Resuming Private Hand Tool Woodworking Lessons Summer 2021

I'm happy to announce that I'll be resuming private lessons for hand tool woodworking this summer in my basement workshop in Ayer, MA. The anticipated start will be late June, 2021.

By that time, it will have been at least 2 weeks after my second coronavirus vaccination. I require that all participants have completed their round of vaccinations at least 2 weeks prior to any lessons. For everyone's protection, I'll be adding a portable HEPA air filter unit capable of cycling workshop air several times an hour.

Private lessons mean you get to choose what to spend time on, and at what pace and schedule. I have a standard curriculum of eight 3-hour sessions, but you can pick and choose what things to spend more or less time on, and how much time you want to spend per class.

You can bring your own tools, or use any of mine. I can provide inexpensive practice materials, or you can provide your own.

See Hand Tool Instruction for full details.

Private Classes In My Basement Workshop

The first two benches in the new teaching area in my basement.

I'm pleased to announce that I'm now offering private hand tool woodworking classes in my basement workshop in Ayer, MA.

For full details, see my Hand Tool Instruction page. Other than scheduled classes at specific venues, this will be my preferred way of delivering instruction.

While it was fun running the Close Grain School of Woodworking at a friend's barn in Pepperell, this has better logistics. Classes will be available year-round, with the full range of my workshop available.

Private classes mean that you pick the schedule and topic. You can follow my standard curriculum, or you can focus on specific items, taking as much or as little time as you want. You can make it skills-based or project-based.

I've expanded my workspace to include a teaching area to accommodate the workbenches and tools I had at the barn. This offers space for up to 4 people to work, so if you'd like to bring someone along at a discounted rate for a small private group class, you can do that.


The other two benches.


Yet another reboot of my tool cart, now with enough tools for 4 people.


The hanging bookshelf well-stocked with books and videos.

Shaker Step Stool Class Started

Prototype step stool complete. There are a few minor joinery changes from the plan (can you point them out?). I've left the cleanup for later so everybody can see the marks and how to deal with gaps.

It's been nearly two months since my last post. Several things have been competing for my time and energy. I got a new job, I've started learning to play electric blues guitar, I'm adding a student area to my basement workshop, and I built the prototype step stool for the class, which started yesterday.

New Job

Changing jobs is a huge investment in time. It requires a lot of study and preparation in addition to going on interviews. Along with a current job, that doesn't leave much energy for woodworking.

It all started when an Apple recruiter contacted me on LinkedIn. I wasn't looking for a new job, but when the most profitable company in the world knocks, you answer the door and see what they have to say. I did the phone interviews, then flew out to Cupertino for a day of on-site interviews.

Unfortunately, they didn't make me an offer, which is just as well, because the real estate situation there is absolutely insane, a financial meat-grinder. While the job would have been cool, the rest of our lives would have been turned upside down, shaken, stirred, and squeezed dry.

But the die was cast, and I've found that once I start thinking about changing jobs, it becomes inevitable. Monday I started at Sonos in Cambridge, the leading maker of wireless speaker systems that stream from your home music library and all the Internet music services. You may have seen their ad during the Super Bowl, which I took as a very positive sign of growth investment.

These Bloomberg articles provide some interesting tidbits about them: Sonos Say Sales Doubled as Home Sound-System Market Grew, Microsoft’s Xbox Product Chief Joins Speaker-System Maker.

This will put my networking, media streaming, multithreaded, object-oriented, embedded system experience to use. Since their controller apps run on Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows, I'll get to work in four different OO languages at once. If this sounds interesting to you, they do have other jobs available.

Blues Guitar


My new (to me) Fender Squier strat (looks black in the light here, but it's blue). 

I've wanted to play guitar almost as long as I've wanted to be a woodworker. I tried to learn after high school on my Dad's old Gibson LG-O acoustic, but never got very far. I didn't have the patience.

You know how I compare learning to work with hand tools with learning to play an instrument? Well, now it comes full circle, and learning to work with hand tools has taught me the patience to learn an instrument.

