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The time for dust collection really comes when you get item #1, the thickness planer. It is difficult to run any shop without dust collection. Let’s break it down into sections.  The lighter, smaller, and mobile tool is the shop vac. This cleans up scattered wood dust and particles, including from hand woodworking. It also […]

I’ve been thinking about something that’s always puzzled me in woodworking. How can one craftsman build something beautiful and functional and sell it for an astronomical price, while another builds something just as good, sometimes the exact same piece, and can’t get near that price? Or can’t sell it at all?

How does that happen? A teacher can teach someone to build a chair, carve it beautifully, and the thing never sells, even though the teacher has been selling that same chair for $1,600 for years.

This is a hard thing for a craftsman to accept, because we spend our lives believing the object is what matters. We’re raised on the idea that if you make something useful and beautiful, it should sell. We spend years learning, then refining, then learning more, all so we can produce work that speaks for itself. Naturally, we believe that if two people make the same object to the same standard, the market should value them the same. History says otherwise.

Paul Sellers makes a rocking chair and sells it for $3,000. Peter Follansbee makes a ladder back chair and sells it for $1,600. You take Paul’s class and learn to build that rocking chair. Time passes, your skills sharpen, and eventually you’re producing chairs that match his quality. But you can’t sell yours for $3,000. You can’t sell it at all. You end up giving it away.

That doesn’t sit right with any woodworker. We want to believe that if the work is good enough, someone will recognise it. We want quality to be the thing that decides value. But it isn’t.

A lot of people have tried to make a living copying what other craftsmen already do, then wondered why it didn’t work. Peter and Paul both teach classes. They show you exactly how they build what they build. Magazines run their articles, video crews film their process, and somewhere in all that exposure, it starts to feel like you could sell what they sell too.

But you only learned how to make the object. You didn’t acquire what makes the object valuable to the person who made it. This is what I call the illusion of the classroom. They’d already built something that can’t be taught in a class. They built a name.

A piece of furniture isn’t just mortises and tenons, dovetails and rabbets fitted together. It carries the story of the person who made it, the years spent behind the bench earning the skill to make it well. There’s a story in every piece, but not everyone tells it. The ones who do, and do it well, become known over time, until their name and their work become the same thing in people’s minds.

This isn’t an invention of the internet age. Long before algorithms, it was magazines, newspapers, and word of mouth.

George Nakashima is one of the clearest examples of this. He became one of the most recognised furniture makers of the twentieth century. His tables, chairs and cabinets were admired, but his work represented something much deeper. His approach to timber, his respect for natural forms, and his philosophy of allowing the wood to influence the design became part of his identity as a craftsman.

People were not simply buying a table made from a piece of beautiful timber. They were buying a George Nakashima table. That distinction is extremely important.

After George Nakashima passed away in 1990, his daughter Mira continued the family workshop. Mira had learned directly from her father and understood the methods, designs and philosophy that made the Nakashima name famous. She was not an outsider copying his work. She had spent years working alongside him and was fully capable of continuing the tradition. But it wasn’t her they wanted. It was her father.

While George was alive, his furniture was in high demand and business was booming. After he passed away, business plummeted. Customers were afraid the value of their investment would drop without him. I remember reading about it in Fine Woodworking back in the early 2000s.

Many customers were looking for the work of George Nakashima himself. They wanted the connection to the man whose name had become synonymous with his work. The furniture remained beautifully made, but it wasn’t George Nakashima who built it. It was someone different.

This is not a criticism of Mira Nakashima. It demonstrates something much larger about craftsmanship. The reputation of a maker becomes part of the value of the object.

The same lesson can be seen in the work of Sam Maloof. He became famous for his sculptural rocking chairs. His designs were instantly recognisable, and his name became almost synonymous with the form. Many skilled woodworkers can make a beautiful rocking chair. Many can study his methods, understand the joinery and produce a piece inspired by his work. But they are not Sam Maloof.

The buyer who wanted a Maloof rocker was not simply looking for a comfortable chair. They wanted the chair made by the man whose life’s work had become associated with that design.

This is the same reason an original piece of historical furniture carries a meaning that a reproduction, no matter how accurate, cannot completely replace. A modern craftsman can study Thomas Chippendale’s work, understand his designs and produce a remarkable reproduction. It may demonstrate extraordinary skill and dedication. But it is not a Chippendale.

An original Chippendale piece carries the history of his workshop, the customers who commissioned it, the period in which it was made and the hands that created it. The maker’s name has become part of the object itself.

This brings us back to Peter Follansbee, the man from the opening of this piece. His work at Plimoth Patuxet Museums, his research, his books, his teaching and his writing have all contributed to the meaning attached to his name. When someone buys one of his chairs, they are not simply buying a ladder back chair. They are buying a chair made by Peter Follansbee.

That is where many talented craftsmen struggle. They look at another maker’s work and think, “I can make that just as well.” Sometimes they are absolutely correct. Their craftsmanship may be equal. Their attention to detail may be equal, if not better. Their understanding of the techniques may be equal. But in the eyes of the market it is not the same.

Take myself as another example. I was selling wholesale. In truth, I was selling myself short for a sure thing.

The shops had the customers. The shops had the reputations. I made the work and they sold it.

There was nothing wrong with that. It was a living. But looking back, I can see what I gave up by doing it that way. I spent thirty years making things without building a name for myself among the people who might have wanted to buy them directly from me at a much, much higher price. After all, it was truly handmade.

