Lost Art Press

Category: Woodworking Classes

Classes I’m Teaching in 2012

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Earlier this year, I announced that I wouldn’t be teaching any woodworking classes in 2012 in order to give my family a break from my sometimes-hectic travel schedule.

After stepping down as editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine in June, my wife and I reconsidered that decision, and I will be teaching an abbreviated class schedule in 2012. Many readers have requested my teaching schedule so they can request vacation days from their employer. And though I am still ironing out the details with a couple schools, I decided to go ahead and post my schedule as it stands now.

Some important caveats:
• Some of these topics and dates might change slightly, though my hope is that nothing will change.
• I also hope to teach a class on building “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” at Roy Underhill’s school sometime in 2012, but we are still trying to find the best dates.
• Registration has not begun at many of these schools for 2012 so you might have to be patient.
• What I am posting below is all I know at this point. So with those big caveats, here is the line-up.

Feb. 25-26
Woodcraft of Atlanta
“The Best Layout Tools Money Cannot Buy”
We build a Roubo try square, inlaid winding sticks and a traditional straightedge, three of the most important layout tools for the hand- or machine-tool woodworker. This will be a one-day class.

Second one-day class: Perhaps something on sharpening, dovetails or building a sawbench. We’re still working on it.

April 10-14 (yes, Tuesday to Saturday)
Marc Adams School of Woodworking
“Build an 18th Century Workbench”
We build the Old-School Roubo workbench using massive timbers and the traditional joints – including the through-tenon and sliding dovetail joint that connects the base to the top. This bench will feature a leg vise as the face vise and an iron quick-release vise for the end vise.

May 5-6
Marc Adams School of Woodworking
“Handplanes and Their Uses with Thomas Lie-Nielsen”
I’ve assisted Thomas Lie-Nielsen for six years now in this popular class in which we cover all the bench and joinery planes. We show you how to set them up and use them to make boards flat and ready for finish, plus how to cut and refine joints.

June 10-17
Dictum Workshops, Metten, Germany
We are still working out exactly which days each class will occur during my eight days there.

“Build Your Own Precision Layout Tools” (one-day class)
Wooden layout tools are lighter in weight, easier to maintain and less expensive than metal layout tools. And they can be just as accurate as metal tools, once you understand how to build them and measure their accuracy.

In this one-day class, we will build the three most essential layout tools for hand-tool woodworking: a one-meter straightedge, winding sticks with inlay and an 18th-century style try square. In the process of building these three tools by hand, you will learn the following skills.

• How to dress boards with handplanes so the work is completely flat and true.
• How to design wooden layout tools so they resist seasonal expansion and contraction and stay true.
• How to test layout tools to ensure they are straight and square.
• How to correct layout tools using simple strokes with a handplane.
• How to add simple inlays of geometric shapes to make your layout tools easier to use and more attractive.

“Master Metal Handplanes and Western Saws” (two-day class)
To the uninitiated, metal handplanes seem too heavy, awkward and complex for fine woodworking. However, once you understand the proper way to sharpen, set them up and use them, you will see why these planes are most popular form of tool in North America and England. Compared to wooden-bodied planes, iron handplanes offer some advantages that you can exploit to do extremely fine work. On the first day of the class, students will learn to set up and use metallic planes so they can produce precision work.

One the second day of the class, we will explore Western saws, including the dovetail, carcase, tenon and handsaw. Students will learn proper sawing technique and how to cut extremely accurate joints using these tools.

“Build an 18th-century Workbench” (five-day class)
Early workbenches were simpler, heavier and better suited for people who built furniture with hand tools. After disappearing from workshops for more than 100 years, these ancient workbenches have become popular again as hand-tool woodworkers have discovered their advantages.

I’ll be leading a class at the Dictum workshops where each student will build his or her own workbench using hand tools (for the most part) and common materials. These benches feature only the best joinery: mortise-and-tenon joints for the base, plus a sliding dovetail and through-tenon joint for the top. The vises on the bench are simple, accurate and heavy: A leg vise on the front of the bench and an iron quick-release vise on the end. You will be able to customize your bench for right- or left-handed work, and you will be able to build your bench so it is the correct height for you and the length of your arms. A properly sized bench is much less tiring to use.