My wife had wanted to learn to play dobro, and found a great teacher in Framingham, George Ede. George seems to know everyone in the music business in the Boston metro area after over 40 years. Since he also teaches guitar (and anything else with strings!), I was inspired and signed up for lessons. I bought a used Fender Squier stratocaster and practice amp from him.

Unfortunately, the logistics didn't work out, but George got me off to a good start and showed me I could do it. I'm learning chords, scales, and riffs.

My goal is to be able to play at some of the area blues jam sessions in a year, like Sunday nights at Stone's Public House with Pete Henderson. Pete is well-known in the area for encouraging new musicians; when I introduced myself and told him what I wanted to do, he said, "Just let me know when you're ready!"

As you might expect, music is a big thing at Sonos, and it turns out one of the people there owns Smoken' Joe's BBQ and Blues with her husband (where Pete also plays).

I bought a really cheap used Squier strat from Guitar Center that I hope to keep at work so I can practice at lunch with a headphone amp. One of my coworkers told me there are a couple of jam groups there who welcome all comers.

New Student Workspace

The Close Grain School of Woodworking is changing. While it was fun teaching in the old barn in Pepperell, I ended up getting more individuals than groups, and the logistics got too tight getting there from work in Cambridge.

Instead, I've moved the benches to my basement workshop, where I've setup a student workspace. It just needs a little final cleanup and organization.

More on this in upcoming posts, including another use for the space, where every Wednesday will be Veteran's Day.

Shaker Step Stool Class

My class at Cambridge Center For Adult Education has 5 students. I started with hand tool safety (see below) and went over some basic properties of wood, talking about grain, wood movement, and rough vs. fine work, then we got busy breaking down the raw lumber.

As usual, I brought rough-milled white pine from Parlee Lumber in Littleton. Everybody got an 8' piece of 1x8. After cutting around the knots, that leaves enough clear wood for the step stool and various practice exercises in sawing, planing, and joinery.

I explained the difference between rip and crosscut saws, then had them do practice cuts, including deliberately using the wrong saw to see how it feels. Once they had the hang of it, they rough cut their boards on sawbenches and sawhorses.


Paul crosscutting on a pair of sawhorses.


Anita finishing up a crosscut on a sawbench as Becky marks a piece.


Matt ripping a narrow strip while Cheryl crosscuts to remove a knot.

I showed them how to cut the smaller pieces on bench hooks and vises, then demonstrated resawing a small piece. While the step stool doesn't call for any thin pieces, resawing is an important skill to have, so they all cut a piece down and resawed it.


Matt resawing a long piece.


Anita resawing.

I finished up the class with a demonstration of chisel sharpening, using Norton oilstones on my portable sharpening station.

In the next class, we'll start dimensioning the pieces with handplanes in the FEWTEL sequence, and I'll demonstrate saw sharpening. Since several students are interested in setting up workspaces, I'll bring in my folding apartment workbench and the tools I bought for it.

Hand Tool Woodworking Class Safety

General Safety

1. Safety is YOUR responsibility. Your attention to safety is the best way to prevent injury.
2. Handle and use tools in a safe manner at all times. If you aren't sure, ask the instructor.
3. Splinters and small nicks and cuts are common, even for the most experienced woodworkers. Tweezers and bandaids are available in the first aid kit. 
4. Report all injuries to the instructor, no matter how small. 
5. Many hand tools have extremely sharp edges, teeth, or points. Be aware of them at all times.
6. Be aware of the cutting path of a tool. This includes the exit path of the tool.
7. Be aware of the path a tool may take if it slips or the workpiece breaks off unexpectedly.
8. Keep your free hand (the hand not holding the tool) out of the path of the tool. 
9. Keep your body out of the path of the tool.
10. If a tool falls, stand clear and do not try to catch it. A damaged tool is preferable to an injury.
11. Do not use a dull tool. Dull tools slip on the work more easily, and you need to apply more force to make them work, increasing the risk of an accident. Bring dull tools to the instructor's attention.

