Category: Uncategorized

I am not able to put into words to convey the depth of what I am learning here. The information is so relevant and voluminous that my brain is almost on overload – and yes I am taking notes. Over the last two days I attended “Anatomy of a Masterpiece” by Jeffrey Greene, “Measure Twice or Not at All” by Jim Tolpin, “Unlocking the Secrets of Traditional Design” by George Walker and “Early American Furniture: Casework and Detailing” by Jeff Headley and Steve Hamilton, as well as the keynote address by Thomas Moser. Wow! The best part of this event is the Q&A sessions. Yesterday I got to sit with Jeff Greene, and Jeff Headley and Steve Hamilton, for an hour and a half and ask whatever question I could think of, from glues to tools to shell and fan carvings. There were only four of us in one session and 10 of us in the other! Do you know what it would cost to get these guys to put down their tools and focus on all your questions?

Jeff and Steve go 100 percent and they travel heavy. They brought a number of their pieces and of course they all come apart. Someone asked Jeff about secret compartments and within a minute he had taken the pigeonhole assembly apart from a slant top desk to show all the compartments and how they are made. Man this is gold!

Greene’s presentation consisted of a well-detailed trip through the development of furniture from the Jacobean period to the Federal. Included were a number of slides that showed close-ups of details that indicated a change in design. Greene also covered the reasons why the styles changed. I can now tell the difference between a Queen Ann and Chippendale piece. Greene also talked about the regional differences in furniture between Rhode Island and other parts of the Colonies. And get this, he is producing approximately 50 pieces a year working alone!!!

Jim Tolpin gave a very thought-provoking talk about the difference between machine and hand-tool work and design. The evening was capped off by a presentation from George Walker concerning the use of classic column orders in determining the size of a piece of furniture. The Marketplace (Lee Valley, Lie-Nielsen, Blue Spruce, Benchcrafted and the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM), to name just a few, was great. SAPFM was running the Hand Tool Olympics, led by Mike Siemsen. The first day’s contest was ripping a board. The cut was timed and examined for square. Fortunately, it was pine and the saws were sharp. I thought I did good ripping the 3′ board in 20 seconds but was informed that Deneb Puchalski of Lie-Nielsen had done it in 10 seconds. I felt better when I was told he was considered ineligible to win a prize. My elation was deflated when Mike said I was also ineligible. Oh well.

More later.

– John

So how would I describe Lost Art Press? To say we are hand tool enthusiasts, purveyors of the lost art etc, is all true but it doesn’t quite capture our real spirit. I prefer woodworking adventurers. You know like the people from “Land of the Lost” wandering around the dangerous and fantastic. So to keep in the spirit of LAP while on vacation I agreed to jump into an ocean kayak and head directly toward a pod of dolphins. I had seen these young girls do this numerous times and it looked quite easy so what could go wrong?

While hauling the kayak out past the breakers, the bow caught a wave and slammed into my chin causing a small chip in my tooth. As those of us over 40 realize, it is just as easy to get hurt as it was when we were in our 20’s, the difference is the length of time it takes to heal. Like the time a helpful student pointed out an error of mine with a left that put my nose into the shape of the letter “C”. It took three months for the swelling to reduce and my nose to look close enough to call straight. I also nursing a groin pull but that’s another blog entry.

So anyway, I had this chipped tooth that needed to be fixed. I dismissed the obvious dremel with sanding disc as so 90’s. I wanted a hand tool. Ah an emery board!! Now I had to violate certain hand tool maxims like not using the entire length of the tool. My mouth was in the way which caused excessive wear in small areas of the board which required me to float the entire board prior to next use. But the grit was perfect! I say about 20 or so strokes did the trick. And now the photos…

Hand tools are fun!

Here I am embarrassed to show my horrible injury!

Wawaweewaweee! Another hand tool miracle!

If you are an accomplished finisher, stop reading right here. There’s nothing for you below. I hear there are some funny new movies of monkeys ironing linen shorts at YouTube.

This week I’m applying many thin coats of varnish to a chest of drawers that I’ve been building during nights and weekends at my shop at home. The finish recipe is my favorite for black cherry: First apply a coat of boiled linseed oil, let the project sit in the sun and allow the oil to cure in a warm room for a week or so.

Then wipe on thin coats of a satin varnish that has been thinned with low-odor paint thinner (also called mineral spirits). I like three parts varnish to one part paint thinner. Sand between each coat with a broken-in #180-grit sanding sponge. After about six coats, the result is a warm and durable finish. It takes time for each coat of finish to dry, but that gives me time to write, sharpen and tune up the machines for my next project.

This weekend I stumbled into two small details that make this finish easier. The first detail concerns the sanding sponge. When sanding each coat, the process creates a fine powder all over the project. With varnish, I have found it best to remove this powder before applying the following coat (it’s not as necessary as when you use shellac or lacquer because those finishes dissolve and bond to the coats below).

I like to use a tack rag to remove this dust, but I am tackless this weekend. So I started thinking about tacky things in my shop. I half-pondered even making my own tack rag. Then I looked at my 3M sanding sponge.

Hmmm. One side is abrasive. The other is a sponge. Duh, I wonder if the sponge side would pull up the powder? It does indeed, and quite well. And when the sponge becomes loaded you can wash it out and renew it. I can’t believe I’ve been using sanding sponges since “Silver Spoons” was on television and never thought of this.

Second detail: Gloves. Whenever I work with solvent, even paint thinner, I like to use gloves. It makes clean-up easier and I worry less about what danger is lurking on the solvent’s MSDS. Usually I use latex gloves from a big box store for mild solvents. I have always hated these gloves because they fall apart while I’m applying the finish and leave little bits of latex behind. I’m sure there are better-quality latex gloves out there, but not in my local stores.

A few weeks ago Managing Editor Megan Fitzpatrick gave me a bag of blue nitrile gloves, which are made using a synthetic polymer. These gloves were made by the same company that makes my latex gloves, so my expectations were low.

Boy was I wrong. The nitrile gloves are far more durable. I’ve applied four coats of finish using the same pair of gloves and they are still going strong without a single tear. Farewell latex.

— Christopher Schwarz

John is back at the chair project.

Guess how I did this? Hint: It wasn’t a hand tool.

If the word “Stunod” was anywhere in your thoughts you win! Yup, I was trying to cut time making the arms for my two chairs. I wanted to clean up the rough surface left from the band saw. I was smoothing the parts with a file and spoke shave which left an ok surface but was taking forever. Also there was some difference between the left and right arm so I thought to myself, “try the router, yeah, that’s the thing”.

I smoothed the patterns perfectly which were made from ½ inch ply. I screwed them to the stuff and set about routing. I was doing fine until I hit the damn end grain. It’s always the end grain… Anyway the stuff shot back hitting me in the labonza, causing me to verbally acknowledge my error. It then continued its’ trajectory hitting the wall at reduced speed.

Well, I was back at it with hand tools when I had another idea! I put down the file and rasp and grabbed my floats! Yep, in front of me on the tool rack are four Lie-Neilsen floats. They leave a great surface and can hog off material depending on the amount of downward pressure you use. It is a great tool and easy to get the hang of. I actually started to get fast at this task.

Anyway, it was a router with a pattern cutting bit. And yes, I had to remake the entire piece.

– John