped up the old and excellent turntables.
“So what have you got?” I asked.
“An old BSR,” he replied. “It might last you another 30 years.”
It looked like my old BSR with its fake wood-grain stickers, but this one is a tad fancier as it has pitch control. An upgrade.
I paid the guy (it cost almost nothing) and took it home. I plugged it in and turned it on.
Nothing happened.
You know the drill. I walked away.
Now I am on my fourth album, fine tuning the tone arm so it will neither skip nor wear out my old records, some of which I’ve owned since 1986 (R.E.M.’s “Chronic Town” on blue vinyl for one).
I know that Britt Daniels of “Spoon” sings “Don’t buy the Realistic.” But honestly, in this day and age, you should probably buy the Realistic.
— Christopher Schwarz
‘The Anarchist’s Design Book’ is Done Designed
Minutes before I left town last week to teach a chairmaking class I completed the layout for the expanded edition of “The Anarchist’s Design Book.” Megan Fitzpatrick is editing it (perhaps even as I type this). Briony Morrow-Cribbs needs to finish the illustrations. Plus we need a new index and the final slaying of the typos.
But we are on track to have it out by the end of 2019.
The expanded edition is a whopping 653 pages, up from 456 pages in the original edition. And given another year, I could have added a couple hundred more pages.
The point of me telling you this is that there is still a lot of ground out there for all of us to explore when it comes to staked and boarded furniture forms.
Here are just a few of the pieces I opted not to build for the expanded edition. All of them are exciting projects, but we are pushing up against the limits of our bindery.
Staked Workbenches: Yes, this would be exploring the low Roman form some more, but also getting into the Chinese variants and several staked workbench forms that are waist-high.
Ladders: I love ladders. And the staked joint is an idea way to build orchard-style ladders, plus I sketched up some library ladders, which we need for our shop.
Settee: I failed to design a staked settee that thrilled me. But I know that eventually I’ll get it right.
Boarded Settle: I’ve always liked the high-back settles common in the UK and in many Colonial American homes. They also offer options for storage beneath the seat.
Staked Dining Table: Beyond the trestle tables shown in the original edition, I have sketched up some full-size dining tables that are similar to the worktable.
Dining Chairs: I have a few side chairs in my sketchbook that are simpler than the armchair but more complex than the staked side chair in the original edition.
Boarded Doors: I had planned on a chapter about making simple boarded cabinets with boarded doors (what some people call “board and batten” doors). Basic clinched-nail construction.
Staked Lounge Chairs: After discovering the Irish Gibson chair and building one, I considered adding it to the expanded edition, but then I decided it should be a book on its own….
I could go on, but I’m already tired of typing and still have 20 emails to answer.
— Christopher Schwarz