Bench Homecoming: A follow up to Bench Quest.

By Stephen Melhuish

It’s a gorgeous day in north Oxfordshire, England; the sun dapples my back garden lawn through the honey scents and warm buzzing bees covering an arched Ceanothus in full blue bloom on the way to my shop.

Today is a great day…all is right with the world… a few months ago I decided to order a new bench from Richard Maguire up in Lincolnshire about 2-3 hours away as the crow flies. Today is the day it’s delivered and I can truly say I feel like a kid waiting for Santa at Christmas, except I doubt if Santa would have squeezed this 7-foot bench down my chimney! …and instead of Rudolph and a sleigh a dirty great pallet truck pulls up to my driveway casting a vast shadow over the front hedge.

I rush out with my camera to snap a shot of the bench wrapped in black shrink-wrap. At this stage she looks more like a Henry Moore sculpture than a workbench, but hey, beauty’s in the eye of the beholder right.

My rugby-playing neighbour Terry helps the driver and I to lift her gently to the ground…the bench has landed!

Over the next couple of hours I’m busy busy, setting her up in her new home and a new shop that I built and finished just a couple of weeks ago, well I say finished, in fact there’s masses more to do and kit out internally but the shell/structure is done.

So much junk has gone from the old shop and I’ve promised myself a minimalist work environment, just as well as it’s pretty damn bare right now, but as soon as the bench top drops onto it’s legs retaining wooden lugs with a reassuring smooth airy thud the shop takes on a whole other mood, the sunlight pours through the double doors bouncing off the Ash bench and illuminating the shop walls with it’s delicious warm colour and wood oiled scent.

I stand back and take it all in, the end of a long journey, from make do benches with all their faults to this perfect working beauty.

My thoughts then on the new bench:

Well I’m so happy I could tie a balloon to the top of our local castle flagpole!

Size matters!

…She’s 7 foot long, and 2 foot deep, the bench top is made up of 3-inch thick sections of solid Ash, in fact the whole bench is solid Ash….love it!

Two vices: there’s a hefty wooden screw set into a beautiful leg vice, the nearest jaw of which is lined with a rectangle of leather to help protect and add more grip to anything clamped there. These wooden screw vices are definitely the Biz, with its easy action and surprisingly speedy travel, all down to the wonderful hand built qualities and those large wooden threads.

There’s an ergonomically designed wagon vice at the end that is so sweet and smooth running that I’m sure she’s greased with honey!

The top has two lines of dog holes front and back the nearest row has a bench stop fitted at my own request. Richard Maguire also makes his own blocks for these stops, again very simply and cleanly made all in matching wood. This is a lovely extra to the bench and can help support very sizeable dimensions of wood when running a plane down towards the leg vice end. I saw Rob Cosman using it exactly for this purpose on another Maguire bench earlier in the year at London’s Alexandra Palace wood show.

Finally there’s a nice sliding board jack, giving huge flexibility when adding additional side support on longer board lengths.

And that, my friends is just about it.

…A bench, in my opinion is at it’s best when it achieves all the requisite clamping and support options without hindrance, for instance all the legs and sliding board jack are cut and fixed flush with each other, no overhangs, and nothing to get in the away. Additional clamps can then be attached without compromise.

Also I’m glad I didn’t go for a bench with a tool well, (as long as you have good at arms length surfaces next to the bench along with racks for your chisels and planes) then that’s sufficient, tool wells I believe just waste bench top space…keep it tidy and you’ll work that more efficiently… that’s the aim anyway.

Over the coming weeks I’ll put the whole bench through it’s paces with a couple of small projects, but right now I simply use the wagon tail vice aided by a couple of Veritas bench pups to clamp a 1 foot off cut of English Oak to the bench top for it’s first ever shaving.

I take the thinnest of scrapers and pass it numerous times over the Oaks tight grain, that lovely sound of a clean, thin metal edge whistling over the hardwood softly fills the solid wooden confines of the new shop…The bench has at last come home.

You just kind of know it’s going to be right, instincts and the sheer knowledge that a master bench maker has poured over every nuisance to get it right for you, yes it’s all there, perfectly in proportion, 7 long feet of working Ash.

