Okay, this is Doug, and like you I have been enjoying reading the posts about Joel’s trip to North Carolina (with a lot of jealousy!). But I thought I would jump in here and talk briefly about my seminar last Thursday on "5 of My Favorite Shop-Built Jigs."

I hope that those of you who were there got the message that jigs don’t have to be real fancy with lots of "bells and whistles" to do the job for you. Each of the jigs I showed could be built in an afternoon (okay, some may stretch into the evening). And they will all make your woodworking more accurate and safer. Actually, over the long weekend I was using my panel/cut-off sled in my own shop to cut some very heavy 3/4" melamine for some cabinets. Some of the pieces were 24" wide and almost 6 feet long and I was working by myself! I had to balance one end on a board that I clamped to the top of my adjacent table saw and had the other end on my sled. There is no way I could have cut that big of a piece alone with just the miter gauge on my table saw. It was a piece of cake with the sled. I just pushed it across the blade and the cut was a perfect 90 degrees.

The one thing that was a bit surprising at last Thursday’s seminar was when I asked how many of you had built or bought a large table and fence for your drill press. Only a few raised their hands. As I explained, personally I think this is one of the most valuable things I have ever built for my shop. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Just make it so you can adjust the fence fairly easily without having to clamp the fence directly to the little metal table on your drill press (that’s always a pain!). As I said in the seminar, "Building my first drill press table with an adjustable fence a little over 20 years ago improved my woodworking skills more than just about anything else. Give it a try."

I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you for attending the seminars this year and those of you who took the time to fill out the survey about the seminars last Thursday. The results were very positive and I have forwarded them onto the presenters and will try to incorporate the kind of seminars you enjoy the most in the 2006-2007 seminar season.

I was also extremely surprised and pleased to see from the survey how many of you read many or all of the articles in the handouts and save them. And how many of you have visited this web site and downloaded articles off it. (I wish more of you would post your comments, ideas, and photos here though!)

Well, I hope you have a good summer. As promised, I will try to write up the story and present the photos on how I built that little bent lamination table I brought to the seminar. Keep checking here for that (Once I get out of my shop long enough to write it!)

Back to you, Joel!

-Doug

Just a quick update, as I have to get back to the school for dinner! I’m really learning a lot about green woodworking in my Ladderback chairmaking class. The instructor is Lyle Wheeler, from Millers Creek, North Carolina. Lyle has been making chairs full-time since 1984.

We learned a lot about making these chairs first thing Sunday night. As Lyle says, we got most of the "techie talk" out of the way then and first thing Monday morning we were riving the posts and rungs for two foot stools that will be donated to the Folk School auction in August. We also got to round the posts and put a taper on the ends and we rounded the rungs as well. Tomorrow, we’ll start on the rungs for our own chairs.

There are six of us in the class. We range in age from the mid-20′s to around the mid-80′s. The work is strenuous, but rewarding. I’ll post some pictures later of a couple of us sitting on our shavehorses with a pile of shavings around us.

More later.

Another easy trip today. Berea to Knoxville to Asheville is a very scenic drive. When I arrived I had to find the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa. Billed as … one of the South’s most venerable and famous grand resorts — it is filled with original and reproduction Arts and Crafts-style furniture. I didn’t look for any Stickley labels, but most of the furniture looked very old. It was all still in great shape. There were dozens of Morris chairs, settees, and settles with new leather cushions, making it hard to tell if they were new or old. I also saw a Roycroft Grandfather clock and several Limbert bookcases. Ashevillle is also home to the world-famous Biltmore Estates, as I mentioned yesterday.

But I didn’t stay there long. I have a busy week ahead of me and so I checked into my hotel early this afternoon. I’m going to relax, watch some TV, and prepare myself for spending the next week working with my hands and sleeping on an air mattress in a tent! Yea, that’s right I’m camping. The school is in a remote part of the state, and so it’s yet to be seen whether I’ll be able to post again this week. I hope so.

Anyway, back to Berea for a minute. My second stop on my tour of Berea’s woodworking community was Brian Boggs, Chairmaker. Brian is not just another chairmaker. His shop is in a modern building with a showroom up front. At the back is a large sliding door that opens wide so the logs can be milled onsite. His chairs are known for the hickory splints used in the woven seats. He’s got a great DVD on how it’s done. It’s called "Hickory Bark from Tree to Chair." It’s a fascinating process made more so by the machine he uses to complete the job. Wide strips of bark are brought into the shop on a small trailer. After it goes through the machine, the splints are hung up to dry. The final product ends up in chairs that this picture does not come close to doing justice too.

