The End of Year Round-Up: 2015 edition

Is December already drawing to a close? I can scarcely believe that it is now time to start penning the end of year review, list my favourite albums of the past twelve months, and compile the traditional end of year mix cd. 2015 has genuinely disappeared in the blink of an eye. I suppose this is to be expected given all that has happened; the relocation from Bristol to Birmingham, buying and decorating a new house (phase 1 of the decoration saw 5 rooms decorated and completed, and phase 2 will be commencing in January), and becoming a father. I’d like to think that the above constitutes a reasonable level of activity.

The parlour guitar build has been the main focus of 2015

Amongst all of this, I also found time to set up a new workshop, make some shavings, and keep writing. The new workshop has turned out to be ideal, and having given myself some time to settle into the new space I have made a few changes and additions since my original workshop tour, which I will write about separately. In terms of projects completed, 2015 is a little thin on the ground, although a lot of progress has been made on the parlour guitar, and I should be in a position to assemble this guitar in the next couple of months. I also managed to secure a new paying commission (the Mystery-Caster) and came close to bagging a paying commission from one of my favourite musicians (in the long term I’m hoping this one will still come to fruition).

2015 saw seven of my articles published in Furniture & Cabinetmaking, and the blog has had nearly twice as many views when compared to 2014, as well as introducing the new “Getting to Know…” feature (which I hope to continue into 2016).

Peter Follansbee contemplates swiping my Hieronymus Bosch print Docs…

I had the pleasure of meeting both Peter Follansbee and Tom Fidgen, as well as taking Roy Underhill’s Woodworking with Thomas Jefferson class. Learning from Roy for a week was an incredible experience, and helped to develop all manner of parallel skills. Peter, Tom and Roy are not only incredibly knowledgeable, but also very generous with their knowledge, and I highly recommend taking a class (or simply just chatting with them) if ever the opportunity presents itself.

Roy and Esmerelda become acquainted.

The other highlight of the year was of course exhibiting at the European Woodworking Show in Cressing Temple, and it was wonderful to get to meet so many inspiring makers and tool manufacturers, as well as people who read the blog (or my articles), and to spend two days chatting about woodwork face to face. Thank you so much to everyone who came and said hello during the two days.

The “Community Is…” project in many ways defined 2015 for me. Thanks to all the contributors (including Chris Schwarz – pictured here)

And this very neatly brings me to the real highlight of 2015. Which is not projects built or achievements unlocked, but rather the sense of community in the woodcrafts. Lutherie always used to be a very solitary activity for me, but particularly over the past 12 months the online community through Instagram and the blogosphere, then reinforced through events such as EWS, has meant that I find myself within a wider community of craftspeople. And this has had the effect of enriching my time in the workshop, situating my work within broader practices and traditions, and providing new opportunities to learn and question. The community is made up of so many wonderful craftspeople that mentioning individuals seems like a foolhardy endeavour. However special mention must go to James McConnell whose Daily Skep blog debued this year, and is rapidly becoming one of my favourite woodwork blogs(seriously, I read James’ blog and wonder if there’s any point in me writing anything ever again). Again, EWS provided a wonderful opportunity to put faces to names and to connect with members of the woodworking community in person.

Finally meeting Vic (Minimalist Woodworker) in person was one of the highlights of EWS

Looking forward to 2016, there will be more articles in Furniture  Cabinetmaking, in addition to which I hope to be able to announce a very special article for another publication in the coming months. In the workshop, my focus will be on finishing the parlour guitar, and also building the Mystery-Caster, both of which will be covered in detail on this blog. A number of teaching opportunities have presented themselves, and consequently there is also the possibility that I will be let loose on unsuspecting woodwork students – more details to follow once I have them. So plenty to keep me occupied, and 2016 is shaping up to be a very exciting year!

And to finish where we started, my top five pick of new releases from 2015 (in case anyone was wondering) in order, are:

1. Banditos – Banditos
2. Nashville Obsolete – Dave Rawlings Machine
3. Edge of the Sun – Calexico
4. Meta-Modern Sounds in Country Music – Sturgil Simpson
5. No Cities To Love – Sleater-Kinney

Happy New Year, dear reader, catch you in 2016!

Day 5: Saint Roy’s devilish brand of “Irksome woodworking”

And so this is it. The New English Workshop class of 2015 is dismissed. This week has been a whirlwind of fun, skills learned, tall tales told, and a vast sense of community felt. I’m struggling to believe that this course (which I have been looking forward to since last November) is already over, as the time has just flown by.

