Looking out over my back yard,I can see that autumn is beginning to encroach upon Atlanta, though I still need to find a good way to get rid of Kudzu. Along with the hopefully cooler weather, the changing leaves and the pumpkin spice everything, we also get a wonderful woodworking holiday: the annual Highland Woodworking open house. This year the open house will be on Friday, October 17th from 10am to 6pm and on Saturday, October 18th from 9am to 5pm. I am looking forward to the event and will be in attendance, but more importantly several artisan toolmakers including a few folks from Lie-Nielsen Tool Works will be there, and on Saturday we will get a visit from Master Cabinetmaker Frank Klausz.
Another wonderful thing about the open house is that Highland will be offering some secret tool deals. The team at Highland was able to secure a special selection of tools that they will be offering at once in a lifetime prices. I”ll be looking them over to see if there is anything I can add to my collection and I recommend coming out to take a look as well. Sadly you have to be at the store to get the deals as they aren’t being offered online or over the phone. The folks from Lie-Nielsen will also be demonstrating some of their tools, offering up some tips and tricks and giving pointers to those interested in their hand tools.
On Saturday, special guest Frank Klausz will be in attendance. I’ve done some reading both about and by Frank and am looking forward to meeting the man himself. Frank is a Master Cabinetmaker and has been working with wood for over 50 years. He started out as an apprentice in his Father’s shop at the age of 14 and has been woodworking ever since. I’ve personally wondered what it would be like to devote myself to woodworking as much as Frank has and wish I could find the time and stability to do so myself. Frank will be at the open house on Saturday answering questions, offering wisdom and showing off some of his amazing skills. The real treat however will be for the folks that can make it out to Highland Woodworking the next day.
On Sunday the 19th Frank Klausz will be offering a special demonstration class on hand-tool joinery. Hand-tool joinery is something I’ve been working on myself for the past couple months so learning from Frank will be an absolute treat. Frank will be covering topics like dovetails, half-lap joints, mortise and tenon joints and everything in between. There will also be a demonstration on how to keep your hand tools sharp, and I intend to take some serious notes on that, also probably some pictures since sharpening tools can be tricky. The motto Frank works by is “If you’re going to do it, do it well” and I can imagine that he will display that to the fullest extent. Hopefully I will see some friendly faces on Sunday joining me for a day of woodworking adventure.
Matthew York has been a woodturner since 2004 and has been interested in woodworking since he was a teenager. He currently lives in downtown Atlanta and has a small shop in his basement. He is an avid woodworker and is always available to talk about the craft. He can be contacted at fracturedturnings@gmail.com or visit his website at fracturedturnings.com. You can also follow him on twitter at @raen425
Just wanted to make sure people know that Sterling Tool Works will be there on Saturday and I will be there with my planes both days!
Scott, that is great, I met you and the team from Sterling at Woodworking in America and it was a pleasure talking with you guys. Your tools and planes are gorgeous and I really enjoyed getting to test them.
I am also really looking forward to your class in November, I will be there eager to learn how to build my own plane.
See you on Friday and Saturday.