She looks right, operates smoothly and just won’t budge a jot, a lifetime ahead of wood projects and when the quality of bench is this good it just makes you want to make the best better still….

check out the Richard Maguire website, you won’t be disappointed!

Mine is the Signature Bench.

www.rm-workbenches.co.uk

and remember…The Bench is still the shop!

Good luck to all those making or purchasing new benches.

Cheers Steve.

there, now its official.

new ideas gleaming-

busy-busy week

with the war drobe and cedar coming along as planned

i’m enjoying every second of shop time but my camera has been away…

these days of ‘timber summer‘ threatening like some inner city cool.

When a camera did finally make its way into the wood shop it was in front of a friend for an upcoming article in Canadian Woodworking Magazine …the war drobe is in the dining room (well, most of it is!) and the scribbles in the thumbnail on the front page  has nothing to do with any of these things….well- almost any.

Classes are 90% full until September unless you’ll be on Cape Breton Island this summer…

seriously, please contact me for full day work shops available in Nova Scotia or here in Toronto this fall.

another reminder of the Lie Nielsen hand tool event in Burlington, Ontario on the 28th and 29th of may-

so besides the war drobe,

many-many classes,

the  hand tool event on the 28th and 29th,

I started writing another book -!!??@$$%:!!~

remember- he not busy…

details coming soon.

cHeers!

Habinet 1st position

Side table detail

Dinner time- 2nd position.

Bed time- 3rd position.

bob dylan wrote that in 1965...this piece has nothing to do with that song and no, this isn't bob dylans cabinet. war-drōbe

So why am I mentioning it again ?

Last week while I was working away on the habinet project (just after I had watched the clip online) I glanced up on the shelf above my work bench and looked at the first piece I had turned on my new treadle lathe back in December…

the very first thing I turned on my treadle lathe back in December.

I had completely forgot about this first turning until I watched the clip and then realized how close they seemed in form- well, not ‘exactly’ but a chess piece nonetheless – even the little loose rings and all…coincidence isn’t it?

Granted, my method of turning isn’t as interesting as the one in the video but it was kind of cool to watch this clip and then look up to see my first turning sitting there on my shelf.

Small world indeed….just thought I’d share that with you.

Click this link to see a quick clip – 1st turning

To watch the original video of the Moroccan turner click here.

cheers!

I’m happy to share these dates with you for the coming Lie Nielsen Toolworks Hand Tool Event happening in Canada.

Some dates and locations are still not settled but you can find out more information at Lie Nielsen Toolworks.

I’ll be attending the events scheduled at the end of May at Exotic Woods out in Burlington and will have some copies of my book with me for sale as well. I hope you can make it out and say hello, it should prove to be a great day surrounded by lots of beautiful wood and some of the finest hand tools available…

April 9 & 10, 2010

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology

April 16 & 17, 2010

Southern Alberta Institute of Technology

April 30 & May 1, 2010

Vancouver, BC

May 7 & 8, 2010

West Wind Hardwood, Sidney, BC

May 28 & 29, 2010

Exotic Wood- Burlington, ON

Early June Montreal, QC

What is a Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event Click the link to watch a video and find out more!

we had some light snow the other day- 1st day of spring my arse!

dimensioned the stock for the side table- ripping, cross cutting and resawing by hand-

lots and lots of wood shavings but the good news is one of my students has a contact for a local composting area- finally some spring cleaning with 8 or 9  bags of wood shavings over staying their welcome.

spring is in the air with the habinet almost ready to install-

these final details are always the most difficult ; hardware options, a few more days of ‘finishing’

I’ve been working through the joinery on the side table that ‘mates’ with the curly maple table top and finding new avenues and elements to explore. Discovering design from a joinery aspect is always a challenge but can be  most rewarding to the builder. The quiet smiles when we discover yet another way of doing things….

The irony I suppose is that no one ever sees these details- only the outer shell and most will never offer a second thought to even that.

