Studley I ain't

Yep, I was one of the lucky ones who got to get up close and personal with the toolchest of H.O. Studley in Iowa a couple of weeks ago.

Yes, it verges on woodworker porn, but as a composition and tribute to a lifes work, it is spectacular. Of course you can get the new book "Virtuoso" from my friends at Lost Art Press if you want more.

Here is my current version.

Not quite the tribute that I'd want to be remembered by! I'm in the process of moving my shop to my new home in Roslindale which is just on the southern end of Boston proper. I've been weeding out possessions and categorizing them by which are most used and which can be stored.

I just returned from a month on the road where I taught a class at Caleb James' shop and also in Rio Grande, Ohio. Both classes went swimmingly. I especially loved getting to watch Caleb at work making planes. Below is a detail of the seat that I carved during class at Calebs.

Here is an especially cool shavehorse that a student brought into class in Ohio.

The horses that I brought (built from the plans in the book) performed great and stacked nicely for transportation, but I must admit that they can't hold a candle to their ancestor in the beauty department.

Here is a shot of the finished seat. I have always wanted to carve a seat like this. I made the mistake of leaving the top dry fit when I went to humid Ohio and the parts locked tight. I figured that I could wait til winter and try to get it apart, but instead I just wedged it and painted it.

I will not be intimidated...much

My toolbox build is progressing in tiny bits between other work and chipping ice off my roof. I've decided to focus on putting the chairmaking essentials in this box and then to make another for jigs and common tools. I want to be so comfortable working out of these boxes that I can stop the tedious packing and unpacking cycle that constantly invades my world.

 I'm following much of Jim Tolpin's advice and creating organization of the tools first and then designing to fit them. I mocked up a few boards and loaded it with weight and found that at 25" tall X 26" wide and 12" deep that it was just a bit unwieldy. I plan on moving this thing around a lot, so while cramming in 80lbs of tools sounds great, I know that one wrong move will be enough to ruin my day (week).

Now the box is 9-3/4" deep X 22-3/4" tall and 24-3/4" wide. It's a similar dimension to a box that I used for years, just a bit taller.
The hardest part so far is not actually cutting dovetails for the first time in 15 years. It's the two North Bennet Street toolboxes in the shop mocking me while I cut my joints.

This is Charlie Ryland's box. So you can imagine that when I reached for my trusty dovetail saw, I felt a pang of self consciousness.

Yes, this is my weapon, Stanley's finest $7 saw. I filed the teeth off and cut new teeth with zero set. The handle is no joy, but it tracks beautifully and cuts a laser thin kerf, which is helpful when you are as rusty as I am at this. Of course, unlike Charlie and his white oak, I am cutting my joints in pine... lovely forgiving pine.

My mock up box gave me some practice, and after making some rookie mistakes, I got back in the groove. No, I will not be showing the mistakes, those toolboxes are still staring at me.