I really enjoyed my short visit to see this shop, which is a model of effciency. It’s amazing to me how Brian and his co-workers can take a log and turn it into one of the most beautiful pieces of craftsmanship that you could ever imagine.

Today was a great day. I’m feeling much better and it was an easy drive from the Shaker Village to Berea. Instead of 12 hours on the road, I was in my car for a little less than an hour this morning.

Berea bills itself as the Folk Arts & Crafts Capital of Kentucky. A great deal of their reputation as an arts and crafts destination is thanks to Berea College. Founded in 1850, the college provides Appalachian arts and cultural activities for their students, as well as a liberal arts curriculum. It’s also known for providing a unique work-study program that allows all students to attend tuition-free. Berea College is also where Rude Osolnik taught in the Industrial Arts department for 40 years. Mr. Osolnik is world-famous as an educational innovator. He specialized in beautifully turned bowls and his candlesticks.

Berea is currently home to over 50 craftspersons and several galleries. At least four of those craftspeople are woodworkers and I had a chance to talk to each of them today. My first stop was at Haley-Daniels Custom Furniture Shop in Old Town Berea. Brothers Doug and Wally Haley specialize in beautiful, custom-fit rocking chairs. As you walk inside the front door of their building you enter their showroom. It was empty (except for several examples of their furniture), but I noticed a sign over a door at the back of the room that said, in effect, "If I’m not out front, I’m working in the shop, so come on back!" Which I did.

Wally Haley was putting the finishing touches on five rocking chairs made from Ambrosia Maple. It seems Wally is the finishing specialists of the family. The shop was jam-packed with huge 3-phase industrial machinery that seems to be common in a lot of custom furniture shops. A large spray booth in one corner of the shop allows him to spray several coats of a lacquer finish, which is then hand-rubbed with steel wool to a lustrous finish.

I also had a chance to talk with the other half of the brother team, Doug Haley. Doug started the business in 1986, intending to specialize in turning classes and projects for sale. As it sometimes happens, those plans were set aside when he noticed that his custom-fit rocking chairs were catching on. Doug says he may get into teaching woodworking some day, but for now he’s staying extremely busy building his rocking chairs that feature his distinctive, signature woven leather seats.

I also visited the shops of chairmaker, Brian Boggs; Warren May, who specializes in beautiful Mountain Dulcimers and what he calls Kentucky-style furniture; and Kelly Mehler, a noted author, craftsman, and educator with his own woodworking school just outside of town. I’ll have more about each of them in the next few days.

I’m headed to Asheville, NC tomorrow. Asheville is home to the world-famous Grove Park Inn and America’s Largest Home — Biltmore Estate.

Even the best laid plans can go awry. I had planned on getting an early start on my trip to the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, but I had a little run in with a bad bratwurst that kept me up most of the night! Instead of leaving at around 2am, I didn’t hit the road until almost 6:30am. I wanted to dead head from Des Moines to the Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill, KY where I planned to spend the night. I wanted to get there early enough to tour the Village, but unfortunately, didn’t arrive until after everything had closed.

To make matters worse, a tornado followed me all the way through southern Indiana. I did have a nice dinner in the famous Dining Room located right next to the famous double spiral stairway which I believe is in the Trustee’s Office building. All the buildings are filled with beautiful Shaker furniture and that stairway is just amazing. Anyway, the Village doesn’t open for tours until 10am and I needed to get over to Berea, so I guess I’ll just have to visit Shaker Village another time.

Let’s hope the rest of the trip goes a lot smoother. I’ll have more later.

Best, Joel 

A plan is just that…a plan. Nothing says that it has to be followed by the letter. Jim Irvine, who travels from Cedar Rapids to attend the woodworking seminars, often makes changes to plans to suit his needs.

As an example, he sent me a couple of pictures of a project that he built for his grandson, Owen. These plans for an Heirloom Baby Cradle came from Woodsmith #48. The first modification he made is pretty obvious — he replaced the turned spindles with slats. According to Jim, his daughter asked for the change. The slats change the look of the project considerably, making it look much more modern.

