MAGAZINE

CHAIRMAKING

Aspen Golann
A New Vision for
the Future of
Woodwork

PLUS

Barbie Roberts
JoJo Wood
Rex Krueger
The Kilted
Woodworker
Jögge Sundqvist
Derek Jones
Roy Underhill
Robin Gates
The Village
Woodwright
Richard Arnold
Winter 2023 QM21
@quercusmagazine
Kotaro Okubo adjusting his nankin
kanna spokeshaves on a course at
Woodspirit School (p44)
 Working Wood by Hand (Mostly) • WELCOME

ON THE COVER
04 Aspen Golann
How The Chairmakers Toolbox is
Quercus
A
changing the vision for woodwork
s a tribute to Handworks, run by

FEATURES Bencrafted in Iowa in September

(a US equivalant of the late
10 How to Be a Teacher European Woodworking Show), this is a
special issue dedicated to tools, many of
John Menard starts running courses them new. There are some of our original
12 Work by Hand & Head contributors from early issues (Derek
Bill Ratcliffe’s daily routines Jones, Masashi Kutsuwa, Barbie and
Rex Krueger); regulars who represent
13 Traditional Joinery the ambitions of Quercus (Robin Gates,
Ethan Sincox, John Lloyd, Dylan
14 Award Winning Chairs Ben Groenveld’s home-made travisher (right, p9) Iwakuni, and Henrie van Rooij); plus new
John Makepeace wins Wood Award ones you may not know.
Derek explores the history of cricket
16 Choosing an Apron tables; Rex reviews Worked by Joshua
18 Tables for Cricket Ktein; Barbie mills an abandoned oak;
and Masashi reports on a spokeshave
Derek Jones on the history of cricket you will never have seen. Robin turns to
20 Barbie Mills Oak classic fillisters this issue; Ethan picks
up a new 4in sliding bevel; Dylan joins
22 Classic Fillisters a remarkable project for very young
Robin Gates compares fillister ways carpenters; and Henrie has sharpened a
crosscut saw for cutting up his logs.
27 Sharper Crosscut Saw If that’s not enough David Honey turns
to a pocket-size guide for wound-free
30 The Dovetail Dash workshops (having had an argument
John Lloyd on quick joint practice with a bandsaw recently); Jögge
32 Workshop Wounds Sundqvist shows his chipcarving grips
for signwriting in wood; John Menard
33 Worked Reviewed asks if you might consider running
Rex Krueger reads new Joshua Klein A faithfull contributor reads a recent issue (p20) courses yourself; Ian Parker tests Blue
Spruce tools, including the new Optima
34 A Village Woodwright Chisel Plane; and the late, great David
Savage honours pear wood, his favourite
38 Courses for Anyone of all furniture-making timbers.
Beginner & Intermediate courses We have made such an effort to
welcome stories from all these sources
40 Jögge’s Chipcarving because Quercus is now 21 issues
44 Japanese Spokeshave young, and we are considering going
quarterly, as well as exploring other
46 Thicknessing Jig options. As ever all I can say is thank
Roland Eugster planes thin strips you to all these writers, but also you,
faithful readers, many of whom have
50 All About Pear been regular subscribers since QM01
David Savage loves a fruitwood in May 2020, patting ourselves on
the back for having been invited to
52 Handworks Report Three Quercus cover stars at Handworks. Anne Handworks, that most respected show
62 Squeeze-Out Tips of All Trades (left); Ethan Sincox, The Kilted
Woodworker (centre); and Jenny Bower (right) in
for anyone who loves Working Wood by
Hand (Mostly).
Charles Mak sorts glue spread the Handworks report (p52) Nick Gibbs, Editor

Credits & Production Printing: Warners Midland

Co-Founders: Nick Gibbs & John Brown Digital & Print Sales: Warners Publishing
Editor: Nick Gibbs
Front cover image: The Chairmakers Toolbox Quercus Magazine, Church Lodge, Church Road,
Back cover image: Matt Lacey Cowes, PO31 8HA, Isle of Wight, UK
Inside front cover image: Masashi Kutsuwa [email protected], @quercusmagazine
CHAIRMAKING • Aspen Golann, USA

A Toolbox for All

Founded by Aspen Golann, The Chairmakers Toolbox strives to inspire new communities for woodwork

PHOTOLUCYPLATOCLARK
espite recently being awarded $100,000 for work
encouraging community woodwork, The Chairmakers
Toolbox remains something of a mystery. The misguided
assumption, until we met the founder Aspen Golann (by Zoom
and at Handworks) had been that it’s a chairmaking enterprise
attracting new enthusiasts with a range of courses and products.
That it does this is unquestionable, the revealing thing being that
it’s not-for-profit. In fact The Chairmakers Toolbox (TCT) provides
free classes, directs buyers towards under-represented toolmakers
and by The Living Tools project finds new homes for donated
tools, which, according to the website, is said “to connect divided
generations of makers through a mutual love of tools by giving
retiring makers the chance to give their tools a new life.”
How do you start a project that in just three short years has
begun to change the face of chairmaking and has become
a rallying point for the green woodworking community? Ask
Aspen Golann & the team behind The Chairmaker’s Toolbox: a
community-run organisation that provides support for historically
excluded woodworkers by offering free classes for aspiring
chairmakers, mentorship for tool makers, and free tools for
Aspen Golann began woodworking in 2017 and
emerging woodworkers. Over the last three years TCT has run
founded The Chairmakers Toolbox with a $25,000
dozens of free classes, collected over $30k worth of donated tools, award for budding furniture-makers in 2020
and helped eight toolmakers develop and launch new top-of-the-
line chairmaking tools onto the market. Perhaps the most amazing
thing is that TCT has been doing this work all without external little attempt at institutional involvement.
funding. “Teachers offer their time and shops to our students free I didn’t have access to people like me, or
of charge, generous people send tools in hopes of supporting woodworkers who are in the same parallel to
emerging woodworkers, professional chairmakers mentor aspiring me, who could have been lifesavers early on.”
toolmakers by sharing their knowledge freely, and our team does Aspen Golann began her own woodworking
all of the administrative work for free because of how much we life in 2017 by joining the well-known US
believe in the project. I see it as evidence that the woodworking furniture college, North Bennet Street School [in Boston, MA]. “I
community is both generous and ready for a more diverse and was lucky enough to find supportive mentors and community;
equitable field.” says Aspen, “It’s incredible.” as a result I’ve been able to build a career and a life that I love.
Recent courses have been run by Aspen Golann and Kelly What I really want is for that story to become more common for
Harris, as well as by Peter Galbert, Travis Curtis, George Sawyer, marginalised people in the field.”
and Charles Thompson, who taught scholarship students how She began making chairs by joining a Peter Galbert course.
to make a Milking Stool. In fact, Charles started on a scholarship “I took a class with him and a few months later we spent a little
himself. “I got involved as a student on a course run by Chris over a month working together on an exciting piece; that’s when
Schwarz in 2022,” he recalls. “Afterwards I was asked to continue we really became friends. I’ve also worked closely with other
as a member of the group, which was just starting to form chairmakers like Greg Pennington who is a wonderful friend and
into a bigger volunteer-run organisation. I’ll say that the class teacher. I am honestly surprised that I have kept with Windsor
was instrumental for me. Beyond the subject matter and the chairs for so long. I think that the love and support I’ve found in
opportunity to learn from Chris and Megan Fitzpatrick, what really my mentors and friends in the field, as well as the low-cost of
affected me was being with the other students. They are all great.” materials, and the ease with which I can design my own pieces
Explaining that he became part of the group, Charles adds that have kept me obsessed.”
there is more than a common bond, which he’s felt on a couple of
workshops. “The class was meant to teach teachers chairmaking, Conventional Routes
or teach chairmakers teaching. I was in the latter group. I’d spent Just about a year out of college Aspen won the prestigious Mineck
a couple of years making a bunch of chairs, and since the course fellowship. But she chose not to pursue the conventional route of
I’ve taught several workshops.” Charles is self-taught, spent a using the money to set up a personal workshop. “Every year the
couple of years making chairs, and is already developing some Mineck Award of $25,000 is given by the Society of Arts & Crafts
new classes. “Obtaining the scholarship and talking with fellow in the USA to one early in career furniture-maker,” says Aspen.
students who have different lives in craft has been validating “Applicants have to submit a brief synopsis explaining how they
for me, or, at least, it had ended up encouraging me to be more would use the winnings. Woodworking is expensive so it makes
visible. For a long time I’d made things in a very isolated way with sense that most winners use the money to outfit their studios. I felt

04 Winter 2023 @quercusmagazine

The Chairmakers Toolbox • THE BIG READ

PHOTOASPENGOLANN

Charles Thompson started

on a Chairmakers Toolbox
scholarship course, teaching
chairmakers to become
teachers. He has since
become one of the 20
volunteers working on the
not-for-profit organisation

@quercusmagazine Winter 2023 05

CHAIRMAKING • Aspen Golann, USA

PHOTOASPENCOLANN
I needed more than a tablesaw to create a sustainable experience
in woodworking for myself; I needed change and community. So I
pitched the idea of The Chairmakers Toolbox, and they chose me
as the recipient for seed money in 2020.”
That grant fuelled Aspen Golann’s ambitions for a new approach
to recruit woodworkers of all sorts. Across the next three years,
The Chairmakers Toolbox has grown into a cause of its own,
teaching and supporting apprentices and toolmakers. Top
chairmakers from across the US have joined the project, offering
free classes and support to help change the demographics of
woodworking. Such was the growth that in summer 2023 Aspen,
along with only four other American craftspeople from across
disciplines, was awarded $100,000 of unrestricted funding from the
Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation’s Awards in Craft. “We recognise
that arts funding, especially for craftspeople, is lacking in the US,”
said the judges, “and we encourage others to commit to these
fields. Aspen Golann is a furniture-maker, artist and educator
whose work draws from the intersections of iconic American
furniture practices, identity politics and contemporary craft. She
has collaborated on educational initiatives with both established
and radical craft institutions, including Winterthur Museum,
Center for Craft, Sight Unseen, The Furniture Society and Colonial Bonnie Hawk is now Associate Director of The Chairmakers Toolbox, starting
Williamsburg. Reflecting a commitment to inclusive education, on a masterclass course with ‘students’ learning how to teach others
she has helped create new pathways for marginalised makers to
engage with traditional craft practices.”
Aspen describes the “beauty and brutality” in the aesthetics discourage some new recruits from alternative sectors. By
of early American furniture and how she uses traditional welcoming ‘candidates’ often inhibited by age, race, gender or
methods and forms to harness their historical power and social disability, we can broaden our community, growing the market for
associations. She notes that there is often a lack of critical tools and courses. That is perhaps why The Chairmakers Toolbox,
conversation about colonialisation, sexism, racism and classism now boasting a team of 20 volunteers, directs website viewers
of the 18th Century Euro/American power structures. “I seek a towards new toolmakers, taking no commission itself.
broader social and political context for period furniture, and agency “We work with established woodworkers or metalworkers who
and belonging for marginalised experiences within American are interested in producing a chairmaking tool that is currently
aesthetics,” she says. under-produced. We partner them with a chairmaker, who has
The commitment the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation judges enough experience to be a good mentor for that tool, swapping
applauded means more fuel for Aspen and her fellow volunteers prototypes back and forth, and usually taking a year for it to
to provide scholarships for free training. “At The Chairmakers be ready for market. For instance, Claire Minahan’s travisher is
Toolbox we support people who identify themselves as historically incredible, however, she’s got a very long waiting list; it’s clear that
excluded in the field,” Aspen explains. “Often, that means women, the market is craving more production. There are plenty of other
non-binary people, trans people and people of colour. However, tools like froes, adzes, scorps and speciality spokeshaves and
we recognise that there are many ways to identify as historically planes that are getting harder and harder to find and that very few
excluded in woodworking.” people are making.”

The Importance of Greenwood Chairs Demand and Supply

That classes are given by stick chair makers, and in the making She says that there are certain tools, like block planes, that are
of a ladderback and a milking stool obscures the significance of still plentiful and easy to find. “Even with an easily findable tool
Windsors. “Historically, greenwood chairs were one of the most like a drawknife, there is still space for another person to make
democratic forms of furniture construction,” Aspen says. “There a drawknife of super high quality, so we worked with a team of
is a good reason for this. Greenwood chairmakers don’t need skilled metalworkers who are now also producing them. Our goal is
a full shop, costly milling equipment, or electricity. It is a huge to look for and work with metalworkers and woodworkers who are
loss to beginners and marginalised groups that this ancient, under-represented in the field. By helping them develop a tool, they
versatile, low-tech, low-cost furniture-making style has been then create a sustainable income in the field.”
consigned to a small group of period enthusiasts whose primary Among other things, The Toolbox boasts a new travisher. What
focus is reproduction.” She adds that Windsor chairmaking has about the travishers made by the Windsor Workshop? “I have a
the potential to act as a gateway into traditional woodworking. number of them, and used them with other chairmaking instructors
“The goal is to practise traditional techniques and teach design many times,” Aspen replies. “We all agree that it’s a good tool,
processes to a new generation of makers in an effort to create but it’s just one option and we need more variety, creativity and
a more expansive and diverse future for craft. In our classroom diversity. And again, one of the core purposes of The Chairmaker’s
spaces, our goals are to call attention to the homogeneity of the Toolbox is to build more resources and generate opportunities
furniture field and the exclusionary history to give excluded makers for people to build sustainable careers in woodworking and for
the tools they need to tell their own stories.” many people that can include producing a high-end product like a
In her ground-breaking book, Why I’m No Longer Talking to speciality tool.”
White People, Reni Eddo-Lodge discusses the principles of Fabiano Sarra is another of the toolmakers being promoted by
structural racism within society, defining so much of what male, Toolbox. Based in Rochester, NY, Fabiano started woodworking
white, middle-aged woodworkers do as ‘white privilege’. One can when studying in the School of American Crafts at Rochester
infer that The Chairmakers Toolbox aims to contest the ‘white, Institute of Technology, and joined The Chairmakers Toolbox
male, heterosexual privileges’ of woodworking, which inadvertantly in 2021 when he reached out to Aspen Golann expressing his

06 Winter 2023 @quercusmagazine

PHOTOFABIANOSARRA The Chairmakers Toolbox • THE BIG READ

A Faithfull conversion
Ben Groenevelt saves creating a spokeshave travisher

I think it was Paul

[Hayden of Westonbirt
Woodworks] who had the
idea that a Faithfull
convex spokeshave could
be converted into a small
travisher, though I’m not
sure if he ever did one
himself and don’t
remember using one
when I made my first
chair with him and Peter
Murray back in August
2011. In those days I was
working as a freelance
double bass player, which
was sometimes Ben uses a converted Faithfull
precarious, and we had spokeshave alongside a Windsor
two children so money Workshops travisher
for my chairmaking
‘hobby’ was limited. Although I managed to build a pole lathe from
recycled wood and a steam box powered by the wallpaper stripper I
already had, some of the specialised chairmaking tools were out of
my reach so converting a cheap and readily-available mass-produced
tool, including the modification of a Stanley SB3 into scrub plane
recently, makes sense.
The Faithfull convex spokeshave is only sold as a pair with a
concave one, but don’t let that put you off as the set is available for
less than £25 online in the UK. The body is a malleable iron casting
and the sole can be easily filed to resemble that of a travisher by
removing some material from the nose and making a curve from the
leading edge to the back of the sole as well as fairing in the existing
curve from side to side, regrinding the blade to suit the new shape.
The mouth doesn’t need altering as it is wide enough to let shavings
exit easily. The spokeshave already has a hanging hole at each end
of the handle into which you should mount two small knobs which
are important as in use these sit in the palms of your hands,
allowing the fingertips and thumbs to hold the tool from above as
you would with a travisher.
Although the converted spokeshave won’t remove material as
quickly as a travisher, it can cut a steeper curve and its nimbleness
makes it good for
dealing with difficult
grain. Another bonus
is that the cast iron
sole won’t wear out.
These days I use the
spokeshave alongside
a Windsor Workshop
travisher (a lovely
tool) so get the best
of both worlds.

To visit Westonbirt
Woodworks visit www.
westonbirt woodworks.
co.uk or follow @
Fabiano Sarro launched his travisher at Handworks westonbirt woodworks.
in September and is based in Rochester, NY Ben using his converted spokeshave

@quercusmagazine Winter 2023 07

CHAIRMAKING • Aspen Golann, USA

support for their mission and his ambitions to become a toolmaker. new toolmakers that early in 2023 she began forming committees
“We tossed a few ideas around,” he says now, “about what kind of and taking on volunteers. “I’d been working with people for long
tool I could work on and when we decided to start with a travisher, enough to notice that some of them were interested in the project
Aspen set me up with Peter Galbert as a mentor. I started making in a more holistic way, meaning, they didn’t just want to take
prototypes, sending them back and forth to discuss changes, a class, or make a tool. Instead they wanted to really invest in
and after a year and a half we settled on the current design which this project and what it could do for other woodworkers. I also
was ‘launched’ at Handworks. I’ve always struggled to find some believe that a project like this should be built by a community of
purpose for my work and I’m generally shy so I have had a hard people, not one person alone. The number of classes, applications
time finding and fitting into a community. The whole thing made me and donors have been growing so quickly that I simply couldn’t
feel validated as a craftsperson.” maintain it by myself. Now there are 20 people working together on
a tools committee, an education committee, etc...”
Living Donations of Tools One such volunteer is Bonnie Hawk from Baltimore, Maryland
To embrace ancient tools alongside modern ones, The who took a chair class in 2021. “Years after my first class, I often
Chairmakers Toolbox now has The Living Tools Project, finding think to myself, ‘Aspen taught me this,’ or ‘it was Aspen who
homes for collections donated by retiring or dead woodworkers. first helped me wrap my head around that.’ I look up to Aspen
“Two months after I graduated from furniture school,” Aspen as a teacher who doesn’t hoard her knowledge, but thoughtfully
remembers, “I received a gift of tools from a stranger [Peter Nisen]. shares it. We are overwhelmed by the interest in our project. The
I speechlessly unpacked a full suite of donated Windsor chair sheer number of applications we receive for a single class or tool
tools, with a feeling of hope and support, of expanding networks collection goes to show that the interest in chairmaking is alive and
and relationships to the craft. This experience inspired the final well. We just need more ways to make it accessible.”
branch of our work. The mission is to support new makers, honour Hawk describes the complexity of the apparently simple task of
retiring makers, and connect generations of woodworkers through collecting and giving away donated tools: “In addition to tagging
a mutual love of good tools. It offers an opportunity to donate and organising tools, The Toolbox has to search for emerging
tools to a scholarship fund that will award them to early-in-career makers who need them. The volunteer team has to decide where
furniture-makers and outsiders in the field of woodworking. the tools go and who sharpens them, and who photographs them
There is one rule: donated tools can never be sold, but when and who reads applications and who publicises everything. It’s
no longer needed, must be given freely so that they remain gifts the same deal with all the classes. And all the while we take no
across generations, thereby amplifying the donor’s original act money for anyone. Some 30 classes have been run so far, and
of generosity and perpetuating change in the field. Our goal is Aspen teaches a number of them. Leading chairmakers across the
to create a sustainable distribution network where tools can be country teaching courses free of charge, and students attending
donated individually or in a suite and distributed to applicants free of charge. It’s unprecedented.”
based on need.” As Bonnie Hawk says, there are a lot of applications for these
The gift Aspen received from Peter Nisen has had a lasting classes, and the team often has to sort through hundreds of
impact. “It became even more meaningful when I reached out to submissions for just a few spots. It’s clear that The Chairmakers
the donor and learned how deeply fulfilling it was for him to know Toolbox, and the community at large, will continue to be on the
that his tools would have another 40 years in chairmaking. I hope lookout for tools and more chairmakers who are interested in
to create the same impactful and connective experience for other teaching to expand the field.
retiring and emerging furniture-makers.”
For two and a half years Aspen ran The Chairmakers Toolbox The Dilemma of Youth
alone, using that $25,000 as seed funding. Such has been the With our own experience of the Young Woodworker of the Year
breadth and fulfillment of her dreams that the task of running the award, it is natural to wonder if TCT might aim to welcome
provision of courses, the selection of scholars and the growth of children. Aspen Golann says this isn’t currently within the purview
of the organisation, however well-meaning the pursuit might
sound. “I taught High School for years, and I love the idea of
getting kids into woodworking for sure, but I don’t know that it’s
where our energy is best directed at this moment
“Our mission is to support historically-excluded woodworkers.
At this time, we are doing everything we can to make sure that our
communities of queer, female, gender non-conforming (GNC), trans
people, BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of colour) get the
opportunities they need to thrive in the field. That change will also
have a powerful impact on the next generation of woodworkers. In
that sense, I think we are providing a necessary service for youth.
If kids see people from their communities and people who look like
them who are living safe, happy and fulfilling lives in craft they are
more likely to consider pursuing it themselves.”
The Chairmakers Toolbox has more than enough new
woodworkers to feed, spreading their reputation by word of mouth
and Instagram. “The bigger our community gets,” Aspen Golann
concludes, “the stronger it gets, because the goal is to help
people feel not alone, and to surround them with community and
opportunity and to remind them that while they may be isolated,
the reality of an authentic, sustainable future in woodworking is
possible.” That is a new vision for the future of woodwork.

