“Imperial units should only be used when measuring general levels of rebel scum.” — Fake AP Stylebook
I leave for Germany on Thursday to teach three classes at the workshops of Dictum GmbH, one of Europe’s leading supplier of hand tools.
The hardest part of the trip might surprise you. It’s not the food or the beer (duh). It’s not the time difference, the language barrier or even dealing with the completely different cultural woodworking tradition (bowsaws, horned planes, pins-first dovetails, etc).
It’s the metric system.
I don’t dislike the metric system. Far from it. After three years of teaching at Dictum, plus many years of dealing with readers from metric countries, I appreciate its base-10 elegance. But it really jerks around my brain switching back and forth between the two systems. Especially when I get the occasional student who uses Imperial. And don’t get me started on the one who spoke Esperanto.
This year I’ve been getting a jump on the switch to the metric system by spending the last four days writing up all the materials for the class in metric and not using a conversion calculator. It’s like I can almost “speak” metric. Almost.
Now if someone could explain what the German Burger King’s “Long Chicken” sandwich is, I think I’ll have assimilated.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. This blog entry is also a reminder that if you e-mail me or post a comment on the blog that I might not be very responsive. I won’t be back in Kentucky until June 28. And if you are seeking to burgle us in the meantime, you’ll have to deal with the ferocity of Lucy and her four attack pussies.
A trip to North Carolina would not be complete without visiting Roy Underhill at the Woodwright’s School and the black hole of my disposable income, also known as Ed Lebetkin’s tool store.
I came to drop off some Lost Art Press Books to for Ed to sell in his store, but I walked out of there owing him money. It happens every time.
The highlight of the visit was the corncob curved drawknife/scorp-like tool that Ed picked up at auction recently. I shudder to think of what dirty job it was relegated to.
I picked up a box of hardware – old brasses and iron chest handles. Plus a complete box of Jennings augers, an old center-finding tool and a homemade layout triangle that was too cool to pass up – I’m a sucker for shopmade layout tools.
Ed’s store is completely full of stuff at the moment, as you can see in the photos. And if you need a corncob scorp (or any other hand tool), drop him a line at edlebetkin@gmail.com.
When I wasn’t giving Ed all my money, I was taking pictures of carver Mary May for an upcoming feature I’m writing on her for Popular Woodworking Magazine.
By request, here is my teaching schedule for the remainder of 2012. If a class is sold out, it is always worth getting on the waiting list. Life has its crises, and so spots always open up – usually in the week before the class begins.
June 11-17: Dictum Workshops, Metten, Germany
I’ll be making my third trip to Germany to teach handwork at the Dictum workshop, which is located in an uber-cool pig barn in a monastery (no sarcasm — it’s awesome). I’m teaching three classes — one on planes and saws, a second on building wooden layout tools and a third on building a French-style workbench.
July 7-8: Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, Warren, Maine Shaker Wall Cabinet. This is a fun two-day class in hand joinery. Learn to surface boards by hand, cut rabbets and dados and learn the joys of cut nails. The new Lie-Nielsen classroom is outstanding.
July 16-20: The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport, Maine
By Hammer & Hand: The Dovetailed Schoolbox. This class is based on the 1839 book “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker” – a fascinating look into the life of an apprentice in an English joinery shop. In this class, we build a Moxon double-screw, a shooting board and the Schoolbox from the book. This is an intense class in dovetailing and hand casework. This is the first time I’ve been asked to teach at this school. Hope it goes OK.
July 30-Aug. 3: Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking, Berea, Ky. The Anarchist’s Tool Chest: Build the Anarchist’s Tool Chest in five days in the hills of Berea, Ky. Kelly runs an excellent school with a great vibe and tremendous workbenches. I’ve been looking forward to this class all year.
Sept. 4-8: Marc Adams School of Woodworking, Franklin, In. By Hammer and Hand: The Dovetailed Schoolbox. I bring the Schoolbox class to Marc Adams’s excellent school. There’s a reason this is the largest school in North America. Everything is top-shelf, from the workbenches, the new engineered floor to the ice cream machine (yes, it makes swirls).
Sept. 17-21: The Woodwright’s School, Pittsboro, N.C. The Anarchist’s Tool Chest: Yes, you can build this tool chest entirely by hand. And eat ice cream for lunch. And be 10 steps from an awesome tool store and bar. It’s Roy Underhill’s school for gosh sakes. This is a fun class with lots of crazy hand- and foot-powered tools – including a Barnes mortiser.
And that’s it for 2012, except for speaking at both Woodworking in America conferences. For 2013, I’ll be traveling to a lot of new places to teach: Rosewood in Canada, Alaska and Australia. Plus, I hope to be teaching the following two classes, which I am pitching to some of the schools I frequent.