Chisel safety

1. Chisels are the most dangerous tool because of their long length and fully exposed sharp edge and corners. They are capable of penetrating and cutting skin, muscle, tendons, blood vessels, nerves, and bone. Handle and use them with care.
2. Except when using a stopped grip, do not have your hand or any part of your body in front of the chisel, and do not direct the chisel toward any part of your body.
3. For a stopped grip, choke up on the end of the chisel, exposing only enough length of blade to do the work. Your fingers around the end act as a stop, preventing it from going further.
   
   
   This is a stopped grip, holding a narrow chisel to clean out a dovetail. Even though my left hand is close to the sharp edge, it is safe because it is below the dovetail, out of the direct path of the tool, and my right fingers are wrapped around the chisel, exposing only the end and limiting it to within the thickness of the wood.
4. Control the force and path of a chisel. If it requires extra force, it may be dull.

Plane Safety

1. Plane irons are like short, wide chisels, but only the very edge is exposed.
2. Keep fingers away from the plane iron edge.
3. Do not brush fingers down the sole of the plane from toe to heel.
4. Handle the iron carefully when setting the cap iron.

Saw Safety

1. Keep free hand out of the cutting path, including on the underside of the work.
2. Do not force the saw.

Miscellaneous Tool Safety

1. When using a marking knife, keep free hand out of the path of the knife. This includes when holding a rule down and using it as a guide to mark along its length.
2. When boring holes with drill or awl, be aware of where the point will exit and keep clear of it.
3. When using a mallet or hammer, keep other hand clear of strike point.
4. Be aware of pinch points in clamps and other articulated tools.
5. Avoid sharp points on marking gauges.

CGSW Private Class

Charles Collins testing out his newly sharpened chisel on a scrap of pine. It left a beautiful glassy surface.

Today I had a private class at the Close Grain School Of Woodworking with Charles Collins, who moved from Texas to New Hampshire a couple years ago. After seeing the League Of New Hampshire Craftsmen's Annual Craftsmen's Fair at Mount Sunapee Resort, he decided he wanted to learn woodworking (this year's fair runs this week, where you can also see the Guild Of New Hampshire Woodworkers tent).

Like most beginners, he's been learning by reading books and watching videos, and was interested in some hands-on instruction.

We went over sharpening and details of sawing and stock preparation. He has a number of new tools and some inherited from family members. One is a 1920's-era Stanley #4 that he got from his great-uncle, that he believes belonged to his great-grandfather. As always, the family connection to past generations makes the tools sweeter.

I had him bring a cheap home center chisel set and plane iron for practice. I had a variety of sharpening media setup, Norton oilstones, Norton and Ohishi water stones, and DMT Duo-Sharp diamond plates. He's been using sandpaper on glass.

We went over the pros and cons of the various setups, and he decided to focus on the oilstones. I demonstrated how to sharpen chisels and plane irons, then had him do it with his practice blades, starting with flattening and polishing the backs on sandpaper adhered to a polished marble tile. This back preparation really helps produce an edge that leaves a silky smooth surface.

Then he was ready to tackle his great-grandfather's plane. He got the iron tuned to a fine edge that was able to shave pine end grain easily.


Preparing the back of his great-grandfather's plane iron.


Sharpening the iron on the oilstones.

Next we went over saw sharpening and sawing techniques. I had him do several crosscuts, then rip a 1"-wide strip off the edge of a 4' board, practicing steering the saw off track and then back on.

Then I showed him how to resaw a small piece, and he tried it on a larger piece. He was very happy about this, because he wants to make up some thin panels for a project he's working on.


Resawing a board into two thinner pieces.

Once he had two thin pieces, he used his great-grandfather's plane to flatten the resawn faces. A #4 is a bit short for flattening, but he wanted to see what this plane could do. With the iron set a bit rank and a scribble of wax from a candle on its sole, it took the surfaces down quickly.


Flattening a resawn face.

He finished up by matching the planed faces and jointing the edge as he would for gluing-up a wider panel. Again, this is a short plane for jointing, but it did fine.

If you're interested in private or group hands-on instruction, see the Close Grain School Of Woodworking page.

