I'm personally gratified by the amount of progress I see in woodworking today. When the author of "Table Saw Magic" (really? magic?) says to me with a gleam in his eye that he's ditching his power tools to "come over to your way", what am I supposed to say besides "Hallelujah brother!".

I don't emotionally plug into my participation here. I'm just pleased to see folks trying new stuff, no longer convinced the modern industrial manufacturing models are the only way. Forget about better. As human beings we are explorers. I heard a radio show about Alzheimer's patients who wander away from their homes. Its a huge problem, but also a glimpse of who we are, what we are meant to do. Does the Alzheimers cause the need to leave, or does it just remove our inhibitions to do what is natural for us?

Reading thru the various ww magazines and websites one can be lulled into the false impression that everything is known, everything has been done. I'm not trying to put anyone down. And I am just as guilty, if guilty is the right word, of being overly enthusiastic about things I've learned.

I just wanted to remind you, that the hand tool ship has room for more explorers. We don't know everything.

I'm working on a spice chest for a Kelly Mehler class. It's roughly 17x17" and has 11 drawers. The drawer dividers are 1/4" thick. Where do you get 1/4" stock in an 18th c shop? You have only a few choices; plane it, split it, or saw it.

Despite it's diminutive size, the resaw operations were considerable. The stock was 9" wide (KD SYP). This is no kidding around stuff. I used a saw I made (copy from Roubo) for the purpose. I'm not at all satisfied with it. It cuts fast, but is difficult to control. Establishing a kerf (alone) is all but impossible. I began the cuts with a hand saw.

We should assume not EVERYTHING they did in 18th c woodshops was elegant and effortless. Some of their work must have been, as so many modern ww believe, drudgery. The problem is, steeped as we are in our ignorance, anchored as we are to our arm chairs, it's difficult for us to know which operations were drudgery and which were not.

Jim Tolpin has changed his ship's course. He's begun a journey that will take him to far away lands. As such, he's not so much a convert to a woodworking religion, but a model of what we all are or should become. We are explorers. Many a distant shore awaits our discovery.

Adam

PW has published a compilation of my column to date and added some great Schwarz content to round it out narratively. What you get is a cd that works a little like a webpage. There's an introductory screen that includes a linked table of contents. Click on the article and you get a searchable pdf document. It should work on any computer.

I'm thrilled to see it. Many folks have asked when I'm going to publish my articles in a book. I think this is better. Schwarz really convinced me of just how ecologically evil the printing industry is. Let's save the trees for woodworking.

Just to remind you, there are few articles of mine that I think everyone should have a copy of handy; the ball and claw is probably one of the best, most complete looks at this subject ever. Though there's plenty of quibble with, I think the "Soul and Basis of our Art" was one of my best and worth reviewing. Ditto, the "Plumley Inventory" is worth a reread. Personally, I took a look over my earliest articles to see if and how my writing changed. I think you can certainly see me growing as an author and a woodworker over those 4 years.

My friends and I often joke about our woodworking libraries (how large they are- how you could spend all your ww time making bookshelves to hold your ww books). On the subjects of period woodworking and building case furniture with hand tools, there really aren't that many good titles. For this reason alone, I think that if this subject interests you, you should have a copy.

Adam

Last time I visited Kelly Mehler's school, I admired the fine sharpening set-up he had. People who are serious about woodworking have permanent sharpening stations, and Kelly's is top notch. One thing I like about it is the grinders are downstairs with the other nasty smelly machines.

Anyway, I was thinking about the etiquette of using someone else's sharpening stones. I'm teaching another class at Kelly's this Fall and a student asked about what chisels to bring. I told him (Joe) that if you are bringing your own chisels, you should probably bring your own stones as well. To me, using someone else's stone is like drinking from their coffee cup. I wasn't sure that was a great analogy so I thought I ask you. So I have two questions:

1) Is it okay to use someone else's sharpening stone?

I tried using one of Joel's once. He wouldn't let me. Did I mention that Joel was selling stones at the time? Yes, Joel is a bit quirky, but I think he's right about this one.

2) If using someone else's stone really is icky, what would be a good analogy? My coffee cup analogy isn't a good one. If you washed it before and after you use it, what's the difference if you borrow a cup?

The cup in the picture above has a funny story. I've met Roy Underhill several times at conferences in Williamsburg. He's always mobbed. I mean, he's a real celebrity, and especially so in Williamsburg. I'm fairly certain he doesn't read my column or blog and when he sees me, I always introduce myself to remind him of who I am.

