Thanks to everyone who has sent tools and money for the 18 new hand-tool woodworkers I’ll be teaching at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking next year.
Your tax-deductible donations have already paid for five (almost six) of the students. And the donated tools are piling up on my workbench in the sunroom. I haven’t counted everything yet (and I still have three boxes to open today). But I can say that we are set on mallets and coping saws – more on that point at a future date.
If you haven’t heard about this heavily discounted course that I’m teaching in the United States and England in 2015, go here. If you are interested in donating tools or money to the effort, you can read about that here.
I have had a lot of questions about the class at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in particular because it has not opened for registration yet. Registration for the general public begins on Dec. 1. If you wish to read the course description and get information on registering, fill out the contact form here and opt in for the school’s newsletter. They’ll send you the 2015 schedule and registration information.
I’ll never know the pain of childbearing, but I think I know the next-closest thing: bench building. That why I include a full bottle of ibuprofen on the list of tools needed for my bench-building classes.
Students think I’m kidding about the pills, but by mid-week they are hitting my personal bottle of painkillers like a candy bowl at the front desk of a Mars bar factory.
For 2015, I am offering four bench-building classes on three continents: Australia, North America and England. I don’t know how many more of bench classes I have in me, so take that as fair warning. Here are details:
The owner of the Melbourne, Australia, school scored a load of sweet yellow pine benchtops that are already glued up. We’re going to transform these into some fantastic French-style workbenches with the traditional joint: a sliding dovetail and through-tenon at each corner.
As always, you can add your own vises to build the bench of your dreams. That’s one of the huge advantages of the open architecture of the French format.
For this Australia class I’ll also bring a stomach pump in addition to my painkillers. Aussies drink like Germans.
The knockdown Nicholson workbench is a new design this year (check out details here). I’ve made many Nicholson-style workbenches, but this one is by far the best, easiest to build and knocks down in less than five minutes.
This bench is suited for anyone who doesn’t have a dedicated shop space, or who might need to move their bench on occasion. However, even if you don’t fit in those categories, this bench offers no downsides. Unlike other knockdown benches I’ve worked on, this one has no compromises. It is as solid as a French bench.
The version we’re building has no screw-feed vises, but you can bring whatever you like and we’ll add them to your bench. A leg vises would be ideal for the face vise position. I personally wouldn’t add a tail vise to this bench – I work just fine without one – but this bench can accept several tail vises as well.
While I am very much looking forward to returning to Royal Leamington Spa and Warwickshire College for this course, I am not sure how the local pubs feel about our triumphant return.
Build a French Bench at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking, Aug. 10-14, 2015 Using sweet, sweet ash from Horizon Wood Products, we’ll be building full-on Roubo-style workbenches in the well-equipped shop at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. And we will most certainly have a pizza-eating contest that week, courtesy of Frank Pepe’s.
As mentioned above, you can add whatever vises you like to this bench.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. There is one more workbench class scheduled for 2015: The French Oak Roubo Project. While that class is full, get on the waiting list if you want to do it. Spots may yet open up.
Yesterday, Thomas Lie-Nielsen and I finished teaching a weekend class that introduced the students to handplanes – how to sharpen, tune and use them. Curiously, the class wrapped up a couple of hours earlier than usual, and we’d covered more material than in the last eight classes.
What changed? We steered clear of a full discussion of the silly debates that circle around the forums, woodworking clubs and blogs – selecting tool steel, chipbreakers, bevel-up or -down tools and sharpening media (for starters).
So instead of a technical discussion of the different tool steels available, we told them that all of them work and that keeping them sharp was more important than their molecular composition. Chipbreakers (or back irons) are one of five primary strategies you can employ to reduce tear-out. Here are all five. Use them as you like. What’s the most important strategy? Sharpness.
Instead of getting into a detailed explanation of cutting geometry, clearance angles, wear bevels and the like, we explained the simplest sharpening strategy that will work with all tools, from paring chisels to high-angle smoothers. And that what was more important than the angle of attack was that blade was wicked sharp.
Oh, and about sharpening, the message was this: Making tools dull is way more fun than making them sharp. All the sharpening systems work (including using a cinder block). The more important message about sharpening media is that you should pick a system and stick with it for at least a year before considering a change. This is what I call “sharpening monogamy.”
Our goal with presenting the information this way was to inoculate these new handplane users so they didn’t feel the need to learn everything a metallurgist and machinist knows before flattening a board. If we’re lucky, when these 26 woodworkers see these debates raging on a messageboard they’ll shrug their shoulders, close the browser window and head to the shop.
— Christopher Schwarz
Personal note: I have exactly 103 messages in my inbox that require a response. I am going to be out of commission for about two weeks, and I will be particularly slow to respond to messages. I apologize in advance for the inconvenience. If you have questions about an order through our store, John will be happy to help you at john@lostartpress.com.
Since I announced the two discounted classes I’m teaching in 2015 for young adults, I’ve received many offers of assistance – everything from cash to tools to food.
First off: Thank you. Your generosity is much appreciated.
After discussing these offers with the owners of the schools, we are creating a mechanism for how you can help. For those who wish to help with the class in England with the New English Workshop, we will post details on how you can help there shortly. You can register to attend the class here.
Tuition: If you wish to sponsor a student taking the class, you can send a check made out to the Roger Cliffe Foundation. You can send the check to me (so I know who is donating what) and I will forward them all to the school. My address:
Christopher Schwarz
Lost Art Press
26 Greenbriar Ave.
Fort Mitchell, KY 41017
Simply write in the memo section of the check that the donation is for the Hand-tool Immersion Course. This donation is tax deductible. If you have any questions about donating tuition money for students, contact Paula Bueno at the Marc Adams School at 317-535-4013.
