Kelley Bagby

I grew up around woodworking tools (see picture, age 4-5ish) but only recently started doing some of my own woodworking.

Charles Brock: How I Became a Highland Woodworker

Dec 122012
 

Last week on The Highland Woodworker blog, Chuck Brock reminisced about his beginnings as a woodworker and how he came to discover what was then known as Highland Hardware:

In 1980 I was a “newbie” woodworker. My first projects were of the outdoor variety, a mailbox and a log rack. These were not exactly fine woodworking projects but they showed me enough promise that they made the whole idea of being a  woodworker smile at me. A local nursery purchased some of both to sell to their customers.

To read the rest of the article, click here

The Essential Woodworker, A Book Review

Dec 102012
 

Christopher Schwarz is often asked to recommend books for the woodworker interested in working with hand tools. Back in 2007 he created such a list, and at the top was Robert Wearing’s modern classic “The Essential Woodworker,” which was unfortunately out of print at the time.

Chris posted a review of the book on his blog, and the enthusiastic response to it inspired him to seek the rights to republish the book himself. In 2010 his publishing business, Lost Art Press, published a revised edition that quickly became one of their most successful books ever. “The Essential Woodworker” went on to be named one of the twelve most important woodworking books by the U.K. magazine “Furniture and Cabinetmaking.”

Here is Chris’ 2007 review of the first edition:

As Robert Wearing eases you into his book during the introduction, you will be both encouraged and alarmed. “The Essential Woodworker” is indeed a book on hand-tool basics and covers all the basic furniture-making tasks necessary to build tables, cabinets, doors and drawers. That’s the encouraging part.

What is alarming is that the stuff in “The Essential Woodworker” is material that is rarely covered in magazines, books or classes. In other words: This book is a good part of a nutritious diet in a world of Snickers bars.

“The Essential Woodworker” begins with a chapter on basic operations: sharpening, planing, sawing and boring. Wearing teaches his techniques mostly with hundreds of simple and clear line drawings, though there are a few black-and-white photos scattered throughout.

With the basic skills wrapped up, Wearing launches into a chapter on building tables and stools. Good choice. Tables are an excellent project for beginners. As Wearing introduces each essential skill, he shows you how to accomplish each task at the bench. This information is like a slice of fried gold. This book is the one that taught me how to clamp up a table base to my bench to work the aprons. It showed me how to size door parts without measuring. It taught me a better way to make hinge mortises that I still use today.

After mastering the table, Wearing moves onto basic carcase construction, with particular emphasis on dovetailing the carcase components and fabricating backs that are far more interesting than what you read about in most books. In other words, there is detail here that you just don’t find elsewhere.

Then Wearing finishes up with designing, building and fitting drawers. By the end of the book’s 160 pages I think I’d learned as much from this book as I’d learned from 10 other books purporting to “essential” for the hand-tool woodworker.

Are there any downsides to the book? Well, I think you can skip the parts about doweling carcases together, that’s a technique that I don’t cotton to (for all the effort required in doweling, I’d just dovetail it).

This review reprinted with the permission of Chris Schwarz.

Click to order a copy of The Essential Woodworker.

The Down to Earth Woodworker: Holiday Season Quick Time-Saving Tips

Dec 072012
 

Who wouldn’t like to have a little extra time during this busy holiday season? With all the parties, decorating, family and friends visiting, gift building and buying, it seems like there is always something that needs to be done. Well, just in time, the Down to Earth Woodworker is here to offer you a few quick time-saving tips for the busy woodworker. Time Saver #1: Put all your favorite DTEW columns on your smart phone so you can read them anywhere you encounter a long and boring wait!

Take a look at more time-saving tips and more in the Down to Earth Woodworker column in this month’s issue of Wood News.

Take a look at the December issue of Wood News Online!

Dec 052012
 

The December issue of Wood News Online is out and ready to read. This month we’ve got a woodworking bucket list from Howard Van Valzah, an impressive workbench carcase design story from John Bonin and an entertaining story from Dick Rank on designing the ‘perfect’ bottle stopper.

We’ve also got another great column from our Down to Earth Woodworker, Steve Johnson, where he offers a series of holiday time-saving workshop tips. If you are feeling pressed for time in your shop during this busy season, take a look at his article for a few ways tips that might give you a little more time to do the fun stuff.

Six new Fox Chapel woodworking books are available for incredible discounts for the month of December, just in time for holiday gifts!

We’ve also got Jeff Street’s dream shop, Greg Little’s amazing carved boxes and a special double edition of Show Us Your Stuff featuring rocking horses built by Jack Masten AND Kenneth Sternberg.