Some day perhaps someone will and it’ll be those eyes and hands there in some future place- this furniture can certainly outlive you and I- so I sometimes think about the personalities that may discover this old table built in the young days of 2010- maybe they’ll wonder what happened and why this small side table was completely made with hand tools alone? Then in those glorious days of machining and precision….

much too busy to sit here in front of this window to the world so back to my work bench and I promise to  update when the ‘real’ spring arrives-

cheers!

final shaping main cabinet

cherry curling- tapers falling

24 frame components = 48 joints ... 2 hands, 2 days ? ish....

small table top hatch to store things like honey or tea ....glue bear approves.

knife lines in cherry end grain

I decided to ask Steven to write a post and share some of his experience and thoughts-these are his words…

The Quest for a hand tool WoodWorking bench

A Personal journey

By Stephen Melhuish

Richard Maguire 'SIGNATURE' Bench

I’ve been corresponding with Tom Fidgen over a number of months since his book fell into my hands at Blackwells bookshop in Oxford, England, back in December 2009.

My work, like Tom’s has taken me in various directions. In the spring and summer months I plan, plant and maintain gardens for a whole host of interesting people in the far north villages of the Cotswolds just west of Oxford.

This might seem totally unrelated to woodwork, cabinet making or any level of craftsmanship that involves wood, but in this day and age not all of us can make a living from just one interest or discipline, indeed the reasons why we find ourselves drawn to the desire to work with wood are many. We all choose our own quests through circumstance, meandering at times to a place where one day something grabs hold of us, a realisation perhaps that you want something more than what you currently have, to improve ourselves and the work we produce. If this rings a bell with you then you’ll perhaps be somewhere on your own journey to some new horizon, whether it’s perfecting the techniques of sharpening your tools or buying that dreamt about plane.

My own quest it seems over these past six months was to ask myself what do I want from a workbench?

I move between general carpentry, constructing built in situ’ cabinets, wardrobes or bookcases and the finer more considered world of the wood shop, this second discipline is still relatively new to me, where small to medium scale projects will be my aim in the coming years.

While all this goes on, one question remains… Are the results I’m likely to get when working with hand tools always down to the quality, careful tuning and handling of the plane or was it and could it be in some other more fundamental way be more to do with my work space and the centre of that being the workbench?”

Well for me it’s a quest that continues to this day and whether you manage to produce wonderful work on a nailed together series of odd ply sheets fixed roughly to some old decorators trestle table or whether you were perhaps lucky enough to inherit your grandfathers cabinet makers workbench, one thing should remain constant and that is the pursuit of excellence through hard work mixed with pure enjoyment.

I’ve struggled-by with a poor bench for some time, the vices just aren’t big enough, the steel screw thread squeaks and wobbles and the tool well is constantly full of junk… so why oh why have I put up with it for so long, I guess the answer is partly habit and not knowing enough about what else is out there to replace it.

Back to Tom Fidgen’s own bench and that lovely book of his, I read his story of how through chance he ended up with two benches, both from the same supplier and manufacturer, I looked closer at the work he was producing on it, the way he would consider adding an extra dog hole here and there to better serve the holding and positioning of his work on the bench or in the vice. All of this fascinated me. A bench it seemed was somehow becoming part of who Tom was and how he worked.

I started to look at books on the subject of the history of benches, and spoke with friends who have arrived at similar conclusions, that to some degree “the bench is the shop”. You must plan and work everything else around it, other items come and go in the shop but the bench remains a constant and must in my own opinion be perfect for everything that you do and therefore flexible and yet simple enough to achieve those tasks.

Where then do you start?

Internet research:

Well I would certainly go and look at as many out there as possible, and by that I mean look hard and research on the internet and get a feel for the makes and scale of benches available. Once you’ve gathered together this visual and written dimensional information try and see if you can find a supplier that has an outlet that actually stocks one or a few of your favourites.

At this point you’ll probably realise like I did that there isn’t actually a vast selection that’s equal to this want, and what there is varies hugely in terms of quality.

So what’s important in a bench?

Scale of work:

Work wise, that’s entirely up to you, but whatever you’ll produce on it, the bench should at least be solid and large enough to cope with it.

Like I say, my own small and lightweight bench isn’t, and the only way I can stop some of its movement is to bolt it down with brackets to the shop floor.

