There are two kinds of people that will show up for this week’s seminar — those who own a lathe and use it all the time. And those who own one and never use it because they don’t know how to sharpen their turning tools! Actually, there was some resistance to holding this seminar when I first put together the schedule early last fall. Brian Simmons seminars are extremely well done though, so I was confident he could make this class interesting enough for everyone — lathe users and non-users alike.

Brian prefers the Wolverine system from Oneway, using their grinding jig with the vari-grind attachment to put a fine edge on his turning tools. If you’ve been to earlier seminars presented by Brian, you know that he constantly uses his General 6″ bench grinder to sharpen his gouges, skews, scrapers and parting tools. Brian prefers this 1800rpm grinder and uses an 80-grit aluminum oxide stone for most applications.

Hand-cut dovetails by an expert craftsman. Sounds kind of intimidating, doesn’t it? That’s exactly why I wanted to bring Robby Pedersen in to teach this seminar. Robby has spent almost 20 years teaching cabinetmaking to young people. His gentle manner makes his period shop and showroom — RVP~1875 — in Story City a destination stop for school children throughout central Iowa.

Robby is somewhat of an anachronism. Every piece of furniture he builds is made in the same fashion of furniture that was being built in the 1870s. He only uses the tools of that era and his dress matches that of cabinetmakers from 1875 as well.

Robby got his start at Living History Farms in Des Moines. As the cabinetmaker in the village of Walnut Hill, he put his education and history degree to good use, teaching at the historical museum for 10 years. Eventually, he took the knowledge and research he’d done on immigrants who settled in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries, and decided to handcraft quality heirloom furniture for sale at his shop in Story City. The shop also serves as a working museum, with a huge collection of 19th-century tools on display. The tools aren’t just for show though. They’re the same tools Robby uses every day, often to hand-cut dovetails for a cabinet or set of drawers.

By the way, Robby doesn’t work for Woodsmith or August Home Publishing, so I want to make it clear that he didn’t write any of the articles in the seminar guide or the download. So his methods for cutting dovetails may differ somewhat from the techniques you’ll find in the seminar guide and in the bonus downloads found on this website.

If you’ve read Woodsmith or ShopNotes magazines in the last year or so, you may have noticed that articles about hand planes and their use have been showing up a little more often. That’s mostly because we have an editor who takes an active interest in promoting their usage — Randy Maxey.

Randy will spend an hour during this evenings Woodsmith Woodworking Seminar, giving us his tips for tuning up a hand plane, a very important procedure if you’ve ever tried to use one. An out-of-tune plane, with a dull or nicked iron, can be a real pain to use.

Brian Simmons, Expert Turner & Assistant Manager, Woodsmith Store

Robby Pedersen, , Master Furniture Maker, Owner of RVP~1875 located in Story City, IA and a featured guest on the “Woodsmith Shop” TV show, premiering later this winter on Iowa Public Television

Randy Maxey, Assistant Editor, Woodsmith and ShopNotes Magazines and Member of the “Woodsmith Shop” TV Show cast, premiering later this winter on Iowa Public Television

Craig Ruegsegger, Senior Video Producer, Woodsmith, ShopNotes, & Workbench Magazines and Member of the “Woodsmith Shop” TV Show cast, premiering later this winter on Iowa Public Television