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One of the things my wife, Cathy, and I enjoy doing when on a vacation is checking out local woodworkers, woodworking supply stores, and galleries. Once we’re comfortable in our hotel room I’ll open the Yellow Pages to “Woodworking” or “Woodworking Equip & Supplies,” or simply “Lumber.” We recently took a trip to the Gulf Coast of Florida and had the opportunity to visit a couple of interesting woodworkers. (I’ll cover the first one here, and the second one in Part II.)

The first was “The Dunedin Woodwright” (shown at left) in Dunedin, Florida. Dunedin is a small town just north of Clearwater. It’s one of those places filled with galleries, artists, and quirky little stores and restaurants.

Patrick (at right) and Grant Painter eagerly invited us into their shop and spent a good deal of time telling us all about their business. They grew up around woodworking and building construction since their father, Roger, was an architect who designed and built high-end custom homes.

In 1994 the family bought an old boat-building facility with high-ceilings and a wide-open area. It was perfect for their shop and they’ve filled it mostly with Powermatic equipment. They have a couple employees, Jim and Ian, who do a lot of the actual production work. Most of their business is custom cabinetry and they have delivered complete kitchens to as far away as Asheville, North Carolina. They draw everything the old-fashioned way — with pencil and paper instead of a CAD program.

The day we were at “The Dunedin Woodwright” they had two projects going on. One was a “typical” kitchen filled with cabinets made largely of birch. These were to be painted. A more impressive project was set up temporarily in their showroom. Made out of tiger-grained mahogany and ebony, this kitchen will be as unique as it is beautiful. All of the horizontal drawer fronts (seen along top of the cabinet shown at right) came out of the same boards so the grain ran continuously from one to the next. That takes some planning.
But the most impressive part was probably the kitchen’s center island (shown at left). It was built to look like a ship’s hull with mahogany and ebony strips bent around a curved base. You almost felt like you could climb up on the glass countertop (not shown in photos) and sail off into the sunset. I asked Patrick about the problems of expansion and contraction of the wood. He said that’s one reason why they used the narrow strips. The mahogany was about 4” wide and the ebony about 3/16” wide. If they should slightly shrink and a gap open, it wouldn’t be very obvious alongside the dark ebony. Interestingly, a lot of the assembly of the base was done with pocket hole joinery. Patrick said they love using Kreg jigs on most of their projects.

There was one other thing in their shop that I noticed. That was the long stairway up to their loft office. It was built from ash and the “spindles” used through mortise and tenon joints that were then pegged and wedged to hold the whole thing together. There wasn’t any hardware used. I’d never seen a through mortise and tenon used like it.

Next time you are on vacation, see what unique woodworkers you can locate. And if you ever get to the Clearwater area, stop by “The Dunedin Woodwright” and see what they’re working on.

A few editors from Woodsmith magazine had the good fortune to attend an all-day seminar presented by Phil Lowe. The event was sponsored by the Des Moines Woodworkers Association and held at the Woodsmith Store. (You can read Vince Ancona’s comments here.)

Here’s what Phil Huber, Associate Editor of Woodsmith had to say about Phil’s presentation:

“First, it was amazing just how much he did with just a small assortment of tools — quite the opposite of what you see pitched in catalogs and, unfortunately, in woodworking magazines. When he did the shaping of the (rough cut) legs with just a rasp, file, and card scraper, it was inspiring. The big lesson here is picking the right set of tools for the types of projects you build. After seeing him work, I think a small router plane would come in really handy!

“Another quality of Phil’s work that made an impression was his methodical and efficient working habits. He’s made a well-practiced routine of some basic steps. Applying those skills to a variety of projects saves time and a lot of head scratching. When I spend time in my shop, I’d like to put in some ‘practice time’ with my hand saw, chisels, and smoothing plane and build those basic skills. Besides, building that set of skills is part of what makes woodworking enjoyable to me.

“Along with that, Phil showed a level of confidence that I’d like to have in my woodworking. For example, when the table saw wasn’t cutting up to snuff, he just calmly crosscut a part at the band saw and squared it up with a plane in a short time. The same with making the dovetail sockets for the legs. No one-time-use router jig, just nuts and bolts saw and chisel work. (The photo shows a small joinery saw made by Wenzloff and Sons.)  I spend too much time worrying about getting something perfect or not trying a technique because I’m not sure how it will turn out. The fact is, I just need to do it.”

Accidents happen.

All it takes is one wrong move, one moment of hesitation, a single lapse in concentration, or a misplaced step. And it doesn’t matter what power tool you’re using. They’re all dangerous…if…you don’t take the time to think about what you’re doing.

