Elia Bizzari - Hand Tool Woodworking

I’ve been having a field day.  Last weekend I started researching a long-promised post about pole-late treadles. In the process, I discovered that the internet can translate just about any book. That set me off translating Latin, German, and French books on pole-lathes from the 16th- to 18th-centuries.  It takes some effort, but it’s much easier than learning another language.  I’m sure an expert human would be better, but it’s pretty good: I compared a human-translated section to my internet version and the gist was mostly the same.  You’ll be hearing more about these translations – and pole-lathe treadles – soon.  

In the meantime, I’ve decided to book one more class this year from November 16th to 21st, on Curtis Buchanan’s loop back.  I’ll be booking more classes for early 2027, including some 18th Century Chairmaking classes.  But I’m also overseeing the construction of an addition on my mother’s house to help her age in place; I’m not sure how much time that’s going to take, so I’m posting just this one class for now (I may even need to leave this November class for an hour or two to meet contractors, but if so, I’ll have someone cover for me). More info and registration here.

I’ve been working on a series of chair orders for the last month or two.  It’s always a good time in the shop, especially when I have sets of chairs to work on as I do now.  I love getting into a rhythm, assembling a set of undercarriages, then the backs.  What is often a heady job becomes rote.  Fun!

Before I began working on the sets, I made a one off: a birdcage side chair.  It’s one of the most technically demanding chairs I build, and the paint job is no exception.  Luckily, this time I had a new tool that helped a lot:

Video Link

I honor of the USA’s big birthday, I’m offering all my online classes at a 50% discount. These are the classes that I made during the pandemic (one that I did with other people like Curtis Buchanan and Jane Mickelborough aren’t on sale this time). The classes are:

GREENWOOD CLASS with ELIA BIZZARRI
WOOD TURNING FOR CHAIRMAKERS with ELIA BIZZARRI
DRAWKNIFE CLASS with ELIA BIZZARRI
DRILL BITS: POSITIVE TOOLS FOR MAKING NEGATIVE SPACES with ELIA BIZZARRI
MAKE A REAMER with ELIA BIZZARRI
OCTAGONAL TABLE with ELIA BIZZARRI
MILK PAINT VIDEO with ELIA BIZZARRI

Happy Holiday!