Follow The Chairmakers Toolbox on Instagram at @the_

The number of
volunteers needed chairmakers_toolbox or visit thechairmakerstoolbox.com.
continues to grow
 Tools from Around the World • TOOLMAKING

The Toolbox Makers

PHOTOSBYLOAMMARKETING
Froe handle and mallets
Visit thechairmakerstoolbox.com and you’ll find a list of by Mary Ellen Hitt & froe
toolmakers, chosen as craftspeople who need support to help blade by Rachel Kedinger
broaden the horizons for chairmakers looking to buy tools.
The list includes Claire Minihan from Australia; Kelly Harris,
Fabiano Sarra, David Clemons, Mary Ellen Hitt, Rachel
Kedinger, Meghan Martin, Andrew Meers and Eleanor Ingrid
Rose from the USA; and Julia Kalthoff from Sweden. They
each have a story worth reading.

Travisher by Fabiano Sarra

Spokeshave by David Clemons

Tenon cutter by Kelly Harris

Travisher by Claire Minihan

Drawknife by Meghan Martin

and Andrew Meers Axe and stone by
Julia Kalthoff

@quercusmagazine Winter 2023 09

 PEOPLE & PLACES

Are You Ready to Teach?

Inspired by one of Derek Jones’ Build a Cricket Table courses, John Menard starts teaching himself

L
little over a year ago, I
took Derek Jones’s Build
a Cricket Table class at
Lost Art Press in Covington, KY.
Also there was regular Quercus
contributor Ethan Sincox.
You can read why he keeps
taking woodworking classes
in QM14. The class was more
than I could have hoped for. In
three short days I logged over
20 hours at the bench, learned
new skills, overcame setbacks,
built community with salt-of-
the-earth people, ate and drank
John (above left) on his Lost Art
my way through a city, and left
Press Cricket Table course run by
with a piece of furniture. It was Derek Jones. Frog levelling being
transformative. done to prepare planes (left) and
Even after the buzz from the a toolkit for John Menard’s own
bourbon slushies wore off, the students (above)
high from the class had not. I
kept thinking: “How can I keep suggested as I handed him a
doing this?” I wondered this chisel with a keen edge.“Oh
aloud to a colleague as I was wow! I thought my chisel was
about to start my 15th year as sharp,” he said.
a High School English teacher. Many of the students taking
He suggested I teach an adult my class have no woodworking
education class at a local experience, and those with
vocational/technical school. some have little or no hand-
So, that night I submitted tool skills. It is important to
a proposal to teach Build a have sets of tools for each
Simple Shaker-style Table student that are well set up
to Worcester Nightlife. The at least qualified to teach making a small Shaker table and sharp. The programme
proposal got approved the emerging woodworkers about and am halfway through eight director at Worcester Nightlife
next morning. some things I do know: How three-hours classes, Build a agreed to purchase some,
I wondered if I’d be qualified to use a hand plane; How to Staked Bench. My hope is including vintage Stanley No.5
to teach woodworking? edge joint a board; and How that you too will take up the planes and new Narex chisels,
Probably not. At least not in to work to a line. Heck, those call to teach some aspect of both of which needed some
the traditional sense. I’ve been three alone get you 95% to a woodworking at which you are work before being put to use.
woodworking for only six years; completed piece of furniture. reasonably proficient. I spent some time rehabbing
I’m not professionally-trained; I I suspect you know a few [refurbishing] and sharpening
didn’t go to school for design; things that other people want to Who is the Class For? the vintage Stanleys and
I’m not a content creator; and learn as well. Maybe you know During my Shaker-style table readying the chisels with a
my furniture has never been how to chip carve, how to prep class, I noticed a student using keen edge. For a modest initial
featured in a magazine. But, stock, how to carve a spoon, a lot of effort to pare a mortise investment and some elbow
I’m a reasonably proficient how to sharpen a saw, how to wall with his chisel. I wondered grease, we now have enough
furniture-maker and know a few paint with milk paint, or how to to myself how many paint cans tools for eight students to use.
things about teaching. refurbish a hand plane. he had opened with that ½in After their initial set-up, I simply
And the way I figure it, I’m I have given one course chisel. “Try using this one,” I touch up their edges before the

10 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

 John Menard,
Menard, USA

John designed bench hooks of two lengths (top left). The shorter set
accommodates a 9in-wide board, and the longer ones 18in. A vise-held
planing stops (left) is for face planing. There is also a cradle (above) for
planing tapered legs

hooks. There is a short set that seats because it is reasonably

accommodates boards up to priced and a joy to work with
9in wide and a longer set that sharp tools, which students will
holds boards up to 18in wide, appreciate when chamfering
large enough to hold our bench the underside of the seat.
seats. In my Build a Staked Although the ash legs and
Bench class, students will use stretchers will get students
jack planes to turn square stock sweating a bit more than the
into octagonal legs before EWP, it still works nicely with
tapering them. To hold the legs, sharp hand-tools. It’s also quite
I built fixtures that consist of strong, available with straight
a 45° V-groove in a 2x4. The grain, and affordable.
fixtures have a glued stop and I’m also considering what
can be used against the planing operations are within the scope
start of the class and they are work wood along and edge stop or clamped in a vise. of the class. I’m thinking about
ready to be put to work. and on its end, the table has what skills are embedded within
There is no shortage of no way to hold wood to work Ready the Materials these operations, what tools are
places where you can teach its face. To address this I built While I’m prepping for class, available to us, what the time
woodworking, at least in the simple planing stops that clamp my aim is to remove potential constraints are, and what steps
USA, including vocational or into the vise. To resist the points of frustration for are needed to get to our final
technical schools, libraries, racking forces, the planing stop emerging woodworkers. It’s goal of a staked bench. This
makerspaces, farmers markets, consists of a 2½x8in piece of why I insist on having a sharp process of planning with the
summer camps, craft fairs, and half-inch plywood that’s been plane and chisels available for end outcome in mind is called
on. Regardless of the space, rabbeted into a 7in-long piece each student. It’s also why I backward design. In my next
you will need ways to hold of two-by-four. This planing take care in selecting wood. article, I’ll explain how I use
work. I teach in the carpentry stop allows us to work the face For my staked benches, we will backward design to plan out my
shop of a vocational/technical of a board with the grain. be using Eastern white pine weekly classes.
school. There is one L-shaped To work boards across the for the seat and ash for the
table with nine or 10 face vises. grain and perform cross cuts, I legs and stretchers. I chose Follow John on Instagram
While the vises allow us to built two sets of simple bench Eastern white pine for the @jmenardwoodworks.

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 11

Voices Bill Ratcliffe

Heads and Hands

With practice and mistakes in mind, Bill Ratcliffe recommends learning to learn

D
uring my years of continuous
learning and of teaching others,
I have made observations and
have identifying traits that can hold
back progress. I am not bad at this job,
and I always aim to get better, but more
importantly I want to enjoy what I do.
The key point is you must first learn how
to learn.
As I am a guitar player of sorts,
many of my teaching analogies relate
to learning a musical instrument. When
teaching at my workshops I have tried
to find ways to convey certain aspects
of our craft, and mostly focus on the
head rather than the hands. I work hard
to be a better teacher; to find new ways
to explain approaches with nuance to Bill Ratcliffe (left) warns students not
students, to help them improve. That to watch the clock at the end of the
is where the numerous phrases have day, then dip for the tape (above) when
developed so that students now quote they are physically and mentally tired.
them back at me. The result is that one often ends up
I have found the most common falling on one’s nose
challenge after learning the basics
correctly is getting and then keeping
your head in the game. This can help
you take your skills on to another level. Woodworking takes sorts of tools and gizmos that guarantee to make them a better
concentration, particularly on larger more complex projects. A woodworker. So why aren’t they getting any better? Have you
good mental approach will improve the quality and enjoyment of practised regularly and well?
your woodwork. One morning you are keen to get back into the workshop to
You may or may not recognise some of the following points. that project you are making in stages. You get straight into it and it
You may not actually care as you just want fun and take it not too does not go so well. Would a sports person start without a warm-
seriously, however I am yet to meet a woodworker who doesn’t up and practice? Would a musician not warm up and tune up? Get
quickly become invested with improving the standard of their work. your head in the game first and practise the process you are about
I have found these subjects have helped many new woodworkers to do on some scrap wood.
progress more quickly as they help to build a solid foundation, but A simple example is that I encourage beginners cutting a cross
I have also seen them help more experienced workers get past halving joint. Many people put relief cuts in the waste before
learning plateaus and barriers. chiselling out which is fine, but I see people do their two side cuts
first and then just randomly put four angled relief saw cuts in. Why
Regular Students start with the most important cuts rather than use the relief ones
I see some students at regular intervals and some progress faster as warm up? If you saw the relief cuts like they don’t matter, you
than others. A few are not that driven to get better, they have have just practised sawing badly four times and only practised with
limited time and just want to relax with a hobby, but most aim to focus twice. Mark out some relief cut lines and cut to them, you
improve fast and gain new skills. That is to a degree where the will cut the critical ones more confidently and embed good muscle
head leads the hands. Just like any sport or learning to play a memory six times. This is one example of how the head can make
musical instrument it takes time, dedication and practice. The you small gains.
common denominator of those who improve is well-structured
practice and a thought-out approach to their work. To become a Whistler’s Mother
better guitarist, you must set up and tune the guitar well, practise When we are making something that does not go to plan, and
scales, build dexterity and muscle memory; that is the equivalent something is cut poorly, we immediately want to correct it. A mild
of sharpening tools well and practising sawing and cutting joints panic sets in to undo the thing that is blighting our work. I cannot
accurately. Then you can move on to making items or playing full look at it, it offends thine eyes. We then go into panic mode and
songs. Speed will follow accuracy but not the other way around. often we make it worse, for example when joints don’t fit the
I am often struck how people expect to become a good mallet comes out, whack, whack, you will fit, result is often dents
woodworker almost immediately, but they would never go for a and splits. This mode also happens a lot with surface finishing,
piano lesson and expect to be in an orchestra the following week. which can make or break a project. You might remember Mr Bean
You may recognise the scenario of having bought some great removing a mark from Whistler’s Mother with hanky followed by
books, watched lots of YouTube videos and have invested in all thinners. Don’t be Mr Bean, step back and take five minutes to

12 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

Voices Richard Arnold

Saving Traditions
Richard Arnold saves old joinery with new tools

H aving worked as a
traditional joiner for
the last 40 odd years, I
sometimes despair at the
sorry state of my chosen
craft. All is not lost so to
speak, as in this
modern-day of
technology the Internet, I
A well-organised bench helps to remain focused (above left).Don’t try cleaning
Whistler’s Mother with a hanky and thinners (above) have been given a
window into what is
happening around the
let the anxiety subside. Then come up with a plan to deal with the globe in the joinery trade
issue. Knowing when to walk away is an invaluable skill. and I now live in hope
Quite often this mode follows a challenging process. We have that not all is lost.
made a mistake, or, for example, the set of dovetails we have Over the last hundred
Sliding sashes in original timber tend
been crafting for hours will not fit. We fail to diagnose why and odd years the joinery to be replaced with plastic these days,
start removing material indiscriminately, the chisel gets faster as trade has changed out of but here Richard has made them in
our patience ebbs away. Eventually the pieces fall together with all recognition. This is not traditional styles, now using Accoya
gaps galore. We must resist that feeling of ‘Whittling Mode’ (with just because of the onset instead of tropical hardwoods, and with
all respect to purposeful whittlers) and recognise when we are of the use of machinery essential modern machinery
slipping into it, we must diagnose where adjustments need to be as opposed to handwork,
made, measure, use squares, mark with pencil and then gradually but also the actual design of our joinery and buildings, and the
adjust and test. A phrase I use a lot when I see the chisel being materials we use. Taking all this into account, along with the
wielded in a frenzy to make the bloody thing fit, is that “Every push capitalistic modern consumerist environment we all inhabit these
of the chisel should be made with a purpose.” I will ask questions days, I can’t help but think a joiner from around 1800 would be
like, “What are you trying to achieve?”, “Where exactly are you appalled to see what passes for quality workmanship these days in
looking to remove material from?” “What was each push of the the majority of modern workshops. I often ask myself if this really
chisel attempting to remove or achieve?” I ask these questions of matters, or if the vast majority of the population actually cares one
myself as I work too. way or another. I think that there is something within everyone that
can subconsciously affect us when we are exposed to quality work.
Wonderwall Syndrome Here in the UK, we are blessed with so many wonderful examples
Most aspiring guitar players have our own ‘Wonderwall’, our of vernacular, and historic architecture, and its maintenance and
comfort blanket to revert to when we try and practise the more preservation will hopefully always ensure we need a core of
challenging piece that we really want to learn. We play some bum well-trained tradespeople to undertake this work, and I am
notes and then self-doubt sets in, we need to reassure ourselves delighted to say that by the looks of what I see, this aspect of
that we can actually play, so we go back to the stock riffs and traditional joinery seems to be in good health, but what about our
tunes. Maybe yours is Smoke on the Water or if you are a Wayne’s everyday older domestic and commercial properties that maybe
World fan it is Stairway to Heaven for you, ‘Stairway Denied‘. have no protection, or listed status? Do they also deserve our
This applies to woodworking and making too. Makers master attention? The very street I live on is a prime example.
the skill of making stools, but they aspire to make cabinets and It is a road of about 100 brick-built terraced houses dating from
they try joints. The first ones are not great, so they revert straight about 1880. Of those houses, only one has retained its original front
back to the comfort zone of making more stools. This is a common door, and only four have their traditional vertical sliding sash
reason why we do not progress. You must practise the new skill windows. All the replaced joinery is of poor quality, and mostly
and stick with it; you can always play your Wonderwall every now plastic, and to my mind, the very soul has been ripped out of these
and then as a treat. dwellings’ front elevations.
A common trait I recognise is watching the clock and wanting Some friends of ours who live up the street asked if I could
to get to a milestone by the end of the day, like an athlete dipping replace their ugly plastic windows and reinstate some original
for the tape. We work at a comfortable accurate pace, producing style windows. I was more than willing to have the chance to put
good work, then usually towards the end of the day, when most things back to how it would have been, and they were delighted
physically and mentally tired, we speed up and lose focus to get with the results. The windows were made with machinery, and
something completed. Do not dip for the line as it will often result modern materials, but still using traditional construction techniques,
in falling on one’s face. style, and proportions that have evolved over the last 300 or so
Finally, I am pleased to have signed off with Whistler’s years. It’s an uphill struggle, but the fight is on. One door, one
Mother, Wonderwall Syndrome and Whittling Mode. Enjoy your window at a time.
woodworking and avoid those bum notes.
To learn more about Richard’s tools and techniques visit
To learn more about Bill’s courses and work visit richardarnold.co.uk or follow @richard_arnold.
cravenconservation.co.uk or visit @cravenconservation on
Instagram and YouTube.

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 13

Voices

Rolling Up the Prizes

Rycotewood College student Toby Watson shows how he designed a folding chair at school

B
ack in 2022 Quercus was passing Watson studied work by Tom Raffield, a
through Bath, and chose to collect British furniture designer and maker who
an entry for our Young Woodworker specialises in steam bending. “Tom has
of the Year competition, made by A Level said that he realised that long lengths of
student, Toby Watson who ended up wood are used for steaming, so steam
winning the award. He won £500 and a chambers are too long. As Tom Raffield’s
Lie-Nielsen LN102 Low Angle Block Plane, design ideas involve shorter lengths, he
personally engraved by Jenny Bower had to develop his own steaming process
(@jbowerengraving). to make it more applicable for his furniture
Amidst the clutter of his workshop, and lighting. This technique uses a steam-
aka the kitchen table, was the model of a filled bag, rather than a chamber.”
folding chair he’d made as an exercise as Though 3D printing was used to make
part of his Design & Technology: Product the model, Toby went into great detail
Design course. So good was his project exploring the use of metal fittings to join
that he has recently begun a Degree in pieces of wood. “Metals are often used
Furniture Design & Make at Rycotewood successfully with wood in furniture,” Toby
Furniture Centre in Oxford. It was there wrote in his brief. “Steel is often chosen
that we met him next, to present his trophy because of its high compressive and
and to ask him about the chair design, tensile strength, allowing the designer
which had so clearly impressed judges and to use slimmer sections of material than
course selectors alike. otherwise, creating a more elegant form,
“Looking at the school briefs,” he told whilst retaining the strength.” In the end Toby Watson (above) being awarded his Lie-
us, “I was particularly keen on focusing on he chose aluminium. “It is cheaper, easily Nielsen Low-Angle Block Plane prize as winner
the facility of performing multiple functions, recyclable, less likely to stain, and more of Young Woodworker of the Year competition.
thinking that this could be achieved in the resistant to corrosion. And aluminium has a The plane was personally engraved, with Toby’s
form of a chair that folds to a convenient higher strength to weight ratio than steel. initials on the side (below), by Jenny Bower
size to carry. For this to be innovative I “It wasn’t designed to be something that (@jbowerengraving)
designed a mechanism for a smooth and would be a one-off hand-made thing, rather
rolling motion rather than a jagged and a high-quality batch product. I called it a
linear movement. The aim was for the chair rolling chair because I wanted something
to be easily transportable, useable indoors different from a classical sort of folding
or outdoors, and long-lasting.” chair. More fluid in motion. The model was
As part of the brief Toby had to declare to demonstrate the form of the chair, how
who might buy the chair, and chose a it would look and how the folding function
middle-aged to elderly adult with an would work. There are structural issues that
interest in gardening and a preference for would have to be resolved at full size.:
modern and contemporary design. He Tutors at Rycotewood said that the
added that as a gardener, the customer design exhibited “thinking out of the box
might spend a fair amount of time and a lateral thinking process”. Perhaps
outdoors. “They might want to be able to we’ll see more in the future.
take the chair outside, to sit and watch
PHOTOCOURTESYOFTOMRAFFIELD

birds or enjoy the garden, so it should be Tom Raffield’s The chair rolls up,
easy to carry, and light enough not to be steambent design and comprises no
cumbersome.” In his brief Toby outlined inspired Toby’s metal fittings
how he’d choose a variety of wood project
species, particularly hardwoods, and also
steel and aluminium for fixings and hinges,
though these were replaced with the 3D
printing of connectors on the half-size
model we found on his kitchen table. “I
also wanted to use steam bending and
laminating to produce the wooden slats for
the seat and the back.”
By way of style and design, Toby turned
to contemporary designer Ludwig Mies
Van Der Rohe for his MR chair; and to
the rolling bridge in London by Thomas
Heatherwick. During his project, Toby

14 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

 Toby Watson & John Makepeace

A Model Rolled-Up Garden Chair

Toby Watson produced a model of his folding chair for gardening, in
particular, as his main A Level project. The back and seat slats have
Makepeace Wins Award
been steam bent, or could be laminated in the full-size chair. Laser Britain’s foremost designer and maker scorches oak
cutting was used to form the joints and slots.