Bench top thickness:

The thicknesses of bench tops can be deceptive, don’t be fooled by the apron that runs around the edge of the bench-top, in fact these are usually way deeper than the actual heart of the bench-top itself, and to be honest this heart is what matters. Get it too thin and the bench runs a significant risk of racking or twisting out of shape through changing atmospheric conditions. Lets face it all wood moves at some point, so the trick is to reduce this to an absolute minimum.

I’d say that a good bench worth paying decent money for should have a top that’s no thinner than 2.5inches or approx’ 60mm deep and ideally thicker still.

Fixings:

The bench thickness may have to be thinner in certain sections close to fixing plates and runners for the screw thread mechanisms and dog blocks to be housed, but scrutinise these fixings too and make sure that all the mechanics of the kit associated with the smooth running of the vice threads appear sensibly ‘up to the job’, remember that moving parts are far more likely to let you down than static ones, so again, buy the best that money can afford.

Dog Holes Blocks & Board Jacks:

Remember that a bench is a tool to hold wood steady while working on its edges or faces, that might sound a little obvious but the number of times I’ve seen woodworkers, including myself, struggling to hold down pieces with ease is disturbing, in fact this should never be the case, a good bench should certainly have covered all the basic options for helping you to clamp your work.

The Dog holes, whether square, rectangular or round all do pretty much the same job. For me the more the merrier and as long as the bench top is thick enough to take all these holes then it wont effect it’s performance.

A wagon vice will have a sliding dog block together with its corresponding dog hole, the two together allow for flexible clamping positions down the length of the top surface of the bench. Too few holes in line with this end vice might limit the length of wood you can clamp in this method, meaning manual clamping with some other form of surface clamp which isn’t ideal as they often get in the way when using larger planes on full face work.

Add another row of dog holes to the far surface of the bench and you’ve got an amazingly efficient way of extending this surface support system. Just cut a narrow straight baton of wood the same sort of thickness as any inserted dogs and the correct length and you can bridge over between the two rows of dog holes. This could also be set at a diagonal should the work require. So again, the less holes you have the more chance you run of struggling, make life easy eh!

Whether you opt for a standard face vice or some style of deeper leg vice, you’ll at some point almost certainly need some other form of clamping further down the side of the bench, this comes in the form of bench fasts either fastened through the end bench leg, or with even greater flexibility through a sliding board jack. Not all benches have them, and there are other ways of doing a similar job with all manner of different separate clamps, but to have a length of sliding wood bored with numerous holes to clamp through is by far the simplest and surely again the most flexible.

If you want a really secure stop on the bench surface then consider a much larger dog block, these can be set permanently anywhere along the run of dog holes, but ideally look for a bench that has it set towards the face vice end and then you have the rest of the length of the bench top to lay pieces up against it. The block itself can then be deep enough to be brought up above the bench surface when required to hold some particularly high work pieces.

The Vices:

Benches purchased from most manufacturers and stockists dictate what vices you end up with, as most are supplied with “what you see is what you get” therefore there can be little or no other choice available at the initial buying of your bench. So if you’re happy with the bench and the vices on it then that’s terrific, but if you love the bench but the vice is not for you, then always ask to see if they’re able to offer any options.

Things vary to some degree in this area and you’ll just have to ask… On the other hand try to seek out an independent bench maker, one who’s prepared to offer lots of choice! … Well that’s wonderful if you can find any and in fact in my own case I stopped looking once I’d found the only one I could find on the web in the UK, (there might be more out there, but I couldn’t find them!). His name is Richard Maguire.

Remember that almost every piece of wood that you’ll place on the bench will need at some point I’m sure to be held in safe hands… this is the vices job.

The screw threads are crucial to the vices smooth running and good ones will ensure that little or no chattering occurs as the vice handle is turned, the speed of vice operation too is down to the way in which the screw thread is milled from the steel. Basically you get what you pay for. The best and more expensive benches fit some of the best vices as standard. You could indeed purchase a lower cost bench but have a higher quality vice and screw thread fitted later, again the choice is yours and if budget allows!

If you’re after a beautiful and traditional vice with a wooden screw thread then the same thing will apply, if you get a really good quality one that’s be turned by a skilled craftsman then these can be magical to use, the performance for speed is often quicker than many steel threads as long as logic dictates that the diameter of the thread is made much bigger, therefore each turn takes the vice in or out that much quicker… Science eh!

