Ches in Nichols, N.Y. asked me via e-mail to post a photo of the project piece so readers could see what the project looks like when finished. That way he could track the progress of the class. You ask, we respond. Not only that, I think that’s a great idea.

Also, I promised photos of assembled cases and here they are as well. I’m mighty impressed with the work going on in this class. I’m especially impressed with the caliber of students that the Marc Adams School of Woodworking (MASW) draws through the door. The woodworker pictured at the top of the Day Two entry completes his Master program with this class. Others in the class are well on their way to that goal. And the first-timers attending the school – at least one class participant is here building only his second piece of furniture - are all doing great work, as evidenced by the cases that are assembled after only three days of work.



A couple things happened today. From the class instructor’s point of view, today was hectic. The work on the chests rounded the corner and headed toward detail-oriented work. I made my way to each workbench more than a few times to answer questions (some on how to fix minor problems and some to get a quick affirmation of the steps that are needed to get the case assembled).

From a woodworking perspective, we set off the SawStop yesterday morning. Easy – it wasn’t an injury avoided –MASW shop advisors don’t let students get into an injury-causing set-up. This was something totally different. One student positioned his dado for the large sliding dovetail used to join the case top to the case sides in the wrong location, then painfully (you could see in his eyes he was frustrated) fit a patch in place. The patch worked and his case is assembled, but the patch caused the problem.

After letting the glue dry for a couple hours, he returned to the saw to cut new dados. The shop advisors didn’t realize the patch was in place, so they didn’t know to set the saw in bypass mode – where you knowingly turn off the safety feature. The wet glue inside the patch was enough to complete the circuit and the cartridge blew. There was a bit of down time before we were back in action at that saw, but with three others in our classroom, that simply meant no dado stack for a short time and another lesson learned.



So here’s what’s on tap for today. Most of the attendees are interested in the sculpting of the drawer fronts and building a drawer with traditional 18th-century techniques. From the opening bell through 1 p.m., we’ll stick with finishing the case work pertaining to the feet, which some guys began work on late in the day, and base mouldings. At 1 p.m., we begin on the drawer fronts, no matter what. That means there are four hours today and nearly six hours tomorrow for this most-important phase of construction.

You know you have to check back to see how things go!

— Glen Huey

p.s. Click here to read "Teaching at Marc Adams — Day One," here for "Day Two" and here for "Day Three." 

Taking care of school necessities took about an hour this morning, then it was on to the shop. Because I wanted to get to making wood dust, I rushed through the early routine items. In fact, I almost forgot to have everyone introduce themselves to the class. I did, however, discuss why our project is said to be a Massachusetts piece and how it was different from pieces built in Newport, R.I. or Philadelphia, Penn. We talked about a squared block-front versus the rounded block-front that we’re building. And about a single major construction feature that signifies a New England design.

As we began woodworking, I looked over everyone’s lumber to find what materials were being used. There are two students working with walnut, two with mahogany and one guy is building the case in tiger maple and plans to use cherry drawer fronts. The remaining woodworkers are building in cherry. It’s different to smell all the wood aromas in one area at the same time. Seldom am I around 17 woodworkers all milling around a shop (pardon the pun) cutting (and sometimes burning) so many species.


One thing that interested me was the array of mallets the students brought. Never have I seen such an assortment. Take a look at the photo below and see if your type or brand is represented. I think I’m going to take a stab at using that short fat one in the front – no jokes please.

I’m also amazed at the array of woodworking “types.” I have a couple guys who are asking “what’s next?” and a couple who likely won’t finish their projects while at the school. (But they certainly have the skills to finish at home – these woodworkers do good work; just not fast work.)

So how far did we get on day one? Everyone completed the pins for their dovetails in the case bottom as well as the drawer-divider work. The drawer dividers were a real challenge. Due to materials being less-than-flat, completing the 1/8"-bead detail for the top and bottom edges of the dividers at a router table was a bit difficult for many. Working on the wide top of the router table caused the bowed stock to rise from the table surface so some beads became too thin; some disappeared altogether. The fix was to install a beading bit into a hand-held router. The smaller base of the router followed the bow of the stock. As a result, everyone finished up even if their dividers have a gentle bow.

