It’s back to school time and the gloom that has settled over my wife in the last few days has made that blatantly known. After finally accepting the inevitable, she tells me that we need to visit her classroom on Sunday to do some organizing in the classroom. I also needed to deliver the Hepplewhite book case to it’s place of honor. Heather told me that I needed to build some shelves for an existing book case to store sheet music. Basically she needed 3 more shelves and to replace 2 of them that had bowed beyond belief. (I’m not sure who decided un-laminated particleboard over a 40″ span was a good idea for shelves that would hold books) The good news is that there is already some shelving material on campus that we could use and that I would just need to cut it down to size. I was dubious at this last statement since no further details were given. She assured me that they didn’t need to be pretty, just fit in the space and hold up to boxes of sheet music.

Here is the case after I pulled everything off the shelves.

I took a quick measurement of the sheet music boxes (the black boxes to the right in the above picture) and spaced out the shelves to be somewhat consistent from top to bottom. I then went in search of the aforementioned shelving material. I found it upstairs in the stage scene shop and was happy to see it was a good quality plywood with maple veneer and what looked like a few coats of poly on the surface. The edges had been banded with maple as well. Things were looking up, but I still had to deal with the size. The smallest piece was 24″ wide and 72″ long. My shelves needed to be just under 12″ wide and 40″ long. I knew going into this excursion that I would need to be sawing and I thought it would be great justification for the nice collection of Mark Harrell of Bad Axe Toolworks refurbished hand saws. Since I was traveling I thought I would take my “toolbox” saws AKA panel saws because they are 19 and 20″ long and make for easy travel. They are sharpened for a cleaner cut as I normally use them at the bench for final dimensions of panels and such. I also took along a few clamps, a square, and a block plane.

Woodworking on the road is not so much about having the tools, but having adequate work holding. This is where my clamps came into play. Using the chairs in the classroom I set up a sawing bench of sorts and clamped my pieces down. I was able to use an existing shelf as a template and went to work cross cutting the boards to the right length. My little panel saw performed admirably and soon enough I had the boards to length (and perfectly square, if I do say so myself)

Now comes the fun part. It was time to rip these boards in half to make 12″ wide shelves. Ripping scares a lot of people because you have so much real estate to cover and keeping a straight edge only gets harder over that long distance. Ripping over a 6 foot distance is not only intimidating, it sounds a whole lot like work. To these naysayers, I say, maybe you need to tune up your saw! A bit of positioning with the chairs, enter the clamps, and off to sawing.

After a few careful strokes with the saw at a low angle I determined the path of my saw. I tipped it up to close to 60 degrees and started to work in earnest constantly puffing to clear the sawdust from my line and ensure I am tracking correctly.

I have not had that much time with this little Spears & Jackson saw since Mark sent it to me. The cuts I have done have been great but on a much smaller scale. If I were in my shop I would be using my 26″ saw for a cut this long so you can imagine how shocked I was that this little 9 tpi, 19″ saw was racing through the board. In about a minute I had 2 boards from one.

A little block plane work to clean off the saw marks and a tiny chamfer to kill the sharp edges…

…and I have 3 new shelves installed and ready to be loaded.

This “project” was hardly fine woodworking and with no fit and finish that I would expect from my normal furniture projects, but something about it was thrilling. Leaving my shop to build things rarely happens and to know that I can take just a few tools on the road and complete a job without making a lot of noise, mess, or needing an extension cord is a truly exciting prospect.

Road weary tools back home in their shop

If you saw my mouth watering video tour of Hearne Hardwoods that I put up a few weeks back you will know that I took a trip up to central PA to visit The Acanthus Workshop again. This school, run by Chuck Bender, is so much more than just a series of classes about building furniture. It is a peek inside the shop and mind of a successful professional cabinetmaker with 30+ years of experience.

I was there to complete my “apprentice” program with Chuck with his Fundamentals 3 class. This series of 3 classes is the prerequisite to more complex projects offered throughout the year. You can of course talk to Chuck about taking any of his Journeyman or Masters level classes and essentially “test out” of the prerequisites, but I was interested in learning some of the basics from someone who has spent some time in the saw dusty trenches. Like many self taught woodworkers weaned in the halls of the Internet, I am a fount of information and a desert of experience. Sure I have built my fair share of furniture, but nothing compared to the quantity of pieces Chuck has turned out over the years. It is this experience that has him brimming with tricks and time saving techniques that enticed me to return for this class.

