Elia Bizzari - Hand Tool Woodworking

If this year has a theme, it’s called Lost Art Press.  Chris Schwartz was here a couple weeks ago taking photos for my new book (if we’re lucky, it may be available by the end of the year).  Then he’s coming back in April to film a video of me teaching my mentor Curtis Buchanan how to build the chair in the book (this was Curtis’s idea and I’m really excited about it).  And in October, I’m going to be teaching a class with Eric Cannizzaro at the Lost Art Press shop in Cincinnati (another thing I’m really excited about).  We’ll be making lots of green woodworking projects, including pitchforks. 

I know, I know, nobody needs a wooden pitchfork.  In fact, one of the students in our last class said “what am I going to do with that?” when we showed them the project on the first day.  But by the end of the week, everyone was hooked.  There’s a variety of different skills in a pitchfork, each one building on the last. The skills are useful for many other things – like chair parts, for instance – but the process is as laid-back as can be.  Making pitchforks, in short, is super fun. We’ll be doing a number of other projects too, like spoons, brooms, firewood carriers, tool handles and fan birds.  (More info about the class at the Lost Art Press website). 

With the book and video out of the way, I’m ready to start teaching a little more in my shop.  So I’m adding a loop back chairmaking class May 5th-10th.  Because of the demand I’ve been experiencing for these classes, I’m trying a new registration method:  send me an email by 8am Eastern on March 12th and I’ll add your name to the lottery to get into the class.  Then, if you get in, you’ll pay a $200 deposit to register (the remainder of the $1800 fee is due when you get here).  My website has more info.