CGSW 2013 Class: Sharpening

Ray Perrault sharpening a chisel on the oilstones while Gary Morrison flattens a back.

Yesterday was the first class of the 2013 Close Grain School of Woodworking season. The topic was sharpening, what Mike Dunbar calls the gateway skill. With sharp tools, hand tool work is a joy. I had two students, Ray Perrault and Gary Morrison.

Gary is a professional home remodeler who saw my booth at the New England Home Show. While he's experienced doing remodeling work with power tools, he's interested in learning furniture making techniques using hand tools.

I had multiple edge sharpening setups available for them to try: Norton oilstones in my portable sharpening station, Norton waterstones, Ohishi waterstones, DMT Duo-Sharp diamond plates, sandpaper, and hand-cranked grinding wheel. Gary had brand-new Shapton waterstones with him, so the Ohishi stones were good for him to use.

I talked about bevel angles, bevel profiles, and sharpening motions. I like to show multiple ways of handling the tool because of the variety of tool shapes, from long, short, wide, and skinny. A method that works well with some tools can be awkward with others.

I made one important change to the class that worked out very well. I've always talked about the need to flatten the back of a tool, but never went into detailed procedure. This time I did.

I was very happy with the way my tools had turned out during final preparation for the Home Show when I used the sandpaper method in Chris Gochnour's article, "Plane blades and chisels need a flat and polished back" from the April 2013 issue of Fine Woodworking, #232.

For the class, I used a similar setup. For the flat substrate, I used a 12"-square polished marble floor tile I bought at the home center. This is inexpensive and more portable than the piece of tempered glass bathroom shelving I use at home, or my heavy marble reference plate. It's good and flat, though I assume not to the flatness tolerance of the reference plate.

I adhered 6 pieces of sandpaper to the tile with spray adhesive. The grits were Norton 3X paper in 60, 150, and 400, and Klingspor wet-dry automotive paper in 600, 1000, and 1500. Gochnour has slightly different grits in his article, going to 2000.

The 60 may be coarser than necessary for new tools, but is good as the first grit for restoring old tools. There's room for an additional intermediate grit as well.



The flattening process is to alternately rub the last inch or so of the back of the tool in side-to-side and forward-and-back motions on each successive grit.

When the scratch pattern in the new direction replaces the last one, you know you've done enough. By the time you've reached the final grit, you have a mirror surface on the tool.

It just takes a few minutes. Any out-of-flat areas or other defects stand out quickly.


A square of polished marble floor tile with pieces of sandpaper arranged for side-to-side (long pieces) and forward-and-back (short pieces) motions.

I arranged the papers in 3"x6" and 3"x4" pieces around the edge of the tile. Resting on a piece of non-slip shelf-liner to hold it in place, you simply rotate the tile to the next side as you progress through them.

So why was this important? After I demonstrated the process of flattening and sharpening, Ray and Gary went to work on their chisels. Ray had brought some from home, and Gary had a set of the cheap home center chisels I recommend for practice.

Ray used the flattening setup first, then sharpened the bevel freehand on the oilstones. The payoff came when he tested the edge on a piece of pine end grain. I could hear the schuss of it paring off a fine end grain shaving. He just busted out laughing. That was a sharp chisel.

I had him clamp the scrap longwise in the vise and then take the corner off with the chisel. The result was equally satisfactory. The cut surface was smooth as glass, almost as shiny as the polished marble.

Gary used the flattening setup on his chisel, removing the heavy swirled machine marks from the back, and sharpened it on the Ohishi waterstones. Then came his moment of truth. Just like Ray's, it took a fine end grain shaving and left a glassy surface when slicing along the grain.

So the extra emphasis on polishing the back using a simple and effective method was worthwhile. Ray and Gary both had big grins on their faces when they saw what they could do. For me as an instructor, that's a sign of success.

If you'd like to learn this or other hand tool skills, check out the schedule at Close Grain School of Woodworking for either group or private classes.

CGSW 2013 Class Schedule Now Available

Some of the hand tools available for your use during classes.