Peter Follansbee worked for the museum and honed his skills there. He appeared on the shows, which gave him free advertising, and over time people got to know and trust him. He went on to produce videos through Lie-Nielsen, ran classes and built a genuinely respectable name in the industry. He was vouched for by Christopher Schwarz, and today he can sell whatever he wants at a hefty price tag.

You cannot live in the shadows for thirty years and expect people to know who you are. A craftsman can spend thirty years or fifty years mastering the craft and still remain unknown if they never build a connection with the people who value that craft. Knowledge, skill and dedication are essential, but they do not automatically create recognition. Communication opens those doors.

This is not to say that an unknown maker cannot produce work of equal quality. They absolutely can. There are countless craftsmen producing extraordinary work who will never receive the recognition they deserve. That is one of the great frustrations of craftsmanship. The world does not always discover the most talented maker. It often discovers the maker who has successfully communicated their work with an audience that understands its value.

And that is an uncomfortable truth, because we like to think craftsmanship is a meritocracy. We like to think the best work rises to the top. Sometimes it does, but often it doesn’t.

The craftsman who spends his entire life under the radar producing excellent work is not necessarily going to be the one people remember. Someone else may be just as skilled, or even less skilled, but they wrote about their work, taught others, appeared in magazines, demonstrated their methods, built relationships and became known. It doesn’t necessarily make them a better craftsman. It makes them a known craftsman. There is a difference.

The truth is that making and selling are two different crafts. Many craftsmen dedicate their entire lives to the first and never consider the second. They believe the work should speak for itself. Unfortunately, the work cannot speak if nobody knows it exists.

And this is where the whole thing comes back around to that chair. You can make the chair. You can make it beautifully. You can use better timber, make tighter joints, carve it better and finish it better. You can spend twice as long making it as the person you’re comparing yourself to.

And you can still have trouble selling it. Because nobody knows you. That is the difference between selling a chair for $1,600 and giving one away.

The painful part is that the craftsman often discovers this only after spending years becoming good enough to make the thing in the first place. By then, it is too late to realise that making the object was only half of the job. You also had to make yourself known.

I know this one from the inside. Thirty years at the bench, and I never once asked myself who was going to know my name when I stopped making clocks for someone else’s shop window. I got the first half of the job right and skipped the second entirely. Nobody outside a handful of wholesale buyers ever had a reason to ask who made it.

So if there are any young people reading this, take the half of the job I missed. Learn and practice until you understand the craft better than the average woodworker. Then make every effort to get yourself known. Write articles for magazines, attend shows, go public, advertise yourself, and never stop until you no longer need to.

My ship has sailed, but your ship has just set sail. The journey is long, but it’s adventurous. Make the most of it, enjoy the journey, and remember, you only get one shot at this.

I learned this too late. You don’t have to.

first one done

Checking that the depth is 3/8" deep on each one.

helper

This spans the two rods of the vise and I set the narrow rails on top of it. Solid base to chop the mortises on.

oops

I was being careful, taking teeny whacks so I wouldn't do this. Didn't help as I still split the outside face from the left corner of the mortise to the end and halfway past the mortise on the right. I guess I was lucky because of the four rails, this was the only split I had to fix.

mortising half done

I was getting quicker the more mortises I chopped. Finished the two narrow rails and started on the tall boy rails.

After I had chopped the tall boy mortises, I checked all of them were at the same depth. It wasn't so boys and girls. The combo square had slipped from 3/8" to a 1/4". I had to deepen 9 mortises to get them to at least 3/8". 

hmm......

The vertical slats are a frog hair less than a 1/2" thick. I can two slats out this 6/4 board (actual 1 3/8"). I should be able to get all ten from this one board with extras if needed.

spoke too soon

This 6/4 off cut (the only one I have) is a 1/4" too short. I'll have to use 5/4 or 4/4 stock to get the slats from.

5/4 stock

Checked and rechecked and went back to get slapped one more time. There was no way I could resaw this board and get two slats. I can only get one out of it. 

not superstitious

Had to use two 5/4 boards to get 13 slats. I only need ten for the project.

wee bit oversized

I purposely did this and I will plane each end of each slat to fit its respective mortise. I want them to be snug so there will be no gaps. 

hmm.......

The width is smaller than the thickness of the slats. However, on the R/L, it is oversized slightly on all but 4 mortises. It is looking like it is a frog hair under. Based on previous slat work I've done, the mortises shrink and tend to close up tight on the slats. Fingers crossed that these 4 aren't too short.

stickered

I'll let these hang out until the AM. One is bowed a little and another is bowed a lot. Having 3 extras is paying off already.

why I did extras

These are the off cuts and I'm sure that I can use them for some future use. The 2nd one in from the left bowed as I sawed it. That is the one that gave up the slat that bowed the most. Fingers crossed that I only need to scrap two. But if not, I have one last 5/4 board I can rip out a couple of more.

 accidental woodworker

mortise layout

Going with 5 vertical slats, one inch wide by 1/2 inch thick. The slats need to be installed before I can glue up the sides.

big brain fart

I thought I was done with the dowel jig but I wasn't. I had broke it down and stowed in when I realized that I still had four more to do. I couldn't remember what shims I had used so I had to by trial and error find the right one again. I missed the first one even though it was awfully close. The 3rd one was the charm. The new dowel holes lined up with the reset jig - the test piece aligned flush with the original rail on all four sides.

sigh

When I found the missing dowel holes. I had done the back bottom rail but I didn't do the two bottom side rails.

me-steak

At least I only drilled one hole on the wrong side of the layout line. Glued in a dowel and this won't be visible in finished project. The bottom shelf should cover it.

hmm......