The chair rolls up, and

comprises no metal fittings

The drawers have central runners to minimise friction

ohn Makepeace’s Serenade, which won the Wood Awards Bespoke

category of Furniture & Product Design in November, is inspired by
the ancient hollowed-out tree trunks that were used to carry the
possessions of those on the move. This chest of drawers
accommodates the personal items of a less nomadic lifestyle.
The chest has been made from a single oak, nurtured since its
planting in 1740, and its felling in 1980. The grain runs continuously
around the form, matching at each juntion and allowing the drawers
and carcase to move in harmony with changes in humidity. It is lined in
scented cedar of Lebanon and the oak is scorched.
John Makepeace started his workshop in 1961, and has more than 65
years of experience as a creator in wood. Evolving from modest local
commissions, he has gone to become one of the UK’s most renowned
The grey fittings on the back designers and furniture-makers, and was awarded an OBE in 1988.
were made by 3D printing “Sculptural, flowing and beautifully functional,” said lead judge Corinne
Julius. “It shows a passion for the material and a deep knowledge of
how to use it.”
The front legs
are curved so
that they can
tuck beneath
the seat

The grain runs the whole way around Serenade by John Makepeace

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 15

Voices

The Apron String Wars

How The Armchair Woodworkie and Nick Gibbs battle it out to find the best of three aprons

I
n addition to my role as The Armchair
Woodie I have another important role as
Father to a folk musician. Many years
of transport to music lessons, orchestra
practice, folk sessions and purchase of
instruments is periodically rewarded by
receiving complimentary tickets to Folk
Festivals. This summer the Warwick Folk
Festival stood out for a number of reasons,
firstly my son’s latest creation Filkins The Armchair Woodie (left) puts on his Veritas
Ensemble received a standing ovation, but apron, loving the pocket flaps, the pencil and
there was also a craft stands run by Phil side pockets, but not the clasp
Howard of NW Clogs. His main product on
offer was wonderful wooden clogs for folk
dancing but what drew my attention were
some superb leather aprons.
My initial reaction was an instant
desire to own one for my woodworking
travails. They were beautifully made and
comfortable to wear although the ones on
show had limited pocket space. At this
point another customer arrived and was
similarly drawn to the highly desirable of bliss and rotate between a discarded
aprons. It turned out she was a craft heavyweight cotton Aga apron and another
teacher and we started conversing with cast-off nylon gardening apron from my
each other and with the stallholder about wife. They both serve a primary function
the possibility of further pockets being of protecting my clothes from glue, wood
possible on an order. This was no problem finishes, sawdust and shavings in addition
and it got me thinking more deeply about to some defence agains sharp tools.
the form and function of the humble On occasion I have worn a Cornish-style
woodworker’s apron. cotton fisherman’s smock for woodturning.
What features do the perfect apron The high neck reduces turning deposition
need? Which fabric is best, where should around the neck but clothing for turners
the pockets go, what indeed should be can be discussed another day.
held in those pockets? Should it have Further considerations on the design
crossover shoulder straps or a simple neck are whether pockets need flaps to prevent
loop? What about the belt fixings? The ingress of sawdust, top pockets and lower
myriad of questions were many in number pockets, clips or buckles for the neck and
and no doubt there are as many answers belt design. I am also refining my thoughts
as woodworkers! on what a perfect apron should carry. For
I decided to look at the available options. me it is pencils, marking knife, and glasses
My mind cast back to woodworking in top pockets with tape measure, screws,
lessons at school with Mr Coleman who nails, etc... in lower pockets. The Carhartt apron doesn’t have anti-dust flaps,
was affectionately known as ‘Taffy’ due Having considered my perfect apron in nor side pockets, but it has many more places in
to his Welsh heritage, though such a terms of form and function to protect the which to lose things and it does have a cool logo
nickname would be frowned upon now I am worker and assist workflow I realise that and a zipped pocket for your mobile phone
sure. For his lessons we wore simple light I have overlooked its primary purpose
cotton aprons with a neck loop and loose especially for the non-professional. Putting practical approach and workshop tested
cotton ties around the waist. on a woodworking apron is an almost a couple of examples. I was assessing the
My mother created mine as money was spiritual action, it symbolises a transition Veritas apron and Nick had a Carhartt one.
in short supply back then. Axminster still from one’s everyday existence to the In regular use all my considerations
supply such a minimalist apron from linen delightful world of creative endeavour in provided a useful basis for apron analysis.
and it is priced very reasonably suggesting the sanctuary that is the workshop. So I can thoroughly recommend the Veritas
it remains in demand. consider your options but enjoy putting on apron. Pros were in abundance in having
Should a more durable material be your apron and practising your craft. a durable and comfortable weight to the
desired the next option is a heavier weight fabric with multiple pockets. I especially
cotton which is often waxed. After this Apron Battles liked the hand-warmer style pocket with a
nylon is available and on the leather and After my musings on apron construction horizontal pencil holder adjacent.
suede. I have yet to reach that lofty place theory Nick and I undertook a more This clever design prevents the inevitable

16 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

 The Armchair Woodie

pencil stab we have all experienced. A

generous lower pocket with a flap prevents
wood shaving ingress. The cross-over Green Deserts
shoulder straps avoid feeling too much
weight on the neck and are ably assisted
Mike Abbott gets nod in Desert Island Discs
by a waist belt.
There are few cons to the apron, one
being the slightly fiddly clasps for the P atrick Grant, who
founded
Communinty Clothing
shoulder straps. A single-colour option of
black is available and it is soon covered in recently declared Mike
sawdust and glue which are fairly visible Abbott’s Green
against the dark background. These are Woodwork (a copy of
minor issues and it is a great apron at a which costs about
good price point (about £65). £210 on Abebooks) to
We had fun discussing the aprons, with be his book of choice,
Compatriots Nick and Armchair
Nick visiting my workshop after a long compare notes with Carhartt and alongside the Bible
absence. I am an apron disciple now but Veritas aprons (above), but it was and The Complete
remain convinced that the most important apron sold by Phil Howard of NW Works of Shakespeare
Patrick Grant chose Green
issue in the ritualistic nature of donning an Clogs (below) that got the string on Desert Island Discs Woodwork as his book of
apron is its symbolism that you are about to battle going on 27th October. choice in Desert Island Discs
enter the hallowed world of the artisan. Community
Clothing specialises in
Nick’s Carhatt Community sourcing its fabric and
The Armchair Woodie, who seems to garments from
spend more time in his workshop than in factories in deprived
the lounge, makes a good case for the areas of Britain,
Veritas apron, indeed I’ve worn one for particularly areas like
many years, ‘turned over’ so that there is Pennine Lancashire,
no loop around the neck and used as an Greater Manchester,
upgraded nail belt. My envy of a pub waiter Wales and more.
and waitresses wearing Carhartt aprons “They are regions that
(which cost about £50) was noted by have really suffered
Santa & Santa last year, so anything here from the economic
is written with care, since I wouldn’t want effects of 50 years of
to anger Father Christmas in being critical, inadequate industrial
especially at this time of year. It is a thing of policy,” says Patrick Grant. “We are about creating
practical beauty, and hefty, so will last long. opportunities for young people in these regions to
The Carhartt’s zipped neck-height build long-term, rewarding and fulfilling careers, not
phone pocket is ideal, and there are good just in manufacturing but in all the other areas
pouches for pencils and pens. Then down connected with our business. Britain has become an
below the waist line you’ll find layer upon unequal society. We are on a mission to reverse that.”
layer of deep pockets for tools, tapes and Patrick adds that 90p of every £1 spent goes into the
tit-bits, so many in fact, that it’s a treasure UK economy, the majority of which is workers’ wages.
hunt of exploration to locate an item you Community Clothing aprons cost £39.
may need urgently. I didn’t miss the side
pockets Ian likes in his Veritas apron, in fact
for all the years I’ve used a Veritas apron
I’d never realised it even has side pockets!
I’ve also realised that the flap on the front
pocket just gets in the way, and dust can
easily be poured out. Nick loves the Carhartt’s zipped
Then I heard about Community Clothing chest pocket for his phone (above)
through Desert Island Discs, and ordered but prefers the Community Clothing
one of their aprons for £39. At first I was apron (below) as it is lightweight,
fooled that it might be better for the garden and the pocket takes the Festool
than the workshop, being lightweight and Pico pencil he used to hate but now
having just a couple of pockets. Available loves because it splits in half, with
in a host of colours, this is the simplest of the clasp of the lower half (which
also has a sharpener) holding the
designs, with no flaps, no side pockets, whole thing in place
no pencil spots nor pouches for anything
else a woodworker needs. Yet after a week
or two it became my favourite of all three
aprons. It is so lightweight and is made in
Britain at factories aiming to help deprived
economies around the UK. Choosing an
apron turns out to be more difficult than
either of us expected.

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 17

Voices Derek Jones, England

Anyone for Cricket?

To coincide with the launch of his new book, Derek Jones explores the history of cricket tables

L
ike most people when they
first hear the term cricket
table, I assumed it was
linked to the game of cricket. It
didn’t seem out of the ordinary
considering some of the other
names that have slipped into
popular use to identify different
kinds of table; demilune, kidney,
birdcage and trefoil to name a
few. Like the aforementioned,
it’s a riddle that relies on visual
cues to make a connection.
The references are all quite
literal, demi-lune – half moon,
kidney – shaped like the organ,
birdcage – features an open
sided four pillar construction
and trefoil – three leaves. The
term is almost exclusively
applied to tables with round
tops and three legs, so the
signposting is quite clear; three Table Porte-Chaudrons. This type of table is listed in
stumps and a ball but that Thesaurus des Objets Mobilier as being used beside a Table a manger avec porte-pain; a
wasn’t always the case. Delving stove or open fire to support a cauldron for serving meals dining table with a bread rack
into the nomenclature for
clarification, mainly to find out
the origins of the game revealed Magnien (2001) published
a far more interesting story. by the Ministry of Culture
and Communication has
Style of Tables around 100 references to
There are several words tables in its index and as
thought to be the origins of none include the slightest
the term cricket or creckett reference to a word
that link to this style of table. resembling criquet or even
All are perfectly plausible one meaning stick I think
given the established trade it’s safe to say the origins at
routes between England least in relation to our table
and its immediate European aren’t French.
neighbours from the 15th The names given to Billot porte-recipiente; a block
Century onwards. For example, items of furniture often table used to support large vessels
in old French the term used to relate directly to their for either cooking or washing
describe a wooden post or club usage. This is evidenced
was criquet while in Old English in numerous inventories
the Saxon word cryce or cricc from the 15th Century onwards counter that I ete apon... 1743 … In the Best Room, one
is used to describe a crutch or where the location in which the 1536...a little round table for dressing table and glass…
staff. In France the term never item is being used is also often oysters… (glass refers to a mirror)
seemed to be associated with recorded. The descriptions 1603 … In the Hall. An The one thing I never set out
furniture or at least not officially. make fascinating reading, old Plank Table with the to do when I started a career as
Tables with three legs were not least for the variations in Dorments… (Dorments, a furniture-maker was to make
certainly popular in France and spelling. Audited lists were darmans and dorman are the same thing over and over
are, not surprisingly, mostly either made as a formal variations of the same word again. As I start work on my
named according to their use or statement of one’s possessions referring to trestles) seventh three-legged table this
size. For example table basse – or in connection with a last will 1668 … In the Milke House, Six year I’m glad to say nothing has
low table; table a pain – bread and testament. The following is shelves, one Cheese table… changed apart from the names.
table or table; porte-chaudrons a snapshot spanning 300 years. 1693 … In the Parlour, a little
– cauldron table. The Thesaurus wanscote table for tea, cards Cricket Tables is published by
des Objets Mobilier, Aline 1407 … To Willyam my sone the and writing… Lost Art Press.

18 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

Voices Dylan Iwakuni, Japan

Little Hammer Horrors

Joining some junior carpenters, Dylan Iwakuni spends a weekend at the Jungle Gym

P
roviding opportunities for the next
generation to interact and learn about The team carried the
wood and its culture is an important materials, figured out the
initiative. I was able to help out at an event assembly and hammered
where little carpenters assemble wood to build home the wedges
a wooden jungle gym.
This event was held as part of the ‘National
Kumunda® Wooden Jungle Gym Association’.
The objective of ‘Kumunda®’ is to allow
children (and their parents watching over)
to experience the essence of traditional
Japanese wooden construction techniques
through fun, hands-on workshops. By realising
its value, it will encourage children to build
traditional construction architecture for their
own homes in the future and have them
take pride and loveof Japanese architectural
culture. It is also an important tool to learn
more about trees and wood.
The jungle gym structure consists of three
components: vertical posts, ‘nuki’ (thin
horizontal material) and ‘kusabi’ (wedges),
using only one simple technique: the nuki
and kusabi construction method. The nuki
goes through the posts and is locked with a
kusabi. This assembly method is the same
as the wooden stage of Kiyomizu temple,
one of Kyoto’s most well-known temples
and traditional Japanese houses. It is a
system built on using all the components as
load-bearing, rather than relying on partial
load-bearing elements such as braces. This
allows the strucutre to have flexibility, yet be
strong and resilient.
Furthermore, buildings can be constructed
without being tied to the ground using
reinforced concrete or metal fasteners. This
can be said to be the ultimate goal of Japan’s
traditional architectural culture, which has
stood earthquakes and typhoons.
Starting with a pile of materials, each piece
is fitted one at a time with the power of the
little carpenters. Carrying the materials as
a team, figuring out how it is assembled,
and observing which wedges need to be
hammered. From developing teamwork to
body movements, there are plenty of skills the
children experience.
Watching the young ones slowly grasp
hammering techniques, and then tirelessly
hammering in the wedges while grinning was
heartwarming. I am sure the little carpenters
had great fun working with their hands and
felt a sense of accomplishment. The best
part is they got to play with the hard-earned
completed wooden jungle gym. The assembly is the same as that for Kiyomizu temple
(above). The ‘nuki’ goes through the posts and is locked in
Follow Dylan @dylaniwakuni on Instagram. place with a wedge
Voices Barbie Roberts

Much More Milling Around

Horrified by the felling of a local oak, Barbie Roberts borrows a friend’s sawmill and sets to work

treasure into slabs, enough

to last me a lifetime. To my
surprise, the sawmill operator
informed me that their portable
bandsaw could only cut boards
up to 20in wide.
Larger sawmills were not
to be found, and using them
would require an industrial-
grade power supply. But
my luck didn’t end there. A
friend of a friend had acquired
a powerful Stihl MS-661
chainsaw and a genuine
Alaskan mill attachment. He
graciously offered to lend me
his equipment. I purchased
a budget-friendly 36in guide
bar (GB Titanium ProTop) and
a ripping chain, and in no
time, I was transforming those
colossal trunks into planks.
Here are a couple of tips I
learned: take ample time to
plan your initial cuts, and for
my first cuts, I used aluminum
ladders to guide the saw,
aligning them perfectly along
the length and width.

Maximising Crotch
I strived to maximise the
crotch figure. I ended up
with truly magnificent planks.
Pushing the Alaskan mill along
the rough-cut surface was
challenging. Sawdust piled
up beneath the guide tubes,
and starting or stopping the
cut was difficult because the
guide hung halfway outside the
With the oak milled and stickered it’s time to tip log. However, things improved
back on a sturdy chair and read a good rag significantly when I placed
a long sheet of film-faced
plywood over the sawn surface.

I
truly appreciate trees. While way for a new house on the I asked if I could have it. I The rough side faced
people in our neighbourhood neighbouring plot. Initially, I handed the excavator operator downward to create friction,
are busy chopping down assumed such a magnificent a little money for his trouble, while the smooth side
trees (to prevent acorns from tree would surely be cut into and with the excavator’s acted as a sliding surface.
falling on the artificial turf, usable lumber. However, there claw, he effortlessly placed Simultaneously, the plywood
seriously), I’m doing my best it lay on the ground, untouched. the massive logs in my yard. I smoothed out any irregularities
to preserve every possible tree I approached the excavator couldn’t believe my luck: two from the previous cut. I strongly
in my yard. It always saddens operator and asked where the 17ft trunks with diameters recommend this approach.
me to witness the felling of old oak trunk was headed. He ranging from 20-30in, and the Now, all that’s left is to wait
trees, but that cloud has a replied that he didn’t know what branches alone were as big as two-four years for the wood
silver lining. to do with it because it was an entire tree. to dry. At least I have plenty of
Last Spring, a majestic too large for firewood. After Initially, I thought of calling time to catch up with issues of
oak tree was felled to make recovering from my shock, a sawmill to transform this Quercus magazine.

20 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

Voices Pathcarvers & Lost Trades

Carving Paths
Founding of a project using crafts to open new doors
Lost Trades Fair
A celebration of skill & craftsmanship

T
he idea of Pathcarvers came
about when Sean Zarak and
JoJo Wood met in Morocco in
2016, realising they’d both be at the
GreenWood Fest outside Boston the
following year. “We decided to meet
up again,” JoJo says. Sean had no
idea what to expect. “I started carving
spoons over a decade ago, coming
to this from an outdoor/bushcraft
background, spending years carving
around a camp fire. I started bringing
the woods home when life stopped me
being able to get out there. I have also
worked for a decade in a therapeutic
care home, and before that as a
community support worker helping build F ind lost arts, rare trades and heritage crafts
at the annual Lost Trades Fair in Australia, at
Bendigo, Victoria. On 9-10th March 2024
sustainable local community groups.”
When he arrived at the festival, Sean Bendigo Racecourse will be hosting two days of
was immediately taken aback by the a celebration of tradition, craftsmanship and
vibrant community of woodworkers. He skill. Visitors will meet blacksmiths, toolmakers,
was interested by the speed you can clockmakers, instrument makers, and watch
pick up the skills of carving by hand, many more at work. You can also try your hand
and enter the ‘flow’ state, when you at forgotten crafts, and buy goods made by the
have enough focus on the activity to people behind the stalls. “Enjoy fabulous food,”
keep you ‘zoned’, and then being able say the organisers, “and a weekend of the largest
to chat and talk about things. courses JoJo was teaching at the time. celebration of traditional crafts in Australia.
“Our first carving club was largely self
The Birth of Pathcarvers sustaining,” she says. “We would accept
Seeing how this can be useful in donations from people who attended.
developing a project, Pathcarvers Then Covid came along, and our space
was born, JoJo being a mental was not large enough to run sessions
health advocate, discussing her own safely, so we had to start up elsewhere.
experience with depression, anxiety We were doing this all ourselves, and
and autism. The aim was crafts being stretching quite thin.
used to help people’s mental health, “Then we were approached by Lost
physical health and positive social Art Press, who wanted to set up the
change, bringing craft to people who do Kieran Binnie Fund (pathcarvers.co.uk/
not usually have access, whether that pathcarvers/the-kieran-binnie-fund-
be for financial reasons, or any other for-craft/). This helped Pathcarvers
accessibility barriers. “There are many start other clubs, and fund them. “Due
spooncarving and craft courses in the to our increased profile, we started
woods, generally calling for time, cash, to get approached by places such as
and an ability to get to the woods,” JoJo Birmingham University, Birmingham City
says. “These are obstacles many people Council, Govanhill Baths in Glasgow,
find difficult to overcome.” and many more, which means we can
Pathcarvers became an urban thing, fund carving clubs around the world.”
with regular groups in Birmingham, The next move is to become a charity,
Ramsgate and Glasgow, and says JoJo. “We now have trustees,
occasional groups in London, York, which is quite a big step for us as it
Gloucester, Tamworth and Wales. “By officially takes thiungs away from being
its international birth,” Sean says, “we just Sean and me, to being a larger
also have groups in other parts of the group, and something that can
world, having a regular Pathcarvers hopefully go on continuing to help Discover skills and craftsmanship being shown at
group in Italy, and one-off, occasional people into the future.” work, and have a go yourself at the Lost Trades
appearances in the USA.” Fair from 9th-10 March. Details at losttradesfair.
Initially Pathcarvers was self-funded, To learn more visit pathcarvers.co.uk or com or by following @losttrades.
mostly coming from the spooncarving follow @pathcarvers on Instagram.

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 21

 One hand pushes the
moving fillister while the
other holds it tight to
the shoulder

22 Winter 2023 @quercusmagazine

 The Rabbet Fillister • CLASSIC TOOLS

Step by Step
From the simple to the sophisticated, Robin Gates explores hand tools for rabbeting

A
particular delight of working wood bedded down safely in their glazing bars.
with hand-tools is that there is Or did I just dream that.
always more than one way of doing
a thing. Nowhere does this ring more true Naming of Parts
than when we are faced with the need to Fillister or filletster, call it what you will,
cut a rabbet (or rebate), a simple step with the distinguishing feature of this sort of
floor and shoulder at right angles worked plane is its fence, a built-in jig for setting
along an edge. Usually the rabbet’s role is the width of the rabbet. A standing fillister
to accommodate another component of a is one with a fixed fence while a moving
structure, perhaps a door, the back panel fillister (often called a side fillister) has an
of a cupboard, the bottom of a box or even adjustable fence enabling it to cut a rabbet
a window pane, but it doesn’t have to be of any width less than the iron, although
functional. We might cut a rabbet for the practically speaking I find the lower limit
look of it, a clean and simple design feature around ¼in because keeping this bulky
creating more interesting shadow play than Unencumbered by depth stop or fence the rabbet plane vertical on a rabbet smaller than that
something routinely square or rounded. plane rests squarely on its side while cleaning up is like balancing on a tightrope.
The timber framer or shipwright working a shoulder The typical British moving fillister is often
with large load-bearing timbers may be fitted with an adjustable depth stop. Basic
adept at hewing out the bulk of the waste a delicate balance of power and judgement. models were offered with a friction-fitting
with an axe then paring the rough floor and Importantly, the iron is full width, emerging ‘slip-stop’ while for a few shillings more
shoulder flat with a slick or slice, which is a minutely at the side of the mouth so as to you could have a fancy screw-adjusted
broad chisel as long as your arm. cut a true right-angled corner. You may brass stop ressembling an Edwardian
Working at a more modest scale I can get notice that the sides of the iron are also gentleman’s moustache.
by with making two perpendicular cuts with bevelled, thereby minimising friction with For a plane receiving wear so heavily
a tenon saw, tidying the scruffy angle where the developing shoulder of the rabbet. But biased towards one side of the sole it was
they meet with a bevel edged chisel. Then it’s the fact of the iron being skewed which usual to insert a fillet of tougher timber
again, while model making I have managed helps deliver a crisp result, imparting a along the hard-worked edge, usually of
cutting a dainty rabbet with just a cutting shearing cut that leaves a clean surface boxwood. Some makers supplied their
gauge, meanwhile saving the waste square- while at the same time generating sideways ‘boxed’ planes with this wear strip smartly
sectioned waste piece for future use. pressure to assist in keeping the plane tight dove-tailed into position.
Assuming strong fingers and the patience against the shoulder. That’s all sorted then, for planing with
of a saint you can even scrape a tidy rabbet That said, planing would not proceed the grain, but what about cutting a rabbet
with a shop-made scratchtool fitted with a half so smoothly without that so cleverly across the grain, such as we might need to
square-tipped cutter, working it back and tapered escapement, surely a master do if shaping, say, all four sides of a flush-
forth. While rebuilding an old greenhouse, stroke of form and functionality, sending fitting panel? Something else I discovered
however, requiring that I rabbet sturdy out the shavings as neat as Swiss rolls. in my early efforts with the ordinary rabbet
glazing bars to repeat dimensions, I looked Although this plane looks pretty foolproof plane was that, even having referenced the
to speeding up the operation using a tool I soon discovered that not to be the case. plane against a batten and held the stock
designed for the job and so bought my first On my first day of using the thing I found dead square, the shoulder of the rabbet
rabbet plane. at least two ways of going wrong. For would turn out looking like a bad haircut
the beginner, at least, it pays to register because the iron had torn up the surface
Basic Beginnings the side of the plane against a straight fibres. Hence the necessity of the side-
Using a very basic rabbet plane helped edge until the shoulder is established. cutter or ‘tooth’, a tiny chisel-edged blade
me appreciate the advantages (and one With practice you may be able to follow a positioned in advance of the iron so as to
disadvantage) of the more sophisticated scribed line freehand, with the plane tilted sever those pesky surface fibres before
fillister planes. This first plane, still so as to engage just the corner of the iron, they cause a problem.
bearing the scuff marks of cutting those but it only takes one slip to mess up the Naturally, I knew none of this before
early rabbets, was made in the 1930s by shoulder. Secondly, it is essential to hold taking the plunge on the first moving fillister
Steadman & Sons of Birmingham and I the plane firmly upright with every pass, I spied in the junk shops of Gosport, some
believe shows the tool in its purest form, the penalty for not doing so being a sloping 30 years ago, but with pure beginners’
with long tall block of quartersawn beech floor and a leaning shoulder. Perhaps it was luck I found myself the proud owner of
pierced by a razor-sharp iron clamped on my second day I managed to remember a veritable Rolls-Royce of the species,
by a wedge at 500 to the sole. Devoid of both these things, the plane sliced through with brass screw stop, perfect tooth
anything so fancy as a fence or depth stop the rabbet like a kitchen knife through a and double-dovetailed wear strip. Extra
its effectiveness depends almost entirely on cooking apple, and the first panes of glass refinements added by makers Joseph
@quercusmagazine Winter 2023 23
CLASSIC TOOLS