My completed projects (trapped nail not pictured)

But let me backtrack a little, to the final day of the course. Roy had designated Friday as a day for irksome woodworking, the purpose of which is purely to annoy other people. And so he had a couple of fun projects for us to work on with this aim in mind.

Before we delved into irksome woodworking I managed to find a few minutes to finish yesterday’s patch box with shellac, a touch of hard wax, and then a swift burnishing using a polissoir made by Don Williams. This was my first experience using a polissoir and I am totally converted; I can very easily see this being my go to finish for future furniture builds.

With the patch box finished and full of mutton tallow substitute, Roy set us up with two irksome projects; the classic trapped-nail-in-a-block-of-pine, and a rising dovetail test joint. The trapped nail is a nice easy introduction to irksome woodworking, and although quite a frivolous piece still made good use of core skills like accurate cross cuts, pairing out waste, and layout. I won’t say anymore about this project in case it spoils the puzzle for any readers.

My test rising dovetail.

The rising dovetail was a different kettle of fish entirely. This is the key joint for Roy’s infamous Mystery Mallet, and one which I was keen to try out. I must have been getting a little tired and dim by this point of the course, as the layout for the rising dovetail did wrinkle my brain somewhat. But I think this is a joint that will come with practice, and the unusual layout method, as well as cutting an unfamiliar joint, are definitely worthwhile skills to master.

I’m still reflecting on this course, and suspect that the ideas and lessons learned will continue to percolate for some time. But as an immediate impression, is of a week spent developing more parallel skills, and covering a considerable amount of ground, in a relaxed and entertaining environment. It goes to show, I suppose, that skills based learning (as distinct from project based learning) doesn’t have to be dry at all – with the right teacher it can be a riot of laughter and bafflement in equal measure.

Myself and fellow Anarchist Tool Chest survivors at the start of this week’s course.

The sense of community on this course has been huge; from the guys at New English Workshop, the instructors and assistants (Roy, Chris, Deneb from Lie-Nielsen, and of course Jamie Ward from Warwickshire College), and the participants on both Chris’ bench building class and the Followers–of–Roy, it truly has felt like a large family.

Particular mention must go to my four fellow survivors from last year’s Anarchist’s Tool Chest class, and the camaraderie and kinship has been wonderful. So to fellow Anarchist’s Susan, Matt, Matt, and Rory, and the non-Anarchist’s we were lucky to work with this week; thanks guys. I’m already looking forward to doing the next class with you all!

Day Four: Good news for people who can’t saw accurately

Today we built another iconic project of Roy’s; the patch box. This delightful grease box is cut from a single piece of stock and has a cunning catch arrangement to keep your mutton tallow safe. As with all the projects we have done this week, what at first seems like quite a simple project has deployed a number of core skills in unusual ways.

Roy demonstrates use of the passer drill

Having laid out our patch boxes in mahogany (salvaged during yesterday’s skip dive), we got to use Roy’s passer drill to route out the recess for the brass inlay we cut yesterday. The passer drill is truly a remarkable device, and entirely different to any routing method I’ve encountered previously – this tool has the possibility of providing endless fun.

With the brass inlay fitted we ripped the two sliding lids from the stock. The surface left by my 16” Bad Axe tenon saw was so good that not much clean up was needed, and a few passes with my 212 scraper plane did the job nicely. The end of the top lid is cut at an angle across the width of the box, and also with a healthy amount of undercut to achieve a solid closing action. Which is great news for people who find it difficult to cut square across and down at the same time…

An ebony butterfly was inset into the opening end of the box, with the bottom half in the main section of the box and the top half in the lower sliding layer. The catch mechanism was completed with a single brass screw at the opposite end of the box, and the screw hole of the middle layer was elongated to allow the layer to slide back and forth as well as pivoting. This ingenious arrangement means that the box can only be opened if the two lid layers are moved in the correct direction and sequence. Brilliant.

A box with no interior compartment is not much of a box, however. To create a compartment we drilled out the interior of the main box section using an antique spoon bit and brace. To my eternal shame I’ve not used a brace and bit before, although I hope to remedy this as soon as possible (and I’m keeping my eye out for a good condition 10” brace).

Drilling out the cavity with a spoon bit

Tomorrow I’m hoping to give the box a coat of shellac and wax, and then fill it with my mutton tallow substitute of choice. This has been another super fun project, and one which I may well build again as gifts.

Day Three: Skip Diving with Saint Roy

Many events occurred today which I never expected when I signed up for Roy’s class last November.