Design & Build a Campaign Chest
Campaign chests are one of the most rugged and masculine pieces of furniture ever made – and their simple lines fit in with almost any decor. In this class, you will learn to design your ideal campaign chest using guidelines culled from old military records and the archaeological records. After spending a day designing your chest with the help of SketchUp and the instructor, you’ll spend the next four days building the upper unit of your chest using a variety of hand- and power-tool techniques. In this class you’ll learn:
1. How to speak the language of campaign chests so you can execute your design and it will look as good as an original.
2. How to design the joinery for these cases, which were designed to survive war.
3. How to surface very wide boards with ease using hand tools and home shop equipment.
4. How to cut full-blind and half-blind dovetails.
5. How to cut rabbets, dados and grooves by hand and by power.
6. How to make the special tight-fitting recesses for the brass hardware that is typical size – both by hand and power.
7. How to age brass and steel hardware to make it look ancient.
8. How to fit drawers toa piston fit.
9. How to use high-angle planes and scrapers to deal with the exotic woods common to campaign chests.
Design & Build a Traditional Trestle Table
Trestle tables are one of the most ancient forms of furniture and appear in Medieval dining halls, Shaker dwellings and in the portfolio of George Nakashima. In short, they are one of the most elemental and enduring forms of furniture in human history. They use a minimum of material and excellent joinery to produce a table that is lightweight and incredibly strong. In this class, you’ll take a historical trip into the furniture record to understand the trestle table, from its beginnings in castle life to the present day. Using this knowledge, you’ll design your own trestle table using SketchUp and the assistance of the instructor. You’ll be able to design your trestle table in any style and in any size. Then you’ll spend the next four days executing your design under the eye of the teacher. In this class you’ll learn:
1. How to make beautiful tabletops that stay flat and are easy to assemble.
2. How to make the wedged through-tenon – the joint at the heart of a trestle table.
3. How to make your table knock down for travel using bed hardware.
4. How to surface large tabletops using power tools, hand tools or scrapers.
5. How to cut and assemble breadboard ends by both hand and power.
6. How to surface all your parts using handplanes.
7. How to make large-scale bridle joints to affix the top braces and ribs of the table.
8. How to use a fore plane or scrub plane to remove material quickly and provide authentic texture.
During the last eight years I’ve tried to refine how I explain how to use a handplane to students. The biggest problem the students have isn’t ignorance. I wish that were the case. Instead, their biggest problem is they have been flooded with so much contradictory information that they are paralyzed.
So I’ve been trying to increase the signal and decrease the noise so they can focus on what is important. To help cement these ideas, I’ve created a list of principles relating to handplanes. Here are the ones for the tool’s cutting edge. The most important one is No. 10.
1. A sharp edge is two surfaces that intersect at the smallest point possible. This is called a “zero-radius intersection.”
2. A dull edge is where damage has occurred (hitting a nail) or the zero-radius intersection has worn away to create a third surface at the intersection.
3. A zero-radius intersection will not reflect light. The third surface created from wear will reflect light. So you can see a dull edge as a bright line. You cannot see a zero-radius intersection.
4. In general, a tool can be made sharp (a zero-radius intersection) by ANY medium – from a grinder to a waterstone. Polishing the edge only makes it more durable. The more polish, the longer the edge will go between sharpenings.
5. A sharp edge is TWO surfaces. Both must be polished for the edge to be durable. But only a small portion of the edge cuts wood (about .010” on each surface). So do not waste your time polishing steel that does not cut wood.
6. There are only three grits in sharpening: grinding, honing and polishing. Grinding removes damage or an edge that has been oversharpened. Honing removes a dull edge and restores the zero-radius intersection. Polishing makes the edge more durable. All other claims are marketing.
7. The larger the angle between your two surfaces, the more durable the edge. However, large angles can make tools unusable. If you sharpen an edge above 35°, you have to educate yourself about cutting geometry and clearance angles to stay out of trouble. If you sharpen at 35° or lower, you’ll stay out of trouble.
8. The smaller the angle between the two surfaces, the less durable the edge will be. Edges that are sharpened at 20° or lower do not work well in planes.
9. Plane edges can have a curve or be straight. Both perspectives work.
10. There is no such thing as “cheating” when it comes to sharpening. Use jigs and fixtures – or don’t. There is only sharp and dull.
I’ll be driving up to Chicago on Thursday to participate in the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event at Jeff Miller’s shop April 20-21. This is one of my favorite shows because of the city itself and the people who exhibit and attend.
This year we will be bringing one of Peter Follansbee’s joint stools – it’s actually the one shown on the cover of “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree.” We will also be bringing copies of the book. Once you see the stool in person we think you’ll want to make one. Trees beware.
I’ll also be traveling with the traveling version of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” It’s small but packs everything you need.
As always, the Chicago venue gets some top-shelf talent in addition to the Lie-Nielsen folks. The Abraham boys from Benchcrafted will be there. I have heard that they will be bringing a device that will change the world of leg vises. I cannot say more without Father John giving me a withering look. But let me say this: The show will be worth the drive just to see what they are bringing.
In other tempting news, Raney Nelson from Daed Toolworks will be exhibiting his fantastic miter planes (bought one) and smoothers (bought one). Raney does excellent, excellent work and you can play with his tools all day if you like.
Also coming: Kevin Drake, the maker of the Tite-Mark – hands down the best cutting gauge ever made in the history of human civilization. I own three. I wish I had 10. Plus the nice folks from Elkhead Tools, who make some bad-a$$ screwdrivers.
Oh, and don’t forget the host: Jeff Miller, one of my favorite contemporary furniture makers and an all-around nice guy. Goad him into talking about his new book project – there’s never been a book published like it (I wish we were the publishers….).
I’m also told that Megan Fitzpatrick from Popular Woodworking Magazine will be there to chat up the magazine and hassle me. And Andy Brownell will represent Gorilla Glue. Right?
As always, the show is free and open to the public.