The final apprentice class was a culmination of sorts. In fundamentals 1 we learned all about wood science and hand tools. Fundamentals 2 was plugged in and we threw chips and dust about with electron smashing abandon. Fundamentals 3 was now time to put our skills into action and build an entire piece from concept to finish.

Day One began at the shop. We discussed the project of the hour: a small one drawer Shaker Table. Sound familiar? Yes this is the same table I built on commission last Spring and the same table The Wood Whisperer Guild built in March of this year. So in order to be difficult and challenge myself I decided to build a two drawer hall table of sorts. I planned to embellish it in a few ways to add some classical and Victorian charm to it. The eventual resting place will probably be in the entrance hall of the web marketing agency where I spend my days. Our office is in a beautiful old Victorian house right at the head of the Chesapeake Bay so it seems appropriate.

How do you begin a project? What do you base your design upon? We answered these questions and many more by starting with a photograph and deriving dimensions from it using a perspective driven grid and simple algebra. This was a great exercise considering how many books of furniture I own and it built a set of skills that I will use as I start every project from now on.

The task presented to us now was how to create a design from nothing in such a way as to ensure accuracy throughout the build as well as repeatability for the future. Enter the story stick. Chuck walked us through the process of creating this old school method of capturing every detail and measurement of the piece all on a small 1/2 piece of plywood 3 inches wide and 23 inches long. A quick peek through his shop and you will see scores of these hanging from the walls detailing past projects and ready to be dusted off and used again.

Now that we have the layout and dimensions of the piece we set to making a tapering jig for our legs. This is a simple affair and meant to be specific to this project. To embrace this method you need to have plenty of storage space in your shop but when it comes time to recreate this table you have a ready made jig and don’t have to remember any settings.

Now that we knew the basics of our designs we could head off the the lumber yard with story sticks in hand prepared to select everything we needed. (In fact, the lumber for these tables was already in Chuck’s shop and had been acclimating for a few weeks) This trip was more about theory and was a great insight into how Chuck picks his lumber and keeps his design in the forefront of that selection. If you haven’t seen my shaky iPhone video of that trip yet, check it out here.

Day Two rolled around and it was time to get to work. You all know I am a hand tool lover and I often mill my stock by hand. I use my 6″ jointer from time to time, but mostly I’m making shavings and then running through my 13″ planer to true up the other side. Well Chuck’s 16″ battleship of a jointer will make anyone think twice about hand dimensioning their wood again. In my shop I use planes because it is more efficient for the wider stuff. Maybe I just need some bigger tools!

Once we had our lumber dimensioned and cut to size (using our story sticks) it was time to start on the joinery. I learned a great tip for laying out mortise and tenon joints quickly and accurately that involves no measuring at all. (sorry I can’t give away all of Chuck’s secrets, you will have to take his class) We cut our mortises using a Hollow Chisel machine and then went to the table saw to cut the tenons. Then it was back to the bench room to refine the fit of the tenons using shoulder planes. The final task for the day was milling the lumber for our two piece tops and getting them glued up to cure over night. This was like Christmas time as we each milled our parts to uncover some amazing figure and grain. It was a great exercise to match the parts and layout the best appearance for our tops. I was blessed with an amazing patch of swirling, milky grain that I put right down on the front left corner of the top.

Day Three began with us finishing up any fitting of joints and gluing up our tables. Again just so I could be difficult, I lagged behind because I had to add a center, vertical divider to break up my drawers as well as insert a center runner. Since I had Chuck at my elbow I opted for the tougher method of dovetailing the divider into the case. I learned a few choice tips for that operation as well. Fitting the runner was pretty straight forward until I somehow placed the mortise at the back of the case higher than the front so I ended up with a tapering opening that would make fitting a drawer impossible. Chuck showed me a way to quickly identify the taper, lay it out, and then I planed an opposing taper directly into the runner so that my opening was square. Through this process, I decided again to be difficult and cut the mortise on the back of the case as a through mortise and then wedged the runner tenon in the back. I just love being difficult, but why not when you have the tutelage of a master at your disposal.

From there, it was on to drawers. Back to the machine room to mill up some Poplar stock for sides, bottoms, and backs. Then we turned our attention to the drawer fronts that we had so meticulously cut from the same board as our aprons in order for the grain to match along the front. A short dovetailing review and we were off to the races to cut our joinery and build the drawers. Again, I picked up some great tips here on constructing drawers and way to save time and sanity. (Sorry, not giving up the secrets yet again)

We took a little time to install our drawer guides and then it was time to attach the top. We used the clip and slot method by routing a slot on the inside faces of the aprons and then used a great technique taught to Chuck by Steve Latta on how to cut the clips in one pass. Stay tuned to the tips and tricks portion of an upcoming Popular Woodworking magazine when our lovely editor Kari Hultman will share this secret with us all.