Rabbet plane ejecting a neatly rolled shaving from

the escapement (above)

Showing the adjustable fence, screw depth stop, tooth and

skewed iron of the moving fillister (above). Showing the metal
fence, skewed iron, tooth and lignum vitae wear strip (left)
as parts of a German stellfalzhobel. A square rabbet cut in
salvaged mahogany (below)

The sliding tooth of the German

stellfalzhobel is mounted externally
 The Rabbet Fillister • CLASSIC TOOLS

A double-dovetailed boxwood fillet (above) bears the brunt of

the wear. The fence of the sash fillister (right) references the
face side opposite the rabbet

Gleave & Sons of Manchester included opposite side by a wing nut. The corner of
boxwood for the tooth’s shapely little the sole, meanwhile, subjected to heaviest
wedge and brass wear plates beneath the wear as it bears into the angle of the
fence screws. rabbet, is reinforced by a slip of dark and
Even using such a plane so thoughtfully durable lignum vitae, an oily timber also
jigged for depth and width doesn’t lubricating the passage of the plane. The
guarantee success. No doubt the hand and fence, secured by two cheesehead screws,
eye of the oft-rabbeting professional are is an all-metal affair but there’s no depth
quick to get the plane going well but I find it stop; a more sophisticated stellfalzhobel
takes a good few passes on scrap timber to would certainly have one.
be certain of the grip and focus to keep this Having established that these British
tool on the even keel so essential to cutting and German moving fillisters share a
a right-angled rabbet. And if it so happens common bedding angle of 500 for their
that rabbet floor and shoulder do diverge at irons I thought I’d found disagreement in
more than 900, unlike when using the plain the way their irons skew: 200 clockwise
old rabbet plane with stock unencumbered for the German plane and precisely the
by a sticky-out brass depth stop and fence, The sash fillister inverted (above) to show the opposite for the British. But I suspect that
you can’t lay a moving fillister on its side to skewed iron and surface fibre-slicing tooth which their makers had offered them in left- and
attempt squaring up the shoulder; that’s the precedes it right-handed versions, so you could always
disadvantage I alluded to earlier. them out, soon found myself curator of a be planing with the grain, and I have one
While setting up the plane I hold it small working museum of these endlessly of each type. Putting technicalities to
inverted against a plain background and fascinating planes. How this German one side, I find them equally efficient and
peer down the sole for the tell-tale glimmer moving fillister or stellfalzhobel turned up always a pleasure to use.
of honed steel. If it looks right I’ll tighten the in a West Midlands charity store remains
large wedge with a tap of the pin hammer, a mystery but even more intriguing is how Draughty Windows
but if a test cut reveals the shaving is different it is from its British counterpart. When we moved to a draughty Victorian
too coarse I can make it finer by tapping When found, the side of the stock was house with double-hung sash windows
smartly on the stock above the toe. This hanging loose, its glued joint having failed, rattling up and down, their weights
has the effect of simultaneously loosening but this proved helpful in understanding jangling merrily, I became captivated by
the wedge while retracting the iron by how the plane had been built. the methods once used in making sash
a fraction. If the setting is now too fine The stock is longer, lower and narrower frames and so discovered the sash fillister,
(often the way) I’ll tap on the top of the iron than that of my beech wood Gleave moving a plane developed specifically for cutting
itself. In a lazily high-tech world I find this fillister but more fundamentally it is of their glazing rabbets. Its way of working,
crude yet sensitive means of adjustment a different timber, hornbeam, a species with adjustable fence referencing the face
satisfying, even when I get it wrong. But much favoured by mainland European tool of the work opposite to that of the rabbet,
it all comes good when, beginning at makers for its weight, hardness and even seemed counter-intuitive until I twigged
the end of the board and working back texture. And instead of being mortised that the decorative external moulding of the
with progressively longer cuts, the full- for the iron the stock has been slotted sash was deemed the best or ‘face side’ of
length shavings come spiralling from the from one side then closed by that piece I the timber.
escapement like streamers. mentioned earlier, glued to the side. The This sash fillister is another from
tooth is also fitted differently, not being Mancunian master plane makers Joseph
Vorsprung durch hobel wedged in a mortise but sliding in an Gleave & Sons, likewise nicely built with
Smitten by the fillister bug I began external slot and held there by a threaded double-dovetailed boxwood wear strip,
researching other types and, curious to try steel clamp that’s tightened from the long and shapely brass screw depth stop
@quercusmagazine Winter 2023 25
CLASSIC TOOLS • The Rabbet Fillister

and a needle-sharp were the main sources of old woodwork required) equip this plane on a par with the
tooth. The iron had tools a decent moving fillister was wooden moving fillister, but you’ll notice
been worn to a mere something of a rarity but since the Internet that for bullnose work the 778 has a second
stub, indicative of came along old woodies of all types can bed for the iron sited forward behind a toe
a full working life, be found with relative ease. Even so, many just ¼in (6mm) thick, so you can work tight
but required only would regard these as museum pieces into a corner.
light honing to begin Salvaged ship sash whose worn parts may be hard to replace. As with the majority of Record planes
churning out the The practising joiner requiring serviceable made by C & J Hampton of Sheffield, the
shavings with that wonderful pinewood hand-tools will want to buy new or at 778 is a near copy of an earlier Stanley
scent so evocative of the forest. least a tool made in living memory. For tool, the 78 filletster & rabbet plane,
Well it’s one thing cutting a glazing the well-heeled connoisseur plane maker subsequently tweaked or as they say
rabbet and quite another mastering the Phil Edwards offers a handsome moving ‘Improved’. The first Record version was
manifold skills of making window sash, and fillister in right- or left-handed configuration the 078 with its fence mounted on a single
that’s about as far as I went. Meanwhile, for £495 but for everyday use I’d suggest arm, following the Stanley original, but
exploring Portsmouth City Museum one the Record 778 Duplex Rabbet & Filletster you’ll notice the 778 has twin arms and a
day I noticed a dull and dusty window sash plane as a practical alternative. longer fence which increase both rigidity
pinned high on a gallery wall. Remarkably it Its cast iron body may be shockingly cold and mass.
had been salvaged from the wreck of HMS to grasp on a winter’s day but the 778 has Another notable difference is the
Royal George, a 100-gun first-rate ship many plus points, not the least of which Record’s screw adjustment for the iron
which rolled over and sank while taking is its 3lb 14 oz (1.76kg) weight lending replacing Stanley’s lever mechanism,
on supplies at Spithead in 1782, with the stability and momentum in the heat of the although this doesn’t work in bullnose
loss of over 800 lives. Looking up at that rabbeting action. The 778 has sufficient format for which projection must be judged
mud-grey frame stirred a vision of the terror authority to cut a rabbet up to the full 1½in by eye and feel alone. Two further points
behind it on that fateful day. (38mm) width of the sole. It is moreover worth noting are that the depth stop is
a versatile plane, as the Duplex name easily removed if it gets in the way when
Versatile Duplex suggests. The adjustable fence, depth working against a high shoulder, and the
Back when elderly relatives and junk shops stop and tooth (rotated into position when fence can be mounted on either side.

Rabbeting with a
cutting gauge while
model making
(above). The waste
piece may be saved
for future use
(right)
Record 778 Duplex Rabbet & Filletster
plane cutting a 1¼in (32mm) rabbet

The 778 lifted to show the depth stop, Surface planing with the iron
rotatable tooth (retracted) and fence mounted in the bullnose position

26 Winter 2023 @quercusmagazine

 Crosscut Saws • SHARPENING

Points for People

Resurrecting a forgotten two-person crosscut saw, Henrie van Rooij sharpens his teeth

F
or years this 5ft (150 cm) two-person of a better word, of the tooth is filed, needs
crosscut saw languished unused, to be consistent. To help with this, a simple
unloved. Stored out of the way, in wooden block with a shallow groove at the
first this corner of one barn, then another. desired angle is made. I did not measure
It was really neglected and rusty. But when this angle; I simply copied the average filing
I picked it up, and it accidently knocked angle, using a sliding bevel, as I found it
against something hard, it responded on this large saw. This block can sit on top
with a sharp twang. Behind that rust hid a of the row of teeth, and helps to keep your
serious bit of steel. filing angle consistent. Pics.5&6) Because
With a bit of a gap between projects, the teeth are so large, in 1in-wide groups of
and an appetite for a diversion, this was three, you need a fairly large triangular file.
a good moment to see if this piece of old In this case a Swiss made Vallorbe medium
junk could be woken up and let it bare double cut 200mm x 15 mm. ( 8inx7/16in).
its teeth in earnest. With the patient on Medium fine and single cut would would
the examination table, we notice dust, have been better, but this was what I had to
spiderwebs, and dried-on gunge. The hand. Too fine a cut wil slow you down so
gunge most likely consists of linseed oil, much that you might give up. Too coarse
which had plenty of time to oxidize into a a cut, and it will be difficult to create nice
sticky varnish since application, who knows sharp tips to the teeth.
when. The handles are very sturdy home- Filing started out a little bit experimental.
made items. They do look in good health But I decided that what worked best for
as such, and should be more than up to me, was to finish both edges of a tooth
the job. Here and there a tooth is broken before moving on to the next one.
off. This is most likely because of some I am not sure if what follows is accepted
heavy-handed setting of the teeth. No point as best practice, but it worked for me:
worrying about that (Pic.1, overleaf). When filing, apply rather more sideways
First the steel needs to be cleaned up. force on the file than downward, with the
We begin with good scrub with a hard aim to first halve the shiny spot from one
wire brush. After that I used fairly coarse Henrie’s two-person crosscut saw had lived in side, and then file the tooth to a point from
sandpaper and strong distilled vinegar to barn after barn, before hiding in his workshop the other side. The file only lightly skimmed
remove most of the remaining surface rust. the neighbour teeth. That way I could
The picture shows quite how much rust is There is no way that this saw is going to control the development of each individual
removed from the surface. I did this out of fit in any saw sharpening clamp; we need tooth. Check often, and make sure to stop
doors, as I do not like too much muck in to think of something else. Many Quercus filing when the point has no shiny spot
the workshop Pic.2). readers will by now be familiar with the anymore. If you continue, that tooth will
When both sides are cleaned up renowned ‘Robin Gates Sawbench’. ( Oh, become lower than its neighbours. Start
and wiped down in this way, the actual that brings us back to those halcyon days with all the teeth pointing away from you,
restoration can begin. of QM02! ). As I am 6ft6in, I made mine and then turn the saw 180˚ over its length,
As all saws need to have their teeth all a bit taller and larger than the original and finish the other half of the teeth. Saw
at the same hight, this was checked first. version. I also added a grab hole in the filing works best if you file ‘down’ the set
A straight edge laid on top of the teeth seat, to move it easily with just one hand. of the tooth, rather than ‘into’ the set. With
showed that many were too low. It also doubles as a seat of just the right a tooth is bent away from you, you should
To level the teeth, I followed standard hight for sitting down jobs at my bench. file away from yourself. I hope that makes
practice. I used a medium ceramic stone, But I digress. This sawbench was laid on its sense. A surprising amount of filings were
but more usually a flat file is employed. I side and fixed to the workbench using hold produced (Pic.7)!
think I had no good flat file at that time. downs. This enabled me to clamp the saw, When all the teeth were done, a light
Hold the file or stone flat on the teeth, and with the teeth pointing up, to the edge of rub with a sharpening stone along the
work it along the row of teeth the until all the saw bench. Is there no limit to what this side surface of the saw, lightly brushing
they all show that they have been touched little bench can do? the sides of the teeth, removed the burrs
by the file or sharpening stone (Pic.3). After studying the teeth it is clear that leftover after the filing. The saw now looked
The shortest teeth will have a very small there is no rake ( the angle at which the much happier, and those shiny sharp teeth
or no flat at their tips. The teeth which saw tooth leans forward or backward) literally hungry to bite some wood! First
were longest will have larger flats on their involved. All the teeth can be filed with the the steel was treated to a coat of camellia
tips (Pic.4). Then the actual shaping and top of the file held level. The fleam, which is oil. This wonderful stuff, which I use on
sharpening of the teeth can start. the angle at which the cutting edge, for lack all metal parts of all my tools, can be got
Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 27
 SAW SHARPENING

Restoring a Saw
A rusty saw needs to be cleaned
first for resurrecting, then the tips
of the teeth have to be flattened
and the gullets filed at the
appropriate angles.

04

The longest teeth have the Some of the teeth had

largest flats been broken off
01

02 03
Cleaning with sandpaper
and vinegar is best done
outside to keep muck from
the workshop

Hold the file flat on the teeth

as you work along the row

06 05
The block keeps your filing angle consistent

Henrie made a block with

angled grooves as a guide

07

28 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

from APTC. The old slightly porous and
scratchy steel offers a lot of surface for
the oil to adhere to, and the protection
lasts longer than you might expect (Pic.8).
I waitedwith setting the teeth until after we
tried it out. Many saws tend to be over set, You can protect the saw from
which makes for an uncomfortable rattle rust with camellia oil
while sawing. But we found that these teeth 08
really needed some more set. After some
09 For setting, use a hard wooden dowel and
research I found that there are complicated,
a mallet to give alternate teeth a firm but
and simple ways to do this. In accordance not too hard tap (left). The imprints of the
with the wisdom of the KISS rule, ( Keep teeth left on the timber help you keeping
It Simple, Stupid, ) I employed the very track of how far you got (below)
simplest method. Lay the saw on its side on
a length of timber. Then use a hard wooden 10
dowel and a mallet to give alternate teeth
a firm but not too hard tap, just to nudge
the tooth over a little. First one side, and
then the other. Never try to change the set
of a tooth from one side to the other! That
is asking for brakages! (I apologise to the
creators of the Youtube clip demonstrating
this method. I failed keep note who it was
created by, sorry. (Pic.9))
The imprints of the teeth left on the
timber help you to keep track of how far
you have got (Pic.10).
At last we could have some healthy
outdoor exercise. My son acted as my
sawing partner. I must confess that he
put more energy into the sawing process
than I did. There is really only one regret:
we overlooked the quaffing of a good pint
when we were done.

Father and son testing the renovation

 JOINTS • John Lloyd, England

A Dovetail Dash
Returning to his discussion on skill, John Lloyd tries cutting a five-minute dovetail

W
hilst there are a great many
uncertainties in life, one thing
that is for sure is that if you want
to become skilful at something, no matter
what it is, if you practise that skill regularly
and with purpose, you will become more
proficient. No if’s, no but’s, this is a
certainty. The problem is that practising
generally means repeating over and again,
which might seem ‘boring’, even if you’re
not a teenager. So what we need is practice
that is ‘fun’, and that is what drew me to
this exercise. It’s not something I came
up with myself, in fact I found it in a book
by an American woodworker called Gary
Rogowski and it’s an exercise called ‘The
five-minute dovetail’.
Practice exercises need to be procrastinating. Don’t worry, just get on
measurable to be meaningful, there’s no with it and let it happen. So before doing
point just going through the motions and this exercise for the first time a couple of
making loads of mistakes. If this is the practice cuts with your favourite dovetail
case, all your practise will just make you saw will get your eye in and loosen up
much more proficient at errors. It’s very your cutting arm. Now we need a couple
important, therefore, that the degree of of pieces of wood to join together. Make
success is measurable so that corrective sure both pieces are the same width and
action can be taken. A sawing exercise thickness; about 50x15mm and 75mm
can be aimed at getting a smooth efficient long is fine. No squares, dovetail markers Completed five-minuters (above), demonstrate
cut with the saw making a vertical cut. The and cutting gauges required here, just a the skill of a craftsperson (top) of any ability
degree of success can be measured by dovetail saw, a sharp pencil, a piercing saw,
the start of the cut being ‘smooth’ and the a chisel, something to hit the chisel with, tilting the saw a little to create a dovetail
direction of cut against the lines drawn on an air of quiet confidence, and of course a shape, and make two cuts down to the
the wood. stop-watch or clock. pencil line (Pic.2).
The dovetail exercise still works on Firstly, sit each piece across the end of Turn the wood through 900 and make the
sawing, but it tests how the process of the other and mark the thickness of the two shoulder cuts (Pic.3), following your
‘hard wiring’ the skill is coming along, and wood on both faces (Pic.1), in effect the pencil lines. Now set the completed tail
are you able to allow the skill to be used ‘cutting-gauge line’. Now set one piece of on the end of the other piece of wood and
without the voices in your head interfering wood vertically in your vice to cut the tail. mark the dovetail shape with your pencil
with it by over-thinking. This is also an No markings for this, just set the saw on (Pic.4&5). Set the saw just to the waste
introduction to cutting a simple dovetail the top edge, a little way in from the end, side of the lines and saw down vertically
joint and giving a time limit stops you from at what you consider to be a right angle, (Pic.6&7); no cheating with a square, just
do that Zen thing and saw down to the
1 2 3 line. Remove most of the waste (Pic.8) with
a piercing saw (coping saw) and chisel
(Pic.9), and finally chisel to the pencil lines
and assemble the joint. Be critical of the
fit, number the assembled joint and keep
it to compare to your next effort. You’ll be
surprised how your accuracy improves,
just a little practice every day will make all
the difference.
Saw the dovetail
shape ‘freestyle’
(above), and John Lloyd runs short & long woodworking
Mark the thickness of each piece cutting shoulders courses at his workshops in Sussex and to
on the other with a sharp pencil (above right) learn more visit johnlloydfinefurniture.co.uk
or follow @john_lloyd_fine_furniture.
30 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine
 John Lloyd, England • JOINTS

4 5
Cutting the Pins
When it comes to cutting
the pins it’s a question of
marking the tail on the pin
board and making sure you
make a note of the waste
side as one can easily making
sure you mark the waste to
help avoid mistakes. Cut to
the waste side of the mark,
aiming to cut the joint
without any paring of the
sides of the pins or tails
before assembly. If you
number and compare each
Transfer the dovetail shape to the second piece (left) with
completed Five Minute a pencil, and mark the waste with a scribble. Adding an ‘X’
Dovetail you will see if you to the outside face of each piece will remind you which way
are improving. round the joint goes (above)

6 7

Cut vertically ‘freestyle’ to the waste side (above) vertically, then

make the second vertical cut (right) with no vertical lines to follow

8 9

Remove the waste with a piercing saw (above) then chop the rest of the
waste away (right) chiselling on a block to save your bench!
 DIGITAL & PRINT

The Wounded Workshops

Having recently had an argument with a bandsaw, David Honey opens a pocket-sized emergency guide

T
his is the sort of book that people like
me do not read unless we have to.
However I’ve been compelled to do
so because on the 22nd September 2023
I sustained a workshop injury whilst using
a bandsaw. This caused a deep laceration
to my right index finger which required a
minor operation to suture the tendons back
together. Six weeks later my finger is still in
a splint and will remain so for another two
weeks. Tendons take a long time to heal.
So what did I think of the book? Well,
it is quite a hard read in places if you
are squeamish but the language used is
understandable and although medical
terms are used these are fully explained. I
found it to be an eye opener regarding the
sort of injuries that can be sustained in a
workshop even with quite basic tools. I also
confess that I have not given the risk of
serious injury sufficient thought in the past.
This has now changed.