Tools: If you would like to donate some of your tools to the class that will be given to the students, you can send them to me at the same address above.
Note that unlike a tuition donation, tools are not a tax-deductible donation. Below is a list of the tools we hope to supply for all 18 students with details of what we are looking for in the tools.
Tool Kit for the New Anarchist
Planes
No. 5 jack plane, such as a pre-war Stanley with a clean iron (no rust) and a tight chipbreaker.
Low-angle block plane, such as Stanley 60-1/2 with a clean iron and movable toe piece.
Wooden rabbet plane (skew or straight iron). Wedge needs to work.
Large router plane, such as Stanley No. 71 or No. 71-1/2.
Card scraper.
Boring
Hand drill, sometimes called an “eggbeater,” such as a Millers Falls No. 2 or 5 with a 1/4” chuck and intact chuck springs (i.e. the jaws are spring-loaded and work).
Brace with a 10” sweep. Good chuck with its springs still intact and a tight pad.
Striking
Bevel-edge chisels with wooden handles (1/4”, 1/2” and 3/4”).
16 oz. hammer with a wooden handle. Striking face should be smooth and slightly crowned.
Square-head joiner’s mallet.
Marking/Measuring
12” combination square that is square, locks tight and has clear markings.
Marking gauge. The metallic ones, such as the Stanley No. 90, are preferred.
Sawing/Rasping
Backsaw with a 10”- to 14”-long blade. Straight sawplate, comfortable wooden handle and little or no rust.
Coping saw that takes pin-end blades and locks tight.
10” cabinet rasp (older and sharp is better).
A few people have asked if they can donate food or tutoring assistance during the class. I’m going to try to come up with a plan for those aspects of the class early in 2015. So stay tuned.
If you have any questions about helping out with these classes, drop me a line at chris@lostartpress.com.
During the last 10 years, my students have gotten younger and younger each year. When I started teaching, most students were retired and well-off. These days, most of my students are younger than me – including many in their late teens and 20s.
Many of them make great sacrifices when it comes to taking classes in handwork. Most can barely afford the tuition. Many have young families to support. And a fair number are scraping by with poor tools.
I remember what that was like. I took my first woodworking class when I was 24, and the only way I could swing it was because the class was at a publicly funded university.
For 2015, I am teaching two classes – one in the United States and one in England – that are aimed at helping young adults get started in handwork. I have worked with two schools – the Marc Adams School of Woodworking and the New English Workshop – to produce a special (almost crazy) class for new woodworkers. I have slashed my teaching rate to almost nothing; and the schools have slashed the tuition. So these classes will be a small fraction of a normal one-week class. We are also arranging for accommodations that will be free or almost free – camping in some cases. And we are going to attempt to cook communally as a class to save money.
But the money and the “stinky hippie” part of the class is only a small part of the story. This will be a class that will begin when you register and commit to the week. We’re going to work with all of the students before class begins to help them build a basic tool kit made up of high-quality vintage tools that we will tune up during the class. After tuning up the tools, we’ll learn to use them to process stock (we are attempting to get the wood donated), and then we will build a simple and stout tool chest.
I call it the Tool Chest for New Anarchists. It will be nailed together much like a six-board chest, but is based on historical examples that have survived more than 200 years.
So when the class ends, you will have a chest that is full of sharp tools that you know how to use to make all the basic woodworking joints.
And you will likely need a shower. Or at least a delousing.
The class in England will be July 13-20, 2015. The Marc Adams class will be Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 2015. I’m telling you this now so you can get your ducks in a row. Ask for time off. Prepare an opportune disease. Or whatever it takes to allow you to attend. Registration for the class in England is already open and costs £95.00 for the whole week (go here for details and to register). I don’t have final details on the cost for the Marc Adams class yet.
I’ve posted the day-by-day activities below.
Note: You can be any age to take these classes, but be prepared for long days, odd smells and puerile behavior (mostly by me).
— Christopher Schwarz
Registration and Building your Tool Kit. Once you are registered and have committed to the class, we’ll help you build an inexpensive tool kit before you arrive. Some of the tools will be vintage (we’ll help you find them). Some will be from the home center. All of them will be good enough to last you a lifetime without upgrading.
Day 1: Tool Restoration and Sharpening We’ll fix up the vintage tools in your kit and sharpen everything using inexpensive sharpening media. By the end of the day your tools will be ready to work.
Day 2. Wood and Handwork You need to know wood intimately in order to work it with hand tools. This day will be a crash course in understanding wood from a joiner’s perspective – stuff you will never find in books. At the end of the day we’ll use that knowledge to begin processing the rough stock for a tool chest.
Day 3. Basic Joints We’ll begin building a tool chest using rabbets, dados and nails – when properly made these chests can last 200 years. You’ll learn about fasteners and how to use them properly. How to understand and use glue – it’s a complex topic. And you’ll learn to use a smoothing plane so you’ll never have to buy sandpaper if you don’t want to.
Day 4. Details and Finishes We’ll add details to the tool chest using curves, bevels and mouldings – all made with simple hand tools. You’ll learn to install hinges and locks. And to apply a simple oil-varnish blend finish that we’ll make on-site. This beautiful finish requires no spray equipment or expensive brushes. Just a rag, a Mason jar and a paper bag.
Day 5. Advanced Joinery We’ll begin cutting dovetails so you can have sliding tills in your chest. And we’ll cut a mortise-and-tenon joint to make you a wooden try square. At the end of the day, you’ll load up your razor-sharp tools into your finished tool chest and head back home ready to build almost any piece of basic casework.
