More Engagements

I'm happy to say that I'll be helping Curtis Buchanan teach chairmaking next year on three occasions. I always look forward to working with Curtis, I think that his reputation speaks for itself. We will be teaching the Continuous Arm Rocker at North Bennet Street and at Highland Hardware. This rocker is one of my favorites, if you come to my house in the evening, you'll generally find me parked in mine.
The class at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship will be making a fan back. This class has the added benefit of noted turner Nick Cook from Atlanta teaching the turning portion of the class. Curtis will be off during this portion but I'll be there.
And I will also be teaching a class, with the benefit of Brent Skidmore as a visiting artist, and Elia Bizzarri assisting at the Arrowmont School of Crafts. I will be posting the progress of the piece that I've designed for this 5 day course.

One thing that excites me about these classes, is that Curtis and I will have a chance to bounce ideas off each other and the students to refine the process in large classes. We are always looking for new and better ways to teach chairmaking to greater depths and results.

With these engagements, my year is pretty packed and I'd encourage anyone interested in working with me at my shop to reserve a spot early, as I won't be able to accomodate as many students as in years past.

I've posted the dates of the classes on the sidebar of the blog for easy reference, hope to see you there!

Below is a photo of a drawknife that I came across on my recent trip to Virginia for a friends wedding. I was walking through a junk shop when this beauty jumped out at me. Folks often inquire what to look for in a knife, so here goes.




It has just about everything that I look for in a drawknife. The blade is stamped Warranted Cast Steel, which is supposedly the best of its kind in the era that it was produced, and experience has bore it out in my shop. It does seem to take and hold a fantastic edge.



Also, the handles, which are unique in their ornate turning are solid as can be. I have to admit being a bit smitten by their shape, boy did they care back then!
The tool was relatively rust free and clean but for a couple of chips in the edge. The only fault that I find in the tool is the slight curve of the blade, both along the edge and the back. This means that I can't create and measure flats as simply as I might with a straight blade, but I may find special uses where these curves come in handy (like cutting the relief in the crest of my new rocker) Anyway it was not one to pass up, especially because it was only $20.

I liked using it so much that I left the facets that it made on the bottom of a recent stool, rather than turning to the spokeshave to finish up. People often question why I need so many drawknives (I have about 12) and I use the large classes that I teach as a good excuse, but I'm sure that they see through me pretty easily!