Key Workshop Treatments

The book flags up some key issues and
sets out the immediate action required if
an injury is sustained. It then takes you
through the further medical interventions
and subsequent treatments that may be
needed to facilitate healing. The book also
highlights the risk of infection and how to 3 If and when an injury is sustained, the celebrate.Based on my experiences,
avoid it. The illustrations and photographs immediate response can be of critical I would recommend that all of you
are very good. The advice given is practical importance and so knowledge of First Aid woodworking enthusiasts read and re-read
and clear. Some of the key learning points principles is essential. this little book.
for me were: Your future
4 One of the key decisions to be made in health and
1 Woodworking is quite a high risk activity, any such scenario is whether a medical well-being may
therefore there is a need to be constantly practitioner should be consulted. The book depend on it!
vigilant and aware of the health and safety provides clear guidance in various different
aspects of the work in hand. Don’t rush scenarios to assist in this decision making Workshop
to complete a job that can wait for another process. Wound Care by
day. Taking a measured approach is the Dr Jeffrey Hill
safest strategy. 5 Dr Hill writes from the perspective of the costs about $xx,
United States but this does not detract and is available
2 Equipment in the workshop is incomplete from its general relevance to the NHS and from Lost Art
without a comprehensive First Aid kit. the UK. One of the main differences is Press in the
Dr Jeffrey Hill’s Workshop Wound Care that as a UK patient, access to medical USA and Classic
provides guidance on what a fully equipped expertise and resources are free at Hand Tools in the
First Aid kit should consist of. the point of delivery, a fact we should UK.

32 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

 Rex Krueger,
Krueger, USA

Efficient Working
Rex Krueger reviews Joshua Klein’s new book Worked

J
oshua Klein is the editor- pulls the board up and jams a
in-chief of Mortise & Tenon little wedge under the board
magazine and the author to keep it in place. The edge
of the book Joined: A Bench of this board is a sturdy and
Guide to Furniture Joinery. low-profile step that gives you
Klein’s previous book is a brisk something to push against
and no-nonsense approach to when crosscutting or pushing
cutting joints in period furniture. a chisel.
His most recent book makes Once you see it, you’ll
a fine companion to Joined, wonder why you didn’t think
but where that book was all of it. For traversing his boards,
about details and specifics, Klein declines to use tail-vise
Worked zooms out and takes or holdfast and just drops a
a broad view of the hand- couple of tapered pegs into
tool workshop. This book is holes in the benchtop. These
about getting the wood ready sound like typical bench-
for joinery and assembly. dogs, but when you see the
Klein tackles work-holding, photograph, you’ll understand
stock preparation and making that Klein’s method is simpler,
components; everything that but even more powerful.
happens after you buy the Coming in with a slim 164
wood but before you cut the pages, Worked is a quick read,
dovetails. and it’s sparsely written. Some
And Worked fills in gaps pages have only a few lines
left by other books. Many of text and there’s an even
authors skip breezily past balance between words and
stock preparation, assuming images. Many woodworking
you know how to do it or that books leave you wishing for
you’ll outsource it to machines. an extra picture or two, but
Klein embraces an all-hand-tool Worked leaves nothing to
approach and he does it with the imagination. This book is
such sunny optimism that you affordably priced and available
might just switch off that noisy directly from Mortise & Tenon.
jointer. His book introduces Recommended.
the reader to essential tools like Oh, and you should also
the fore plane, the hatchet and how flat or straight your parts against a hook or the edge of read Klein’s first book, Hands
the stump. need to be. a board. If the rear end needs Employed Aright: The Furniture
While these tools have You would expect a book to be gripped, which it usually Making of Jonathan Fisher (from
disappeared from many like Worked to be full of fussy doesn’t, then the artisan’s chest Lost Art Press).
modern shops (even hand-tool jigs or expensive gadgets, or gut does the work rather
shops), Klein demonstrates but it’s not. Klein relies on the than a cumbersome tail-vise. Rex Krueger is a writer,
how each one contributes to bench, the planing stop, the My methods of work are furniture-maker, and content
a fast and efficient stock prep vise and a bench-hook or two. already similar to the ones creator living in Cleveland
system where rough boards are Everything else is done with in Joined but I found several Ohio. He makes videos at
transformed into components gravity, bodyweight, and maybe valuable new techniques. youtube.com/@rexkrueger. His
in reasonable time without an occasional peg. Klein works Klein shows how he left the most recent book is Everyday
back-breaking effort. In the ‘free’, and boards are rarely centre board in his workbench Woodworking: A Beginners
process, Klein dispels many clamped in place. Instead, unattached to the frame. Guide to Woodcraft with 12
unproductive myths about just they are merely stopped When he needs a stop, Klein Hand-Tools.

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 33

QUERCUS QUESTIONS • The Village Woodwright, USA

Wright Ways
In the Chicago suburbs The Village Woodwright is building a special workshop for teaching children

O
ne might fairly expect to find the QM How did you come to be called The side of looking back at earlier technologies
Village Woodwright on the edge Village Woodwright? and seeing how things had been done.
of a small conurbation, perhaps EB A transition point in my life was 20 years At one point in time Ethan Sincox in
even in a woodland camp. There he (or ago. I had been volunteering for 10 years Missouri, also known for being a kilt-
she) would have a workshop and some at the forest preserve living history farm wearing traditional woodworker, needed
barns for timber and for assembling large and museum, a 200-acre farm based on a marketing name. I suggested to him the
gates or double doors. Like Walter Rose’s the decade of the 1890s. All the tools and ‘Kilted Woodworker’, the name by which he
Village Carpenter he’d be a joiner and techniques we used had to exist in that has been known ever since. Five years later
cabinetmaker on-site chippy and maker time period, including the breeds of work I decided to incorporate my business and
of anything local residents might need or horses. We built and repaired the farm needed a name. I couldn’t help thinking,
desire. Not at all. Edward Bouvier lives in buildings by hand using only tools from “Well, darn it all. I gave away the perfect
the “Chicago burbs,” as he confesses in the 1890s. Whatever visitors may be onsite name!” I had to come up with something
his @villagewoodwright Instagram profile, could help us by handling lumber or trying else so I asked Roy Underhill if I could use
which also paints him as a “woodworking a hand saw or things like that. Woodwright in my business name. He said
artisan and teacher,” making “quality They could collect eggs from chickens woodwright is a made-up word, a fake
products for daily life.” One can’t help but and other farm tasks. The living history word. “Use it if you want.” And so I became
want to know more. kicked off my enthusiasm for the historical The Village Woodwright. It gives most
people a sense of historic ambiance.

What sort of thing do you make?

I make just about anything! This week I
outfitted a Mercedes service van for a
heating and air-conditioning company,
things such as cargo partition wall and
tools storage bins. I’ve done custom
carvings for a pipe organ.
I usually do repair and restoration
of antique furniture as well as custom
commission work. Sometimes I develop my
own unique answers to difficult restoration
needs like replacing missing dovetails on a
drawer by inlaying, essentially, a butterfly
key, half of which extends out to be the
replacement dovetail. I build and repair
things to last 200 years. I’d be disappointed
if they didn’t last that long. I use traditional
hand-tools and hot hide glue on antiques
so the repairs can be reversed if need
be. Sometimes this is to my immediate
benefit. I was doing a barrister’s bookcase
where the glass doors had good rails but
damaged stiles. I replicated the stiles,
glued, and assembled the frame. As soon
I assembled them I noticed I had reversed
the stiles but the glue had set; it wasn’t
coming apart. Being hide glue, I applied a
mist of water and set the frame on my wall
heater until the glue softened and came
apart easily. Disaster averted!

How did you get into woodwork?

Oh to be the Kilted Woodwright,
I’ve been doing woodworking since a
foregone to Ethan Sincox
young child. While my father, a pilot, was
out on flights I would see what hand tools
in the basement I could use. Sometimes
34 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine
Edward made the Quercus Handworks
stand. Students using a coping saw

I damaged a tool in the process, but been used for thousands of years. For most utilize it to its maximum potential. Then we
the love of woodworking set in. I made of those centuries we have been working will launch into projects like a foot stool,
some of my own toys at that point. I went it without using fossils fuels, using our a bedside table, etc... With each project
off to university and studied broadcast own muscles, animal power, water or wind we learn to use a new tool or two and a
production but never did that for a full- power. So, we’ll look historically at how new form of joinery, and then utilise all the
time job. Instead I got a trades job and we have worked wood as a sustainable previous tools we have learned along the
eventually became a licensed high-pressure technology for millennia. I think the younger way. Each project builds on a previous one.
steam boiler operator and refrigeration folks are really into that idea, rather than
technician. I practised woodworking as a creating more electricity and batteries that Where will the students come from?
hobby in my spare time. are not sustainable. I believe that is what There are two local private high schools
Then it turned out I had Crohn’s disease, Roy Underhill has been teaching since the which have asked me to give their students
which is intestinal inflammation due to 1970s. Students will start with big logs, and something creative and tactile. They
a rogue autoimmune malfunction. This with their youthful energy they will learn approached me, I did not seek them out. As
had been scarring my intestinal tract for to split and rive, shape and form wood a one-person business I cannot add more
decades, since I was child. I was practically into useful shapes and sizes. They will see administrative time to my day. If I have
on my deathbed and became a research how the strength of wood runs with the to handle registrations, tuition collection,
patient at the University of Chicago in grain and learn how to read the grain to advertising, scheduling, transportation,
Illinois. That episode of life made me realise
I liked interacting with people more than
With a project for
machines, especially working with young
one of his classes
people. I was 10 years out of work and
decided I wanted to do the woodworking
thing full time and see if I could make a go
of it. I’m still seeing if I can make a go of it.

You’ve said that you want to teach school

children. How’s that going to work?
In terms of curriculum I’m planning to start
by introducing students to the properties
of wood first. Fact is, we can treat wood
like it grows on trees. It is one of the most
sustainable resources we have, and it has

A proud student with an early project

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 35-

 If things get a tiring inside
the class will go outside for
a riving contest

etc… I would drown in paperwork. Since lead other group youth activities. For across the room in frustration. Again, I’ll
these are established schools they have one group I wrote and taught a 10-week emphasise learning appropriate times to
the administrative infrastructure in place woodworking curriculum. Local families simply laugh at ourselves.
already for all these tasks. They simply pay already know me from the public library, the
me a fee as a contracted service to teach. church I attend, local living history, and the Do you have a back-up plan if one of the
It streamlines the logistics significantly. many years of leadership in youth groups children has finished before the others?
One school will only be doing nine class all through the years. Parents will tell their Yes; that’s when I emphasise learning from
sessions with me. I have a small shop but children’s school teachers that they know each other and helping our neighbours.
agreed to eight students, though it will this guy and he’s great with kids. So, now I Oh, and teamwork, too. In the past when
be tight. The other school will have 32 have some sort of thing to live up to. an older or more skilled student gets way
class sessions over the entire semester One group I taught was a home school ahead on their project I say, “You’re very
so I have limited it to six students. I’ll start adventure education organisation for boys. good at that. Would you mind helping
with a least three workbenches where two I had ages nine to 16 in one room. The Joey over there, to show him how you did
students can work at opposite sides or sessions were three hours long. That was this? Could you take your project over
ends of the same bench. Part of what I very educational for me as an instructor. I to Joey’s workbench and show him how
teach is teamwork and learning from each got to see the differences in development you did that?” And then you see Joey
other. If one student completes a task at different ages of hand-eye coordination, going, “Aha! I didn’t get it before.” Now
they can help a classmate. The benches muscle development, and attention span you have someone his own age showing
are heavy enough that if one student is for a task. I always modify my time in the him, perhaps from a different perspective.
hammering heavily on one end it shouldn’t classroom based on the students’ attention Joey can also learn gratitude for others in
bother the student at the other end. and abilities. his class. And, I can observe new ways to
teach a concept!
Where are you going to do this? How do you cope with having children of This all relates to the varying levels of
I’m renovating my old garage building different abilities? skill between students. In that class of
which was in dire need of repairs. I’m The only selectiveness I practise is if a nine to 16-year-olds our final project was
putting in a lot of windows and glass doors child is posing a danger to themselves or a simple joined stool with a woven fibre
and skylights so that it’s a very bright and others. Clearly they can not remain as a rush top. The woven top on the 16-year-
inviting space. There’s one 24ft-long wall class participant. Otherwise, I know there old’s stool looked far more refined than
that is dedicated to my woodworking may be a wide range of abilities and former the nine-year-old’s. That’s naturally based
library, floor to ceiling. Students will be able experience within any group of students. on patience, attention span, and muscle
to peruse book and periodicals to inspire Among the skills I teach are teamwork, control development. I emphasise that
themselves in quiet moments. The building learning from each other, helping each they are working at their individual ability
will be exclusively dedicated to education other, and - importantly - learning when it’s level. Here I follow my mother’s example.
in traditional hand-tools. simply necessary to laugh at ourselves. I My brother always got perfect scores in
will occasionally even have a student think school. I got some… shall we say, lower
Do you know how to teach children? of a better way to do something that I have scores now and then. My mother always
I have instructed and demonstrated been teaching! I’ll say, “You know, that said, “Can you look in me in the face and
woodworking at the living history farm for makes logical sense. Why don’t we have say, ‘I’m doing my best’?” That’s all she
literally thousands of school children of all some students try it that way and we’ll wanted. It’s the same for the students in my
ages visiting on field trips over a ten year decide as a group which we prefer.” This room. I want them to know I’m judging their
period of time. I’ve had four different teen fosters independent problem solving, which work and participation on whether they are
shop apprentices and I’ve also taught and apparently is a lost art in the digital age. We doing their best and whether they’re trying
demonstrated my skills for home school will learn from mistakes through analysis the teamwork thing, and learning from
groups. Outside of the wood shop I also together, not by throwing our project each other, and trying to stay enthusiastic
36 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine
 The Village Woodwright, USA • QUERCUS QUESTIONS

even when patience wears thin. When place like this.” I want them to hear me
I have younger children their attention teaching with quiet enthusiasm and say,
span must be taken into account for best “I’ve never had a teacher quite like this!”
performance. I’ll change classroom tasks They should pick up tools and say, “I’ve
frequently, say from something tedious at never used tools like these” or “I didn’t
the workbench to going outside for riving know hand planes (for example) could
kindling. I make riving a game by asking work so well!” The experience should be
them to predict how the wood will split by engaging, enveloping, unique… and that
reading the grain, drawing their predicted they feel it is expanding their mind into
split on the wood with a Sharpie marker, something valuable to them, yet previously
then whacking it with froe and mallet. I’ll unexplored! To that end, the shop space
intentionally have wood of straight grain, itself is relatively small, cozy, without any
curvy grain, knots, etc... for variety. The power-tools.
students can get quite competitive about Class sizes are very small. Natural
drawing their lines and splitting the wood. light streams in from lots of windows and
We have a lot of fun, learn a lot in the skylights all around. Naturalised gardens
process, then go back to the workbench to and flowers and stacks of felled hardwood
our detailed tasks again. logs are visible outside all the windows (a
very un-suburban site). A library of over
Do you hope they will do some more A shaving horse and spokeshave 2,500 woodworking and furniture books
woodwork back home? are a great way to get going and periodicals, including Quercus, are
Yes! With the teenage classes, in particular on shelves for perusal and inspiration. I
the class meeting for a full 16 weeks, part want the atmosphere of the shop to foster
of their skill building will be making their it grow organically. By starting slowly I will curiosity, to be intimate in size, and have
own tools to use both at home and in class. minimise a sudden added administrative a comfortable familiarity with the wisdom
They’re going to make their own frame burden for which I am not prepared. There of past generations. But, mostly I want
saw and marking gauge, and learn how are a lot of adults and families that would it to be known by the knowledge of craft
to sharpen their own hand saws. They will like to have private or group classes right that can be gained within its walls to foster
learn how to get an old hand plane and now. This would include a wide range of a person’s hand-made creativity into the
tune it up and know the physics of the ages and skill levels. I need to expand into future - to be a place developing ‘Makers’
cutting edge so they can then tune up other that slowly while I first start with one age in a consumer culture.
tools as well… other cutting edges like range and one curriculum. I foresee future
chisels and spokeshaves and things like topical adult and child class offerings on Follow Edward Bouvier on Instagram
that. One of the ways I describe my classes things such as joinery or spoon carving or @villagewoodwright or visit
is that we’re going to use tools your parents saw sharpening. villagewoodwright.com.
have never heard of. That’s an effective I am also continuing to serve my
way to get a teen’s attention and interest. furniture restoration clients and custom
Learning to properly maintain and even commission work, albeit at a reduced load.
make your own tools is something special. As I add adult classes I can have short,
themed classes: “This week we’re doing a
What about state schools? dovetailed box. Next week we’re going to
I believe I would need a state teacher’s learn scary sharp sharpening for your tools,
license, which follows a bachelor’s degree or tuning up the jointer plane, and so on.”
and a period of student teaching. I’m a bit Adult classes can also run all-day sessions
further down the line in life to go back and whereas children need shorter sessions.
do all that. We are surrounded here with so This will all grow with time.
many charter schools, Montessori, Waldorf,
private religious and secular schools, and Have you taught many adults?
lots of large not-for-profit homeschool I have done teaching demonstrations for
groups. I have this huge potential student adult woodworking clubs on an on-going
base outside of the state school system; it’s basis, as well as one-off special events like
a demographic into which I fit nicely. One Handworks, events in my local community,
homeschool group is large enough they and our local chapter of the Society of
have their own brick and mortar campus American Period Furniture Makers. There’s
where students can take classes a la carte always one-off needs, such as teaching a
in any year of study… one class per week couple of folks from the living history farm
or a full load five days per week. Various how to sharpen saws in my shop.
parents are often the teachers of subjects
within their expertise. There’s also a desire What is your educational shop like?
for woodworking classes completely I have tried to create a unique and
independent from formal schooling: inspiring place. I like to think people are
families and individuals seeking craft not just coming over for a woodworking
training opportunities. class. They’re coming for a multi-
sensory experience, an atmosphere,
an environment that defies immediate Give a young woodworker a
Do you have plans for other courses as
hammer for some noisy work
well as schools? definition, something that’s simply “other.”
That is my future vision. I am going to let I want them to say, “I’ve never been in a
Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 37
COURSES • Furniture Craft School, England

Castle Crafts
In the grounds of an English stately home, Peter Quin has quietly built a multiple course college

P
eter Quin has been running the Furniture Craft School
(FCS) in National Trust building at Scotney Castle, near
Tunbridge Wells in East Sussex for 17 years. He started
his apprenticeship in 1980, was then employed in several
cabinetmaking workshops until he opened his own in 1986. In
1991 he began his teaching career by going to Zimbabwe with
the Voluntary Service Organisation (VSO) for three years, taking a
B.Ed at Bolton Institute when he returned. “It is a very well-known
seat of learning,” he tells us. After that he set up a furniture-making
program at South Kent College, which he ran for 10 years.
Everything changed after his time Folkestone. “I had to leave
further education because it was like the Wild West. Then I had
an inspirational visit to the workshop of Bruce Luckhurst who
taught and ran a restoration workshop. I decided then that
running courses was what I needed to be doing.” In 2006 Peter
approached the National Trust who run Scotney Castle, enquiring if The Intermediate course comprises making a dovetailed box (above & lower)
he might be able to use some of their outbuildings as a college. “I with a touch of Krenov about it. Using a Domino to assemble the lid (below
spent the first few years renovating the building,” he says. left) offers more time for learning how to dovetail (below right) and to enjoy
A Full-Time course a the Furniture Craft School runs for 38 lunch, or tea or coffee together (bottom)
weeks, with students leaving with City & Guild Level 2 Diplomas in
Furniture Making and a City & Guild Level 3 Diploma in Furniture
Making and Design. There are 10 Furniture Making Short Courses
every year, for Beginners, and for Intermediate and Advanced
‘students’. More than half of those staying for a full year program
are retired professionals. An increasing number are women, and
most of the people on the short courses tend to be young and
under 35.
The short courses can act as a stepping stone for potential full-
time students. Take for instance, Anthony French. In May he joined
a Beginners Furniture Making short course, five days at Scotney
making a double-sided games board, cut with veneers. He was
Base Detail
so taken by the dovetailed box being made by his workbench
neighbour on a concurrent Intermediate course, Anthony is now
studying alongside a group of other full-time students. Front View
Lid Detail

For details of courses at the Furniture Craft School visit

furniturecraftschool.co.uk or follow @furniturecraftschool.

Drawing ID:
Short Course - Dovetail Box
Drawing Title:
Side, Front & Lid Construction Details

Date: June 19 Scale: Scale 1:1

Lid Isometric Detail

@ A2
Side View Drawing Number: 05
Rev:

The Furniture Craft School employs Cascamite, urea formaldehyde adhesive

(above) which has a long gluing time and some gap-filling qualities. Tea,
coffee & lunch are enjoyed in the yard behind the Scotney workshops (right)
38 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine
Beginners Course of Games
On the Beginners course ‘students’ learn how to make a
double-sided games board of chess and backgammon, cutting
veneers and gluing them to a base. Such was the value of the
week that Anthony xxxxxx (below) has now joined xxx other
full-time students learning fine furniture skills in xx months.
“I was off sick from work for eight weeks,” Anthony says,
outlining how he decided to spend a year at Scotney, “and I
never went back.”

