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Chris is out of town this weekend, but Wally and I are here and ready to answer your woodworking and cat-treat-related questions. But unlike Chris, I will not start responding at the buttocks-crack of dawn – I like to sleep in a bit on Saturdays. And every day. (And Wally sleeps about 18 hours per day.)
As you surely now by now, leave a question in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer. You can even ask me about the Dutch tool chest book (now that the manuscript is in Chris’s hands, I’m far less stressed about it).
I have been invited back to Germany this summer to teach a four-day introduction to chairmaking course at Dictum’s classroom in Niederalteich, a gorgeous monastery in Bavaria.
The class is in English (my German is terrible), and the location is a fantastic place to stay and learn. You can rent a room at the monastery. And we all eat meals together in the monastery’s gasthaus.
The class runs from July 9-12. Beginning chairmakers are most welcome. In the class we will each build a simple backstool and focus on the fundamentals – the angles, the joinery and training your hands to be a chairmaker.
While the chair shown is unsaddled, we will also cover basic saddling.
You can read more about the area and the class here.
I hope to teach a Dutch tool chest class the following week in Munich. More details on that class soon.
I have two more classes this year that have open spots. One in Germany, and one in Indiana.
I’m teaching people to build the Dutch Tool Chest in Munich July 14-16. You can register and read more about the class here. The class takes place next to Dictum’s lovely Munich showroom and is easy to get to via train. There’s lots of good food and touristy stuff in the area for your family to do while I yell “Schneller! Schneller!” as you dovetail.
The other class is on how to build a peasant cupboard on July 27-28 at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Franklin, Indiana. You can read more about the class and register here. This is a fun class because the cabinet construction is the quick part. Then we paint the face frame, learn about spells and engrave them.
I probably will announce two more chair classes for this year in the coming days. One in London and one here. The class here will likely be for an Irish armchair with a saddled seat.
These are thicker than the glued-up panels one could use for a tool chest , but you get the idea.
Q: Rather than glue up a bunch of my reclaimed pallet wood, I’m thinking about using some pre-formed “project boards” from the big box store to build a Dutch tool chest (further glue-ups in the house have been outlawed, so it’s either that or wait until it’s warm enough for Titebond in my unheated shop). I’m not too worried about the source material looking like a bowling alley for Smurfs, but I question whether milk paint will stick to something that appears to be 30 percent glue.
And because they also sell a 16″ project board, I thought I’d ask if either of you have seen a DTC that deep. Seems like I’d have to make it 36″ wide so it wouldn’t tumble over, and at that point, I might be better off with an English chest. What are your thoughts?
A: You can certainly use “project boards,” but there are a couple of cons: they cost about twice as much as gluing up your own panels from 1x, and they are often moisture-laden. They might look flat and inviting while sitting there all shiny in their plastic wrap, but remove the plastic and they might cup like a Pringle. But they might not. It’s a crap shoot.
For a Dutch tool chest, however, a 1×12 is wide enough for all but the lid. In fact, that’s the recommended material for those who don’t have access to a jointer and planer (and who don’t want to process material by hand). So were it me, I’d look for the flattest, straightest 1×12 you can find, then go to town. And for the lid, when I’m gluing up panels for a class with our limited number of clamps, I use Titebond and leave the clamps on for only an hour. Now I’m not saying you should…but surely there’s an hour in the day when you could get away with it? (Then hide the panel behind the garbage can overnight while the glue fully cures.)
But yes, milk paint will stick to the project boards – but if you’re at all concerned about it, you can apply a barrier coat of dewaxed shellac between the raw wood and the paint.
And sure – you can make a Dutch tool chest 16″ deep (which will end up at 17-1/2″ after you attach the front and back). In fact, it’ll be more stable than the usual 12-3/4″ deep DTC). I’ve seen them in all sizes. The only drawback with making it deeper (or larger in any dimension) is that it’s no longer as portable.
With family things happening here this weekend, the storefront doors will not be open until around 11:30 a.m., and we will close at 4 p.m. – just in case anyone is planning a visit for a last-minute woodworking gift (and you might instead consider a Lost Art Press gift certificate – no need to venture out!).
We will, however, still be answering your Open Wire questions throughout the day. So leave your question(s) in the comments below, and we’ll do our best to answer. Comments will close at around 5 p.m. Or possibly earlier (so don’t wait until the last minute)!
Also, Chris has a post scheduled for 3 p.m. that includes, among other things, what’s planned for 2024 – so all questions along the lines of, “When is X going to be published” will be referred to said post. And yes, that includes the Dutch tool chest book and Issue 2 of “The Stick Chair Journal.”