Mitered two dowels and checked to see that shook out. It will work and the tricky part will be getting the mitered faces to align. I think I will glue the sides first and let them cook, then do the back.

2 done

Only 18 more to go. This was it for today. I wasn't feeling as washed out tired like yesterday but I decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. I'll pick back up on the mortises in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

hmm.......

The bottom one is what the dowel jig did first and what two holes look like. I wasn't happy with the empty space so I drilled two holes and shifted the jig to the left and drilled one more hole. I liked that but it won't work when I drill the corresponding holes in the legs. I can't reference the third hole I drilled.

drilled three

The last hole on the left doesn't have a lot of meat on the outside. I think I'll be ok with it because I will place this so this hole is on the bottom.

it wasn't easy

The jig isn't centered on either the rail or the legs. Positioning the jig needs to be set correctly so the rails and legs align -  side to side & top/bottom. The leg/rail sample was a life saving but it was still easy for me to get confused. I confirmed the placement of the jig a bazillion times before I drilled and I still had calm the heebie jeebies afterward.

first two

Got the top side rails done. The inside face is flush with the legs with the offset on the outside.

oops

I might need a change of plans. The dowels for the next set of rails line up with the first rail dowels. I hadn't thought that far ahead. Decided to move the back rail to the opposite side and that opened up some room. One set will still hit the other but with enough meat for the glue to work on both.

While I was typing this I saw another way to deal with this. I could have offset the 2nd set of dowels by placing them in between the first ones. The 5 inch rails had 4 dowels and the offset ones would have had 4 too. On the next one I'll try doing it that way.

hmm.......

This is the top back rail. I will also do this same layout for the bottom back rail. Not ideal but I think it will be adequate for this application.

first bottom rail

Got the bottom rail on the bottom and the bottom front rail I'm on the fence about. I'm leaning towards positioning the outside face flush. The bottom shelf will overhang on the front edge so any offset there won't be seen.

sides done

The first bottom rail is short - I used it just to check I drilled the holes correctly.

came today

I had ordered these yesterday but I hadn't checked for a delivery date. I don't need the 2" ones but I did need the 1 1/2" ones.

last two rails

These are the top and bottom drawer rails. The top one will be dovetailed into the top of the legs and the bottom one is up in the air. Doweled, tenoned, or set in a notch? 

I quit for the day here. I was dead, bone tired and I was struggling trying to not nod out. The oncology nurse had told this might happen and just go with the flow. So that is what I did for the PM session.

accidental woodworker 

• We will be moving out of this location on September 1, 2026 and will no longer be selling printed books and plans after that date/
• Printed Plans:
  • Saturday, August 29 will be the last day we will accept orders for printed plans
    • Our price for plans has been the same for more than 20 years and will remain the same until the end, but..
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    • These changes will appear on product pages and the shopping cart.
• Online SketchUp Class:
  • This website will go offline at the end of March, 2027
    • The PDF version of “Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp” and online video content will be available until that date
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• Furniture Plans in PDF Format:
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• EMAIL:
  • There are email links throughout this site that point to an address that will disappear after September 1, 2027
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• Blogs
  • Although I haven’t been as active in posting as I used to be, there is a lot of valuable content about the Arts & Crafts period, SketchUp and woodworking in general on the blog pages. These will remain available until the end of March 2027.
  • I’m investigating other options for this material but can’t guarantee that I will be able to find an affordable place to put it online. Enjoy it while you can!

Once again my family and I thank you for your support and encouragement over the years. Folks like you make things possible for guys like me and we appreciate it.

–Bob Lang

Had a great day! John and his wife (a delightful couple) came over to pick up his new Nava mandolin.

almost done

There were two white holidays on the inside I painted and two dings showing some primer on the outside. It will be a while before I can move this into the boneyard. I haven't gotten around to arranging it.

leg stock

Made a me-steak with the 6/4 leg stock. I thought this was long enough to get 8 legs out of it. I also thought that I had bought another 6/4 board but that ain't so boys and girls.

a wee bit of twist

The board wasn't rocking on the tablesaw and the eyeball didn't see any twist. I took a couple of the shavings off the high ends and called it done.

hmm......

I got 5 legs out of the 6/4 board. The two outside ones will be the front legs. The two back legs have straight vertical grain on two faces and two faces with cathedral grain. Not that pronounced and they will be the back legs.

cleaning up

The tablesaw didn't like ripping this poplar. It stalled and grabbed a couple times when I ripped out each leg. I cleaned up those faces and then did a skim cut on the tablesaw getting all four legs to the same dimension.

close

My Olsen miter gauge wouldn't extend the 45" I needed for the legs. I knifed each leg at 45 and cut them on the tablesaw. I will reference everything off of the top of the legs. After it is together I'll even up the legs at the bottom.

rails

Got all the rails saw to length and width. I still need one more rail - the top drawer rail. Holding off on that for now. I still need 3 shelves, slats, and a top. When I do them I'll get the drawer rail from those scraps.

