Anarchy in the PT

This week concluded "Build the Anarchist's Tool Chest" with Christopher Schwarz.

10 students completed the shell, skirts and bottoms of the chests while most of them also finished the frame for the lid. Christopher also build one alongside the students as an example. I was around to help Chris with individual's questions/problems, get the tools set up properly, prepare replacement members when mistakes were made (or the stock kits were deemed rejects), and, of course, clean the bathroom. It was a great group-- isn't it always?-- but this crew was in fact a bit unique. It could just be the type of folks that are attracted to his writing style, but the whole class was as much a barrage of witticisms, horrible puns, and sultry humor as it was woodworking. Well, not really. It was very much about woodworking. But there were jokes. I believe on one or two evenings, some of the participants in the class explored the entertainment options in the area and decompressed with chilled beverages and ocean views.

I only took photos during the mortising process, although Christopher's camera has images from the whole week. Maybe he'll get around to posting some of them.

Chris keeps heady lectures to a minimum, but not because he has nothing to say. There is just so much to do in terms of building. That said, his lectures and demos are completely saturated with utterly useful information. He can get information across at full bandwith - the students were progressing at warp speed through his exercises and explanations.

There was much pounding. Above is Denny, whom I had previously met in the By Hand and Eye course. In the background is Badger, who was also in that one.

The chests become useful long before they are complete.

This is Bill from Seattle. He's taken a few courses at the school already and really has the knack. If you read the Lost Art Press blog, you have already seen his mini and micro layout squares.

Bill also brought in his tool tote which he built in the Joinery Essentials class. It is great to see one being put to use, and he did a beautiful job on it, don't you think?

Check out Badger's Roubo print tool rolls.

Here is what it was all about. It was quite a spectacle to have 11 of these around at once. Every single one came out well and will doubtless be of service for decades (or more) to come.

Sadly for us but great for him, Chris is taking next year off to focus on his research and writing. When his schedule is announced for 2015, though, I would urge any and all to jump on it. Not that they won't anyway.

Now I need to get back to the school to sharpen up the tools for the next class...

[offtopic] etching and aging

I've always wanted to have a tool or two engraved by Katherine Kennedy. When my daughter, Kestrel, was born, I contacted Katherine to see what it would take to get a Kestrel put onto my smoothing plane as an heirloom. I do not think she asks too much, but the timing was not right for my wallet. Someday, I hope.

Anyway, today I received a gift from my wife who has recently joined the team at Daily Bird Pottery. 

I haven't had reason to mention it here, but aside from my woodworking, I also kindof love entomology, and am especially fascinated by order Mantodea. So I was pretty stoked to come home to this:

I would love to hear from anyone else who has a mug combining handplanes with insects.

The mug was a birthday gift, I just turned 40. It was a nice touch to get carded buying a bottle of wine last night. Being Port Townsend, the cashier then informed me that Virgo has its new moon coming, or something, and that this is a great time to decide what I want to keep and what I want to get rid of. I said "I will get rid of it all!". Except the mug.

This has been a great week in that helping out with Christopher Schwarz's class at the school has been a total blast. Witnessing skills bump up on an hourly basis is such a delight, it makes every difficult step in my journey to learn and share what I have learned worth it many times over. Christopher is an excellent instructor, has an infectious sense of humor, and is deeply generous. Also, he knows stuff about tools and how to use them. With admitted bias, I highly recommend seeing him speak or taking classes with him. On that note, if you are at all local and live under a rock, you have a chance to see him this weekend at the Wooden Boat Festival. You can also stop by the school tomorrow to see the utterly glorious spectacle of 11 "Anarchist's Tool Chests" in their final stages of assembly. I suspect around 7pm tomorrow, there will be a palpable dip in the global beer supply as some tired students rinse the sawdust from their mouths.

Sins and Beezdiks

It is not a good idea to make a blog post without original photography, but here I am. Also, here is a beezdik, an Australian term meaning about 3 thousandths of an inch:

This week I am helping some guy named Christopher Schwarz with his class on building an "Anarchist's Tool Chest" at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking. While he is plently capable of running a class and getting 16 students to get their chests together, it is a lot of fun to take part helping the students realize what sharp truly is, suggesting local restaurants, and providing cheerleading service. Really, their dovetails, go dovetails, nice dovetails, are great! RAH!

There are 12 and a half or so chests being built. There are 10 students, one of them is also making the "travel" version, and Christopher is making one as well. I am not sure, maybe  that is eleven and a half. Anyway, it was 1200 lbs of poplar stock, hand-milled using machines (sideways glance here) by the always amazing Abel Dances. The students showed up, had a quick orientation, and quickly succumbed to Christopher's generously-oiled iron fist approach. Tears were shed, boards were broken (ok, one was broken), curses were uttered (ok, a lot), and a very good time was had by all. I believe everybody had reasonable tailboards done by the end of today, day one of five very long ones.

Back to the beezdik... this is the unit of measure which one should observe when placing the kerf of a cut onto the waste side of the line defining a pin. It is very precise. Puts the metric system to shame. Half a beezdik is even more precise, effectively doubling the snugness of fit.

It is great to see some old friends show up for the class. Some I remember from Jim Tolpin's pilot By Hand and By Eye class at the school, some from Joinery Essentials, and some from Woodworking in America. These dudes are all pretty serious, and the toolkits they are toting are enviable. It is nice to know that at the end of the week they will have some storage spaces to be proud of. More soon, and hopefully with actual photos of actual beezdiks.