Apparently, I’m not alone in feeling that “operator error” leads to most serious injuries in a home shop. That seems to be the consensus of the 100 or so readers who responded to a recent survey at ToolCrib.com that asked the question: “What’s the most dangerous woodworking power tool?” Garrett French, who runs the Tool Crib blog, went to the trouble of compiling all of the responses and then posting about the results. And they were pretty interesting. The table saw got a lot of votes. So did shapers, chainsaws, routers and jointers.

But let’s face it, a blender can cause an injury — in the hands of someone who’s not paying attention. So the bottom line is, use your head. Don’t leave stuff lying around. (Remember Ed from Extreme Makeover?) Turn off the TV and concentrate. (At least when you’re using a power tool). Be confident. (If you have any doubts, don’t do it.) And once you start, don’t stop. (The minute you let up, somethings bound to jump and bite you.)

And if you can’t read the whole post (it’s long out of necessity), take a break from the serious nature of this topic and be sure to read the comments from Bill Wilson. He posted his clever and funny response to Garrett’s question on the WoodNet forum.

A few editors from Woodsmith magazine had the good fortune to attend an all-day seminar presented by Phil Lowe. The event was sponsored by the Des Moines Woodworkers Association and held at the Woodsmith Store. Here’s what Vince Ancona, Managing Editor of Woodsmith had to say about Phil’s presentation:

“I don’t know if I can sum it up in a couple of paragraphs… most of what I gleaned were random tidbits of information. In general, Phil seems like a very knowledgeable, down-to-earth woodworker. He impressed me as a no-nonsense New England Yankee, who approaches every task at hand in a practical and methodical way. I was as impressed with the way he worked as much as the end result of his efforts.

“I found the slide show to be very inspiring, particularly the photos of projects made by his students. It made me realize that even a seemingly intricate and complex piece of furniture is not so difficult if you just break it down into a series of smaller steps. It also made me realize that there is really no substitute to actually doing something. You can read and watch and listen all you want, but you have to actually get some hands-on practice if you want to master a skill. Phil made a comment about learning how to do something. He used carving rosettes as an example. He said that if you carve one rosette, you will prove to yourself how it is done, and that it can be done. But if you carve 10 rosettes, you will start to get good at it and learn how to do it better and faster.

“I was impressed by how Phil synthesized the use of power tools and hand tools in a way that made complete sense and yielded top-notch results in his work. Again, a lot of this had to do with his no-nonsense approach. He seemed to pick the tool that would give him the best results in the quickest amount of time. Since he does this for a living, I imagine time is money for him, and he isn’t about to waste valuable time setting up a jig or power tool when a hand tool can do the job faster. Conversely, if he has a lot of repetitious work to do, he will invest the time to make a jig for a power tool.”

When I think about it, probably 80% of my routing is done on a router table. A router table makes my work more accurate. It handles multiple (or repeat) cuts easily. And it’s definitely best for routing small parts safely, not to mention, large bits that would be unsafe (or impossible) to use in a hand-held router. And with the right accessories, like the Feather-Loc featherboards shown in the photo above, it becomes even safer.

Phil Huber took the usual tips, tricks and techniques seminar and went a step further. During his seminar, which is the subject of this weeks Woodsmith Woodworking Seminar podcast, he shows us some practical uses for a router table like routing joinery for drawers using a 1/4″ straight bit. Plus, he gives us some great pointers for perfect rails and stiles with just one router bit — a slot-cutting bit. You’ll be surprised at just how easy it is to rout stub tenon and groove joints with this bit.

If you’d like to follow along in the seminar guide, it’s available from PlansNow for only $4.95. It has a lot of great information and is 18 pages long! Guides from previous (and upcoming) seminars are also available here.

 

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When I built my first and only woodworking bench several years ago, I designed it for storage underneath. But, like a lot of things, I never got around to finishing it. So my bench has existed all these years with just a rough shell of a Baltic birch cabinet between the legs of the bench.

Part of the reason I hadn’t done anything until now was because I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I didn’t know what would be the best use of the space. Would simple shelves suffice?  A combination of drawers and doors? This weekend, I really took some time to look at my tools and how they’re stored (or not stored, as the case may be). I have a lot of measuring tools, a fair number of chisels, old carving tools, and other hand tools. So for me, it seemed that a bunch of shallow drawers would serve me better than deeper ones. Things get tossed around and lost in deep drawers.