 

Miller Dowel jig

Playing around with the doweling jig to get the set up I want. Initially I was shooting for having the rail centered on the legs. The rails are 5/4 and the legs are 6/4, but I couldn't do that. I like centered because if I brain fart it won't matter and the rail will still fit. 

the final look

In the end after playing with it for a while adding and removing shims, I finally got it. The back is within a frog hair of being flush with the inside of the leg and the opposite face is inset about 3/16".

hmm......

This jig is for setting the depth of the drill bit and I think I finally figured it out. I thought the measurements on the jig were for the dowel length. It ain't so, it is for the drill depth on one side of the dowel joint. It is very easy to confuse me and I could have avoided it if I had read the instructions. Now that I sorted that out I'm trying to decide whether to use 1 1/2" or 2" dowels. 

ready for drilling

I was going to drill the holes but nixed it. I wasn't feeling 100% so I'll come back to this in the AM. 

Day three from my 2nd chemo cocktail and I felt like total crap this morning. I slept throughout the night. I had hit the rack at 2100 and I got up 4 times for the toilet trot races but I was able to fell back asleep right away. It doesn't look like this round of chemo is going to be as nice as round one. 

Feeling nauseous sucks pond scum so I finally broke down and took a pill for it. I felt better about an hour later with the nauseous feeling knocked back 98%. I had my friday fish 'n chips and so far I've kept it down without the urge to make an offering to the white porcelain throne. Blah feeling slowly dissipated over the day and by the time I killed the lights I was feeling a wee bit better. Fingers crossed tomorrow will be better.

accidental woodworker

 I got on the road a little after 0600, heading north to Highland Hardwoods in New Hampshire. It was a nightmare driving up there. 95 and 495 had several log jams I had to deal with and I don't do good in traffic. Especially so when nothing is moving. The closer I got to New Hampshire it started to thin out but a surprise was waiting for me in NH. They were doing massive construction for several miles on the road to Highland Hardwood. Coming home was much better - no log jams and I sailed through the bazillion mile long construction zone.

$262 worth of poplar

I know I have enough for one and I'm going to try and squeeze out two if I can.

the honey do project

This is what my wife asked me to make for her. Surprised me to no end that she liked this style. It is definitely something that I like and I like a lot. 

painting done

On the front no holidays but there are a few spots to do on the back. The front looks good after two coats. It is smooth to the look and touch with no brush marks.

flipped it

Back went on next. I screwed it into the backs of shelves and nailed it off around the perimeter. No glue because of the paint.

last screw

The back wasn't glued and nailed/screwed. The screws (#6x1") stiffened the bookcase much more than I thought they would. The edges and the top and bottom on the back needed a top coat. I am only putting on one to cover the white primer.

done

I have a couple of spots to touch up. Wrestling it off the workbench and getting it upright didn't go smoothly. One down and one more to go. This one is for Leo I think based on the color of the paint. Both of the grandsons have gray dressers but different colors.

15"

I got 3 boards this wide and one 16" wide. All four of them are 5 feet long.

I'll get started on this in the AM. I made some doodles on paper that will guide me. I'll settle on the height, depth, and width as I start cutting the stock to rough dimensions.

Day two from my 2nd chemo cocktail and no side effects so far. I didn't sleep well last night, I had woke up at 0215 and couldn't fall back asleep. I finally nodded out sometime after 0430 and woke up again at 0515. I hope that I sleep like the dead tonight.

Had trouble getting the wood into the truck at Highland Hardwoods. I had to go old man slow because if I tried going at my normal balls to wall speed I got winded. Getting the lumber out of the truck at home and into the cellar took a long time. I get winded and short of breath now more and more when I exert myself even slightly. I had to rest and catch my breath several times. I don't know if that is due to the lung cancer or the ILD. From what I read about ILD that is most likely the culprit.

accidental woodworker 

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.

The post New Class, New Translation first appeared on Elia Bizzarri - Hand Tool Woodworking.

 

ready

I eyeballed the bookcase checking for any holidays and found none. Last night after dinner I had put primer on the molding. This AM I sanded it down with 320 grit, wiped down it down and rolled on the first top coat.

nope

Used a roller to apply the top coat and I like the look. No brush marks and the coverage looks smooth. I had to brush some parts - corners and the molded edges of the shelves.

the left one

Both frames have the same molded outside edge. The left one I got today and it is just a wee bit larger then the right one. That is the one I made first and ran a bead on the inside of edge. I still don't remember how I made that frame. Pretty sure that I ran the bead before sawing the miters but it is still fuzzy.

fuzzy looking but done

Finally got all the of the black scraped off. There are a few scattered spots of black in dings that I can't get out. 

ready for paint

I got all the screws and loose parts wire brushed. The frame came out better then I thought it would - cast iron doesn't shine up as nicely as brass does. I'll wipe everything down with acetone before I paint it.

hmm.......

There were a bazillion little dust nibs all over the bookcase. I hand scraped them all off with a small card scraper. I painted the base and molding with a brush because the base had the most dust nibs. 

The plan as of now is to roll on the 2nd coat after dinner. That will have given the bookcase over 8 hours to dry after the first coat.

I got a 'honey can you......' project. I'm going to Highlands Hardwoods in New Hampshire in the AM. I called Koszela lumber and they didn't have all the sizes I needed. My wife likes bland looking wood so I'm making it out of poplar. I need 3/4, 5/4, and 6/4 and only Highland has all three in stock. 

accidental woodworker

Last post I wrote about buying several tools from the widow of a woodworker who, after several months of grieving, was ready to let go of her husband's tools.  On a separate occasion, I got a few more things from her and this post shows them.