The group class schedule for the Close Grain School of Woodworking is now online, and the school is also available for private classes. These are all hand tool classes. Here's the quick view:

Saturday Group Classes 2013:

Date	Time	Title	Cost
Sat May 11	9AM-12PM	Sharpening	$75
Sat June 8	9AM-12AM	Rough Stock Preparation	$85
Sat June 29	9AM-12PM	Final Stock Preparation	$85
Sat July 13	9AM-12PM	Simple Joinery	$85
Sat Aug 17	9AM-12PM	Mortise and Tenon	$85
Sat Aug 24	9AM-12PM	Dovetails	$85

Weeknight Group Classes 2013:

Date	Time	Title	Cost
Wed May 8	6:30PM-9:30PM	Sharpening	$75
Wed June 5	6:30PM-9:30PM	Rough Stock Preparation	$85
Wed June 26	6:30PM-9:30PM	Final Stock Preparation	$85
Wed July 10	6:30PM-9:30PM	Simple Joinery	$85
Wed Aug 14	6:30PM-9:30PM	Mortise and Tenon	$85
Wed Aug 21	6:30PM-9:30PM	Dovetails	$85

For full details, including links to blog posts about last year's class sessions with photos, click here.

Remember that you can also have private classes at your location. I've updated my distance criteria to accommodate people who are a little farther away. Full details here.

The Furniture Project, Day 4

Tommy Mac stopped by to say hello. Photo by Roger Myers.

(Go back to Day 3)

The last day of The Furniture Project at the New England Home Show was pretty busy again, despite the rainy snowy mix outside. I didn't have anyone pre-registered for my classes, so I ran the day as an open demo, demonstrating things as people stopped to watch and talk.

While Tommy MacDonald, star of the PBS show Rough Cut, wasn't officially affiliated with the event this year, I really have to thank him. He was the one who got it going three years ago and opened it up to the rest of us.

I spoke to dozens of people about class schedules and topics over the four days, and handed out over a hundred business cards. I expect to have my schedule for this year posted in the next couple of weeks, so keep an eye here for that.

In the meantime, you can see what I offered last year; this year's group classes will be the same, just different dates. And of course you always have the option of private classes or classes at your location.

I've also started teaching classes at the Boston Woodcraft store. I have a mortise and tenon class scheduled there March 9.


Demonstrating saw sharpening to several onlookers. Photo by The Furniture Project.

Fellow Furniture Project exhibitor David Yepez brought in a saw from out in his truck that he had bought at Roy Underhill's school for a quick lesson. He's an experienced edge sharpener but not an experienced saw sharpener.

It was lightly fleamed, so I showed him the process for sharpening a crosscut saw, and he took it from there. He put a higher fleam angle on it just to see what it would be like.

After quickly scribbling on each side with a block of wax, he was very happy with the improvement in cutting speed. But it was rougher than he liked; he said he had noticed before how a freshly sharpened saw took some use to smooth it out.

I stoned it with just a few light passes of a coarse India slipstone along each side to clean the burr off the teeth, and that did the trick. It cut fast and smooth.


Planing an edge with a smoother. Photo by Scott Oja.

I got a lot of comments on the tool wall photo on my banner. People really like that picture, between the array of tools on display and their organization. Several even took pictures of it.


This is the photo on my banner that everyone loved.

One of the tricky parts about shows and demos is deciding what to bring. Sometimes you have to improvise. Roger Myers was back demonstrating stringing inlay, and found that the bench he was using was just a little too low for his comfort.

He has a really nice bench raiser with Benchrafted Moxon vise and tail vise, but it's fairly heavy, so he didn't bring it. He said he just needed a little elevation, so I took 30 seconds to screw a scrap from the sawing classes to the edges of a couple pieces of 2x4 with drywall screws.

It worked so well for him that at the end of the day he said I had to include it on the blog. Now that the show is over it's for sale for $100, shipping included.


Roger using my supah-dupah bench raiser for his inlay work.


Tommy showing off some of Roger's work.