It also looks like Jim made some suble changes to the raised-panel ends, and he turned his own parts out of cherry for the locks and supports for the basket.

This is a nice looking project, Jim. Good work.  

This week’s seminar is hosted by Doug Hicks. He’ll be demonstrating his 5 Favorite Shop-Built Jigs. Since I won’t be around on Friday to post this week’s Blogger’s Special, I’m going to add it to today’s post.

Enjoy the seminar and have a great summer. I’ll see you all in person next fall, but be sure to stay up-to-date on my trip to the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. I’ll give you updates here and at WoodworkingOnline.com when it is live. Best, Joel

Don’t be fooled by Chris Fitch’s down-home demeanor. His designs are as sophisticated as they need to be. And he’s smart enough to know that if he likes it, chances are the reader will too.

The Dovetailed Shoulder Plane is perfect proof of that. As Chris mentioned last night, this plane was designed for the plane "builder." I think there’ll be quite a few people out there giving it a try when the next issue of ShopNotes arrives, including myself.

The article (written by Woodsmith/ShopNotes assistant editor Randy Maxey) does a great job of explaining how  the "double" dovetails connecting the sides and sole of the plane are completed. According to Randy, building it is "…easier than you think." Which is true to a certain extent. If you can make hand-cut dovetails in wood, chances are you can do it in metal. The principle is the same, although the techniques are slightly different. Instead of a dovetail saw and chisel, you’ll need a good set of files for the metal plane body.

The plane looks like a good summer project. One you can work on at your leisure and put aside when there’s more important things to do. By the way, I appreciate the use of "alternative" materials in some of the projects shown in ShopNotes, Woodsmith, and Workbench magazines these days.

I looked online for general information on furniture standards and specifications, but didn’t find much. The book that was mentioned last night is titled "Pocket Ref" by Thomas J. Glover. It does have a lot of construction specifications, but nothing on furniture that I could find. I agree with the one comment about looking at the furniture around you for ideas on what size to make something. You can also use cues from nature for what is pleasing to the eye and what is not. This is basically what the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci Numbers (isn’t this a timely discussion, what with "The DaVinci Code" just hitting theaters!) are all about. There is a lot of good information online, including this site: GoldenNumber.net.

Here’s the Blogger’s Special, as promised. And if you’ve got pictures of projects that you changed the design on, even if it’s just a little, email them to me (Joel Hess).

Finally, I’ll be taking off for North Carolina early Thursday morning next week. Check back often and I’ll keep you updated on the progress I’m making in the Ladderback chair-making class.

One of the things I liked best about the Woodsmith Custom Woodworking book series that I worked on it a couple of years ago, was the "Designer’s Notebook." (The series is marketed by Oxmoor House, and single copies can still be found in the library at the Woodsmith Store and online at Amazon.com.) This one to four page section provided the builder a slightly different take on a project design.

These design suggestions were helpful to me, even if I didn’t build the project. I’d pick out the ideas that I liked best and discard the rest. I’m now confident enough to make a design change or two of my own. But I still prefer to find a plan that fits my needs, rather than try to design it from the ground up myself.

But according to Chris Fitch, senior designer for August Home Publishing, it’s really not that difficult. Just try to follow his simple design objectives for function, comfort, durability or appearance that he’ll present at this week’s seminar.

His philosophy is to start by reviewing the problems. ("Where do I store my CD’s?")

Then figure out the givens. ("I need to store 100 CD’s.")

Spend some time researching and developing the visual style that you desire. ("It should match my existing style of furniture.")

Now, generate some ideas. ("It would help if I had a full-size mock-up.")

Once you reach this point, you’re ready to review the design. ("Do I really want that big of a case to hang from the wall?")

Perhaps the most important part — choose the materials and hardware. ("Plywood would be cheaper, but then I’m limited in the kind of wood I can use.")

Next, figure out how to construct the project. ("How will all the parts interact?")

Finally, put it all on paper. ("This project is simple, so a few sketches are all I need.")

Remember, you can’t forsee every problem, so as the Boy Scout motto says, be prepared.

Woodworkers love tips. Practically every woodworking magazine features a tips and techniques department right up front. And most surveys I’ve seen rate this department as a favorite of readers. They’re fun, easy-to-read, and practical.

