Let me start out by saying I am so sorry to those who can’t come to the open house starting this Saturday but know this, YOU are all in my heart and every demonstration and lecture I am involved with this coming week will include you in my mind. Everyone here has been getting ready for the upcoming ArtWeeks that involves each one of them. Hard to imagine but four months have passed since my leaving North Wales and moving to Oxfordshire. It still feels a little transitional but I have made some fine friends who are truly gifted artisans. Neil Scott is a creative designer with unique concepts using everything from chrome on steel and casting resins and …
I probably shouldn’t write a blog when I’m close to feeling mad and frustrated but here goes. Over the past few days I encountered two spheres of, on the one hand industry, if we should treat education as a feeder phase into industry as politicians do, and the other a craft sphere. Craft of course revolves around creative spheres of beautiful isolation and independence from industry, spheres unknown to politicians, spheres where a man and a woman can work insulated from mass production methodologies to enjoy the natural limitations of their bodies and their minds. Such spheres are places I have enjoyed throughout my working life and one that works and can continue working for today’s furniture …
I am leaving today for a short break in France with my family. This week has been ArtWeeks in Oxfordshire and I thought it would be a great opportunity to give you all a tour of place that we are now working. Over the past few months I have made many new friends not the least of which are those I have come to know and work alongside at the Sylva Wood Centre. This is where we have our studio and now film from. We thought up the idea of letting you meet my neighbours for yourself as best we can so we filmed many of those who now form what I see as perhaps the ‘Society’. I say …
What’s in the shop?DyamiBartop arcade progressSeanI ran for Pie on Pi day, and my youngest son won his age group.All my free time has be spent planning/ designing a home addition.Roof complications . . . (Let me help, I know my roofs)Glen GuarinoCommissions startingCoffee table – sure to be ‘not your ordinary coffee table’Read more »
What’s in the shop?DyamiThanks to Better Podcasting, John and SPThanks to Affinity Tool WorksSjobergs Smart Work Station ProNew T-ShirtsPaul Laminski of Canadian WoodworksThe Dusty LifeWe built a BenchSeanSpring break in TennesseeMay be getting some barn beams for a benchDavePlanning Weekend with WoodRead more »
What’s in the shop?DyamiAll Bartop arcade, all the timeFairing curvesSeanSquatBlog post that piqued our interestA new look for http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/Goings on in the MWAA sneaky episode with Tom and DyamiA great discussion on the guerilla bench buildConversationBookcase: Build or Ikea?Where you they find usWe’ll be atWeekend with Wood 2016May 19th through 22ndDes Moines, IowaWoodworking in America 2016Registration is openSeptember 16th through 18thCovington, KYIf you’re missing us already, you can subscribe to the show on itunes. Just search for the Modern Woodworkers Association. Once you’re subscribed, you’ll be sure never to miss an exciting episode. While you’re in iTunes, please leave us a 5 star rating. It helps our rank so others can more easily find us…
What’s in the shop?DyamiThe bartop arcade is out the door!SeanMarathon manMeganHouse renovationsMagazine stuffsWIA planning?Megan FitzpatrickWIANew 5 QuestionsHow did you get into woodworking? Working at Pop Wood, decided to learn how to woodworkWhat’s your favorite tool? Benchcrafted skraperWho has influenced you the most? Chris Schwarz, honorable mention for Charles HaywardWhat was your biggest stumbling block & could it have been avoided? asking for helpHow has the internet influenced your work? Previously was exposed to period furniture (that’s what was published 10 or so years ago), now can get on the internet to see period and contemporary work and a far wider range of work.Where can we be found?Weekend with Wood 2016May 19th through 22ndDes Moines, IowaWoodworking in America 2016…
Our second book at Lost Art Press was “The Joiner & Cabinet Maker,” a rare and early 19th-century fictional account of an apprenticeship in a rural England shop. It’s a fantastic little book, written by someone who obviously served an apprenticeship in the 18th century. In addition to us reprinting the original, Joel Moskowitz (who found the book) wrote an excellent account of what woodworking was like in early 19th-century England. And I contributed several chapters on constructing the three projects that young Thomas made – a packing box, a schoolbox and a nice chest of drawers. All in all, it’s an interesting introduction to hand-tool woodworking from an historical perspective. (And this might be the…
My daughter Katy finished up another batch of soft wax that is now for sale on etsy. You can check it out here. The 4 oz. tins are $12 each plus $2 shipping. Katy plans to continue to make the wax during her summer break while she isn’t working as a bagger at the local grocery store. This grocery job will be her first “corporate” gig, and I’ll be interested to see how she likes it. She’s gotten a lot of questions about the soft wax via email, customers at the storefront and her older sister. Here is a sample: Q. Is it a food-safe finish? A. While all finishes are food-safe once the solvent has evaporated (according to…
White Pine (Pinus strobus) 100′ (30m) tall An excerpt from “With the Grain: A Craftsman’s Guide to Understanding Wood” by Christian Becksvoort. Eastern White Pine Cone Eastern white pine is also referred to as Northern, soft, balsam or Weymouth pine. The name Pinus refers to the pine family, while strobus means cone. The tree’s natural range is from Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Wisconsin and Iowa, and east to the Appalachians down to Georgia. Ordinarily it reaches heights of 80′-100′ (24-30 m). Old king’s broad arrow pines, used for masts in the royal navy, sometimes grew to more than 200′ (60 m). White pines can reach 400 years of age. Pines, like most conifers, grow a straight …
16th c., Church of St.-Germain, Presles, France In this last post on misericords there are carpenters, benches, axe men, one holdfast, one really old misericord, a measured drawing (!) and rabbets rabbits. One of the fascinating things about misericords is how the craftsman chose to position his subject on these tricky pie-shaped hunks of wood. In the example at the top the viewer is looking into a small shop created under the bracket. By placing the carpenter behind the bench the details of the bench can clearly be seen. Late 16th c., Church of St.-Andre, Besse-et-Saint Anastaise, France. This older misericord with more wear and tear was done by a lesser-skilled hand. Although…