New Classes and Free Video!

Ok, first I wanna apologize. I listed this last week and forgot to post about the new classes here before enrollment began. Usually, I like to give to folks a chance to peruse the classes prior to enrollment to check their schedules etc…but I fell ill and forgot! Anyway, the classes are up and enrollment is open.

I also wanted to let you know that I posted a session of the Foundation in Chairmaking video course that I sell on Vimeo to youtube so that you can watch it for free. It’s on using dried wood in chairmaking. If you haven’t seen this content, please check it out, I think you might be surprised. I show how to get “rived” parts from a dried board, which has a few unexpected details, that you might find interesting. I am also offering a discount on the entire series of 25% through 6/15/22 with the promo code “Memorialday”. Again, apologies for not posting this sooner, I had a rough week!!! (I’m better now)

here is a link to the whole series "Foundation in Chairmaking"

Getting Wild Around Here (with Color)

I’ve been busy with classes, tools and chairs lately. I have been finally finishing up some Temple Chairs from the classes last year and decided to have some fun with color!

Flag Red from the real Milk Paint Company

I’ve been doing tons of experimenting with the techniques for getting fast and repeatable results with the milk paint ever since I shot my video a couple of years back. I’m just about to begin reshooting it to include the info that I’ve found most useful. Folks who already bought the video will automatically own the new version.

One helpful addition is this magnetic mixer. Leaving the paint stirring in this overnight yields a much smoother product that is able to go on incredibly thin and smooth, leaving very little burnishing at the end.

I’ve also been spending time with Kelly Harris working on her upcoming tenon cutter. We have been through many iterations and tests and have a very cool tool heading into production. Besides cutting beautifully and also sizing the end just below 5/8” (so that it fits the mortise from the start") the blade depth is self setting, so after sharpening, replacing the blade to a perfect cut takes seconds!

I’ve run out of things in my shop to taper!! This thing is fun to use!

Nothing better than working with a friend on a tool

Here are a couple of shots from recent classes, the quality of the chairs has been a delight

I have one spot that just came open in my upcoming Comb Back class, let me know if you are interested (details here)

Happenings and Openings

The shop is buzzing these days. I have a couple of open class spots, one in the Temple chair class in February and one in the March Comb Back class, contact me if you are interested!

We just finished the first class of 2022 and while teaching through a kn95 isn’t fun, the class was! Here are a few shots of student work.

I must admit, I take a great deal of pride in the quality of my students chairs, anyone who has taken a class knows this. Not that I want perfection (doesn’t exist) but I do want the work to show the understanding and skill that has been gained. This last class was a great example of this, everyone worked hard and the chairs looked smashing.

I have been helping Aspen Golann with her Chairmaker’s Toolbox project. I got a bunch of tools donated by Tom Valeriano and I’m going to tune them up so Aspen can distribute them via her project. I could spend my whole life bringing old tools back to life. Georgia feels the same

This one is a challenge, rusty as hell, so I’m adjusting the bevel to get away from the pitted surface steel. I think I’ll shoot a video of the process and load it on instagram and youtube. Check those channels out.

Looking forward to building a new rocker slot jig (plans soon!) and reshooting my milkpaint video series, I was very new know both video production and online instruction, so I want to revisit it!