The first project on Anthony’s year at

the Furniture Craft School was the box
made on the short Intermediate course

Though planing isn’t a key

technique when it comes to
cutting and gluing veneers
for the games board (left),
it is an important skill for
beginners (above). Peter
is always around for when
things get tricky, as happens
when it comes to framing the
board (right). The beginners
often watch one another and
exchange tips (below) and
they all get to finish their
board by the end

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 39

SLÖYD • Chipcarving with Jögge Sundqvist, Sweden

Gripping Thumbs
Starting at the obvious point, Jögge Sundqvist introduces basic knife grips for chipcarving

T
he knife grip for cutting patterns, that the pattern a distinct expression.
is, the way you hold the handle, has Aim to clean-cut both cuts at the outset.
its origins in the way the traditional It is easier to achieve clean cuts when the
Morakniv is held when using its ground- knife is surrounded by material on both
down blade for pattern-cutting. The knife sides of the edge; the pressure of the wood
was a constant companion, and when the on both bevels makes for a more distinct
blade was ground down and shortened, and cleaner cut as the bevel is supported
it became the right length for carving by the wall. If the chips don’t release from
patterns. With a short and narrow blade, it the bottom of the cut, your angles are
was no longer necessary to grip the handle probably off or you are making the cut
with only your ring and little fingers as with too shallow. Often, this happens because
a longer blade. Instead, it allowed you to the tip of the chip carving knife isn’t sharp
control the cut by clasping all your fingers enough. Hone it with your finest sharpening
around the handle and resting your thumb stone and strop it often.
against the wood. If you can avoid re-cutting and tidying
When the Nordic Museum in Stockholm up afterward, the pattern will look cleaner.
sent out a questionnaire to people in rural The blackness at the bottom of a
parts of Sweden in the 1930s, one of the V-shaped groove, which is actually a cut
questions was about the word they used made too deep, enhances the shadow
for the practice of cutting patterns in wood. effect that patterns seek to achieve — a
In some parts of northern Sweden, they Grasp the handle between your fingers, dynamic involving different shades of gray
used “skureut” rather than the Swedish not in the palm of your hand. Press your and black.
word for “chip carving.” I interpret this thumb against the surface and support Start by practicing three types of lines:
to mean that skureut reflects a freer your hand against the wood with the a tapered line, an even line and a line that
folk tradition based on older patterns middle knuckle of your index finger. expands at the ends into a triangle chip.
associated with folklore and animism. The Tilt the knife 45° both backward and The force you’ll need to apply in the cut
concept of chip carving came to the fore in sideways. Gathering strength from your will vary depending on how wide you wish
the context of Nordic nationalism around back muscles, shoulders and bicep, pull the line to be. This will affect the depth and
the turn of the 20th century and is often the knife backward in the same direction the amount of material that is removed.
used to describe the stylistically advanced as your forearm. You’ll have more power The wider the line, the more pressure you’ll
patterns applied to objects in noble and if you keep your thumb in place below the need to apply with your knife hand. Engage
church settings. Since the concept of slöjd cut and wait to move it until after you finish your back muscles, bicep and shoulders
is based on the knowledge and philosophy cutting. The two points of contact at your instead of simply pressing down with your
of subsistence, I think that the term skureut thumb and forefinger knuckle allow you to hand and forearm. That way, you can use
is more appropriate for pattern carving in control the cut. When cutting narrower lines larger muscle groups to control the cut.
the slöjd tradition. that don’t require as much force, you can This makes it less tiring and helps you
With respect for chip carving as a well- move your whole hand, using your thumb avoid strain injuries in the long run.
established term, I therefore use “skureut” for support. Cut the full length of the line, You must be able to make precise stops.
in my book Karvsnitt: Carving, Pattern then turn the blank over and make the When the knife cuts with the fibers or on
& Color in the Slöjd Tradition, and the second cut. convex surfaces, the resistance in the
corresponding knife grip I call the “skureut Here, you must pay attention. If you have wood gives way and you may easily slip.
grip.” After all, as craftspeople, it is our task strong raking light, there will be a sharp Therefore, it’s good for the hand holding
to imbue the words with our own meaning. graphic difference created by the ridge now the knife to maintain contact with the wood,
raised slightly above the surface. The light creating friction with the thumb
The Skureut Grip illuminates the ridge, casting a shadow in and forefinger, so that you can stop the
Your working posture will determine your the fresh cut. You need to work with the knife in time.
power and control. I prefer to sit down, ridge and the shadow it creates, adjusting The big advantage of the skureut grip
placing the blank against my kneecap or the width of the line accordingly. Make the is that you can always maintain the same
thigh, and holding it with my other hand. cut in such a way so as to give the groove cutting angles. It gives you the force to
With the force of my shoulders and back, tapered ends. make deep cuts while keeping an even
my knife hand presses the knife into the The second cut should be deep enough width, contributing to a homogeneous
blank. Sometimes the blank is too big to that both cuts intersect at the bottom. The impression. When the knife is tilted
work with on your lap and you need a table two cuts in the V-shaped groove, which has backward 30°–35°, the fibers are cut on
or workbench to fasten the blank with now become a line, overlap and the chips the surface before they are severed at the
clamps. come out easily. This saves time and lends bottom of the cut. The knife’s cutting angle

40 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

Chipcarving with Jögge Sundqvist, Sweden • SLÖYD

Jögge Sundqvist’s new

book includes a chapter
on chipcarving signs

@quercusmagazine Winter 2023 41

 •

useful when making the first two cuts; once The skurent grip seen The skurent grip
the chips have released there is nothing in from seen from the side seen from above
the way to prevent a cross-grain chip from
tearing out.
When crossing a previous line, tilt the
knife down and cut more parallel to the
surface to avoid the pressure from the knife
causing tear-out where they intersect.
Practice the grip until the two 45° cutting
angles feel natural: one tilted to the right (if
you are right-handed), and one backward.
It’s important to adjust the placement of
the handle forward and back in your hand
so that the tip is in a good position to
achieve power and control. Once you have The first 45° cut creates a ridge
practiced the technique, the angles will that casts a shadow. first. The thumb grip
Light
come naturally. when cutting
Illuminated ridge a single-sided
The Thumb Grip Shadow triangle chip. With
the blade parallel
This grip is known as the thumb grip to the angle of
and can be used in several different ways. the 90° cut, guide
Sometimes the edge is pushed or guided the knife at a 30°
with the thumb of the other hand and angle until the
sometimes it is made to pivot around the knifes edge meets
thumb in a rolling motion. The name of the the short wall
grip should be the “push thumb grip,” but
here the term has been simplified. direction. But with the skureut grip it is
It’s convenient to be able to switch to entirely possible.
the thumb grip when the fiber direction Beginners tend to focus on the knife’s
changes or when the size of the object, the edge without thinking about how the body
surface space or changes in levels don’t needs to move in order to perform the cut.
allow for the skureut grip. The downside is When cutting a curved line, focus on the move it inward in a large circular motion.
that it’s difficult to achieve the same angle elbow of your cutting arm. Here, your supporting thumb acts as the
as in the previous cut, which often gives a The difference from cutting a straight line pivot point; it sits at the center of
more homogeneous and clean result. is that you need to move your elbows and the semicircle, or quarter circle, that you
blank in arcing motions. Start by cutting a are able to cut before you have to
Curved Lines semicircle. While maintaining your skureut change your grip.
The 45° backward angle is handy when technique, turn the elbow of your knife Adjust the length depending on how
cutting lines in cross-grain wood. Because hand upward-outward so that you can much the knife protrudes from your hand to
the surface of the material is sliced before make sure that the radius of the semicircle
the tip cuts the bottom — as the knife is correct. Start cutting while at the same
is dragged into the wood — the cutting Tapered line with pointy ends time turning the blank in the opposite
angle allows you to cut against the grain direction. Keep in mind that the movements
without tearing out the fibers. This makes of your elbows should be smooth. When
it possible to cut curved lines anywhere cutting in the other direction, reverse the
you want, regardless of the fiber direction. movement, starting with your elbows
When cutting in cross-grain wood, the tucked against your body.
wall of the cut will not be as smooth and On letters, these ends are known as When linking together the two semicircles
even as when you cut with the grain, so serifs. They are created by cuttinga triangle into a circle, place the knife in the previous
chip at each end
the general rule is to cut along the fibre cut and continue. This technique is useful
when you want to achieve a smooth flow
When cutting curved lines, such as one of the semicircles making up a circle, use the skureut grip in a curved line or letter, without nicks
at the same time as you move your elbows inward in a controlled motion. For the second reverse in the cut. The areas most sensitive to
cut, start with your elbows pressed against your body and move them outward as you cut tear-out are where there is a change in
fiber direction, in the transition between
straight and cross-grain wood. Reduce the
backward angle to about 25° and cut more
slowly to reduce the risk.
This technique requires practice and
concentration and works exceptionally well
when cutting the curved parts of letters and
numbers.

These Jögge Sundqvist articles are

excerpts from Karvsnitt: Carving, Pattern
& Color in the Slöjd Tradition published by
Lost Art Press.

42 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

 Chipcarving with Jögge Sundqvist, Sweden • SLÖYD

Love Letters
Preparing to chip carve signs, Jögge Sundqvist shows how to cut letters and numbers

T
he type of script used in the earliest known written There are two main families: Roman type (right), which has small lines
languages, cuneiform, appeared around 5,000BC in known as serifs attached to the ends of strokes in the letters, while
the Babylonian region around the rivers Euphrates and typefaces that lack such lines are known as sans serif (left)
Tigris in Mesopotamia. Cuneiform script had 600 characters, are known as sans-serif or lineal typefaces
each representing a word. Writing became easier once the first
alphabetic writing system appeared in Palestine around 1,600BC.
This made it possible to use each letter to represent a sound,
rather than one character for each word. Today, we have started
using characters in our written language again as emojis.
The art of designing letters, known as typography, has changed
over time. The classical approach to carving letters was based on
a memorial plaque from 113 A.D. found inside Trajan’s Column in
Rome. Today, you can search for fonts online, print them out and groups and between pairs. But above all, typography is about
transform them into a personalized slöjd typography. Three things conveying the message of the text well and in an aesthetically
to consider when cutting text: pleasing way. Back in the day, a typographer was known as a
1 Clarity. The words must be easy to read for the message to get Kunstförvandt, from the German word meaning “fellow brother
through. A certain amount of artistic expression can enhance the in art.” Decide at an early stage whether you want the text to
text and spark interest, but it shouldn’t make it unreadable. have serifs. Straight letters with an even thickness contribute to
2 Communication. The message embedded in the text should a simpler and straighter impression. Serifs give the text a more
evoke a thought or feeling in the reader. The latter may be classic look. On pages 18–21 you will find a description of how to
impressed by the skill of the execution or the way the letters use the skureut technique for straight and curved lines.
are accentuated. But above all, the text should communicate You can also cut the letters so that they stand out from the
something you wish to convey. surface. This technique is known as shallow relief carving and is
3 Congruence. There needs to be a connection between the best suited for larger letters, as it can be difficult to hollow out the
message, the text and the object. Ideally, the manner or style in spaces within the letters. You will also need more tools: a number
which the text has been cut will reinforce the message or meaning of V-tools and flat gouges of various dimensions. Read more under
and be in keeping with the overall design of the sign, plaque “shallow relief carving.”
or handle. There should be a consistency and harmony in the
expression — in the connection between content, text and object. Removing the Material
After sketching the text, start by making two 90° cuts in all places
Cutting Letters where the strokes end in serifs. Remove the material in between,
In woodcarving, the shape of the letters will determine how easy so that they become single-sided triangle chips. To cut the arc of
or difficult they are to cut. Runes are an example of letters that are the serif, then place the knife in one of the shallow corners and
easy to cut, without curved details or loops. The main advantage bring your elbow in toward your body. Make a smooth outward
of using the skureut technique and a chip carving knife is that you movement with your elbow in toward the stem and continue
don’t need other tools or specially designed knives. What might cutting the entire V-shaped groove. Cut along the fibers. Pay
limit your possibilities is your choice of material and the shape attention to the width of the different parts of the letters.
of the letters. You can cut letters up to 30–40mm (13/16in-11/2in) tall If you want to cut lineals rather than serifs, simply end the
if you use softwood and don’t make the lines too wide. Often, groove with 60° or 90° cuts along the fiber direction. Straight
certain parts of the letter are a little thicker than the other lines and across the grain, the chips usually come out right away.
penetrate deeper into the wood. These are the upright column, NB: Think before you begin, so that
known as the stem, and the slanted column, known as a stroke. If you make the cuts in the right order. In
they are too wide, the chip carving knife won’t reach the bottom in letters such as M and N, which have
one cut, and you will have to cut the stem in two stages or start by pointy ends, the thin partitions at the
cutting a V-shaped groove with a V-tool or tips may easily break if you cut from the
a knife. Initially, adapt the letters to your carving skills. Straight wrong direction. Cut all the outer angles
lines are the easiest and curved lines with a small radius the most with the letter turned upside down.
difficult. The letters can be compressed and elongated, spaced When you continue, the fibers have been
out, italicized, and varied in many different ways. It is up to you to severed at the pointy ends. In other
decide what they should look like. words, make sure to come from the right
direction, cutting the inner line of the
The Structure of a Letter V-shaped groove before the outer one.
In the art of designing text — known as typography — letters
are categorized into different typefaces. A typographer carefully Karvsnitt is available from Lost Art Press
determines the spacing between different letters, both between and other retailers.

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 43

SPOKESHAVES • Kotaro Okubo, Japan

New Shavings
Running a unique Japanese spokeshave course, Masashi Kutsuwa reports on the nankin nanna

I
n August 2023 a rather special course Kotaro Okubo brought a selection of across a guy who runs a his one-man
was run by Jarrod Dahl and his wife nankin kanna to Woodspirit School business that produces high quality resin-
Jasmin Hicks at the Woodspirit School bonded diamond stones. It is a relatively
of Craft in Wisconsin. Perhaps for the first new type of diamond stone that stays
time a high quality nankin kanna workshop sharp much longer than ordinary electro-
was held outside Japan. The instructor plated diamond stone. His products were
was Kotaro Okubo, one of Japan’s finest used by professional ice skaters and
woodcarvers, with 10 students from the US stonemasons. Kotaro and he collaborated
and Canada carving spatulas and spoons to test more than 100 composition patterns
for three days with nankin kanna, a unique of ingredients to create the perfect
Japanese-style spokeshave. sharpening stone for his nankin kanna
I am a co-ordinator/organiser of the blades and other woodworking tools. They
Japanese woodworking culture. I teach finally made it and the company started
at Gifu Academy of Forest Science and producing them in 2021.
Culture, while writing books about Van Jarrod, Kotaro and I started discussing
Gogh’s Chair and Green Woodwork. Jarrod the workshop plan a year ago. Kotaro
and I met at a green woodworking event in suggested that we focus on introducing
Sweden in 2016, and have been working from the West to Japan in mid 19th nankin kanna to American woodworking
on many projects together. He taught a Century. Japanese woodworkers copied community. We decided the course should
five-day course twice in Japan and I took the shape of Western spokeshaves with a last three days; the first day on spatula
a Japanese wooden tray-carver to the US wooden handle, and made and repaired carving to get used to nankin kanna and
and held a workshop at North House Folk the chairs with them. The tool was mainly to learn how to sharpen the blade. Spoon
School, where Jarrod was involved as a used for rough-shaping the chair pieces or carving came on the second day, shaving
lead instructor. chamfering the edges. But Kotaro believed various curves and complex facets, and
Wagatabon, a traditional Japanese nankin kanna could achieve the same also carving the bowl of the spoon with a
wooden tray carved from green chestnut, performance as high quality block planes, round gouge. The third day developed their
was introduced there from Japan, and is as he wanted to finish all the surfaces of skills of carving and sharpening.
now popular among the greenwoodworking his products without using sandpaper. He
community around the world as a simple asked several blacksmiths to make the Blacksmith Orders
and beautiful project. Jarrod and I had an blade from various metals, then put them When Jarrod started promoting the
idea of a nankin kanna workshop given by into wooden handles with different bedding workshop in December 2022, we asked the
Kotaro Okubo as the next project before angles and sole shapes, to see how those registered students if they would like to buy
the Covid-19 pandemic, and finally made it shapes might affect the quality of the Kotaro’s nankin kanna, sharpening stone
happen this year. finished surfaces. and round gouge. Kotaro placed an order
His commitment extended to the to the blacksmiths and the sharpening
Nankin kanna facets sharpening stones. While testing a variety stone company four months before the
Jarrod hadn’t met Kotaro before but knew of natural and artificial stones, he came event. They were delighted to hear that
his work well via Instagram. Kotaro puts up their tools would be used abroad, and
photos of his beautiful spatulas and spoons looked forward to the event as if they were
every day, and he carves more than 6,000 all going to the US with Kotaro as a team.
pieces a year by hand. The beautiful facets Kotaro prepared enough spatula and
on the spoon carved by nankin kanna are a spoon blanks made from Japanese cherry
distinctive feature of his products. and chestnut for the students and his
Kotaro started his woodworking career demonstration. We also made more blanks
in 2006 as a joiner. After five years of from American silver maple after we arrived
training at a joiner’s workshop, he joined at Jarrod’s workshop and soaked all of
a vocational training school in 2011 to them in water the day before the workshop.
learn general woodworking techniques. That is the way Kotaro works with wood.
The following year he established his own When he first started carving spatulas and
workshop and started producing wooden spoons, he bought kiln-dried board from a
cutlery and kitchen utensils, as well as timber merchant, and carved the bandsawn
developing his essential tool, the nankin spoon and spatula blanks with nankin
kanna, with tool blacksmiths. Holding the spokeshave in kanna. But because he shaves 14 hours a
Nankin kanna is said to have become one hand to make a spatula day, he felt the material was too hard and
common when chairs were introduced was tiring his body. Then he learned that
44 Winter 2023 @quercusmagazine
 Kotaro Okubo • SPOKESHAVES

spatulas in one day. Kotaro also taught

how to sharpen the blade and advised
the students to try as soon as they felt the
blade became dull.
By the end of the class, all the students
sharpened their blades and it made Kotaro
so happy because he thought sharpening
was challenging but delightful.
Jarrod and I had an interesting
conversation during the class about why
he got so fascinated by Kotaro’s work.
Probably it was because Kotaro achieved
making beautiful everyday objects by the
repetition of work, 6,000 pieces a year.
The shape of an objects created by skilled
hands becomes simpler and smoother.
That is exactly the idea of Mingei (Japanese
arts-and-crafts movement) advocated by
Soetsu Yanagi. He found a real beauty
in useful objects made by anonymous
craftspeople. I sense Jarrod is rare in
the US for pursueing that philosophy.
According to him, crafts in America tend
to be more ‘artistic’. The market always
prefers one-offs, something new and
different. As a result, it welcomes some
Kotaro and Jarrod making spatulas, with Jarrod’s crafts that are technically immature or
adapted shaving horse with a channel for carving aesthetically unsophisticated.
The three-day workshop ended with a
demonstration of urushi (Japanese lacquer)
application on spoons by Kotaro’s wife
early traditional Japanese woodworkers special. Things take time. You have to Shuko. All the students were so focused
and modern greenwoodworkers both used be patient while questions, thoughts and and concentrated by the atmosphere, and
green wood, which made a lot of sense. ideas move from English to Japanese and one of them shed tears while expressing
Now he carves all his products while then back to English. It cultivates clarity, their impressions of the class.
the material is wet, applying no finish on patience, and more importantly; empathy. Kotaro enjoyed his first experience of
spatulas and ladles, but Japanese lacquer It’s natural that you want to understand teaching abroad particularly and is now
(urushi) on spoons. what’s being said even though you don’t keen to develop it more. Contact him via
The students came from various places know the words.” Instagram if you would like to invite him
with various background. They were Kotaro uses his original shaving horse at @koutarou_ohkubo. Kotaro and I must
hobbyist woodworkers, Jarrod’s students home to hold a workpiece. We prepared a thank Jarrod and Jazmin who invited us.
at North House Folk School, and one of simple wooden bar with a strap for each I look forward to seeing how Jarrod will
Jarrod’s former assistants who now works student. It held a workpiece well enough develop his craft with nankin kanna.
as an arborist and teaches craft at school. because Kotaro puts very gentle pressure
One student came from 1000 miles away. on nankin kanna while carving. Students You can follow Kotaro on Instagram
started carving a spatula on the wooden @koutarou_ohkubo. Visit
Translating Taking Time bar, and as they get used to the tool, woodspirithandcraft.com to learn more
The class started quietly and slowly. Kotaro gradually introduced various ways about Jarrod and Jazmin or follow on
Kotaro talked and I translated little by little. to hold the workpiece with his body; on Instagram @woodspirithandcraft. For
Jarrod described it in his blog: “Taking his knee, against his chest. Then students diamond stones visit komonjapan.com and
a class taught in a foreign language is followed him. Several students carved three for spokeshaves sugitasosaku.thebase.in.