A few more new-to-me items

I already have a pair of mag goggles (though I can't seem to find them right now), but these had an extra lens that pivots in front of the right eye for extra magnification.  This pair does not have a light like my other pair, but it'll be nice to have the extra lens for looking at finer things.  It's already helped me get a better view of cutting edges.

I also already have a set of brad point bits, though my set only has 7 bits - 1/8" to 1/2" by 16ths.  This new set goes from 1/8" to 1/2" in 64ths, and already it has come in handy when I had to drill a 15/32" hole.  The set looks to be in great shape.  They had been used, but probably not too much.

A nice complete set of brad point bits

I had been looking for a circular (or "compass"? - not sure of the correct term) plane for the last year or two.  When I saw this one in the man's collection, I really hoped I could get it.

Stanley #20

View from above the front portion

It's a bit grungy and has some issues, but I'll clean it up and get it working.  Can't wait to try it out.

Finally, I picked up a book that looked interesting.  It's "Shoji and Kumiko Design, Book 1: The Basics", by Desmond King.  I had experimented with Kumiko a few years ago and enjoyed it.  And I recall seeing King's name when I was researching Kumiko at that time.  This book will give me some more information to continue with the techniques.

Desmond King's Book 1 on Shoji and Kumiko

That's all for now.  I've got some tools to clean up, materials to read, and some woodworking to get to.

Our showroom barely earns the name - it's just the front part of our warehouse/manufacturing where we have some products on display. But we nevertheless manage to host customers from all over the world, and we're very happy to see them.

Often one of the visitors is driving the visit, with some bored loved ones in tow. We try to suggest local delights that will offset the boring-to-them tool talk. Recently we had visitors from Brazil, Germany, the Dominican Republic and the UK, in addition to states far away from Brooklyn.

We recently also hosted some local browsers - probably extremely local, as in the river one block away. A family of geese stopped by to check out the shop.

The geese didn't talk much so I don't know their names. It was a family of four, and they really came by to get out of the heat. The father wandered around looking at the tools on the lower shelves. The mom and the two goslings sat down on the cool concrete and rested. They didn't actually buy anything, which isn't a surprise since they didn't seem to have cash, a card or a phone. I suppose having webbed flippers not fingers is a handicap for woodworking. But you didn't hear it from me - I like to be encouraging. Basically they visited to get out of the heat, have some water, and use the bathroom (let's just say their habits here left room for improvement). Just to be safe, we called animal protection to find out if we should do anything special to protect them - we're down the block from an expressway extension with a lot of traffic. Animal Protection said that if the geese didn't seem to be in distress, which they weren't, they would probably wander up and down the block and go back to the river.

Apparently this is what they did, we've seen them several times subsequently. They're I guess staycationing in the city for the summer or at least until the goslings are old enough to fly. Our FedEx driver said he has seen them in other spots in the neighborhood near the river, so there's probably a way for them to get to water. But I don't exactly know where. We have been delighted to see that the goslings have definitely been growing and look pretty healthy. So that's very nice. I know this is a story about retail not woodworking, but one of the best parts about buying things in person whether you're doing it by coming to the store or calling up, is the personal connection we get when we actually meet our customers. Even if they're just plain quackers.

In other news, we are almost finished delivering all the pre-ordered treadle lathes. Delivery has definitely been slower than we would like, because we are having trouble with some of our suppliers. Manufacturing is hard! We will be taking a few lathes to Hand Works in Amana. How many we will bring depends on if we get another shipment of bases from our welder. And we just won't know for at least another week. Either way, we should be able to reopen ordering either just before Amana or just after. (We hope.)

That leaves me right into saying I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of you at Handworks on the first weekend of September. It's the only woodworking show we do, and it's well worth the effort for both us and you. Pretty much the entire hand tool world is there and the admission is free. It's a great, fun, exhausting time for all. The big problem is for me is that I've been to every single Handworks, and because I'm working a booth I have yet to really see the show. But stop on by, say hello, play with the lathe. You will have a great time.

it fits

I had my 2nd chemo cocktail this AM but before I left I checked the base and how/if the molding fitted. The base fits well along the front gap free not that it matters much.

left side

This gap is tapered going wide at the front to almost nothing at the back. The gap is because of me planing the tails/pins flush. I didn't check or pay any attention to keeping the corner square.

right side is a little better

hmm......

Got lucky and planing the top of the base was correct. There is a strong 16th between the top of the molding and the top of the bottom shelf. I would have liked it to have been an 1/8" but this is acceptable.

I like it

This is the look of the miter off the saw. I am going with this because it is a paint grade miter and it will look tight and gap free when the paint is on it.

It was 1334 before I made it back to the shop today. The chemo infusion took forever. I got there at 0815 for blood work. I got my premed infusion at 0930 and I left finally at 1220. After filling the pie hole I ambled down to the shop.

sanded

I am gluing the molding to the base only. I will nail (pin nails) it to the base and the bottom shelf. That should be more than adequate for securing the molding. Sanded the primer off with 80 grit.

securing the base

I went back and forth with putting the base on now or waiting until I painted the bookcase and base separately. Nixed that because I have to apply primer to molding after it is secured. Two of the screws poked through and said hello. Replaced those two with 1 1/4" long ones and filled the errant holes with putty.

sigh

I checked the molding dry and it look good to go. I glued and nailed off the front and left side moldings and got a surprise when it came time to do the right one. The front molding ran long about an 1/8". I used a chisel to trim it so the heel was on the outside edge of the side. I didn't chisel it at 45 though. I eyeballed the short leg and checked it - it was way off. I tried several times to adjust the angle by sawing and that wasn't working.