We started off the day with a healthy amount of metal work for two separate projects. One involved cutting copper pipe, beating it into a square cross section, drilling out screw holes and then soldering on nuts to accept the screws. These are to be used for a set of pinch rods, with two copper fixtures apiece. The only soldering I’ve done previously is guitar electrics, so using a ruddy great gas torch for soldering the copper bracket and brass nut was a new experience.

The second element of metal work was cutting brass inlay for use with Roy’s amazing passer drill on a project we will start tomorrow. I was more familiar with this work, having cut a fair amount of shell inlay for my guitars, but 3mm thick brass plate was a very different sort of material to work with. Lots of fun, and I’m quite pleased with how my inlay came out.

More parallel skills, more experiences. Perfect.

The afternoon was spent skip diving, which I definitely did not expect on this course (or in fact any other), for suitable timber for the pinch rods. Roy is clearly a master skip diver, and emerged with a haul of walnut, old growth mahogany, maple, and a teak skooner chair. I opted for some teak from the chair, which Roy expertly demolished. The teak turned out to have some crazy roped grain which tore out in every direction regardless of which plane I used (and yes, I tried the full complement of No.8 jointer, low angle block plane, and 212 scraper plane). But the pinch rods themselves came out pretty nicely, so I’m pleased with the end results of a pretty fun project,

As a final treat, Roy taught me how to play the saw. So expect more boings, squarks, and 1950’s sci-fi sound effects on my next brace of recordings. I may have to see if Mark has any nice vintage rip saws for sale – I prefer my musical saws to be in A sharp (A Sharp Saw, geddit? Yes ladies and gentlemen, I’m here all week. I think Ethan would be proud of this one).

Tomorrow holds more wonders and curiosities, but for now I’ll leave you with one of my favourite pictures of the course so far. Roy apparently appreciates my guitars! It might be time to retire…

Now if you’ll excuse me, apparently I have to play an open mic night in front of my course mates and instructors. There’s no way this can go wrong, is there?

Roy and Esmerelda become acquainted.

Day Two: “Mother has all the prettiest tools”*

My completed Roubo bookstand.

The Roubo bookstand is to all intents and purposes complete. There is a little more cleanup to do, and maybe some shellac to apply, but I think we can call it as finished as any project on a course can be. The bookstand is a really fun, if challenging project, and the more I think about it the more I think it is a really useful route to learning a range of new skills. There is cutting some funky shaped mortises (the curved front edge definitely makes things more interesting), accurate layout so that the hinge actually rotates, re-sawing to split the leaves of the stand, and laying out the decorate curves using dividers and clever geometry (very much in the vein of George Walker and Jim Toplin). That’s a pretty sweet set of skills from only one modestly sized piece of timber!

The mortised and carved hinge, ready to be separated.

Today started off with chopping the remaining mortises, and fairing up the curved shape of the hinges. We then separated the hinges, first by establishing a kerf at each side using a toothed cutter in a marking gauge, and then a fine coping saw blade (fed through a 1/16” hole drilled in the corner of each hinge).

With the hinges separated, it was a case of splitting the leaves using a large (and very aggressive) rip saw. Which obviously wasn’t terrifying at all. Teasing the leaves apart is a matter of some delicacy, and I will wait until I write my full Roubo Bookstand post to describe how we went about this. But once the leaves were separated we cleaned up the show surfaces (leaving the inside surface of the legs in the rough as a mark of authenticity). The decorative curves for the legs and top were scratched out using dividers and simple radii to create flowing curves, and then cut with a coping saw. I may do a spot of clean up with a rasp when I am back in my own workshop, but these looked pretty good straight off the saw.

Re-sawing the legs to split the leaves. See, not a terrifying way to imperil nearly two days work at all.

Finally it was a case of testing the bookstand, for which I used my copy of Joiner & Cabinetmaker (which Chris and Katy very kindly signed for me – including the iconic sock monkey emblem!). I’ve really enjoyed building the bookstand, and am looking forward to building some more of these in the near future (just as soon as I have tracked down a big enough bow saw).

Testing the bookstand with one of my favourite Lost Art Books.

Tomorrow we are starting with a morning of surprise metal work, before moving on to pinch sticks and Roy’s catch box project. So more wonders, curiosities, and skills await. I’m looking forward to it already.

*This post is named after a quote by Roy Underhill referring to the tool collection of my good friend and fellow Anarchist Tool Chest survivor Susan Johnson.