Satisfied students, with

Masashi at the front,
Adjusting the depth of cut second from the right
with a mallet. Notice the
strap on the shaving horse @quercusmagazine Winter 2023 45
JIGMAKING • Roland Eugster, Switzerland

Precision in Jigs
Needing to prepare splines for a jewellery box, Roland Eugster discovers the art of jigonomics

The box, trays and dividers are from sipo Roland Eugster works in communications when
mahogany and sycamore wood. For the dividers, he’s not in his workshop. We came across him
Roland used his shop-made thicknessing jig on Instagram (@thequietwoodworker)

M
y workshop is in the basement of my house, 30 minutes bottles of essential oils. The sides of the carcase and of the inside
outside Zurich. It measures a cosy 10x10ft. While my tray were mitred. So, they needed to be reinforced with keys. My
main job is in corporate communications, woodworking idea was to plane the strips by hand, 4mm thick for the box and
is my true joy in my spare time. I’ve always been passionate 0.8mm thin for the inside tray to match the kerf of my dozuki saw.
about working with wood. Growing up in the mountains of central Planing narrow, thin strips to consistent thickness freehand is
Switzerland, my Dad also had a shop in the basement; that’s where doable but can be tricky. Doing some research, I came across an
my love for the material was born. I enjoy everything about wood: article about a kumiko thicknessing jig. I can’t recall the source
the versatility, the smell of freshly cut shavings, and the tactile now, but you can find the jig I made overleaf.
experience of working with it. As a boy, I always had access to the
material, but not to good tools. And the workbench was wobbly Man vs. Machine
too. The local school Most of the woodworkers that I follow come from either England,
had taken it out of the US, or Canada. One of my favourites is Frank Strazza. But it
service and my dad was Tom Fidgen who inspired me to try hand-tool woodworking.
saved it from being When my children reached a certain age, I had the necessary
discarded. Actually, it’s free time to pursue my woodworking passion. About six years
the same bench that I ago I decided to set up a woodshop with machines. So, I did
still use today, except my research on YouTube and ran across Tom who was doing
that I reconstructed everything by hand.
the entire underframe, At first, I thought this approach was foolish. Why go to the
and flattened the top. trouble of doing everything by hand? But I quickly discovered
It now works like a that this was the solution to my many problems: the lack of space
Fitting Brusso stop hinges, which charm. and budget for machines, and the danger/noise/dust. Hand-tool
allow the lid to remain open at 95°
Two years ago, I was woodworking opened a new world to me that keeps getting better.
making a box for my It’s just wonderful to have all my tools and a sharpening station at
wife to hold 70 little arm’s length.
46 Winter 2023 @quercusmagazine
 Roland Eugster, Switzerland • JIGMAKIING

Roland’s basement workshop is about 10x10ft

A bandsaw is the one thing that I occasionally miss. I do have fit tray and what David Savage called a Rolls-Royce door lid. Even
access though to a nearby sawmill that provides an open wood when you let the open lid fall shut, it doesn’t close with a bang but
shop for clients with all the machines you’d ever want. There are softly and quietly on a cushion of air. All you have to do is chamfer
two bandsaws, one with a narrow blade and one with a wide blade, the protruding liners at a specific angle.
a giant planer and thicknesser. Most of the time I find myself doing Then after Covid I did a third course with the Atlantic Maker
everything by hand anyway. In the time it takes to drive there, set Collective in Bude, Cornwall, England. Among others, the
up the machine, and drive back I can resaw a board by hand! collective was set up by Jonathan Walter, whom I also met at
Once a year I take a week off just for woodworking. During that Rowden where he teaches marketing. We only spoke briefly but
week I attend a woodworking course to become more proficient subsequently started following each other on Instagram. That’s
with hand-tools. Sadly, it didn’t work out this year. Israel Martin in how I learned that he founded the collective together with a couple
Spain, whom I admire a lot, is on my short list for next year, among of other alumni from Rowden. They combine the craft of fine
others. I took inspiration from his bookcase and made a slightly woodworking with upholstery under one roof in a big workspace
larger version for my daughter. It turned out the be the most and provide a fantastic environment for learners like me.
challenging project I’ve undertaken to date. There are so many So many people, me
new skills to learn with every project. In the case of the bookshelf, included, spend most of the
it was sliding dovetails, decorative beadings (with a shop-made day sitting in front of a screen
scratchstock), and crown/base mouldings (with side parts held in with no physical result to
position on sliding dovetails rather than glue for wood movement). show at the end of the day.
Most woodworking schools offer standardised one-week Creating something in the real
courses tailored to the beginning woodworker. Back in 2018, such world ads an immense joy and
a course was just what I was looking for. And I found it at the satisfaction. For me, that’s
Rowden Atelier in North Devon, England. That was shortly before woodworking with hand tools.
David Savage, founder of the school, sadly died. The following
year I went to Fabrizio Lo Faro in Sicily who also trained at Follow Roland on Instagram
Rowden. He taught me how to build a jewellery box with a piston- @thequietwoodworker. +
JIGMAKING • Roland Eugster, Switzerland

Thicknessing Jig
Roland’s device for preparing strips for a box

T he thicknessing jig is made from scraps of ply or MDF to

ensure the baseboard is true and flat. The side walls guide
the plane as it moves back and forth, with the plane riding on
side rails. They are as narrow as the width between the blade
edge and the sides of the body. At the end of the jig there is a
stop to hold the workpiece in place. In my case it’s one mill
(1/32in) lower than the side rails so the blade won’t touch it.
My bed for the workpiece is 12mm deep (1/2in). Using shims
of various thicknesses, you can raise your workpiece to plane
it to any thickness you want.

The thicknessing jig

(above) can be used to
plane two strips at the
same time. From above
(left) you can see how
the plane runs on rails,
with the end stop
just lower than the
rails. Shims of various
thickness(right) are
used to raise the
workpiece. Below is the
original sketch Roland
drew before making
the thicknessing jig

48 Winter 2023 @quercusmagazine

 Roland Eugster, Switzerland • JIGMAKIING

A Question of Spline
The thicknessing jig Roland made was
set to produce splines for a mitred
Intelligent Hands
jewellery box and its mitred tray. The Nick Gibbs reviews two books with similar names
The splines for the box body are
grooves for the box splines (which 4mm thick and made from
were assembled with the tape sycamore (above)
technique, below) are routered and
needed 4mm thick splines. The
grooves on the tray were hand sawn to
R oland Eugster joined a
short course at Rowden
Atelier, the long-standing
accept splines planed to 0.8mm to and world-renowned fine
match the kerf of the dozuki saw woodworking school David
Roland was using. Savage ran in North Devon.
“Rowden has had a lasting
and highly transformative
impact on my woodworking
Roland made a simple jig for his even though I was only there
dozuki saw to cut the grooves for for a one-week course. I met
splines on the mitred tray many inspiring people and
am still in touch with some
of them. Sadly, I never got
the chance to speak to David Savage,” Roland tells us. The
book was published in 2018 by Lost Art Press, shortly after
David’s death from cancer the next year. The 290-page
hardback follows, largely, the design and making of a pear
desk and chair for his widow, Carol.
I was particularly drawn because I knew the highly-
respected maker, tutor and writer fairly well having worked
with him as a contributor for two magazines. We share a
passion for pear, bought from the same supplier, Robert
The sides of the box are assembled
with the tape technique using Smith’s Timberline in Kent. “The Swiss grow these trees as
masking tape to join them shade along roads,”he writes, “and steam it to kill beetles.
consecutively, squeezing as the The lovely thing about pear is that it has not the graphics –
pieces are pulled together (left). the grain lines – of other timbers. What is does have is a
The linings of the box (above) are subtle colour shift.” I’ve found it is also easy to carve and
chamfered for an air cushioned takes stain well.
lid closure named the Rolls-Royce Chris Schwarz tells me that the production of The
door lid by David Savage Intelligent Hand was a great challenge, with the end fast
approaching. The book follows David’s life from early
bankruptcy, his move to Bideford Workshops, the tools he
selects and how he sharpens them, and on to the making of
the bench his student construct early in the journey. It is
design and philosphy that dominates the prose. On his travels
he met the, Thomas Hucker, the American furniture designer.
“Why do you push to develop these great designs that
challenge accepted conventions? Designs that effectively
prevent you getting a huge audience.” Anyone approaching
retirement will may doubt their oncoming future,
empathising with Hucker’s response. “If I didn’t do this,” he
replied, “I wouldn’t know who I was.” The book ends with
David facing the ultimage retirement by inspiring us all to
keep trying to improve. “Work to become the best version of
yourself, the best version that you can possibly become.”
Charlotte Abrahams and Katy Bevan’s much smaller
softback, Intelligent Hands, Why Making is a Skill for Life
(£19.99, 140pp) is a rallying call for practical education, with
specific chapters on outdoor
education and slöyd. Creative
education is in decline and the
ripples are being felt in wider
society. There is a foreword by Jay
Blades and 15 people who’ve found
their careers through their hands.

Visit quicktornbooks.com or follow

A cradle jig supports the box to rout the grooves for the splines that strengthen
the mitres. The router table may not meet Quercus’ rules, but allows the maker @quickthornbooks.
to achieve precise grooves for perfectly fitting splines

@quercusmagazine Winter 2023 49

TIMBER • Pear wood with David Savage

Properly Peared
Championing a unique fruitwood, David Savage posthumously celebrates the qualities of pear

PHOTOMATTLACEY
ear is one of the most sensual and
David French polishing a pear
satisfying of hardwoods that a
drop-leaf table with students
furniture-maker can encounter. The
structure of the wood is hard, so hard that
the sharpest of tools are required to work
it. So you can cut the finest of details and
form the most delicate of shapes. It is
also, unlike almost any other hardwood,
without figure. I say without figure meaning
without the usual graphics of timber. Pear
hasn’t lines running through it, but instead
has a colour shift. Mostly it is a dark fleshy
colour, pinky brown perhaps, shifting to
orangey or purpley brown on either side.
On rare occasions you can get dark purple
heartwood but that is rare. Generally the
colour of pear is the colour of flesh.
Unlike our other exotic species, pear is
sensitive to work. Hand-tools take silky
shavings, and there’s no need to scrape
and scratch as interlocking grain is rare.
It’s what I call a well-mannered wood.
Pleasant to be with. It doesn’t stink or
make you feel itchy or scratchy, it doesn’t
get up your nose, it’s a nice wood to be
around. In fact one of the most pleasant
things about it is the way it works. The
way fine silky shavings will come off with a
well-sharpened bench plane. The way new
hues and colours are exposed with each
shaving. Working with pear is a genuine
sensuous experience, and one that should
be cherished.

First Pear Encounter

I first came in touch with pear wood more
than 30 years ago when I read about it
in books by James Krenov. I then found
myself a dealer near Bristol who had
recently felled a small log of English pear.
If I was prepared to buy the whole lot About that time an old craftsman said in each direction. I think I got a few small
he would mill it up for me to the sizes something to me that has stayed. He pieces of furniture from that stack but
I wanted. I’d never dried timber before said: “In timber, lad, there’s as much joy nothing very much larger than a jewellery
and my London workshop hadn’t much as heartache.” I didn’t know that this box. Needless to say that was the last time
space for me, let alone for stacks of half- was going to be one of those heartache I’ve attempted to dry English pear.
dry wood. But I did have a flat roof that moments. The Handbook of English
I thought would be a suitable place to Hardwoods, which was the reference book Swiss Pear
stack some pear. I read what to do, got the I used at the time said: ‘Pear wood is a Most of my pear these days comes from
timber home, dragged it up three flights of timber inclined to twist on drying,’ which Switzerland. The Swiss are wonderful
stairs, stickered it out with 1in square sticks is why I put the concrete blocks on top of people and they grow pear as a shade tree
at 12in intervals so air could circulate, and the drying stack. What I should have done in many of their cities. The pear wood they
covered it with corrugated iron to keep the was add a couple of Land Rovers. My grow is steamed as a part of the drying
direct sun off the boards. I sat back and precious pear boards dried that summer process. The steaming slightly changes
looked with satisfaction at my precious and were transformed into unusual wooden the colour of the timber from being pale
stack of soon-to-be exquisite furniture. propellers. Each board twisted 1in to 2in fleshy pink to a slightly darker, redder
50 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine
PHOTOMATTLACEY Pear wood with David Savage • TIMBER

The pear desk and chair were made for David’s wife Carol. “We have made
lots of chairs over the years,” David wrote in his excellent book, The
Intelligent Hand. “I wanted a chair that would sum this up in one piece.”

fleshy pink. It is done to remove and kill on the tree is coarse but the sapwood, like very occasionally chairs, and I can safely
the huge borers that can munch their way cherry, is almost indistinguishable from say it has been one of the most enjoyable
through the entire tree. I found a few of the heartwood, meaning you can use the timbers I’ve ever used. Now just ‘cos I say
these borers in my stack of propellors. timber almost from edge to edge. so don’t go out and cause a world shortage
They made gigantic holes, not just down You do have to be careful for what you by buying it all.
the sweet sapwood but right in the middle use pear. It is in scarce supply and it is a
of the heartwood, and you found them relatively expensive timber. Also it’s not David founded a teaching workshop
only by putting the board over the jointer. available in really big boards so it would in 1995, Rowden Atelier, inspiring
Suddenly your immaculate board now had be unusual to find a dining table being woodworkers in furniture making and
a great long hole in it and you’d shaved the made in pear wood, certainly in solid form, design excellence. It continues to
top off this living creature, yeuch! Steamed though I have seen veneered pear wood teach ambitious and award-winning
pear has great attractions. It’s not an boardroom tables on rare occasions. Over cabinetmakers through a team that
enormous tree the pear, but I’ve found in the years I have made small cabinets and worked with David directly. You can
my time boards coming from Switzerland small occasional tables and card tables find more about the workshop in Devon at
can be 10ft long and 30in wide. The bark in solid pear, plus wall-hung cabinets and rowdenatelier.com.
Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 51
 TOOLS & TOOLMAKERS

Handworks 2023
After six years of expectation and hope, Handworks returns to Iowa with more than 70 exhibitors

T
he last Handworks, that highly
respected show for anyone, in the
USA mostly, wanting to work wood
by hand was held in 2017, well before
Quercus was born. That we were invited
this time reflects our growing contribution
to that world, but more than anything it
gave us the opportunity to scan many
significant toolmakers, publishers and
retailers, plus some celebreties. We found
new products, a reaffirmation of classic
ones, and an introduction to people we’d
only known by reputation or email.
Elsewhere in The Edge we’ve been able
to take a close look at tools and books we
found, including some from Veritas/Lee
Valley, a couple of Tools for Working Wood
innovations, Blue Spruce’s recent launches
and a small sliding bevel from Hillview
Tools, plus a couple of books on the Lost
Roy entertaining the crowd (above) and a
Art Press stand, not to mention Will Adams,
morning queue approaching the car park full
the cover star of QM20. Other surprises of classic Porsches
we found included a remarkable new
saw designed by Dave Jeske, the Sloyd
Experience, and as a little apres ski, a poem
by Roy Underhill.
Handworks is held in the Amana
Colonies, Iowa, 10 miles west of Cedar
Rapids (where we stayed) and four hours
from Chicago (where we landed). The
history of Amana Colonies, which is a makes a significant quantity itself in the get into the barn. They were keen to watch
National Historic Landmark and one large workshops behind the shop, where Roy Underhill opening the show, and meet
of America’s longest-living communal we sent our copies of Quercus for the Chris Schwarz to get his autograph. That’s
societies, begins in 1714 in Germany show. Stands were set up for Handworks in exactly what we did later for the cover
when followers of the Pietism religious part of the workshop, with two barns rented of QM12, across his own face and then
movement, later called the Inspirationists, for the largest number of exhibitors. Megan Fitzpatrick’s across the photo of her
sought refuge in America, leaving their We were in a marquee on the side of on the back page.
homelands in 1843. They looked towards an open building, the most prestigious First on the left as they entered the barn
Iowa where the prices were affordable shandholders were in the main barn, visitors can’t have missed Dave Jeske
and the land fertile. They named the place with a row of Porsches outside because exhibiting his radical (and expensive) new
Amana, meaning ‘remain true’, and by Benchcrafted’s Abrahams brothers, who saw he was launching at Handworks.
1861 seven villages had been established. run Handworks, are 911 fanatics, along Resembling a little the Knew Concepts
Residents received a home, medical care, with planermaker, Konrad Steiner (who’d coping saws, it is, according to Dave “a
meals, all household necessities and come from Canada), and others. If only we lightweight joinery saw for making precise
schooling for their children. could have taken Posh, our 924, as hand cuts in smaller scale work such as drawers,
The streets remain historic, with a thriving luggage to Chicago. boxes and small cabinets.” As he promises,
community today. One such enterprise is First thing on Friday 1st September there it does cut through wood like butter and
the Amana Furniture and Clock, which now was a queue of visitors across the car park, leaves a perfect finish. It has a 0.008in
sells a wide range of its own goods, and oggling the classic cars, but in fact dying to thick blade that can be replaced and never

52 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

 Handworks, USA

Three Quercus cover stars (from left): Anne of

All Trades (QM15), Ethan Sincox (QM01) and
Jenny Bower (QM04), and the engraved tape
Jenny kindly gave Quercus (below left), and Chris
Schwarz (Q12) (below right) & a young helicopter
helper on the Sloyd Experience stand (bottom)

An amateur using Jeff Miller’s fluting machine

(top left) and Dave Jeske (a skilled pro, above)
demonstrating his new saw (left)

was able to introduce us to volunteers and

Roy ‘Chuck Yeager’
sell us a TCT scarf.
Underhill (right)
needs to be testing his skill as a Amongst the acquaintances we’d
sharpened, helicopter pilot, then never met in person was Joel Moskovitz,
with specially as a poet: representing his Tools For Working Wood,
designed who stock Quercus and was introducing
30tpi teeth, ‘When a maple seed a great mini drawknife for spooncarvers
cutting on the Spirals from the tree which can be used with or without handles.
push stroke Does it dream and Joel has already sent us a knife (tested
in a Western Hope to be elsewhere) and a handle-fitting kit, which is
A mighty maple
style push as yet unused, mainly because even with
Tree once more?
configuration. A Japanese master saw And then be shaped the bolts that would hold wooden handles
sharpener once told Quercus that the push As the seed before in place, it still feels amazing without
stroke is in fact the finest, Japanese saws To fly upwards them. It and the new Veritas rules were our
only pulled because the blades are too fine Towards the sky favourite tools from the show, and we were
to be pushed. A lark from human fascinated by the new treadle lathe being
“The blade is held in tension,” Dave Hand and eye?’ developed by Tools For Working Wood.
explains, “with an engineered carbon fibre We also spent some time with the Sloyd
and aluminium frame to maxime stiffness Woodwright) and Ethan Sincox (The Kilted Experience who helped us make a hand-
and precision cutting.” There is a traditional Woodworker). Edward was able to see the made helicopter, which we then took to
handle, which makes use as comfortable stand he’d built for us as well as the one Roy Underhill to see how well he might fly
and controlable as Dave promises. The he’d coincidentally constructed for Mortise a wooden toy. It turns out he is a fine pilot,
downside is that the standard model costs & Tenon Magazine. You could see the two as you can see as one of our Instagram
$235, with more expensive upgraded designs facing each other across the way. posts. Between Roy, who was sitting with
versions having fancy wood handles. Jenny was handing over the marvellously the Abraham brothers who were a pleasure
A piece of good fortune was to find engraved Lie-Nielsen block plane prize for to meet, and Lee Valley (where Ron Hock
Will Adams of Honey Brook Tools and Toby Watson, for the winner of our Young told us all about the planes James Krenov
Woodwork a few stands beyond us, Woodworker of the Year. His initials are designed), was Jeff Miller, demonstrating
Blue Spruce next door and Jenny Bower scrolled into the beautiful engraving, and his hand-powered fluting machine. So it
opposite, just beside Leather by Dragon, he tells us that the plane is loved by fellow was taking circuits, even regretfully missing
who were selling their multi-pocketed students at Rycotewood Furniture Centre folk, and rarely even speaking to potential
aprons, which we sadly couldn’t afford in Oxford. Jenny, who was on the cover readers who would buy copies by putting
to compare with the Veritas, Carhartt and of QM04, has kindly given us a delightful $5 into our honesty box. More dollars filled
Community Clothing ones we have been classic retracting tape, with Imperial that box than our own hands, which tells
giving a go this issue. It was fabulous to measures on both sides, and a simple you much about our travels around the
meet Jenny, especially as she had Anne locking mechanism. Near us was The remarkable Handworks 2023. May there be
of All Trades, Edward Bouvier (The Village Chairmakers Toolbox, so Aspen Golann many more, with or without Quercus.