Finally there has been a trend in more recent times to mix engineering wheel style handles to bench vices as a modern replacement to the more traditional pole handles, this is entirely a choice for the individual and purists may find them incongruous with the mix of aesthetic styles, seen by many as a clash, however they do have some merits if its “your bag”, they’re pretty easy to grab and spin, so long as the screw thread runs smoothly then they’re fine. Tiny movements and adjustments can be made with them too, so like I say they have their place and time will tell whether they become a long term fixture or not, but for now they’re usually only fitted as a custom extra!

Bench Maker…Richard Maguire:

Steven left and Richard MaGuire in front of a few of his benches.

I thought at this point I’d take the time to sing the praises of the independent bench-maker and there must be quite a number out there I’m sure, but rather than thinking always of walking into a bigger trade outlet, try seeking out a good joiner who’ll make one individually just for you, bespoke, right down to the style of pole handles. The joy is that it’s been made just for you by one person, not cheap, not quick, but when did that matter when it comes to the potential of a life times’ use and an ongoing heirloom?

So although completely subjective, I believe that Richard Maguire from Lincolnshire in England makes the best hand made benches for sale on the market today, certainly in the United Kingdom, if not the World!

This is a big boast and one that I can only qualify by personal experience. I was very fortunate that I spent a little quality time with Richard looking over a small selection of his hand made benches, and what can I say, all the appropriate boxes were ticked, nice thick solid lengths of wood, beautifully crafted and jointed together, every single thing appeared right, the design, balance and sheer strength of these beasts just jumps out at you. Richard has a background in cabinet making and larger joinery for the building industry. These two disciplines are melded together within a craftsman who daren’t ever send anything out from his shop until he has personally gone over every inch by hand.

Richard prototypes everything first within a varied range, he then makes further tweaks before the final designs are settled on. He told me that one of the benches under scrutiny was tested by leaving it outside in all weather conditions, for quite some time, before bringing it back into the shop to once more acclimatise, all this just to see how it might cope with such extreme stresses.

He’s researched the history of bench making and includes his take on the classic Roubo and Dominy styles these are within an awesome range of serious heavyweight benches, all hand made with a great choice of vices too including a twin screw faced option.

He personally guarantees everything and that’s how confident he is that his benches will perform.

He uses a choice of Ash or Steamed Beech to construct them, some of the bench tops are 3 inches of solid wood, others 4 inches, while his thickest is a hefty 6 inches and at those sort of dimensions your bench won’t budge a jot! No wonder that he’s proud to place and fix a small brass plaque on every bench with the Richard Maguire name.

If you go for any benches of this nature then you’re not only investing in quality for your own shop, but you’re helping to keep the Craftsmen’s skills alive and well. I know personally how incredibly proud Richard is of every bench he makes and he should do with the hours he puts of himself into each one.

Alexandra Palace Woodworking Show:

While visiting this years wood show in north London on the 14^th March I was very pleased to see the figure of Rob Cosman blowing fine wood shavings high into the air from a Stanley Plane, but what took my eye more was the bench he was working on, yes The Richard Maguire Signature bench.

Many of the passers by were reading up on the details of the bench on a display board, a few wood fans were over from Sweden and I asked them what they thought. Generally they remarked on the solid thickness of it’s bench top, the smooth action of the leg vice and how useful the double row of dog holes would be for bracing work across and down the length of the surface. One of these guys said it was just the sheer beauty of the whole thing.

The ergonomics of design is something the Swedish are famous for, so who am I to disagree… All of them took a leaflet!

Making your own bench:

This is of course another option, and if you choose to take this path then just make sure you appreciate all the factors mentioned previously. Your vices and fixings are best ordered first so that positions and bench thickness can be planned around them.

I did consider making my own bench and this would no doubt have been a different kind of investment, one that was time heavy in the wood shop, this for me was the deciding factor, I just couldn’t afford the time, but you’ll have to juggle with this dilemma yourself.

What you do get if you choose to purchase is the knowledge that the bench makers specific niche skills and experience has gone into every consideration, this for me was a guarantee well worth paying a premium for, basically it’s peace of mind territory.