I used a 100 grit sanding stick to getting the mating miter to match. It was easier going then I thought it would be. I eventually got the miter 99% gap free with a minor space at the toe. I filled that in with wood putty. The paint will hide that sin. 

I set all the pin nails and filled them in with putty. After dinner I'll go back to the shop and sand them smooth and apply the primer to the molding.

fixed

Initially I thought having a gap here at the back wasn't a big deal. But I didn't think the gap would be as big as it is. After seeing it I decided to put a shim in around the middle. The shim is about 9-10" long and roughly centered on the back rail. 

done - ish

There are few stubborn spots on the interior that are resisting my charms trying to scrape. Overall I'm satisfied with the removal which now showcases a bazillion dings and casting imperfections. No rush on this and I'll get the last of the recalcitrant paint removed.

hmm......

I found another can of red paint and two cans of black. The red had a skim coat that I removed and it looks viable. The red sample I did yesterday is toast - it was still tacky and more so than it should have been given the warm temps and the 24hrs. Can states dry to the touch in 4-6 hours. Tossed it into the shitcan without getting a pic of.

went 1 for two

The first can of black had thick skim coat with a small puddle of black paint. Tossed that without giving it a second thought. This can was perfect - no skim coat and the paint looked and felt good when I stirred it. I will try it out painting the tenon maker once all the old paint is history.

accidental woodworker 

prepped

Got the base sanded (120 grit) and it is was ready for paint. The tear out I filled with putty felt smooth and flush when I checked it with my finger tips. The bearers/cleats are just screwed on and I will screw up through them to secure the bookcase - no glue there neither.

hmm.......

I would have bet a lung that this was flush yesterday. Not so today. I had checked that the top of the back was square to face but it wasn't. Squared that up and that increased the light under the square. Same headache on the other side to deal with.

fixed

Initially I was going to use veneer but I had to use 5 pieces to get the height needed. Instead I ripped out a thin piece of pine and planed/sanded it until it was flush with the bearer/cleat.

I am going to use the cove molding from yesterday. I took four shavings off the sides and the front which now I think was the wrong way to go. Having trouble trying to visualize if dropping the base will sink the molding down further against the bottom shelf of the bookcase. I'll find out in the AM.

step one

Painting the base is a two stepper. Step one is painting the underside and the inside. Step two, to come, is painting the outside faces of the sides.

flipped a coin

Heads I left the back natural and tails I painted it. Tails won.

one more two stepper

Got the primer on everything except the two outside vertical faces. I'll do them after the paint has dried for a couple of hours.

the oops

Mishandled the router removing it after I had routed the rabbet. It on the back top and it should face a wall unseen. I am not painting the backside of the back panel.

primer coat done

I will let this go until the AM. Then I will lightly sand it with 320 grit and apply the top coat. I have zero confidence that one will cover. On a brighter note I did like the primer coat - it laid down smoothly with no visible brush marks. Will I get lucky with the top coat?

it is working

The paint is coming off effortlessly with the screwdrivers. I got most of the outside done I would say about 90-95%. The inside is scraping off but it is slow going. Hard to hold it conveniently and scrape. Ideally I like scraping having both hands free. 

If I remember hardly anyone is selling pint cans of oil based enamel. I need red and black - my black can had skimmed over and is total crappola. I have a can of red but it is iffy. I slapped some on a scrap to see what it looks like when I check it in the AM.

accidental woodworker 

I actually watch a lot of Japanese woodworking videos and welcome this new tutorial approach.  As much as I like the videos in Japanese shops, they are usually in Japanese and mostly without translation.  Since I neither read nor speak Japanese this English chyron approach is most welcome.  Not that I do much better with English…

base is done

Went together off the saw and fit the bottom of the bookcase. Because of the size of the bookcase I increased the height of the base. Raising it up (about a 1/2") makes it easier to access the bottom shelf.

sigh

Dinged this up taking it off the workbench. I can't leave this as is because it looks too ugly.

fixed

I planed the flat on the front edge and routed the chamfer again. Planed it some more and routed it again. I'm leaving this as it is for now.

no more

I could have planed some more and routed the remaining ding on the chamfer. If I had done that the flat would have been thinner then the chamfer. The both of them are about the same now.

oops

Got the base back on and I wasn't paying attention. The top of the back rail should have been flush with the top of the bearer/cleat. Instead I made it flush with the top of the base. I secured the ends into the sides with Miller Dowels. I already have the fix rattling around in the brain bucket.

saw kerfs

I have to remove/flatten/straighten out about 3/16". Made a bazillion saw kerfs staying just above the pencil layout line. 

working down

This worked better and quicker than I thought. I didn't have to make this dead nuts straight R/L nor maintain a specific height.

flush

This is the only spot, here and on the opposite end, that has to be flush with the bearers/cleats. The bookcase will bear down on the back here.

hmm.......

The cove molding is barely a frog hair below the top of the bottom shelf. I had gone to Lowes but the small molding section was as bare as Mother Hubbard's cupboard. I didn't feel like driving to Home Depot but I might make that road trip tomorrow. I don't have a warm and fuzzy about using this molding.