The Furniture Project organizers handed out several awards for the pieces on display. Nils Berg took home two awards, Best In Show and Most Creative.

One of my goals was to get photos of all the work on exhibit and post links for all the furniture makers. They're all current or aspiring professionals producing excellent work, so if you're interested in custom furniture, consider contacting them. Many have portfolios on their websites if you want to see more of their work.

I didn't quite get everybody. I know that I missed at least Rob Bois, and possibly some of the North Bennet St. School students. I'll update this post as I get their names.


Nils Berg receives Best In Show from organizers Scott Oja, Justin DiPalma, Eli Cleveland, and Rick Waters, with Bruce Wang watching.


Nils with his Best In Show table...


...and his Most Creative cabinet-on-stand.


Lars Larsen with his writing table and demilune table.

Lars builds beautiful contemporary furniture. He showed me the drawers fitted into the ends of his writing table, and they were like fine furniture on their own.


Mike Fossey with his work from the Furniture Institute of Massachusetts.


Kevin Mack with tables and seating.

Kevin was a previous winner of Best In Show in Providence, RI.


Sean McKenzie and his "Voting Booth" cabinet-on-stand, winner of Best Interpretive Category.

I told Sean it looked the booth would snag your hand on the barbed edges if you tried to reach in for the ballots. He said someone else had the same idea; his concept is that the electoral process is tearing itself apart.


Glen Guarino with his table.

Glen is a master of sculptural shaping in his furniture.


Matthew Mullen's beautiful cabinet-on-stand took the People's Choice Award.

In addition to his cabinet, Matthew had a contemporary side table and also sold a chair at the show.


Alta Tarla with her music stand.


Gus Lammers and Evan Court with Gus' demilune table. Alta's breadbox is on top.

Gus' table won Best In Show Student at the Providence Fine Furnishings Shows.


Zach Dillinger with his William and Mary spice chest.

Zach's spice chest will be the cover story in an upcoming issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine.


Richard Townsend with his New Windsor chair and side table.

In addition to building new furniture, Richard does furniture restoration.


Peter Coolican with his Ellipse Table and stools.

Peter's elegant table is beautifully veneered, featuring a radial veneer match on the top.


Chris Boule with his quilted maple veneered mahogany highboy, winner of Best Craftsmanship.

The quilted maple on Chris' highboy was stunning, dramatically contrasting with the mahogany. The legs have tiny ball and claw feet and knees like the carapace of a crustacean.


Sten Havumaki demonstrating a leaf carving.

Sten's carvings were fantastic, with exquisite 3-dimensional details. He made it look so easy.

I didn't get much chance to get around to the rest of the show, but there were a couple of exhibitors I wanted to mention.

The first one was the Eastern Massachusetts chapter of NARI, the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. Gary, one of the gentlemen manning their booth, stopped by a couple times to watch and chat (he's one of several construction professionals who have expressed interest in my classes recently).

He mentioned that he was just there to educate the public, not sell anything, and I thought his message was worth getting out. NARI provides a certification process for remodeling contractors. Their focus is on professional conduct, continuing education and training, and fair and ethical treatment to protect homeowners.


Stephen Doucet, president of the Eastern Massachusetts chapter of NARI.

The second was Commonwealth Quality, a brand designed by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources to identify locally sourced products that are grown, harvested and processed in Massachusetts, using practices that are safe, sustainable and don’t harm the environment. I'm a big proponent of supporting local businesses.

The booth at the show emphasized wood products from participants Specialty Wood Products, Gurney's Sawmill, Berkshire Hardwoods, Copper Beech Millwork, Forestry Works, Hall Tavern Farm, Heyes Forest Products, Lashway Lumber, Ponders Hollow, Roberts Brothers Lumber, and W.R. Robinson Lumber.


Fred Jajko of Specialty Wood Products manning the Commonwealth Quality booth.

Once the show closed, I spent an hour and a half dismounting the vises, disassembling the breakdown bench, and packing up with the help of the other Furniture Project participants. I was beat after 4 days on my feet, but I had a blast!