Conclusion:

I’m sure that if your making your own quest you’ll settle for what ultimately feels right for yourself, but my conclusion is that the bench is far too important an investment to go wrong, after all it’s highly likely to represent the single most costly outlay in the hand tool wood shop. Take your time and tread carefully.

While my own decision was a Maguire bench, there are other benches out there with great merit, including the Lie Nielsen or Sjoberg range. Take a long look at all. My overriding want is that a bench should be as flexible as it can possibly be without it looking cluttered.

Whatever you choose to purchase or indeed if you end up spending time making your own bench, just remember this,  “The Bench is the Shop”.

Happy hunting.

Signature Leg Vise

For Canadian residents who may be considering  a Lie Nielsen product but have been waiting for a chance to ‘test drive’ them, then you should definitely try to make it out to one of the Lie Nielsen Hand Tool Events coming to Canada. I was recently asked to demonstrate some tools and techniques at a  local event here in Southern Ontario and will post details of the specific times and locations when I get them. It’ll be a great opportunity for you to try some of these incredible hand tools and you can also pick up a signed copy of Made by Hand there as well- for more information on the Lie Nielsen Hand Tool Event check out www.lie-nielsen.com

I hope to see you there!

Cheers.

So the first thing I’d like to mention about the new site are the dedicated areas for all six of the book projects. If you mouse over the Made by Hand button on the top bar you’ll see each project title. Once you click through to a new page you’ll find FREE downloadable SketchUp models and a detailed bench plans that you can print out and keep with you at bench side while you build. With expanded galleries (The Cutting Room Floor) and afterthoughts of the projects that never made it into the pages of the book due to space limitations. You can also send me photographs of your own versions of these designs and I’ll post them in the Readers Gallery section. I encourage readers to do this and post comments and questions there as well. This will give others the opportunity to see some variations on the designs and possibly answer some of the questions or concerns that may arise while working through the pieces at home. The more feedback we get here, the more success readers will have when building so I hope everyone puts in their two cents!

You’ll notice the Classes button up there as well. I’m excited to say that I’m now offering private  classes here at the Unplugged Woodshop- from one or two hour week night meetings to half day, weekend workshops- learning the tricks and techniques of the trade in a ‘real working’ wood shop could never be easier. If it’s half blind dovetails or mortise and tenon joinery, hand planing basic or sharpening routines, I’m completely open to any and all wood working related topics. That’s the beauty of a private class, they can be geared towards what ever it is you’d like to learn!

I would also like to make note of the top right hand corner of the page- you’ll see the subscribe by email or RSS buttons. If you’d like to receive all of my posts as they’re published then simply click there. That way you won’t miss any and you’ll have them delivered directly to your email.

Besides all of this we’re still developing the Gallery page where I’ll showcase more of my own work and give some feedback and details on each one. All of my past blogs from Working Wood are available as well;  in the side bar collumn under Tales and Techniques you’ll find sub categories with a much easier and more organised navigation menu. Themes and categories have been developed so if its information on hand planes you’re after, then follow the links… Lots of hand tool information and general wood working related topics so browse around the new web site- I think you’ll find it easy to find your way through and you never know- you may just learn something new!

There are still a few more elements we’re working on so be sure to come back again soon- Thanks again for visiting.

Cheers!

Here’s a review (the first I believe) of Made by Hand by Jim Voos of San Carlos, California. Jim is a former College of the Redwoods student and these are his thoughts-

Tom Fidgen’s Made by Hand is a great book to add to your shop. It is useful to both the beginning hand tool woodworker and the experienced furniture maker as well. Let me explain.

For beginners, Tom takes you through the practical reasons for setting up a hand tool shop, the basic set of hand tools you will need to be productive, as well as some of the techniques that you will need to use these new tools.

For the experienced woodworker, it presents the evolution that many of us go thru in our discovery of the craft, from using power tools in a cramped space, to the use of hand tools to add a new dimension to our work. I found many parallels between Tom’s experience and my own, although I don’t think it has taken Tom the 30 years it’s taken me to get there.

The other thing that I found terrific was the photography of the workshop, tools & techniques that one uses in building great furniture. This is coffee table quality photography in a book that you will want to keep with you on your bench.