At the end of the third day, none of us were done with our tables. We were not the fastest class, and we took a lot of side trips along the way. This is really what taking a woodworking class is about for me. Yes I knew how to build this Shaker table going in, but I chose to add some things and soak up some knowledge every step of the way. I learned from my classmates and the instructor both. My table is still sitting in my shop and I still have to build the second drawer. I plan to push my skills even further with this table as I keep with my already established theme and add some stringing to the legs and top, beading on the apron, as well as cockbead molding on the drawers. By the time I am done, I will have learned several new ways to cut joinery, more efficient milling techniques, better workflow, several new decorative techniques, layout and design tips, story stick creation, lumber mill best practices, and many more things that my brain is too addled to remember here.

Here is a little clip of our tables at the end of the day and you can begin to see some of the embellishments I added.

It was a great class that expanded my skill set and I highly recommend enrolling in one today. If you can, get down to The Acanthus Workshop it is worth every penny.

Registration is now open at www.woodworkinginamerica.com, there is a great course list this year and some exciting after hours events too. You had better have a really good reason for not being there. I expect doctor’s notes people!

I was only able to capture so much of the process of building a wheel since the Wheelwrights were working on a small cart and actually not building a wheel while I was there. There are some great videos on the Internet that can illustrate the process if you are interested in learning more.

First you have to check out Colonial Williamsburg’s site at www.history.org but specifically their trades section where they have a description of the Wheelwright trade as well as 2 podcasts discussing the trade. Look for a link to those two episodes in the multimedia section in the right sidebar. In addition there is a great slideshow illustrating the process of fitting the iron tire.

There are also a few great videos on YouTube, but this one I found particularly to be a good explanation of the trade.

Finally I make reference in this episode to a post on Stephen Shepherd’s blog about over sharpening. Check it out here.

So take your own field trip to Hearne Hardwoods and be prepared to take some of this fine lumber home with you because it is irresistible. Also make sure to check out the class schedule at Chuck Bender’s school for his list of exciting classes still to come this year. I hope to get back up there myself at least once more this year.

So day one was all about the design. We talked at length about scaling and designing a piece from a photograph and how to deal with varying perspective. Chuck specializes in period furniture and he has built many exact replicas just by taking lots of pictures. If you have ever wandered into a museum and taken out a tape measure you will see just how fast the security guards will show you to the door. The ability to capture photos of that museum piece (assuming photos are permitted) and then reproduce dimensions is extremely valuable. Think about the times when your spouse or family have presented you with a picture and said, “can you build this for me”. Not only that but we then talked about the ways to re-size the piece while keeping the proportions the same.

From there it was time to build our story sticks for our side table. A story stick is a narrow board with all of the information needed to build the piece in question. The idea is that once this board is laid out, you throw away your tape measure and build everything to match your story board. It contains all the dimensions laid out to actual scale and any additional notes you will need throughout the build. If you look around the walls of Chuck’s shop you will see hundreds of story sticks for the period pieces he has built over the last 30+ years. So as you make up your story stick, make sure it makes sense so that 10 years from now you can take it and build the same piece.

The gang lays out their story sticks

From there we headed to a great lunch and great conversations. This was the halfway point on the road to our field trip destination: Hearne Hardwoods. The Shangri La of wood dealers. We toured the monstrous facility and took in all the amazing woodness of the place, followed by a breathtaking tour of the new offices with every exotic species under the sun. Stay tuned for a short video on this as I was able to get some footage on my iPhone.

OK, well here is a sneak peek, attach that bib now…

The Front Desk

The goal of this field trip was to peek inside Chuck’s head when he goes to the lumber mill to buy wood for his project. How to prepare and how to pick your boards for most efficient yield and the least wasted money. This was also an excellent primer into wood science and how a lumber mill operates and marks their stock.

Talking among the stacks of the Maple room

There is not much to say about Hearne Hardwoods other than WOW. The place is astounding and no where have I seen such wide board stock so readily available. I saw some of the famous “sinker” mahogany that has been rescued from the rivers of Belize as well as boards that are so wide you would think you are looking at the lengthwise dimension. I came across a piece of Sapele that was at least 6 feet wide! This place should be on every woodworker’s list to visit. You might want to leave your wallet at home or you will certainly get in trouble.

What a great day and I am excited to head back tomorrow and get back to work. Stay tuned for more!

