Lost Art Press

Category: Woodworking Classes

The Most Eco-friendly Waterbase Finish I’ve Used

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Unfettered by tradition or dogma, woodworking students can have occasional flashes of brilliance. To wit: During a class last week at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking, I noticed that two of the students were using a waterbase finish I’d never seen before.

The finish didn’t add much color, but it didn’t have the blue cast than many modern waterbase finishes do. It was in fact the most “water-white” finish I’d seen. It also was thin enough to be ragged on and had very low odor. Like all waterbase finishes, it cleaned up easily with water.

Downsides: You have to use quite a number of coats before you get any significant build, it raised the grain (of course) and – similar to a linseed oil finish – it has to be renewed regularly. Very regularly.

Another downside: Despite the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS to safety nerds), several of the other students in the class were worried if the finish was food-safe. The MSDS noted traces of chlorine, giardia and (surprisingly) fluoride. So perhaps you should just stick with walnut oil or salad bowl finish to be on the safe side.

And speaking of safety, while the students were applying the finish without nitrile gloves, I think it’s always best to err on the side of caution. Use the nitrile gloves and work in a well-ventilated area. And always dispose of your rags properly.

In any case, it’s another finish you can add to your arsenal, unless you live in California, where woodworkers are worried that the legislature might ban it.

— Christopher Schwarz

Pictures from the Womb

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Here we have 11 more tool chests, waiting to be born.

Next week I’ll be at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking building “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” alongside the students. One of their questions will be on hardware – what to use and where to get it.

I’ve been completely satisfied with the hinges and ring pulls from Horton Brasses. But what if you want something more old school? Something like a crab lock, perhaps?

Stay tuned.

— Christopher Schwarz

Spots Open in the ‘Hammer in Hand’ Class

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There are several spots open in the “Hammer in Hand” class that runs Sept. 4-8 at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Franklin, Ind.

The class is perhaps poorly named – it’s not just about nails. Instead, the course is as much instruction on building traditional casework by hand that I can cram into five days. During the class we build three projects: A Moxon dovetailing vise, a shooting board/bench hook and the dovetailed Schoolbox from “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker.”

The class is open to all skill levels of woodworkers. I’ve had students who have never picked up a tool before, and I’ve had professional woodworkers who want to learn hand techniques.

The class is structured to challenge your ideas about handwork. Most people get the impression that it is slow, perhaps a little crude or that you need years of training to do basic things. Not so. Here’s some of stuff we learn in the class.

1. Sharpening. Get it done in three minutes and get back to work. It’s more fun to make tools dull than it is to make them sharp.

2. Flattening by hand. How to quickly flatten boards with planes by paying attention to only a couple key surfaces and ignoring the rest.

3. Shooting. How to shoot boards for accurate joinery with a simple appliance.

4. Dovetailing. Learn what’s important and what’s not so you focus your energy and attention in the right place. Find out where people make their biggest mistake (it’s not sawing or chiseling).

5. Traditional glues. Why hide glue is the woodworker’s friend.

6. Truing up an glued carcase without spleching the corners.

7. Nails. Why you should love cut nails. They are an important part of the hardware, like a lock or pulls.

8. Cut dados by hand. It’s a snap. No dado plane needed.

9. Make basic mouldings by hand – both with complex moulders and hollows and rounds.

10. Mitering by hand. You don’t need a chop saw.

So if you have a free week, we’d love to have you join the class. It’s the only class I’m teaching in 2012 that has any open spots. To register or get more information on the class, click here.

— Christopher Schwarz

2 Spots Available in the ‘Hammer in Hand’ Class

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Because of a cancellation, there are two spots open in my “Hammer in Hand” class at The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship on July 16-20 in Rockport, Maine.

The class is $695 and we will build three (yes, three) projects: A Moxon double-screw vise in maple, a very useful shooting board and the dovetailed Schoolbox in Eastern white pine, my favorite project from “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker.”

For more details on the class, or to sign up, click here.

The class is during a particularly fun time to visit Maine because the awesome Lie-Nielsen Open House occurs during the Friday and Saturday before the class. The factory is a short drive from the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. I’ll be at the open house, as will people far more talented, including Chuck Bender, Christian Becksvoort, Tico Vogt and Matt Bickford. (Speaking of Mr. Bickford, we will be showing off the galley proofs of his upcoming book “Mouldings in Practice.” Yes, it’s done.) Get all the details on the open house event here.

So do what I did: Blow off your job and come to Maine next month. Or as Evelle Stokes says in “Raising Arizona”: “H.I., you’re young and you got your health, what you want with a job?”

— Christopher Schwarz

We Had to Sleep in a Lake

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I’ve been teaching in Germany for the last seven days – three long classes followed by four beers each evening with the students. My liver, and the rest of my internal organs, have requested a holiday. As Lost Art Press doesn’t really have a benefits package, however….

On the last night of class, one of the students named Brian Eve drove me to Munich and I helped him move his completed workbench into his shop. It’s tiny. I’ve seen bigger dust collector bags in my time.

But he makes do. After moving his bench off of the car, I took the short video above so you can see what a really small shop really looks like.

Oh, and in case you don’t read my blog at Popular Woodworking Magazine, that’s where I’ve written about my Bavarian adventures this past week. Here are some links.

1. French Bench. German School. American Teacher. Day 1.
2. Mafell Chain Mortiser. Dang.
3. More Mafell Madness: Day 3 of the Workbench Class
4. My Assembly Tricks for Old World Workbenches
5. Knocking Together a Workbench

I’m in Munich now (it’s Monday, I believe). And this morning I had the best Bavarian breakfast ever with Peter Lanz of Dictum GmbH, and then he took me over to the new Dictum workshop and school in Munich. It’s a third-floor space where Peter is now teaching classes in handwork and machine work, along with another teacher.

Dictum is also planning on opening a store across the hall from the workshop, which will sell tools and be a local hangout for woodworkers. All in all, it sounds like a pretty cool plan.

I fly back to Cincinnati tomorrow and then immediately board a plane with my family for San Diego (sorry spleen, no vacation for you). Somehow day and night will resolve themselves. Someday.

— Christopher Schwarz