The best part is saved for last, and that’s the projects. These are beautiful examples of projects that you will be excited to build. I was particularly taken by the Cabinetmakers’ Tool Chest. This is a nice piece which can hold your “travelin” hand tools, and incorporates some nice ideas to make it even more useful. I won’t give away some of the tricks added to this piece, you will have to discover it for yourself.

I don’t know if this is Tom’s first effort or not, but I hope he continues writing, and gives us a good book we could use to build our own boat using hand tools. This would be another reference I would love to add to my library.

Highly recommended.

Jim Voos

Jim and Jim at the College of the Redwoods

Lee Valley Tools offers a great monthly newsletter that if you currently don’t subscribe to, maybe you should consider. It’s always packed with how-to style articles and has some pretty cool monthly side bar columns like: From the Collection, From the Archive and my favourite, the What is it? column. This area generally features some interestingly-odd and sometimes pretty clever work shop tools or appliances from the history books. This months newsletter has an article I wrote for them last year showing one method I use for making custom drawer pulls. You can read more about it here: Lee Valley Newsletter

“What business have we with art at all, if we all cannot share it?”
William Morris

“When we discover what wonderful things our eyes and hands are as they seek fine lines and use sharp tools, when we listen to wood and not just use it, then cabinetmaking can take on a new meaning.” JK

Almost six years ago I quite literally stumbled over a small pile of books in a Halifax library. Looking down I noticed one of them had some furniture shots on it so I picked up the hardcover book and read the title: The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking. The front cover photographs, three rather unique looking pieces immediately grabbed my attention enough that I decided to borrow it.
James Krenov eh?…never heard of him but the title alone seemed to conjure up a kind of curious discovery into some alternate path through the craft that I was only beginning to discover and understand. I had been building wooden boats at the time and had come off of about 8 years of set building. Screws and glue, some plywood and lots of smoke and mirrors I’d never felt any connection between working wood and art. I was an established writer and musician and was fortunate to have been exposed to all forms of art and craft growing up on the East coast of Canada but for some reason never felt the connection between the two. This Fine Art of Cabinetmaking, again suddenly hit me like a hard maple mallet; Krenov eh?
I read the book from cover to cover and then started to read it again and again. I wasn’t aware of any ‘on-line’ wood working community at the time and the name Krenov really didn’t mean all that much to me. I certainly didn’t know about any of his unique philosophies nor had I ever heard of the College of the Redwoods; all I knew that as someone who has always enjoyed writing and was starting to begin my own personal journey into wood craft that the words that curled up and out of the pages were more powerful than any of his pieces ever could be. Yes, his cabinetmaking is second to none but it was his words that pulled me into this new path of working wood.
Not too long after that I noticed Lee Valley Tools were selling strange little plane irons and again the Krenov name rang a bell. That’s him, that’s the guy who wrote the book! I ordered an iron and following the chapter on making a wooden plane I built my first Krenov style hand plane. I think it was that same year that I really started to notice this Internet world of wood working and soon discovered his web site. This would have been around 2006 I believe and there I read that Jim’s eyes were failing and while he would no longer be making his cabinets, he would continue working with his hands and making his hand planes available for order. I immediately sent off a letter and waited for a response.
In my mind at the time, still not realising just what kind of man Jim was I suppose I was expecting to get a letter back from perhaps a secretary or something with an order form or a credit card bill. I figured maybe he had an office somewhere at the college and someone would be answering his hand plane requests but this couldn’t have been any further from the truth. If not the following day then it was indeed the same week I checked my e-mail to find a letter.

Tom, Thank you for the nice e-mail. I know the plane you need for building your boats. Before all: don’t send payment before you have the plane and like it. If you want to call me, my telephone number is……best wishes, Jim Krenov