When Craig Ruegsegger was charged with choosing "10 of Our All-Time Favorite Woodworking Tips" for this week’s seminar, I knew he’d have his work cut out for him. With three woodworking magazines, there are no shortage of tips to choose from, but it’s still not that easy. In fact, when it came right down to it, he ended up choosing twelve tips in ten categories (with two of the categories having two tips each). His tips range from "Cutting a Panel Down to Size" to "Installing Drawer Slides." There’s even a tip on how to "Protect Your Investment" that deals with ways to document your shop with photos and video in case of fire or some other catastrophe.

As if that weren’t enough good reasons to attend, Craig will be handing out a copy of 120+ Tips & Techniques from the editors of Workbench to everyone who attends the seminar. This 68-page booklet is jam-packed with useful tips and techniques to make your woodworking hobby safer, more accurate, and your projects easier to build.

Craig didn’t ask me what my favoite tip is, but if he had, it would have been easy coming up with one. My favorite — the Rolling Tool Tower — from ShopNotes Issue No. 87, is an easy-to-build, practical solution for saving space and cleaning the air in most home shops. The fact that it also provides extra storage space and a convenient rolling stand for a thickness planer make it one of the best tips I’ve seen in a long time.

Randy Maxey, assistant editor with ShopNotes and Woodsmith likes a technique from ShopNotes #86 for Custom Fit Dadoes. His reason? "It promises guaranteed results with just a couple pieces of hardboard and hardwood straight edges. It’s easy to make and it uses a spacer that’s the same with as the work piece, providing a perfect fit every time," says Randy.

Doug Hicks says his favorite recent tip for a Magnetic Tool Storage is in Woodsmith #164. It was sent in by some character name "Doug Hicks!"
 
"This is a tip that I use EVERY day in my shop," Doug explains. "The main reason is that I can never find a ruler in my shop. They’re always lost in a cabinet, a drawer, or more likely under a workpiece or pile of sawdust. The magnetic strip keeps them all handy and as long as I remember to return them there once I am done, it is easy to find them again."

Have you got a favorite tip or technique from Woodsmith, ShopNotes, or Workbench magazines that you’d like to share? If you do, please let me know about it.

Just about every cabinet project that I’ve built has had at least one dado, groove, rabbet, or lap joint. Early on, if a project had just a couple of dadoes I’d rough them out with my regular table saw blade. I also got pretty good at cutting these joints with my router and a straight bit. But eventually, it was pretty obvious if I was going to keep building these kinds of projects, I was going to have to spring for a dado set.

That first set didn’t cost much and the quality of the cut reflected that. Eventually I decided to bite the bullet and invest in a quality dado set. But, I wish I’d have done a little more research before I purchased that first set, because I could have saved some money in the long run.

If you’re thinking about buying a new dado set (or if you’re just interested in learning more about them), then the article that Doug mentioned last night on dado blades should be a real help. This article will be this week’s Blogger’s Special.

A new project I’m working on led me to a search in Woodsmith, ShopNotes, or Workbench magazines for a project that includes all three of these joints (dadoes and grooves are so similar, I count them as one joint). I wasn’t having much success so I asked the designers if they remembered designing one. Kent Welsh got back to me almost immediately and mentioned an apothecary-style cabinet that he designed for the next issue of Woodsmith. The 12-Drawer Storage Cabinet is a great looking project and the issue should be out soon. If you’re not already a subscriber, you can get a free preview issue by clicking here.

Doug also wanted to show how to cut a mitered half lap during the seminar, but by the time a question about how this is done had been asked, it was already 7:45pm. So he asked me to provide a link to a technique article for cutting mitered half laps from Woodsmith Issue No. 143. You’ll find it, along with a complementary 2-page Picture Frame article, here.

One takeaway from last night’s seminar concerned half laps. I’d never really given them much thought until Doug mentioned how strong they were. Considering how easy they are to cut, I’m surprised they’re not used more often. If you’re interested in learning more about these super-strong joints and how easy they are to make, click here. 

Finally, Doug mentioned how important it was to have a zero clearance insert for each size of dado you cut. That doesn’t mean you have to go out and buy some expensive after-market insert though. You can make your own out of common materials that each of us has in our shop. If you’d like to watch a great series of videos on how to make your own zero clearance inserts, be sure to click here.