As I was doing this I thought of routing a chamfer on the base. The base fits fairly well on the front and the left side - the right side has a teeny gap. I'm not sure my OCD will allow me to ignore it.

ouch

Got some tear out on this side that was so ugly the wood actually cried. It was one of the areas on pine that tears out on every compass point. 

still soaking

I went searching for my tools from rehabbing planes and nada. I had made several scrapers with sheet rock knife blades and it is them I wanted to use on this. I'm in no hurry and I've been using small blade screwdrivers as scrapers.

accidental woodworker 

Where are we so far for the developing woodworker building the machine segment of his or her shop?  1. thickness planer with helical cutterhead 2. router with multiple functional accessories, and a router table built or bought. And throw in a hand-held power drill. 3. table saw, big or small; think safety  4. band saw; […]

And I am talking about what woodworkers new to woodworking don't know starting out.

I'm not really a hand tool enthusiast, but an enthusiastic maker that works primarily with the hand tools he's worked with for over sixty years and has no plans to change a thing. Why? Because Paul Sellers is good at using them and is considered something of an expert. What many do not know is that I'm just as experienced and competent a machinist as I am with hand tools. I once used machines in my day-to-day business ventures and developed production lines I enjoyed too; these businesses were on a one- or two- to five-man scale. Nothing massive or factorial, just common sense. More important though, and so worth noting and comparing: after my sixty-one years of daily hand tool woodworking, I learn something new about the hand tools, the work methods, and techniques every day. Much more than that, the reality of my working with hand tools means that I know the depth and breadth of the woods I work with far more because of the handwork. You simply cannot get this by machining wood. It doesn't happen because it can't. No one gets the kind of information I speak of as long as a machine is processing the wood in your stead. Once you understand that, you understand you will need to start on the learning journey. You simply cannot gain the diverse experiences from machining wood, and neither can you read about it or look at pictures or videos, etc., to gain such experience. Only hand tool woodworking delivers the goods, and this usually gets dismissed by those from all other camps.

He's hand-cutting one of his first-ever dovetails to the apron of a coffee table. He has cut five in the first part of his course, making a box and an exercise piece. At this point, all four of his dovetails came out perfectly. How would it look if he and the twelve others on the course were wearing gladiator gear to power up their machines to run them through the slalom tines of a dovetail jig? Look at the composition, the alignment of the arms and hands, the focus, the muscled shoulder to power into the cut. And you should have seen his face when he pressed the dovetails home to the gap-free corner he never thought he would ever make!

I am never trying to be divisive when I say things like this. The issue for me is anyone drawing a comparison, thinking machining is the same thing, only a more advanced way, when they, in 98% of cases, never actually mastered any one of the hand tools or techniques hand tool woodworkers use. It might not take a lifetime to glean the information I speak of, but it does take repeated working of all the different types of tools and woods because within every tool and every species there are remarkable differences where the wood or the tools affect one another very differently. This exchange means that we , the hand tool woodworkers, engage with our work in radically diverse ways. We rely on what we feel when we plane and saw and chisel. Passing your wood into the jaws of a thickness planer takes zero sensing of any kind. The power feed pulls the wood in and pushes it out for the machinist to catch. Nothing sentient about it. For us, the hand tool worker, woods change within any given distance. You can never gain such intimate detail of character and workability by simply feeding the wood into a cutter head of any type. So there you are. That's the reality that is rarely, if ever, really considered by machine-only makers and advocates. Simply put, you never know the wood by simply pushing it into a machine or pushing the handheld machine types into the wood, and it's this distinction that makes the difference between a machinist and a hand tools maker.

They came from throughout the USA and even as far as Australia, Mexico, and Canada. Data analysts, programmers, and an eye surgeon who told me his loss of earnings that week cost him $150,000 in loss of earnings to attend. You can see the tool chest and the coffee table they've already made. Missing from the picture are their dovetailed candle box and their wall shelf. This is the last week, and they will make their rocking chair. They didn't use a machine, nothing beyond a drill driver. These men are not manual workers in the day-to-day. Most of them never picked up a bench plane until 15 days ago.

But you see, we want and focus on developing this sentience in our work life. We don't want substitutes for skill; nothing that stands in our stead. We even want the unpredictability of it, like the challenge, and then too the risk of it, and the call to mastery. Without this, woodworking is dull and predictably boring. There is almost nothing to consider without the sensing of the wood through the hand tools we use. Additionally, there are still so many things to consider with the cutting edges delivering information as we work with hand tools. Even in the end results, though they might look identical, possibly, are intrinsically incomparable.

I mean, look at this. Twelve of them, and they all look the same after 12 days, and this is their third project. College work would take them 2 years to get here, if they ever do, and that's using machines for most of it. Just above the cabinet, you can see the hint of their next project on its way, the Craftsman-style rocking chair made from solid oak–another twelve of them!