Japanese Tool Box

I liked the look of the box that Christopher Schwarz posted about here:

http://blog.lostartpress.com/2013/03/24/japanese-tool-chest-measured-drawings/

And so I made one (two, actually). I think the sketchup model has an error in it, but more on that later. Anyway, here is take one:

I used cedar. In this case, fence boards. I hunted through the whole stack to find the clean ones. Not bad for $2 per 6' board. I let them dry out for eight weeks or so. Still, some were still a bit wet, so had to move carefully. I really like this design. Finger joints are actually harder to cut than dovetails in a way, but I always like learning a new skill. Also, cedar can be a pain. It can also be quite lovely. We move ever onward!

All Projects Great and Small

Consistent blog updates are, in many cases, riding shotgun with the devil; that is, the result of idle hands. In many cases, working with wood at length leaves few resources for chronicling it. Anyway, some stuff lately:

A garden gate made of cedar drawbored mortise and tenon frame, with reclaimed oak floorboards, walnut accents, and cedar braces. The walnut is scrap from a Maloof inspired rocking chair class at the woodschool and the oak is leftover from reflooring my home. The glass bit is a microwave carousel plate from a thrift store, with seed-of-life motif applied using beads by my visionary wife. The neighbors seem to like it so far, and it was fun to build.

I have a brief product review for you:

I recently added a long overdue lamp to my mix. I am working in a dark space, despite what those filthy lying glowing windows try to tell you. The lamp I have is fine, meh, whatever. Not great, but it has a nifty magnifier which kindof works, when you get it exactly right. It is from Lee Valley (since I more or less trust their 3rd party sourcing). This is it. I give it a C+ to B-  or "meh" rating. However, the star of this show is also from Lee Valley, the 3/4" lamp bushing. This little jammy sticks into any doghole, assuming you are running 3/4". I hope you are, because then you can use Gramercy holdfasts, Veritas Wonderdogs, and so on. Anyway, I have been constantly running this lamp (and the bushing) all around the shop, with the brace and 3/4" bit in tow. Yeah, it came with a clampy deal, but who wants to move that around (it lives at the sharpening bench) when you can just plug and play? Get one, and thank me later.

What has really been taking a lot of my time and energy, though, is more akin to carpentry than the joinery I typically pursue. A friend and neighbor is building a new shop (for handtool woodworking) and wanted a traditional design, in this case modelled after a cobbler's shop in Colonial Williamsburg. The shop is itself largely built with hand tools, and I am pleased to be on the crew. Here it is just after raising the ridge beam, and just before adding the ceremonial hemlock branch, known as Topping Out.

Tons of fun. More as it progresses. This is also why I have been riding around town with a tool tote on my bike. Nice work if you can get it, so they say.

And on a smaller scale, I have been building another School Box. This one is unique in having walnut trim (as above, I have a little pile of it). Body is alder, bottom is pine, and partition is oak. This one is also unique in that I slightly redesigned it using design principles from Jim Tolpin and George Walker's By Hand and Eye. I actually lent out my copy of Joiner and Cabinetmaker, and so took measurements from an existing box, and softened them into compliance with whole number ratios with my dividers. I am optimistic about the result. I am still using the same techniques and abiding by the order from the customer, but in terms of layout, the box shell and molding are slightly more harmonious than the inch-honoring model. I'll post the finished version soon with an "authentic" version for side by side comparison, but here it is tonight: top attached and hinged, but still needing top molding and a lock:

More soon. Until then, I remain,

thejoinersapprentice(dotcom)

A Flexible Bench

After years of having workbenches connected to walls, I am enjoying the walkaround freedom and ability to easily work on stuff like this garden gate:

I want to miss having tools hanging on the wall, but I am actually really digging working out of the chest.

Just some datapoints. Everyone is going to have to find what works for them on their own.

[Sale] Breaking up with my dovetail saw

EDIT: The saw has been sold. Thanks for the interest and sorry to those who missed out!


Dear Gramercy Tools 9" Dovetail Saw,

This is difficult to write because we really have had some good times together. Great times. There was a time when I could never imagine life without you. For the good of both of us, however, it is time to move on. For you to see other hands, for me to use another saw. It is definitely not you, it is me. My hand is simply too small for your tote. I have always known I had elfin scale features, but I thought we could get beyond it. It seemed to be going ok, until I recently found a tote which actually does fit my hand. It is just not fair to ask you to continue to compromise when we would both be happier with a new situation.

Love always,

The Joiner's Apprentice


Such were the thoughts in my mind recently when I confirmed that I am much happier using a saw with a smaller tote. The Gramercy saw is an amazing tool, the cuts are fine and crisp and it is easy to control. I always end up with a mild fatigue after a session cutting with it, however. Those with normal-sized hands don't seem to have this issue (in fact most folks I have allowed to test the saw love it). This could all work out well for you, if you are one of those blessed normal people. I'm letting my saw go to a new home. It would cost you $190 new (plus shipping) and I am offering it for $145 including shipping in the continental USA. $135 if you want to pick it up in Port Townsend. The saw is in perfect working condition, and has been recently sharpened by hand tool expert Jim Tolpin (I am learning to sharpen saws, but tiny teeth like this are intimidating to me still). Send me an email if you are interested in scoring this saw for almost a third less than it would cost you new. I can even throw in the split nut driver upon request in case you want to ever take it apart.

Read all about it at Tools for Working Wood.

Here are some photos:

It fits perfectly in the divider of the tool tote I built:

The etch indicates this was purchased as a complete saw, not a kit:

I'm already missing it, such a lil sweetheart:

The saw has been sold. Thanks for the interest and sorry to those who missed out!