This means that I got to spend a lot of time in colonial interiors and up close and personal with southern Queen Anne or “Neat and Plain” furniture. I particularly recommend the Peyton Randolph and Everard houses for a look at fine furniture of the Virginian Gentry. Another great spot is the newly opened Charlton’s Coffeehouse where you can sample coffee or chocolate and get to see and use some more common furniture.

And don’t forget the DeWitt Wallace museum. This is like Winterthur south of the Mason Dixon line, where you can really get a look at southern furniture.

I also got to chat with the historic tradespeople extensively. Over the next few weeks I will be putting up individual posting on the woodworking related trades practiced in Williamsburg. I also will be heading back for a full week in early June once school lets out for my wife and will have an opportunity to ask more questions put forth by any of you who follow this blog.

In the meantime, I urge you to head over the Williamsburg website where you will find a bounty of information. This is an organization that has ironically embraced 21st century multimedia marketing and has well over 300 podcasts in audio, video, and enhanced formats. Pay particularly close attention to the episodes on the historic trades and you will learn a lot about cabinetmaking, brickmaking, wheelwrighting, coopering, joinery, etc, etc. There are also several trade slide shows and videos that contain great pictures of the tools and processes for each trade.

The motto in Williamsburg is “that the future may learn from the past” and it is indeed a noble pursuit. Regardless of our woodworking passion, there is so much to see and learn from this trip and you cannot but be proud and impressed with our founders and what they have wrought. You may be surprised at just how little things have changed in 250 odd years politically and socially.

The sights are beautiful to take in and you can easily get lost in the moment and be transported back to the last half of the 18th century. Most of the trades still practice the apprentice system and this is run by the Historic Trades department. Apprentices are taken on for 7 year contracts and in almost every case the folks I spoke with had little to no knowledge of their craft when they started their apprenticeship. Many of them either joined the foundation as an apprentice or had spent time working as a tour guide or retail shop worker before making the leap into a lifelong pursuit. This was inspiring to see and the extremely low turnover in the employee ranks is a testament to the experience each of these tradesmen live. I must admit that my thoughts are turning to making my relationship with Williamsburg more of a professional one and you can believe that I will keep my eyes open on this apprentice program and will be the first in line should something come available. Anybody want to put in a good word for me?

As a parting thought, the woodworking world seems to have gained an interest in design lately. This is largely driven by the intelligence of fellow SAPFM member George Walker. For those of you who follow his column and blog you will appreciate the proportional ecstasy provided by this structure.

Can you tell I really like this place???

This trip we are hoping to spend a litte more time in the DeWitt Wallace museum up close and personal with some incredible 18th century southern furniture. There are regular furniture tours taking place and I hope to catch one of them. The weather is expected to be warm and nice so we are both looking forward to strolling up and down Duke of Gloucester street and just relaxing. I am also curious to check out the new coffee shop Charleston’s since that last time I was there the Carpenters had just raised the roof.

Of course no trip would be complete without a stop into the Cabinetmaker, Cooper, and Carpenter shops. So my dear readers, please tell me what you would like to know about the 18th century cabinetmaker and joiner. I have plans to spend some time talking with these fine folks and I would love to be armed with questions from you all. Submit a comment here or send me an email at shannon@rogersfinewoodworking.com and I will do my best to get your questions answered.

Last weekend I made a trip up to Hearne Hardwoods to pick up some 12/4 Walnut for the table I am building for The Wood Whisperer March Guild build. While the Hearne folks were tallying my total I noticed this column that looks like it came off some kind of temple. It was broken at the bottom so it looked like it was just snapped off in demolition. It is elegantly shaped and faceted and I can imagine that the structure it once adorned was a thing to behold. The curves evoke something from Asia and once I looked closer that was confirmed when I realized that the entire column was made from solid East Indian Rosewood!

…Paradigm shifted…

Just because it is exotic and hoarded in tiny parts for pen turning and the like here doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be someone else’s 2×4 construction lumber somewhere else in the world where Rosewood grows naturally.

Suddenly this digitally small world just got a whole lot bigger.

Ironically the piece that sticks in my head the most was shuffled off to the side of an exhibit and I only noticed it because I was assuming the role of husband waiting for his wife outside the restroom. Behind and to the side of a pretty Queen Anne dining chair was this curious little table.