All this plus our holiday gift guide and woodturner’s gift guide, and much more! To take a look at all of it, just CLICK HERE.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Holiday Woodworking Tool Wish List – Matt Vanderlist

Dec 042012
 

The tree is up, the lights are strung and the stockings are all hanging on the mantle.  The only thing left to do is to start dropping hints to my the family about what I really want and don’t want under the tree this year!

Don’t get me wrong, I love getting a new pair of stretchy pants every December 25th, but what I really want is something I could USE in the shop vs WEAR in the shop!

This year I’m going to make it easy for my family to find the perfect woodworking gift for me:

1. Set of 5 Lie-Nielsen Bevel Edge Socket Chisels with Tool Roll – every woodworker knows the value of a good chisel, imagine the value of an entire set of these high quality Lie-Nielsen Bevel Edge Socket Chisels?

I know my family will say I already have a set of chisels but while they work fine like a good commuter car, who doesn’t want to drive a classy luxury vehicle?  That’s what the Lie-Nielsen chisels truly are.

2. Bowclamp Clamping Cauls – we’ve all heard the old adage “You can never have too many clamps” but I think just as equally important is knowing what a tool like a clamping caul can do to make the few clamps you already have, work like they never have before.

If you’ve never used a caul before they are an amazing shop accessory that incrementally increases the clamping reach and power of an ordinary clamp.  Where an ordinary clamp may only reach a few inches across the length of a wide glue up, a caul will apply pressure across the entire length of its body.

It’s an amazingly simple tool that does an equally amazing job!

3. Kreg Precision Miter Gauge System – I have a feeling I’m not alone when I say the standard miter gauge on my table saw is “just ok”.  It works well for what it does, it’s easy to setup and use, but it always has me concerned it’s about to fail me when I need it most.

That’s why I would really love to see a Kreg Precision Miter Gauge System under the tree this year!  “The CNC machined gauge head with an easy-to-read Vernier” means I don’t have to second guess the angled cuts I’m trying to set up.

And the long 24″ Heavy Duty Aluminum Trak and Kreg Swing Stop means not only is my stock being supported through the cut, but I can easily setup a stop that makes repeatable cuts as accurate as ever.

4. Festool DF 500 Q Domino Joiner Set w/Cross Stops – Last thing on the list of the perfect Christmas morning would have to be the Festool DF 500 Q Domino Joiner Set.  This tool would probably get used so much in my shop I might end up wearing the paint off the body!

Festool makes amazing tools and the Domino is no exception.  It’s a great tool that belongs in my shop.

Just in case that wasn’t enough for them, a few more dreamy tools I wouldn’t say no to include:

Lie Nielsen No. 51 Shoot Board Plane OR a Lie Nielsen Iron Miter Plane – who doesn’t want to have better results on a shooting board?

8″ Forrest Dado-King set – because the Forrest Dado-King has given me the best dado cuts EVER but my new SawStop saw won’t work with my 6″ stack.

Regardless of what ends up under the Christmas tree, or in my stocking this year, I’ll be very grateful for just being together as a family.  But if a Christmas Miracle were to happen in the Vanderlist household that involves wish lists being fulfilled, mine is all set.

Did you know you can create a wishlist at Highlandwoodworking.com and send it out by email to anyone who might be searching for the perfect gift for you? CLICK HERE to get started with your own wish list.

Great Woodworking Gifts: Woodworking Books from Fox Chapel – 33%-50% off

Dec 032012
 
TO ORDER: TO ORDER: TO ORDER: TO ORDER: TO ORDER: TO ORDER:

Not sure what to get for the woodworker in your life this Christmas? We’ve got some amazing discounts on Fox Chapel Woodworking books that will appeal to any woodworker. If you aren’t sure, take a peek inside each of the books by clicking on the image above. Order these books from us during December 2012 and save 33% off the list price.

CLICK HERE for more information on each of these great books.

Show Us Your Carving Followup: Gary Smith

Nov 282012
 

We featured Gary Smith’s meticulous horse-drawn wagon in the woodcarving column in the November 2011 issue of Wood News. He recently updated us on one of his latest woodworking pieces:

These are my new wagons – this time I carved them in even more detail.

Everything works the way it would on a real wagon – I carved them at 1/8th scale in every way. When you lock up the breaks, the back wheel slides.

Each wagon is made out of hard wood. The wheels have 24 parts, the same as they would if a wheelwright had made them. I hammered the iron out like a blacksmith would have.

Making them this way is a lot more fun but really time intensive. There are over 100 bolts holding all the parts together.