Recently I wrote about the vintage chalkboard protector I use for laying out precise angles in woodworking. Now Ed Sutton at FirstlightWorks makes a version that is far nicer than my old screen-printed tool.
The Firstlight protractor is laser cut from 6mm birch ply and is 12” long along its baseline. The large size is what gives these tools their advantage. Suddenly, marking an angle to a third of a degree is child’s play.
Ed sells them to customers inside the UK plus those in Europe and the U.S. After the currency conversion, the protractor cost me a bit more than $40 (which includes shipping). It’s a small price to pay for the precision.
I ordered one today. Full confession: This is a tool we had considered making for Crucible. Ed beat us to it. Nice work, Ed.
I haven’t mentioned this fact on the blog because I assumed his classes would sell out in an instant. Derek’s classes in the U.K. and Germany fill up very quickly. But I was surprised last week to hear there are still spaces in these classes.
Derek is a great teacher – incredibly knowledgeable, skilled and experienced. I’ve worked with him during several teaching assignments in the U.K. and he is top-notch. What is most notable (for me) is how Derek manages to squeeze some great craftsmanship from woodworkers of all skill-levels.
Here are details on the two classes. If you have the time and inclination this summer, I promise that you will not be disappointed.
On July 15-19, Derek is teaching a class in building a half-size English tool chest. These are gorgeous little chests, and the class teaches you a ton about hand-cut joinery (especially dovetails). Derek has taught this class all over Europe and the results are impressive.
Then, on July 20-21, Derek teaches a short course on building a deluxe Moxon vise. Derek’s version includes a benchtop behind the rear jaw that makes transferring the shape of the tailboard to the pinboard an easy operation. Plus, you get to cut some very cool dovetails.
I’ve known Derek for many years – as a competitor and a compatriart. He’s an A+ woodworker who came up from the professional ranks in the UK. He is incredibly skilled, funny (my daughters adore him) and really knows how to teach.
Really, honestly and truly, take a class from him if you can.
Pine seat with hickory legs and spindles. The box-style stretchers are somewhat unusual for a chair such as this. The legs and spindles appear turned to my eye.
During the last few years I’ve sought out images of vernacular stick chairs from places other than Wales, Ireland and Scotland. Unsurprisingly, stick chairs can usually be found in any place where there was hardship and a strong desire to sit upright.
These chairs are likely user-made. And they are almost always dismissed by furniture historians as “crude,” “rudimentary” or “rough.”
This week I hit the jackpot and found some nice Canadian stick chairs in “The Furniture of Old Ontario” by Philip Shackleton (Macmillan of Canada, 1973). Most of the book celebrates the glossy, curvy, carve-y stuff that makes me feel dead inside. But there are several pages of really good stick chairs.
The captions on the photos mostly discuss how roughly the chairs were built. Or they deliver a backhand compliment such as “Despite the crude qualities of the chair, its elm seat has been shaped somewhat in the saddle tradition.”
Oh well, thanks for the photos. (And thanks to John Porritt – I first found this book in his chair library.)
— Christopher Schwarz
Elm seat with some other parts in ash. Black paint.This chair features through-mortises in the undercarriage, a Welsh characteristic. Birch and ash. Red paint.I love the graceful armbow of this one. The legs are wedged with hand-forged nails. No information on woods used. Several coats of paint.The seat is birch, the rest of the parts are thought to be hickory. To my eye, the bulbous undercarriage doesn’t relate well to what’s above the seat.This chair strongly suggests spinning chairs from the Germanic countries and the Welsh form that features an arm that is a shallowly curved stick.Pine seat, elm arm and ash sticks. Another box stretcher arrangement.The most unusual chair of the group, this is a child’s chair that features a thick elm seat. The legs are 2″ long.A graceful chair in elm.
For a more in-depth look of Peter Follansbee’s “Joiner’s Work,” check out the (free!) PDF excerpt we’ve posted here. It includes the table of contents, dedication, acknowledgements, introduction and the bookstand chapter.
While copy editing Peter’s book I was delighted with its rarity. It’s difficult to write a how-to, project-based book in a conversational tone well. Peter excels at this. He treats the reader as if he or she is in the same room and there’s no stuffiness, no holier-than-thou, no “my way is the right way.” He makes his recommendations, tells the reader what has worked for him – and what has not – and emphasizes that it’s fine to do it another way. This style of writing reads so easily but its casualness reminds me of the Steve Jobs quote: “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.”
Oh, and Peter is a master of boosting one’s confidence without making you feel like a child. Its subtle, but brilliant. You’ll see. And when things do go wrong? He promises you he gets it – for almost everything he warns you about, he recognizes his own humbling experiences.
I could go on. But just check out the excerpt. This one is a joy to read.