Today, we’ll complete the milling of the case sides including the sliding dovetails to hold the case top in position. There’s quite a bit of work to be completed, but we’re still fresh and we have an extra two hours to work due to the formalities being out of the way.

By the way, this piece is considered a Massachusetts piece because the block detail continues up to and shows in the case top. The other furniture centers had block fronts that terminated in a shell carving. And the major construction feature is a large single dovetail that connects the front primary wood to the secondary case-bottom wood. While this is a common feature in Massachusetts or New England block-fronts, it doesn’t appear in every piece.

— Glen D. Huey

p.s. Click here to read "Teaching at Marc Adams — Day One"
And then read about day three here.

The 2008 Woodworking in America Conference is filling up fast – and we hear that a lot of you are bringing people along and making a mini vacation out of the weekend.

So what’s a non-woodworker to do while the sessions are going on? There’s quite a lot from which to choose.

The Berea Arts Council is hosting a number of how-to workshops from Nov. 14-16, ranging from Introduction to Lampwork Beads to Making Paper from Plants, to Coptic Bookbinding. You can check out everything on offer and register at the Berea Arts Council web page.

Plus, Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill – America’s largest restored Shaker community – is close by. There, visitors will find 34 original Shaker structures, more than 25 miles of striking rock fences and 3,000 acres of preserved land. It’s truly a stunning place and a must-see when in central Kentucky (in my opinion, the pulled cream candy is reason enough to visit!).

And of course, Lexington, Ky. Is less than an hour away, with it’s myriad nearby distillery tours, the Kentucky Horse Park, the Henry Clay Estate, the University of Kentucky Art Museum and many more attractions.

For those who prefer a sylvan setting, the Daniel Boone National Forest and Red River Gorge are also nearby, with hundreds of miles of hiking trails, a spectacular natural arch, stunning sandstone cliffs, winding rivers and more (I grew up in Kentucky, so you’ll have to excuse my bias when I say that the Red River Gorge is one of the most gorgeous places on earth).

There is plenty to do in central Kentucky – much more than we can list here. But if you have specific suggestions for non-woodworkers, we invite you to post them in our comments section.

— Megan Fitzpatrick

You can now download any issue of Popular Woodworking back to late 1999. No more sold-out back issues. Or waiting on the postal service for some project you need today.

To introduce you to this service on our site, we're doing a couple special things: First, this month we're running a special on our web site – 50 percent off all digital downloads when you enter the coupon code PWDD50. So all the back issues that normally cost $6 now cost $3. This special price is available until Aug. 1.

Secondly, if you've never tried reading a magazine digitally, we wanted to give you a small sample of what our downloadable pdfs look like. We think you'll like them. So download your free article, look them over, and then start shopping in our store. You can search for particular articles by browsing our Article Index. Once you find what issue you're looking for you can visit our shopping site to make your purchase.

Here are the free samples:

The Way Wood Works by Nick Engler
This great piece will finally clear up any confusion you might have about flat-sawn, quarter-sawn or rift-sawn lumber. Plus, you'll learn how to calculate how much room to leave for wood movement when building.

WayWoodWorks.pdf (470.44 KB)

10 Tricks for Tight Joints
We canvassed our staff members to find their favorite little workshop tricks for tightening up their joinery. Learn how packing tape can tighten a miter. And how you can clamp any assembly with a biscuit and a pocket screw.

Tricks_Tight_Joints_6p.pdf (1.24 MB)

Handsaws: West vs. East
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between Western saws and Eastern saws? It's not just that one cuts on the push and one cuts on the pull. They are fundamentally different tools with their own sets of plusses and minuses.

Saws_West_vs_East_6p copy.pdf (1.2 MB)

Pdfs are great for many reasons. You can search them. They're portable (take them on your laptop) and you can print the pages you need out and take them to your shop. And they don't take up acres of wall space.

— Christopher Schwarz