A friend of mine who's done a number of trade shows told me it's not the business you do at the show that really counts, it's the residuals that come in weeks, months, even years later as people follow up or remember you. If you put in the effort to get out and engage people, you start the business pipeline.

The Furniture Project, Day 3

Four students busy marking and sawing on the sawbenches.

(Go back to Day 2)

Saturday at The Furniture Project at the New England Home Show was as busy as expected. People were lined up out the door when I arrived just before opening, and they didn't stop coming until closing time.

There were 4 students, Herv Peairs and his wife Margy, Andy McKenzie, and Alain LeBlanc. Several other people who had contacted me also came by throughout the day to watch and talk and play with the tools.

I'm dubbing this Wives' Day, with thanks to three patient wives. This was a long day, handsaw class starting at 11AM, chisel class finishing at 7:30PM. It started with Alain's wife, Yvonne, who signed him up as a gift to him. She perused the show and sat with her knitting until they had to leave at 5. Then Andy's wife spent the whole time at the show, and Margy participated in the whole thing.


Alain finishing a cut with a backsaw as Andy marks a V-notch guideline with a chisel.


Margy and Herv sawing on the bench hooks.


Alain and Andy jointing edges.


Margy thicknessing a board using a #5 with an iron cambered to an 8" radius.


Herv shooting end grain on the shooting board.

I didn't get any photos of the chisel session, but it was almost comical as I kept saying, "And let me show just one more thing you can use it for." The versatile chisel! I showed them how to do carving and shaping bevel up and bevel down, dadoes, edge and end grain rabbets, mortises, chopping, and paring.

Regarding safety, I told them the chisel is the hand tool that can cause the most serious injury, so it's important to always follow the safe handling procedure. This consists of ensuring that no part of your body, your hand, your fingers is ever in front of the edge, and you always push it away from you.

Even if your finger is wrapped around the side of the workpiece where it appears to be safe, it's not. The chisel may slip and go in an unexpected direction, and you can zip your finger wide open instantly, severing skin, muscle, nerve, tendon, and possibly even bone. You can render a finger or hand permanently unusable.

Students and visitors all loved the Paul Sellers workbenches. I had Paul's book out for people to flip through. His method of using an aluminum bar clamp stuffed with wood and clamped in the vise as a planing stop worked well. I do need to add dogs to the benches to use with the vises.

Many people asked where they could get the Gramercy Tools holdfasts. I told them to get at least 2; I have 6 at home for my main bench and bench-on-bench, in addition to the 4 for these benches (and in fact I need to get 4 more so each bench will have 2).

I did two sharpening demos, one somewhat impromptu. I always preface them by saying that if you want to start a fistfight between woodworkers, just bring up sharpening. I say that I'm going to show a way, there are many others, and it's a matter of personal preference whether you like it or hate it, but most of the concepts are common to the various methods.

For the record, I sharpened all the planes irons and chisels using the convex bevel method on oilstones,  and that's what I demonstrated. Paul Sellers uses this method on diamond plates. So you may commence cheering me or hating me. Given 20 blades to prepare for the show, this was fast and effective.

With the backs well-prepared to a mirror polish at the end (I used Chris Gochnour's method from the Aril 2013 Fine Woodworking #232; this article is now available online), the chisels left a surface like glass when carving off hunks of pine.

The biggest comment I get on sharpening handsaws is that every handsaw everyone has tried in the past was dull, they just didn't realize it until now. One quick cut with a sharp saw amazes them.


Phil Lowe demonstrating carving a ball-and-claw foot on a cabriole leg.

Phil Lowe, who runs the Furniture Institute of Massachusetts, stopped by to say hello. I had the privilege of helping him out with his booth this past Fall at the Topsfield Fair.


Roger Myers working on inlaid stringing.

Roger is a fellow member of both SAPFM and the Guild of New Hampshire Woodworkers.


Ryan Messier carving a sign. You can see some of his fine chip carvings on the bench.

Ryan does all his letter carving with a simple Murphy knife, which is made in a small workshop three blocks from my house.

(Continue to Day 4)