While it was still an exhibit meaning I couldn’t touch it, I was able to get very close and take some snapshots and sketch some of the curves. This later point provoked some rolled eyes as the aforementioned wife left the restroom. There are hundreds and hundreds of these little candle stands sprinkled throughout period furniture exhibits, but this one particularly caught my attention because of it’s simplicity. The turned central column is not overly detailed and it represents the truest essence of the Queen Anne style that I like so much. There isn’t a wide flare into a bulbous base that is so common in this form but a gradual widening that terminates in a small bead. This whole shape adds a very delicate feeling to the table which seems to support the beautifully shaped top as if it were weightless. This is an interesting contrast to the tripod feet that snake down and firmly plant themselves. Many of the designs I have seen like this seem to stand on tip toe but this one has it’s heels planted and I like the curve formed at the ankle because of it. This speaks to the Queen Anne style as well since this was really before the ubiquitous ball and claw came into vogue.

I took a shot up under the table as best I could and confirmed that it wasn’t a tilt top (that would be unusual for such a small piece) but I also want to confirm the joinery points as I was already mentally marking out a piece of Walnut that was sitting back in my shop.

Here is a better shot of the top profile with it’s Porringer-esque shape that beckons you to set your drink there and settle down in your Windsor chair with a good book.

I think this very simple piece embodies much of what I admire about the Queen Anne period and it will definitely get a place on my “to build” project list. The challenge of dovetailing the feet into the central column is something I look forward to as well as the freedom I have to design my own take on that column while at the lathe. Expect to see this piece pop up again in the near future as I already have a spot in my house picked out for it. Maybe while I’m at the lathe I’ll turn some candle sticks or an oil lamp to accompany the table so I can read in the “old style”.

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This trip has sparked greater interest in southern furniture of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The book store at the visitor’s center is a goldmine for literature on this subject so bring your checkbook. I plan to explore this topic more in future posts. However in the colonial section, the time period recreated is from around 1710 to 1750 give or take. Essentially it is pre-revolutionary America and firmly within the American Queen Anne period; also known as the Neat and Plain style. Being prior to the revolution you see a great deal of British influence mixed with American styles. In essence you can walk through one of the nicer homes of a wealthy resident and see imported Chippendale style with ornate details and carving mixed with the Neat and Plain smooth lines and slipper feet. At the same moment, when you travel to the smaller homes and merchant building you take in the relatively rustic and common styles of Joiner’s furniture like pub stools and tables. In other words, so much to see and learn.

Of course the major draws for the woodworker are the Anthony Hay cabinet shop and the Carpenter’s shop. The weather was really cold and wet and while not pleasant it really kept the crowds to a minimum so I was able to spend a great deal of time talking with the Cabinetmakers and Joiners. God bless my tolerant wife for hanging out with me while I indulged in 18th century woodworking esoterica. Unfortunately during my visit to the cabinet shop I was recording the floor for a bit and when I raised the camera to record I hit the button and stopped recording while I thought I was. Bone head that I am I repeated that error for the better part of 45 minutes and didn’t get much footage. I did my best to piece together some video and some stills to recreate my visit.

The good news is that this failed filming has only spurred me to get back down there and capture some more. My wife and I have annual passes and will be getting our money’s worth. So enjoy the show, but please comment here or drop me an email at shannon@rogersfinewoodworking if there is something you would like to know or a question I can ask the interpreters. We should be back in Williamsburg during Christmas and again in March for my birthday.

PS: there is much more woodworking goodness to taste in Williamsburg from the Cooper, Wheelwright, and Wallace museum to the Plantation and saw pit. This is just the tip of the iceberg so make your plans to pay a visit.

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Stay tuned next week for more Roubo. She will finally stand on her own 4 feet…

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Enjoy!

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This seminar was my first at WIA and has captivated me with regard to the history of molding profiles and the execution of these profile using only hand tools. Since October I have acquired a few more of these planes and hope to get them into working order to use on my next period project.

Enjoy the show!

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Enjoy this episode full of gratuitous vintage saw footage.

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Make sure you check out Chuck’s blog for complete instructions on how to make your own set of Bender inlay tools.

Finally, a few points on Sulfur inlay that I forgot to mention in the podcast. When cutting the recess for the Sulfur, you should undercut and create a kind of dovetail effect to lock in the material. Once the Sulfur is cool and scraped clean, it should be painted with Shellac to seal it in and protect the color before applying your finish of choice.

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One of the products of the Anthony Hay shop

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To check out a free preview of this excellent book head over to Tools For Working Wood and click on the image of the book to get a PDF preview.

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Posted via web from renaissanceww’s posterous

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Posted via web from renaissanceww’s posterous

Posted via web from renaissanceww’s posterous