Roy Underhill has flung open the doors to sign up students for the 2012 classes at The Woodwright’s School. As usual, there are a lot of great classes on the roster being taught by uber-talented people, including Peter Follansbee, Peter Ross, Mary May, Bill Anderson, Elia Bizzarri and Roy himself.
And then there are my classes.
In 2012 I’m teaching two classes at Roy’s shop – both on how to build The Anarchist’s Tool Chest. You’ll be able to build either the full-size chest or its slightly smaller cousin, which is designed to travel.
Though I do not have the awe-inspiring raw talent of the other instructors, I can promise at least one puppet show during the week-long class.
Visit Roy’s site for more details. My classes from Feb. 20-24 and Sept. 17-21. If for some reason the class is full, be sure to get on the waiting list. There is always some churn.
Several readers have asked where I’ll be teaching classes in 2012 on how to build a tool chest, so here is an update.
A couple notes on the class itself. If you don’t like cutting dovetails, you might want to reconsider. A good chunk of the class is a Bataan Death March of sawing and chopping. But by golly, you will be able to cut dovetails in a coma when it’s over.
It’s absolutely OK if this tool chest class is your first project. You’ll do fine.
If the class is filled up and you really want to attend, please sign up for the waiting list. Classes always have “churn.” Some people drop out because of a family event (marriage, surgery, divorce, graduation etc.). Others misread the class description (“I thought it was the ‘Anachronist’s Tool Chest,’ and I wear my +1 chainmail to bed”). So if you get on the waiting list for the class, there is a good chance you’ll get in.
And lastly, you will have a choice as to which chest you build: the full-size chest illustrated in “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” or the traveling-size chest I posted in this blog entry.
So here’s the line-up:
Feb. 20-24, 2012, at The Woodwright’s School. Roy’s calendar shows slightly different days, but he hasn’t updated his online calendar yet.
July 30-Aug. 3, 2012, at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking. This class is listed as full, but get on the waiting list if you are serious. Trust me on this. “I thought it was ‘The Atavist’s Tool Chest.’”
And if your year is already full, I’m working on my 2013 schedule and already have plans to teach this class in Connecticut and am negotiating with some chaps/blokes in Australia.
“But to prevent their apprentices from doing so (running away),” continued Ebenezer, “the masters generally bind them by an indenture to stay a certain time. An indenture is a contract in writing. The reason it is called an indenture is, because it is, or at least it used to be, made in two parts, one for the master and one for the apprentice, and these two parts are written on the same sheet of paper and then cut apart in a waving line, so that the edges of both papers are indented in exactly the same way, and thus they will fit each other precisely.”
“What good did that do?” asked John.
“I don’t know exactly,” said Ebenezer. “They thought they could put them together again, and if the two parts fitted, that would show that it was all right. But now I am going to indenture you, or else I might expect, that, after you have sawed here three or four times, and I had had all the trouble of teaching you how to do it, you’ll get tired and so not come any more. I’m not willing to begin unless you agree to come seven days – and saw for me one hour each day.”
“And how about planing?” asked John.
“That will be a separate apprenticeship,” said Ebenezer.
“Well,” said John, “I will agree to it.”
“This indenture witnesseth that John Gay binds himself to Ebenezer Greenwood as an apprentice for seven days, an hour each day, not less than three days each week, and that Ebenezer Greenwood promises to teach him the art and mystery of sawing.”
— from “John Gay; Or, Work for Boys: Work for Spring” by Jacob Abbott, 1864
Next year I’ll be teaching how to build “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” twice at The Woodwright’s School, Roy Underhill’s fantastic hand-tool asylum in Pittsboro, N.C.
Without further ado, here are the dates:
Feb. 18-22 and Oct. 6-10.
Roy says he’ll open up registration for these 2012 classes as soon as he can finalize the rest of the year’s classes. So stay tuned to his site at woodwrightschool.com.
This tool chest class is one that I ran in Germany this year as a milk run. I was terrified that the whole thing would self-destruct. Luckily, it went very well. Here are some videos of the class throughout the week:
While I was happy with the class, I have fine-tuned it over the summer to make it better. Instead of everyone in the class building a full-size chest, students will have a choice. They can build the full-size chest as featured in the book “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” Or they can build a slightly smaller version that I call “The Traveling Anarchist.”
This smaller chest is based on an example that I purchased from Thomas Lie-Nielsen this summer. You can see photos of this rough-and-ready chest in this entry. I took the basic design and improved the joinery so that it is the same as on my full-size chests. Yet it will still hold a pretty extensive kit of tools. It really packs them in.
Why would you choose the smaller chest? Well you might have less room in your shop. Or perhaps you operate with a smaller tool kit. Or maybe you are a slower dovetailer and want to ensure that you keep up with the class. Whatever the reason, you will end up with a chest designed to last lifetimes.
Students will begin with prepared parts – all the panels will be glued up. And we’ll dive into dovetailing within moments of the class beginning. If this scares you, don’t let it. Most of the students in my class in Germany were dovetailing amateurs (some were definitely not!). But by the end of the week they were all very competent and confident when it came to this joint.
I remember that on the last day of the class we had a lot of visitors to the school at Dictum who were admiring the dovetailing while the students were struggling with the massive through-mortises in the lid.
“Dovetails,” one of the students scoffed. “That’s easy stuff. Try mortising.”
If you are interested in building a tool chest I hope you can join us this year. These should be fun classes.
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.