And on another tack. Using terms like scary-sharp was a more attention grabbing strapline (tagline USA), like a fun piece of trivia; the man coining the term achieved no more than the ancients had done for centuries before, and salesmen selling equipment use it all the time because it grabs the mind. If tools are not essentially surgically sharp, you might as well just go and use machines where the blades are traded out and sent off for resharpening the carbide tips and cutters. What was accepted for the previous few hundred years still proves the same for us today. In an age when almost everyone has no knowledge of how to sharpen anything, developing a sharp edge to a knife can certainly put you on a pedestal; it was nothing more than a substitute distractional term to entertain. It's the same with micro-bevels and such. They're mostly just cute terms and something to say. Any bevel between 25-30 or even 35º cuts well, and you'll scarcely, if ever, tell the difference with one or two bevels up against one another. Also, I vary my cutting edges for different tasks, and I never ever grind my chisels on any kind of mechanical grinding wheel. The no-grind method of old is the fastest and unfussy methods for non-commercial methods, such as we need at the bench in a few seconds, and it delivers exactly the same level of sharpness and cutting ability.

Typically, my classes were always filled with men like these. Percentage-wise, maybe 1-2% could occasionally include women, but sadly we never managed to increase this percentage, although we really tried over two decades.

Did you know that despite my still learning about my hand tools and such, the half a dozen machines used predominantly in woodworking take no more than an hour per machine to learn just about everything you need to know about machining wood? And that most of your time will then be spent considering how you must use them as safely as possible. After that, you become a jig and guide maker for each project. Is that really the woodworking you wanted when you started out? For some, that will be the case, and then there are the others. Those who want the high demand of woodworking mastery

He's a dentist. Dentists make great woodworkers, as do plumbers, psychoanalysts, doctors, solicitors, and truck drivers. We bridged the huge chasm between occupations and brought people together in a knot of new woodworkers.

I was introduced to a man in a cafe recently. The wife, who I knew, introduced her husband as "a woodworker too." It soon became apparent that he was disdainful about anything unmachined and described himself as a "biscuit addict and a domino fan!" There was an immediate cut-off with glazed-over eyes at the mention of hand tools. I try not to waste my energy on such and switch topics as best I can. Their blindness is not my concern. To do what I do the way that I do it, you have to want it wholeheartedly. You must volunteer into it. There is no substitute, and without that, you will never do it and thereby know any of the gain of it. Running a marathon is never done by bus, and whitewater kayaking demands total concentration. There is no distancing yourself from the cutting edges of hand tools to cut the pins to fit the tails and the mortise to the mortise hole.

48 mortise and tenons hand-cut and machineless woodworking at its best. Every surface was hand planed by total novices to a glass-smooth level and a level they never believed they could ever achieve. I taught this course as a hands-on effort, but now everyone around the world can follow the same projects following my online teaching.

Getting others off the conveyor belt to adapt, adopt, and end up as truly skilled makers is and will be the ultimate measure of my objective and success. If anyone intersperses their day with the use of machines, I am fine with it, I do not mind at all. I think machines are handy pieces of commercial equipment, but 98% of new and even seasoned woodworkers around the world will never own even a single machine. Think high-rise dwelling, inner-city complexes, social housing piled one on top of the other, and then, simply, the poorer majority of the world. My woodworking style embraces the demanding work of hand tools for a dozen good reasons I am always ready to give. What about better physical and mental health, developing patience and fortitude, mastery in skilled workmanship? There is, of course, much more to it than any of that. How about fulfillment and satisfaction, sharing your space with your young children, an apprentice you are helping to shape, and giving others the hand tools you are using to do their own work with...'off the devices, wood in the vises.'

I ran the same course in the UK later that year. Another twelve students broke ranks from their usual everyday work to challenge themselves by making a series of high-demand projects. It's quite a remarkable thing to see such a diverse group come together to make but make they did.

My being good with hand tools is not in question, and neither are many of the operations I perform any faster using all machine methods. The only way to really test this is to run everything in parallel, which I don't have time to do. Fact is, machine methods might even be slower, more dangerous, more isolating, and then just plain dull and boring. In my view, most people can gain mastery in hand tool woodworking within a year or two. I have found that a 14" bandsaw makes the heavy cuts in hardwoods like oak easier and less tedious. It's there in the background, taking its small footprint. Not compromising; nice!

done

Routed the the top and bottom rabbets without any hiccups. Well one hiccup but it is on the back and won't be seen. Squared up the corners and it was ready for the back.

Lowes run

I had to buy a full sheet of 1/4" plywood and they sawed it in half. It was a struggle carrying it out to my truck but I managed. I sawed the back out a wee bit wider and longer then needed. I trimmed/planed it until it fit within the rabbets.

hmm........

Seeing the back fitted is making me wish that I wasn't painting this. I like the 'grain' in this plywood a lot.

base

I am only doing a 3 sided base. The back 'side' I'll deal with after the base is glued and cooked. Tails laid out and sawn - the chopping will start in the AM. 

half pins

Sawed the half pins before killing the lights for the day. Quitting bell still had a while to go before it rung too.

Last night I slept through the night without getting up once. Closed the peepers around 1030 and woke up at 0530. I had felt bone weary tired before hitting the rack. Today after lunch I felt the same. I haven't this tired/worn out in a very long time.

Of late I've been getting winded quickly. More frequently now I get out of breath coming up the cellar stairs. Carrying the plywood at Lowes was an eye opening. I have never gotten that out breath carrying a light load for such a short distance.

When I'm working in the shop I don't get winded like I do walking up the stairs. I got a wee bit winded planing the dovetails yesterday but I was able to keep going and finish that job.

Maybe this is the 'bone weary tired' that the oncology nurse said I would experience. I cut short the shop time and spent the rest of the day nodding in/out at my desk. If I'm up to I'll finish the base in the AM and start painting the bookcase.

accidental woodworker