Day One: Saint Roy’s suitcase of delights

What a first day on the course. It is hard at this point to know exactly what to write about, because unlike last year’s very focused Anarchist’s Tool Chest class, Woodworking with Thomas Jefferson is a little more… sprawling in nature. The overarching theme however is easy to spot; Roy’s unbridled enthusiasm for spending time (and facilitating) whatever we are interested in.

Myself and Roy Underhill

The main focus of today was building the iconic Roubo bookstand (which has been on my project list for several years), but we have also had a crash course in sharpening handsaws, the use of passer drills, and a brief glimpse into what can only be described as Roy’s suitcase of dlights. It looks like the rest of the week will be working on mitre shouldered rising dovetails, Roy’s infamous Mystery Mallet, a sample easel from Jefferson’s five-book rotating lectern, and anything else that Roy can think of.

It occurs to me that the best way to think about this week is not in terms of the projects or “outputs” to be built, but as an opportunity to build up a new set of parallel skills, some of which I may never use again, but all of which will undoubtedly make me a better woodworker. And that is super exciting, given all of the time I have spent thinking, and writing, about parallel skills in the past year. Being less output driven than the ATC class I took last year means that there is more opportunity to just soak up the skills on offer and follow some interesting rabbit holes. Roy is an incredibly charming and knowledgeable teacher, as well as being just as funny as he is on the Woodwright’s Shop, and seriously enthusiastic. So much enthusiasm. So much.

Roy demonstrating the Roubo bookstand

As I mentioned, the focus of today has been on the Roubo bookstand. I don’t intend to give a blow-by-blow account of building the bookstand right now (I will save that for a future entry), but for the uninitiated the project is a folding bookstand made out of a single split piece of hardwood (in this case 9” wide, 1” think mahogany). A hinge is carved into the stock, and then the thickness of the stock split in two so that the two pieces can rotate on the carved hinge. Seriously clever stuff. So the bookstand has thus far involved cutting a dado to allow access for a bow saw for splitting the thickness of the stock, (surprisingly!) bow sawing the stock (which is very different to any other type of handsaw work I have done previously) before, and carving the hinge from both sides of the work.

Using a bow saw to split the mahogany stock for the bookstand.

I can’t wait to get back into the workshop tomorrow morning and see what else lies in store for us!

N.E.W 2015: School’s in for summer

The New English Workshop summer school 2015 is now in full flow. This week saw David Barron and Chris Schwarz teaching down in Bridgwater, Somerset, while Peter Follansbee and Tom Fidgen were running classes in Leamington Spa.

Meeting Tom Fidgen

I was fortunate to be invited down to Leamington Spa on Wednesday to meet Peter and Tom, and see what the students were learning. It turns out that the first rule of being taken seriously as a journalist is to avoid wearing shoes more interesting than those worn by your interview subjects, as being surrounded by a sea of people taking photos of your feet is a little distracting. And definitely don’t wear Heironymus Bosch print Dr Martens, as Peter Follansbee will attempt to steal them off you…

Peter Follansbee contemplates swiping my Hieronymus Bosch print Docs…

It was great to meet Peter and Tom, as they are both incredibly knowledgeable and passionate woodworkers with a wealth of experience, and brimming with ideas. Hopefully they will return to Her Majesty’s Realm in future years, as I would love to take courses with both of them. It was also great to catch up with Jamie Ward of Warwickshire College, Matthew Platt of Workshop Heaven, and see a couple of fellow survivors from last year’s Anarchist’s Tool Chest.

Tomorrow I start the Woodworking with Thomas Jefferson course with Roy Underhill. As I did on last year’s dovetail death march with Chris Schwarz, I will be blogging daily from the course. So tune in every day next week to read about the day’s woodworking (and my daily battle not to squeal with excitement like a teenage girl at a One Direction show).

Dinner with Peter and Paul Mayon of New English Workshop

Looking back to move forwards: 2014 in review

The end of a calendar year is always a special time for bloggers; lists of favourite albums to compile (the excellent Somewhere Else by Lydia Loveless, is my top lp of 2014 in case you were wondering), the experiences of the past 12 months to be reviewed, and lessons learnt to be catalogued.

Laurie, my black guard Telecaster type build

2014 was a rich year in terms of experiences and achievements. I completed two projects off my bucket list; Laurie (my blackguard Telecaster type guitar) and the Anarchist’s Tool Chest. The subscriber list to this blog tripled, and I had over 10,000 hits in 12 months (small fry for some, but a significant increase on 2013 readership levels). There was also the Anarchist’s Tool Chest course with Chris Schwarz, and two articles published with Furniture & Cabinetmaking Magazine. Please understand, I’m not recounting this to brag (lord knows that my year was positively uneventful compared to some) but simply to collate the experiences of the past 12 months. This was a pretty good year.