All the benches will be constructed so they can be assembled and disassembled using metal nuts and bolts so they will be easier to transport to your shop.

July 16-20
The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport, Maine
“By Hammer and Hand, Build the Dovetailed Schoolbox”
In this fast-paced class we build a Moxon, double-screw vise for dovetailing and a shooting board that works very well as a bench hook. Then we use these two appliances to build the Schoolbox featured in the book “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker,” an 1839 book of fiction written for the young apprentice.

July 30-Aug. 3
Kelly Mehler School of Woodworking
“The Anarchist’s Tool Chest”
We build the full-size tool chest from the book “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” This chest features lots of dovetails (you will become an expert by the end of the week) and a very nice raised-panel lid. We will have time to build only the outside of the chest – the shell, mouldings, skirts and lids – but we will discuss how to divide up the interior for efficient work.

Sept. 4-8, 2012 (Tuesday to Saturday)
Marc Adams School of Woodworking
“By Hammer and Hand: The Dovetailed Schoolbox”
In this fast-paced class we build a Moxon, double-screw vise for dovetailing and a shooting board that works very well as a bench hook. Then we use these two appliances to built the Schoolbox featured in the book “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker,” an 1839 book of fiction written for the young apprentice.

— Christopher Schwarz

The Anarchist’s Tool Chest Travels to Canada

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Next month I’ll pack up my tool chest and drive to Waterloo, Ontario, for the grand opening celebration of Lee Valley Tools’ newest store.

In addition to signing books and letting people root through my chest, I’ll also be giving some short seminars on tools, shop set-up and chest construction during three days: Sept. 22-24.

I’m one of several exhibitors who will be speaking and teaching at the store, including Konrad Sauer of Sauer & Steiner Toolworks, Dan Barrett of D.L. Barrett & Sons, Rick Blaiklock, the director of research and development at Veritas Tools and several other experts on woodworking and gardening.

Many of the seminars during the grand opening are free; a few have a minor entrance fee. All net proceeds from the event are donated to the United Way.

For those of you who are not Ontario-savvy, Waterloo is about 90 minutes west of Toronto – not too terribly far from the border (but yes, too far to tunnel there). I’ll be driving to the event because my tool chest will not fit in the overhead bin of an aircraft.

I haven’t been to Canada for three years and am greatly looking forward to seeing the new store, getting to meet Canadian woodworkers and hang out with some of the other demonstrators. If you’ve never been to a Lee Valley retail store, they are worth the trip – they are just as special as the company’s catalog.

Below is the schedule for my seminars plus the description of the seminar as written by Lee Valley Tools.

The Tools, the Toolbox and Everything
Thursday, Sept. 22, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Join Christopher Schwarz for a talk on his work to date, with highlights from his most recent book, “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” Chris will briefly go over his philosophy on woodworking tools, toolboxes and woodworking in general.
Fee: Free

Meet Christopher Schwarz: Author/Publisher/Woodworker
Friday, Sept. 23, 9:30 a.m. to noon
and
Saturday, Sept. 24, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If you have one of his books, have followed his blog, and/or read his articles, you won’t want to miss this great opportunity to meet Chris. There will be book signing and a general discussion on woodworking.

An Overview of Shop Set Up
2 hours
Friday, Sept. 23, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
What tools and equipment do I really need to become proficient at woodworking? Do I need a cabinet saw or will a contractor’s saw do just fine? What about a router: fixed base or plunge? Do I really need to buy a jointer and a thickness planer? As woodworkers, we are bombarded with sales pitches telling us that we need a shop full of expensive tools and equipment. But what tools and equipment do we really need? These are the questions Christopher Schwarz will answer during this session.
Fee: $20

Tickets will go on sale in early September. To purchase tickets call 519-746-2555.

— Christopher Schwarz

Introducing SuperWoobie

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I wouldn’t crap you – you’re my favorite turd, right?