Last year at WiA:Berea, I was fortunate to be pared up with St. Roy in a class on chisel use. Roy is a real professional. The class went pretty well. The following day, I was packing up my demo booth and Roy came wandering thr the market place where my booth was set-up. He had a surprised look on his face when he saw me. He thanked me for my previous day's efforts, then reached into his pocket and pulled out the cup in the picture above, complete with remnants of his morning's coffee (there are always remnants). It's a neat cup and I was thrilled to have it. But that's the point: Stones are like coffee cups aren't they? Unless you flatten them after each use, you really are leaving coffee grounds behind for someone else, agree?

Adam

In anticipation of making this chair, I carved several ball and claw feet and several full legs, including one with the knee returns attached. I'm a firm believer in practice. But it doesn't always make sense to cheap out. I used basswood, which in retrospect was a mistake. Bass carves differently than mahogany...different enough that it's better to use the real thing.

When it came time to start construction of the chair, truth is, I still looked at it as practice. I knew I wasn't going to be satisfied by the results. So I used scrap mahogany. Some of it (the better stuff) came from the family boat shop. The leg stock was dense and oily and had a beautiful brown color. The rear legs were stock from a bed my friend Rod sold me years ago. It too was dense and nice.

But the rails were just 4/4 scrap from Lord knows where. Light in color and weight, these pieces carved significantly different from the other pieces. The material felt weak and deflected under the gouge like pine. I'm fairly certain all of it was the same species.

The really nice thing about mahogany (and very likely the reason for it's popularity in the 18th c) is that it's easy wood to cut, but it has a crispness to it. It's almost like cutting dense styrofoam.

So I was disappointed with the way this crest rail came out. If I had it to do all over again, I'd do ALL of my practice with decent quality mahogany.

Practice makes you more comfortable in an activity. But not all practice makes perfect.

Adam

I skipped Pennsbury yesterday and spent the day carving instead. When I began my Chippendale chair project, I under estimated how much I would enjoy carving. Sounds a little funny to say out loud (but isn't that what blogs are for?) but I'm surprised I've done as well as I have. Has that ever happened to you? Maybe that's why I like woodworking. I have low expectations!

Speaking only for myself, I focus on the end product when I work wood. I like the processes, especially the development of new skills, but often not while I'm in the learning stage and sometimes not even in the doing stage. It's work that I need to get done. But a few activities I can think of, woodturning and carving chief among them, I find really fun. I'm not good at either one. But I enjoy the work and am generally pleased with the results.

We talk a lot about how to do this or that. And there's a general assumption that the work we do is enjoyable. But obviously not all of it is. If you have a minute, let me know what aspects of woodworking you find enjoyable.

Adam

Maloof rocker, courtesy of Wikipedia

As I am sure you know, our community is marking the passing of Sam Maloof. We are lesser for the loss of this iconic woodworker. A gifted furniture maker, and teacher, Maloof was also an inspiration for the integrity of his work, and his life.

I’ll leave in depth reports and the inevitable retrospectives for those better acquainted with Maloof’s life and work. Personally, I was always struck by the very humble way he approached his life’s work. I think there’s a tendency for those who have achieved a certain level of accomplishment to lose perspective of the overall importance of their work. I find entertainers particular guilty of this but it can happen to anyone including furniture makers and woodworking authors.

Maloof referred to himself only as a “woodworker”. This humble title concealed the truth of who Maloof was, what he did, and what we must do going forward without him. Basket weavers, pen turners and cabinetmakers are all woodworkers. So are trim carpenters, and Welsh stick-chair makers. I don’t see any of these pursuits as particularly similar. Associating ourselves solely in terms of the material we use is sort of silly don’t you think? It doesn’t speak to our goals and aspirations.

I don’t think we admire Maloof chiefly for the way he operated his band saw or his prowess cutting mortises. Maloof was a furniture artist whose medium was wood. He clearly expressed his esthetic, while creating usable functional furniture forms. I think the nexus between fine art and functionality is very difficult to pull off. Sam Maloof’s life and work will continue to offer us something to shoot for.

In case you didn’t know, perhaps now is a good time to mention. Popular Woodworking is hosting a conference near Chicago that will focus on design. I highly recommend you attend. There are lots of places to learn about how to sharpen your tools. And I’m not disparaging the usefulness of the other WiA, which will be held outside Philly. I just think as “woodworkers” we often focus on the process or the material and lose sight of the art work that requires perhaps more of our attention.

Adam