But actually, something far more important than all of the above achievements and experiences happened last year. Something which I never would have expected, and 2014 is the year in which woodwork changed completely for me. Not because I learned endless new skills (although I did learn plenty of new techniques) or because my woodwork improved dramatically (although it definitely improved). But because of what I found in the course of writing this blog and attending the Anarchist’s Tool Chest course.

What did I find, you ask? In a word, community.

Derek Jones of N.E.W, fellow luthier Sue Johnson, myself, Chris Schwarz, and Paul Mayon of N.E.W

To be honest, when I started writing in August 2013 I didn’t really think that the internet needed another woodwork blog.  And for the first few months I happily hollered into the void of the internet, not expecting the void to holler back (let’s ignore any pithy quotes by Nietzsche, OK?). Anyway, woodwork by its very nature tends to be a solitary activity, so that’s all fine. But slowly over the course of 2014 I discovered, and then became overwhelmed by, the sense of community created by makers, tool manufacturers, and writers. The willingness to share information, discuss experiences, and most importantly, to encourage and inspire each other, is life affirming and oh so valuable.

My 2014 was touched by countless people involved in the craft, and I do hope that a failure to mention anyone is not taken as a lack of gratitude. But particular mention must go to Chris Schwarz (without whom I doubt many people would be reading this blog), Paul Mayon and Derek Jones of New English Workshop, and Jamie Ward of Warwickshire College, all of whom were generous with their time and knowledge far beyond what would have been reasonable to ask of them. Also on the honour roll are Chris Kuehn of Sterling Tool Works, Mark Harrell of Bad Axe Tool Works, and Jason Thigpen of Texas Heritage Woodworks, who not only make some of the best tools going but have been incredibly enthusiastic and encouraging, and are top chaps with whom I very much want to share some beers (definitely in 2016, if not before). And by no means last, in terms of fellow bloggers, Anne of All Trades (for my money the most important hand tool blogger after Chris Schwarz). I am genuinely indebted to each of these people and am endlessly grateful for their encouragement and friendship over the past 12 months.

And you know something? When people talk about their fears of the craft dying out, I know that things are going to be ok. Not because there isn’t a lot of work to do to preserve traditional skills and the many woodwork crafts. But because under the stewardship of the people named above, not to mention the rest of the community of woodworkers, I am sure that the skills and desire to build, is safeguarded for another generation.

And so even though I am physically alone in the workshop, the events of 2014 mean that whenever I am working I know that I am connected to both the craftsmen (and women) that went before me (that all important idea of heritage) and the present day international community of woodworkers.

My Anarchist’s Tool Chest, as the final coat of lacquer dried.

So what does 2015 hold in store? The year is less than a day old, and yet it is already shaping up to be a full one. First up is a new workshop, as we complete our move from the West Country to Birmingham, and I am looking forward to fitting out a new workshop to be the space I’ve been dreaming of for the past 7 years (or as close to that dream as practicable). In terms of projects, now that the Anarchist’s Tool Chest is complete, my main focus is going to be on the parlour guitar build I started writing about in early 2014. Expect to see plenty of details on this here blog as the build continues. But I am not going to neglect my journey into joinery either – with the new house comes the need for new furniture and I am planning to build the riveted strong trunk from Chris Schwarz’s Campaign Furniture book, along with a pair of Roorkee chairs from the same book. In July I will return to Warwickshire College to attend Roy Underhill’s Woodworking with Thomas Jefferson course, and you can expect the blog to feature daily updates from the class. And hopefully also more articles in print.

So plenty of things to build, skills to learn, and of saw dust to make. And a community to which I will continue to contribute in my own small way. This is going to be fun, and I hope that you, dear reader, will continue to come along for the ride.

Woodworking with Thomas Jefferson

Roy emerging from the Anarchist’s Tool Chest. Picture courtesy of Lost Art Press.

New English Workshop‘s curriculum for 2015 is an embarrassment of riches, featuring classes with Jeff Miller, Chris Schwarz, Tom Fidgen, Peter Follansbee, David Barron, and Roy Underhill. That is an awful lot of woodworking excellence packed into only 3 weeks next July!

I am thrilled, not to mention super excited, to announce that I will be taking the Woodworking with Thomas Jefferson course with Roy. Expect daily updates from the course here and on Instagram.