So listen carefully. Deneb Puchalski of Lie-Nielsen Toolworks has made a great leap forward in woobie technology. He has created a woobie so perfect, so supple, so sensual that I am running out of words that I feel comfortable using about a rag.

Today I was teaching the first day of a class at Lie-Nielsen’s new classroom facility in Warren, Maine – more on that later in the week. As I and the students were sharpening our irons I started looking for something with which to wipe off my wet tools.

Hmmm. Where is my woobie? Did I leave it in Connecticut? Was it stolen? Mayhaps.

So I ponder the options. I can go to the restroom and ball up a lot of toilet paper and make myself an ersatz woobie. It’s a shameful wiper. But I admit I have done this before.

About the time I am looking for the bathroom, Deneb mentions that the blue rags hanging below the table are “charged with oil.” I reach down and touch… SuperWoobie.

CareBears farted eclairs. Smurfs burped lemon bars.

It was magical. This cloth was so oil-filled and wonderful and soft and…. In my hand was a 3M microfiber cloth that had been soaked in jojoba oil. It was the woobie I had always been looking for. I wiped down all my tools with it and it held tons of oil.

Deneb says he charges them with oil and then uses them until they get “funky.” Then he runs them through the wash and recharges them with oil.

You heard it here first, an interview with Deneb, father of the SuperWoobie.

— Christopher Schwarz

Thomases All

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I am not easily surprised or struck speechless. But this morning at 8:55 I was both.

This was the final day of class for “By Hammer & Hand” at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking in Manchester, Conn. The students have been working like dogs building three projects, including the dovetailed schoolbox from “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker.”

As I walked into the school I was struck by the fact that almost all 13 students were wearing “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” T-shirts (yes, we will soon have more of these in stock). This wasn’t too surprising — many times students buy my T-shirts because they don’t have anything clean to wear for the next day.

Because of this interesting fact, we will start carrying Lost Art Press thong underwear next year.

Anyway, the other odd thing was they were all wearing name tags again, just like the first day of class. Whatever — I was behind schedule and it was time to start class.

Before I could open my mouth much, they handed me a wrapped present. That has never happened in all my years of teaching. Usually they just give me grief.

I opened it. It was a copy of “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker.”

“Thanks guys,” I said. “I hate to tell you this, but I own THOUSANDS of these.”

They told me to look inside. They had all signed their names on the inside with their first name listed at “Thomas” – the apprentice hero of the book. Then I looked closer at someone’s name tag. It read “Thomas.” But his name was David. Rick’s name tag? Thomas. They all were wearing “Thomas” name tags.

That was pretty cool. So I went over to the bowl filled with name tags and made one for myself. Mine said “Sam” — the doofus of the novel.

— Christopher Schwarz

And 6,000 Pounds Later…

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The second printing of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” has arrived at our capacious climate-controlled warehouse shed. This delivery went much smoother than first delivery, which involved rain, an angry teamster and a throbbing groin muscle.

Still, this delivery was 6,000 pounds of books that I had to move box-by-box into our storage shed before the inevitable afternoon rain. But I am happy to report that no groins were injured during the loading procedure.

Of course, the only reason you have read this far – past two mentions of my “groin” nonetheless – is because you are wondering when the second printing will start shipping out to customers.

The answer: soon. We have about 100 copies of the first printing left. Once those are exhausted, we’ll start shipping the second printing. When that occurs, I’ll post a short note here on the blog.

Also, some news on the leather-bound editions: We have some customers who have been a little slow to pay on the leather-bound editions of the first printing, so we are also a little slow in sorting out the waiting list for that book. We will get it figured out in short order. If you are on the waiting list, you will hear from us – one way or another.

And more leather-bound news: The second printing is now at Ohio Book for binding. We chose a pebbled black leather with silver lettering – just like the second leather edition of “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker.”

Speaking of “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker,” this week I am teaching 14 students how to build the schoolbox from that book at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking in Manchester, Conn. I’ll be posting photos and video on the class this week.

— Christopher Schwarz