Now, I’m one that likes to use material I have on hand, so I found a piece of ½” Baltic birch plywood left over from another project. I ripped it into 2″-wide strips to form the sides of the drawer boxes. Now, what joinery to use? Nobody but me would be likely to see the drawers, and I’m a practical sort of guy, so I opted for pocket hole joinery. No glue. And it’s fast and strong. I drilled two pocket holes at each end of the back and front pieces on the outside face. That way, the front ones will be hidden by a false drawer front I’ll add later. And the back pocket holes will be hidden inside the cabinet. Let me add here that if you’re going to build drawers using pocket hole joinery, Kreg’s right angle clamp is worth every penny. It holds the joint nice and tight while driving screws.

But what to use for the drawer bottoms?  I thought I had some ¼” hardboard lying around, but soon realized I must have used it all up. But I did have some ¼” pegboard…hmmm…   So that’s what I used. I had to laugh at myself for being such a tightwad, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was a brilliant idea. You know why? Because I can make little dividers for my drawers with ¼”-dia. pegs in the bottom to fit in the pegboard holes. So that’s what I’m gonna’ do.

Anyhow…when I get all the drawers done, the hope is that I’ll clear up some much-needed bench space and actually have room to work on those furniture projects on my list.

There’s a storm making away across the nation. Tornadoes in the south. Snow, ice, and blizzard conditions in the midwest and north. With the storm comes a lot of tree damage. From broken branches to split trunks and downed trees, there can be a lot of cleanup to do. I’ve got several downed branches in my small city lot from last night’s ice storm.When I’m in the midst of cleaning up debris like this, I always have a hard time throwing away anything bigger around than my wrist. With the price of lumber these days, it seems like there should be something I could do with this free wood.

So I’ve been known to cut the larger branches into manageable lengths and store them in my unheated cellar to dry out. Sometimes I’ll paint the ends to help minimize checking and cracking during the drying process.

So what do you do with this free lumber? Well, of course, it depends on the wood. I find that what I end up doing most is turning smaller projects on the lathe. I remember a few years back my kids making fun of me because every time I went to the shop, I came out with a hand full of handles for my tools. (Making handles for your files, for example, is an easy project to do.) Or you could use your free lumber to make accent pieces for your projects: drawer fronts, knobs, pulls, inlays, and so on. I’ve got some larger logs that I’d like to use to try my hand at turning a bowl, like Brian Simmons did in this podcast.

So while you or your neighbors are cleaning up the debris from less fortunate trees, snag onto the larger stuff and make something beautiful out of it!

If you’re a woodworker and your travels take you through central Iowa, you have to stop at the Living History Farms. If you’ve toyed around with making your own tools and have an interest in blacksmithing, and your travels take your through central Iowa, you have to stop at the Living History Farms. If you and your family just want a great place to visit, well…you get the idea.

I’m fortunate to live in central Iowa and have a membership to Living History Farms. It’s recognized as one of the most authentic historical sites in the nation and the world. You can read more about its history here. There’s something there for everyone in the family to see and take part in the activities. Every time I go, I’m automatically drawn to the authentic 1870′s cabinetmaker’s shop. I can spend hours just hanging around watching the cabinetmakers and chatting about woodworking. On Saturday, March 10, they’re having a class on “Woodworking Hand Plane Restoration.” You can go to this page to see a complete list of adult education courses, including blacksmith courses at the blacksmith shop.

So, if your travels ever take you to “Ioway,” be sure to stop by for a visit.

I have to admit I haven’t watched a minute of Extreme Makeover, but since they were in Iowa last summer there was a lot of excitement around here over the show.

Recently, I was in the shop talking with a few people about Ed Sanders hand injury. Ed is a designer and builder on the show and he talks about the injury on his personal blog. It’s a long entry and his discussion of it doesn’t really begin until halfway down. There is also a link to photos of his hand after it was stitched. (Depending on your tolerance of graphic injuries, you may or may not want to take a look.) The doctors did a good job closing the wound, but it extends across his palm from thumb to pinkie.

According to Ed, a lot of things led to his injury. Read the rest of this article »

My 7-year old, Alex, was really proud of the picture he drew for Mom. It had little animals made from a rubber stamp. It had an ocean made with blue crayon. You could tell he put a lot of effort into it. After Mom gushed all over it, he turns to me and says, “Dad, can we make a frame for my picture?”

That was about a month ago. We were getting ready for a vacation trip at the time and my time in the shop was pretty limited. I kept putting him off, knowing in my heart of hearts that I’d better work with him on this as soon as possible or it would be another “lost opportunity.”

Read the rest of this article »