I can still remember the feeling I had after reading this letter, I ran down and told my wife about it and she also thought it was pretty cool that this author and seemingly famous cabinetmaker had written back to me himself. This was who he was and the kind of personality he had. The plane arrived a few weeks later carefully wrapped up in Californian news papers and packaged inside an old sneaker box. Perfect! I’ve used the plane ever since and I’m happy to say that I still ‘like it’
Fast forward a few more years when I started to write my own book on working wood and I again contacted Jim. This time it was to show him my ‘Cabinetmakers Tool chest’ design. While drawing the chest I wondered if he used to lug around a tool box with him, full of his hand planes from client to client. I wondered how he would have built it and if he spent any time on it? I wondered if he would have just tossed his tools into a make shift box too busy to waste time on something as utilitarian as a tool chest?
I told him that my design was indeed inspired by his work, from the split dovetails down the front to my choices of hardwoods for the carcass. “I don’t recall ever being much of a tool box man” he told me! This made me laugh. We corresponded again in February this past year about the design and he always found the time to answer my letters and take time to consider my questions and thoughts. “It’s a very beautiful piece.” I’m proud to say he wrote. I asked him about his writing and if he was planning on any more books. “I’m an old man now” he wrote and I left it at that but again it brought a smile to my face when I read it. He’s a funny old crank that has influenced thousands of wood workers all over this planet, myself being included in that list. He is missed already. I’m happy to have connected with him those few times through this ‘on-line’ platform and I’ll think about him and his words again when I hold his plane in my hands while I work. Perfect indeed.

The table was built in the summer so when I originally posted the picture in February it had really shrank back. Here’s a another great example of wood movement from one of the pieces I built this past winter for my book, Made by Hand.
It’s some Cherry wood and the same bread board procedure was used. It’s interesting to see the opposite happening from a piece built in the summer to a piece built in the winter. The top of this piece has also swelled but because I made it in the winter, it’s now substantially wider than the ends.

So my point to all of this?
Wood moves…get over it!

We basically climbed the trunk like a pair of spider monkeys and with a Japanese style, Ryoba saw and some line made quick work of removing the limbs. Some of these were up to 6″ in diameter and about 12′ to 16′ long so a couple of more friends were on hand with a little electric chainsaw, a few ‘cold drinks’ and some determination. All that was left was the trunk to deal with and we tackled that last night. We decided that instead of simply throwing it into landfill or the fire wood pile we’d try splitting some up for possible future projects. I haven’t heard of anyone using Mountain Ash for furniture but hey, why not try? At best it’ll be a nice little bench or the like for the backyard.
The first step was dropping this thing and we began with an old buck saw Douglas had…we shared the duties and then settled in with both of us at either side of the old frame. Between a slightly dull saw and the wet wood we were cutting it soon became clear that the little electric chainsaw was in our future. A couple of ‘cold drinks’ and we were off. It probably didn’t save us much time but it did save our backs and arms. A relief cut here and a little wedge cut there…timber!
Even a tree on the small size like this one gives a mighty thump when it finally lands. From here we cut the remaining limbs off and blocked up the trunk into a few lengths. I wasn’t sure how or if this would split for me but a couple of wedges and my Swedish made, Gränsfors axe I began the process. I started at the top end of the piece and drove in the first wedge; I wish I had a tape recorder because the cracking and splitting noises were amazing! I’d give the wedge a knock and stop…the wood fiber would continue to split and crackle for a few seconds longer every time-a very cool audio display to say the least.
The first spilt went pretty well although where the limbs once grew the grain had some irregular patterns and it went a little off. No problem though, from here I would quarter the two sides and then quarter those again. The second split went much better due to the fact that I ended up shortening the length just behind the knots and swirls where the limbs grew. We had a good time dropping and splitting this tree. The ‘cold drinks’ helped as well and I wondered through the entire process about woodworkers of the past doing this kind of job for all of their wood stock…it’s not terribly hard work but I’m sure there’s a knack to do right. I think I discovered a few tricks in this first session and will keep my eyes out for any more inner city ‘gems’ needing disposal. Funny this morning thinking about limbing the tree, falling it and splitting it, a few hours spent with a few more hours to go in a year or two when it dries.

I just ordered some Quarter sawn white Oak for my next project but took a slightly different method…it involved sitting in front of this computer, typing out a cut list and faxes it over to a local saw mill; not quite the same work out but hey, it’s not how we get our wood onto the bench that counts, but what we do with it from there that really matters. Time for a ‘cold drink’
Cheers!

Is it the calming curve of walnut-rocking
or the smile on the face behind the hands creating…
An inspiration to all not only working wood; but to all that work and live.
Peace.