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 53

Toolmakers Blue Spruce, USA

Spruced-Up Chisel
Is it a chisel, is it a plane? Ian Parker tests Blue Spruce’s new Optima Chisel Plane

Ian testing the Optima Chisel Plane on dovetails

I
have been a fan of Blue Spruce tools dig in and ‘dive’ into the workpiece, often it by cleaning some glue squeeze out
since 2016 when one of my students with disastrous affect. Having an adjustable between boards. Normally I would raise
opened his tool box to reveal an iron means you can retract the blade ever the blade of my chisel plane to only skim
exquisite set of mirror polished, fluted so slightly, take a few initial passes and the surface and remove just the bulk of the
handled chisels; “wow, what luxury”. gradually lower the blade to ‘flush’ for the glue before flattening the boards with hand
So when Quercus magazine offered final cut. This method is particularly helpful planes in the usual way.
me two new tools to try out I was more when working on veneered or other delicate Being the flush-cut type means that the
than willing. I am currently building a surfaces you could tear. plane has to reference off of the board’s
transportable version of my ‘split top’ The Blue Spruce tool is the flush cut surface and although it slices effortlessly
bench so this would provide plenty of non-adjustable type and is a very modern- through the glue, the moment it meets a
opportunities as a realistic test bed. looking tool. A mirror polished blade is slightly raised adjoining board, particularly if
There are typically two types of chisel attached with a single machine screw the grain direction changes, then it instantly
plane. One being a flush cut version, where and locating pin to securely attach it to takes a dive. To have more control I found I
the blade forms the sole of the plane and the anodised aluminium body. A small was pushing the plane at a skewed angle to
has some sort of handle attached directly hardwood pad (tote), sits slightly raised take more of a slicing cut. This way it had
to it. The other, more traditional version, on the body and the whole tool has all the far less tendency to dive and just stroked
has the blade sitting at the end of a low hallmarks of precision CNC machining. the high spots.
angle plane body and has adjustment for Aesthetically it is totally different to the The second most common use is for
depth of cut. Chisel planes are commonly usual cast iron, brass or bronze tools. trimming protruding dowels or dovetails.
used to trim protruding dowels, to clean Being used on finished parts, such as
dried glue squeeze out and basically to Glue Squeeze-Out a drawer side, means that the flush cut
‘flush’ surfaces. So why might we have an I do have an adjustable type chisel plane type can be used immediately without any
adjustable option? and use it a lot, so I was keen to see how fiddly adjusting. The piece I’m making is
Well, chisel planes do have a tendency to this version compares. First of all I tested from pine and so is perhaps not such a

54 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

 Easy Finishes

Milky & Oily

Two finishes with Cornish links

Odie’s Oils are labelled as Mr. Odysseus

Cornwall’s, and there is also a Wood
Butter Wax. Both give a fabulous finish we
recommend, to a soft lustre which seems
protect as well have a lovely aroma. They
The flush cut type of chisel plane can be used are available in UK at odiesoil.co.uk or you
immediately without any fiddly adjusting when can follow
working on dovetails (above) them
@odiesoil.
We will
The Chisel Plane certainly be
with cocobolo using them
handle. There is also in the future
a resin ash version

H andworks has rather taken space

we’d like to have given to a pair of
finishes, both with Cornwall on the label.
Both are really easy to apply in their
different ways, and produce a flat, smooth
finish that’s ideal for wood. The Cornish
Milk Mineral Paints, which we’ve used on
drawer fronts in a new kitchen, give a
Blue Spruce had their bevel guide at lovely chalky effect, and the company is
Handworks, which is ever so thick and has based near Truro. A 250ml tin will go
angles from 200 to 450, in 50 steps, and hole quite distance if you are making chairs or
for hanging at one’s sharpening station similar. Odie’s Oils are based in Florida,
and made in the USA, but now have a
challenge to cut. But with its sharp blade If it had a tote the same size as, or slightly distributor in the UK and are well worth a
it sliced through my tails to trim them flush narrower than the blade, then this tool go. It is a relief to have something in the
with ease. At just 142g the Blue Spruce is would prove to be very useful for this most workshop so easy to apply that gives a
less than a quarter the weight of my other common operation. great finish with such a lovely aroma.
chisel plane and so I do wonder if it I appreciate that a narrower tote might
lacks the ‘heft’ necessary to cope with a be ever so slightly less comfortable to
dense hardwood. hold. But when in use a chisel plane is
Another use where chisel planes excel is handled only for very short periods of time.
cleaning glue squeeze out from the inside Despite this slightly frustrating design, I did
corners of boxes. You might use a paring find that I was reaching for the tool often.
chisel to cut downwards, but to cut with the Particularly in conjunction when using my
grain from inside a box or drawer, requires shooting boards, as it was the ideal tool
either a crank handled chisel or a chisel to nip off any break out fibres and to make
plane. This should be the ideal task for the freshly cut edges crisp. In my opinion it is
Blue Spruce chisel plane. this finessing of delicate work that most
suits the proportions of this lightweight
Smallest of Boxes precision tool.
With its low weight and small proportions I am confident that the Blue Spruce will There are 27 colours of Cornish Milk
allowing it to fit in all but the smallest become a favourite in my tool collection. Mineral paints, which are water-
of boxes. However, this potential use is based and environmentally friendly,
simply impossible. The Blue Spruce costs $120 with details at with organic earth pigments. Visit
Because the tote is wider than the blade, bluesprucetoolworks.com or at cornishmilkmineralpaint.co.uk, or follow
when used on its side the blade can not blue_spruce_toolworks, or in the UK at @cornishmilkmineralpaint
reach the very bottom of an internal corner. Classic Hand Tools.

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 55

Toolmakers Veritas & Lee Valley, Canada

Plowing the Veritas Way

Of all the things to find are a ruler and the maker of so many specialist tools, writes Nick Gibbs

I
was introduced to Veritas a proper edge against which
You’ll be lucky to find a
and Lee Valley when Leonard to run. There is a raised spine
better rule than the new
Lee, to founder of it all, along the ruler’s length, which Veritas aluminium ones
came to the UK (and Cologne) refuses to flex and gives your
with tools he and his nascent fingers something to hold and
business had been making. reduce the risk of slippage.
I remember them so well, in It’s fortunate, in retrospect,
fact I still have some, notably that my favourite 6in ruler for
of all things the four lengths so many years went down on
of studding and corner pieces the top of David Charlesworth’s
that tightened as a mitred frame coffin (you can learn more
cramp. I’ve used them so often about that incident in QM13),
ever since. I passed a lot of as it would have been relegated
tools to friends when I stopped to one of the lower divisions
editing magazines in 2014, so where the rest of my rules live.
it was a happy event to meet However hard one tries, just as
Leonard’s son Robin, and one pillow is better them the
glance at the wide, wide range rest, there is only one tape or
of tools Veritas and Lee Valley rule one truely trusts, and from
have now, lusting after some now onwards it’ll be my a black
I couldn’t take home because Veritas 12in one.
security would only complain
when I’d try to get even, say, a Amazing Boxmakers
ruler through customs. Other products on the Veritas
And there stands the rub. stand at Handworks was the
When a pair of 6in and 12in Boxmaker’s Plow Plane, which
aluminium rulers did arrive we have already and have
by post, they confirmed what been using to bead, rebate and
I’d immediately thought, they groove frames and panels. It
were one of the two tops is so comfortable to hold, and
tools at Handworks, as far as though it doesn’t have spurs
I am concerned. “What’s so nor mechanical adjustment, it
good?” you might ask. Well works well, though whether it is
you can buy them in various worth the £165 price is a matter The Boxmakers Plow
configurations of Imperial of opinion. Plane may cost a
and/or metric, and that I have Over the two days at small fortune, but it’s
chosen one edge of each Handworks I met plenty of a beauty for grooving,
beading or rebating
proves that I am transmetric, or people I’d never even seen, and
transperial, uncertain where I it was a real pleasure to meet
stand. Actually I’m bi-measure, Ron Hock on the Veritas stand,
the sort of person who flits his business now part of Lee
depending on the length of the Valley. He had an original James The small Framer’s
job, I go to mm’s shorter than Krenov wooden plane, which Square (of various
sizes) is a versatile
6in (roughly), getting a bit inchy we tried to thieve, but he wasn’t
little critter
longer than that (roughly). letting it out of his sight. He
I suppose the ideal rule for told us that he’d been invited
me is the 12incher, but both to Popular Woodworking’s
sizes have graduations starting Plane Day a in 2005, and began
precisely from the left. There’s talking to James Krenov and
no need to mess around asked if he could borrow a
and start measuring at 10cm plane for the weekend. “Jim
because you don’t trust the said keep it, so I went home
first mm. It’s not just that. The with it.” Ron considers the
aluminium section has two fine plane special because beneath
‘strips’ beneath and set back the iron is blue masking tape.
a fraction so the rule doesn’t “He had to raise the iron a little.
wander and the point of the It’s not exact,” Ron said, “but it
knife, or that of a pencil, has is special.”

56 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

 Fittings

The Smarter Stop

A British way to keep box lids up

What a pleasure it was at Handworks to meet Ron Hock, whose irons you
A box lid tipping just enough with a
will have encountered in the planes made by independent toolmakers
pair of smartButt hinges (below)

I f you ask a fine furniture-maker how to fit a hinged box lid

traditionally with recesses along the back, the chances are they’ll
point you the Brusso way. These have been the only quality option
for many decades, and work well, except that when seen from the
back they have a square knuckle, which is unconventional. Now
smartWare have introduced their smartButt stop hinges. These
British-made solid brass hinges keep a lid ‘vertical’ just enough to
stop them from dropping back.
The Boxmakers Plow Plane has been used for grooving the pear wood frame
of a box lid, with rebating the bog oak easier than expected We thought these might be too vertical, with not enough tip
backwards, and certainly you might see them that way, nervous
If you look carefully that the lid might drop forwards. However, when we made a box on
at this Veritas 6in a course at Furniture Cr t School and compared the two types of
rule you can see hinge, the smartButt’s higher more vertical tip makes it look more
that there is metric professional, and there’s no risk of drop.
on one side and
Imperial on the
The knuckle on Brusso hinges has to stick out further as the
other. Whichever knuckle pin can’t align with the back of the box back lid, which
side you use has means there is a wider gap between the lid and the back of the box .
the numerals With a smartButt that gap is as narrow as is possible and the
working from the knuckle doesn’t stick out any ther than you might expect.
left making it so SmartButts are about £2.00 more than an equivant Brusso.
much easier to use
either way, because A pair of SmartButt hinges costs £45.95 from tboxmaker.com.
many of us are
bi-metric, moving
from one measure The knuckle is not
to the other only nicely rounded,
but it protrudes the
distance you’d expect
of any hinge, let alone
one with a stop

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 57

 Toolmakers New York, USA

Handling a Drawknife
Forever loving a little Windsor Workshops wooden spokeshave, Nick Gibbs falls for a small drawknife

P
lease don’t see this as a a handle kit to give the little get the gist of the thing. You a bit of both, a bit of everything
coincidence, that Tools beauty a bit more umph, and could argue, and I’m sure you really, and though I do like the
for Working Wood and I find myself drawn between won’t be alone, that in being Veritas rules, it comes out as
Lee Valley have been our key delicacy and power. By instinct neither one thing (spokeshave) certainly most interesting Tool
supporters in the USA and that I am a spokeshave user. I like to nor the other (drawknife) it falls of the Show, and only time will
their stands at Handworks were hold the handles very lightly in into a never-never land between tell if love lasts. I’m tempted to
across the aisle, but it’s hard my fingers, working fast, from the two, but I don’t care, it think it will.
to decided between the Veritas the elbows, down through the was love at first sight and I still And while we’re on the
aluminium rules and TFWW’s wrists and to knuckles. I don’t enjoy the way one’s fingers can subject of Joel’s approach to
new Spoon Maker’s Drawknife enjoy using the full weight of go through the bent tangs, or tools by way of the Gramercy
as Tool of the Show. I’ll use the the body to pull a drawknife wrap around them. You can tug Tools brand, the new dovetail
rule more often at the bench, blade through the wood. waste away, especially on wet marker is certainly a twist on an
but it’s the tiny drawknife that At least that used to be the wood, then take the fine cuts existing idea acting as a square
rocks my boat. Love at first case, but now I’ve found a tool for making spoons or perhaps as well as a 0:8 dovetail marker,
shave. Not only does it glitter with which you can have a bit chop sticks. so it can be used for marking
and shine, it rests in one’s of both. As Joel says, Tools for every part of the pins and the
hands so easily, despite the I haven’t fitted wooden Working Wood aims to devise tails, except perhaps the depth
razor-sharp edge being quite so handles, but the bolts that are innovative ideas, or put a new line, though surely Joel will be
close to one’s fingers. part of the kit can be held as twist on traditional ways. The working on that as well. And
Joel Moskowitz has designed pseudo versions, and you soon Spooncarvers’ Drawknife does there’s the Bevel Guide.

The small drawknife

being used for fine work
on the handles

The Spoon Maker’s Drawknife might not have the elbow

for working on chair legs, but is brilliant for reducing
smaller blanks, especially greenwood (above). The Handle
Hardware Kit (below) fits on the ends of the blade

The handled drawknife ready for use

58 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

 Tools for Working Wood

Treadle Turning
Joel Moskowitz reveals his latest idea

T
ools for Working Wood is a seller of
The Gramercy Tools Dovetail Guide woodworking tools from all over the
has 1:8 angle along one edge and world, and also a toolmaker, under the
900 on the other to make it versatile names Gramercy Tools (a tribute to our former
for marking up pins and tails location near Gramercy Park in Manhattan)
and Brooklyn Tool & Craft, aka BT&C (a
tribute to our current location in Brooklyn) of
speciality hand-tools. Our goal in toolmaking
is to bring entirely new products to life or give
an innovative spin to an existing tool category.
The Gramercy Tools Folding Treadle Lathe
is our take on a full-sized classic treadle lathe,
updated for living in the 21st Century. It’s
practical, intensely satisfying to use and Joel at his prototype folding treadle lathe
offers exercise and balance benefits in the
bargain. It’s great news for people like us who
know we should be less sedentary but hate definition the power comes from your foot.
The Dovetail Guide is square across going to the gym. If you stop pedaling, it will stop spinning.
the top of tails (above), angles down Has anyone ever made a folding treadle Because there’s a lot less energy in the
the tail (below), and the other way lathe? We haven’t been able to find a record process than there would be with even a small
for pins of one. Treadle lathes were the de facto home motor, chips don’t fly all over the room; they
lathe until the 1920s. Pole lathes are great, but mostly just fall on the floor. The lathe can take
they are not as compact, and a lathe with its work up to 12in in diameter and 38in long.
continuous circular motion is more versatile. The current flywheel is an assembly of
The folding feature comes from our base in parts so we can play with weights and other
a space-starved city, but the ability to unfold components. The production version will
the lathe, use it for a bit, not be too worried probably be cast but you’ll also be able to
about danger, make something, then fold it up bolt-on additional weights for more weight
and roll it away will hopefully appeal to a wide and heavier work. The headstock, tailstock
range of woodworkers. and banjo will all be cast, probably out of
The Gramercy Tools Folding Treadle Lathe aluminum, to save weight so that the lathe
is a real lathe with 12in swing and a 23in, 35lb folds better.
flywheel. You will be able to bolt additional We’re still working on a production-ready
weights to the flywheel should you wish to model. It turns out it’s harder to produce than
make heavier cuts, but 35lbs is a good starting we initially hoped. We brought a prototype
point. The lathe uses standard MT2 drivers folding lathe to the 2023 Amana Handworks
and 1in x 8tpi headstock thread so common show and got some great feedback. We aren’t
lathe accessories will fit. taking orders for the lathe yet, but we’ve been
keeping folks informed of our progress. Go
Designed for Real Work to the lathe’s product page on our website
It’s designed for real work. It’s considerably (toolsforworkingwood.com) and use the ‘email
safer than an electric lathe, because by me when back in stock,’ function.

As if a Spoon Maker’s Drawknife,

a prototype folding treadle lathe
and a double-edged Dovetail Guide
wasn’t enough, Tools for Working The treadle lathe is designed so
Wood were showing their Gramercy the chips don’t fly too far Flywheel is 35lb, but weights may be added
Bevel Guide for honing angles, with
anything from 100 to 600

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 59

 Toolmakers Compass Rose, USA

A Rose by Many Names

Rex Krueger has been growing a brand of his own, with original tools for planing, honing and routing

Y
ou may have noticed that we’ve
missed one of regular contributors,
the YouTube star, Rex Krueger. He
has been busy building his own brand of
tools, Compass Rose Toolworks. The first
of their tools has been the Hand Tool Hero
($39.99), which combines five multi-tool
functions specifically for bench planes, chip
breakers and hand saws, for slot-head and
split pins. It has a 250 gauge to check the
bevel on plane irons and chisels. The Hero
is machined in stainless steel, so won’t rust
or corrode, is made in the USA and smaller
than a silver dollar to fit in your pocket.
Then there’s the Ready-Set Planing Stop
($19.99). This is quite tall and awesome,
but is designed to act as a stop for a Using the installation bolt to fix the threaded
quick way to prepare stock. “It is easier insert. You have to get exactly the right drill bit
and faster than a tail vise because the for the insert to keep straight, and pare a housing
stop holds your work at a single point and for the blade the right width. The instructions are
leaves it free to be flipped or rotated,” says thorough for the making of the Router Plane
Rex. “Most stops are driven into a post and
mortised into the workbench, which is a Plane has an extra-large hardwood body
big modification to your bench. Our planing contoured for comfort, instead of a tricky
stop attaches to the benchtop with three mortise and wedge.”
screws in less than a minute.” The teeth are He is right to say that the router is
cut at 600, and there is safe-stop cover to quick to make, in an afternoon without
hide the teeth and to reduce any damage to any question; a bit longer if you have to
the edge if you are being careful. wait for the glue to harden. “These shop-
An even more significant new tool is the made tools were effective and affordable
Compass Rose Router Plane Kit ($55), for working craftspeople, now we have
which as Rex comments is the simplest reinvented the wooden router,” Rex says.
router plane to make, and notably includes
the wood for the body. “Our Router For details visit compassrosetools.com.

The Compass Rose Hero (above), which

was the company’s first tool and the
Ready-Set Planing Stop (below)

Cutting the recess to see the blade

The Compass Rose Router Plane Kit is so simple, with two with a Blue Spruce coping saw
ash blocks , a pair of blades, a brass thumbscrew and two
threaded inserts

60 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

Toolmakers Hillview Metal & Wood, USA

A View from the Hills

Openly a friend, Ethan Sincox applauds Hillview’s new small sliding bevel having waited a while

Kilt hidden, Ethan

uses the Hillview
bevel to ‘eye’ rake
and splay

The blade is locked with a The bevel sits on the

knob at the end of the stock stock perfectly

T
he Hillview Wood and Metal 4in bevel Instead, I contacted my friend, Tony, at Fortunately for me, Tony doesn’t have a
gauge is the hero we needed. And Hillview Wood and Metal. At that time, Tony problem working with ancient bog oak.
it’s the hero we got. Thanks to Tony only made 7in bevel squares and wasn’t The fit and finish of my 4in bevel, with
Rouleau, owner of this fantastic toolmaking comfortable making a smaller one out of 4,000-year-old bog oak inlaid into the
company, and some persistence by yours respect for Vesper Tools. But after Chris handle, is what you would expect from a
truly (my superpower is persuasive writing), (Vesper) announced he was no longer company who has been making quality
there are now multiple options for the 4in making tools, I contacted Tony again and tools for years now. The blade is a hefty
bevel gauge. I can finally end my search for begged him to offer the 4in option. He 1/8in thick and the locking mechanism
a small bevel gauge for making stick chairs. finally said he would look into it. holds it securely in place after you set it
The bevel gauge is also referred to as a About six months later, Tony announced at the desired angle. I originally started
sliding bevel, a T-bevel, a sliding square, on Instagram that he would soon be taking looking for a 4in bevel square to use with
and occasionally a ‘bevel guage’ (I’ve spent pre-orders for a new run of bevel gauges chairmaking, but soon realised it’s really a
a LOT of time looking for 4in bevel gauges and this next time around he would be great all-arounder. It fits into my shop apron
on eBay). Bevel gauges are regularly found making 4in versions as well as his existing or my on custom-made lamp base, so it’s
in the antique tool market (in the US, 7in ones. I put in my pre-order, as always, always handy.
anyway) and come in a variety of sizes. with my standard request for a custom- Currently the Hillview Wood and Metal
Sliding bevels with blades from 6in to 10in wood inlay. Tony replied that he would take 4in bevel square starts at US$189 with no
blades are quite common. Larger ones can care of things, making sure he’d have it inlay (solid brass) and a tool steel blade.
be found with a little work, but procuring ready for Handworks in September. And A brass body with standard wood inlay
smaller can be quite difficult. that’s where I picked it up, on Tony’s booth starts at $199. You can further customise
I’ve hunted for a small bevel gauge at Handworks. it with the Damascus blade and some
since I became interested in making stick This tool is beautiful, and it was custom engraving, $150 and up to $100,
chairs. This bevel is useful guiding the absolutely worth the wait. The Hillview respectively. For the record, I DID pay
proper rake and splay angles when you 4in bevel square is mostly just a smaller full retail price for mine. Tony also offers
drill mortises for the legs. I did try using a version of the 7in. The stock is made over a dozen different kinds of inlay as
larger bevel for this, but it kept getting in of solid 360 brass (unless you request standard choices, but he will also happily
the way of the brace I was using to drill a custom wood inlay in the handle, as work with your own custom piece of wood.
out the holes. I could only track down two I did) and the 4in blade comes in high Details about the 4in bevel square, and
contemporary companies mading 4in bevel carbon steel or Damascus steel. There all the other tools made at Hillview Wood
gauges: Vesper Tools, out of Australia, and is an upcharge for the latter. Each one is and Metal, can be found on their website,
Crucible Tools, an affiliate of Lost Art Press. stamped with a serial number, located on hillviewtool.com/info.
Unfortunately, Chris Vesper dropped out the end of the handle, near the locking
of the toolmaking industry last year, which mechanism. For longevity, all wood inlays, Follow Ethan Sincox on Instagram
just leaves Crucible. I enjoy tools that are excepting African blackwood and desert @thekiltedwoodworker and/or visit
personable to me; the Crucible model ironwood are stabilised in resin. Tony can’t thekiltedwoodworker.com, and Hillview at
seems a bit sterile for my preference. work with cocobolo because of allergies. hillviewtool.com, @hillview_tool.

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 61

 Mak at the Back Assembly & Glue-Ups
ps

Removing Squeeze-Out
Charles Mak covers a few ways of handling PVA squeeze-out

A
bead of glue squeeze-out on the surface of a joint tells
you that you have a well-glued joint (Pic.1). Which tool
to use to remove the squeeze-out will depend on when
you want to remove the glue. If the glue is still fresh, many use
a damp rag to remove the residue. While the wipe-with-a-wet-
rag method is simple and quick, if not done properly, you risk
smearing glue into the surrounding wood pores, which can be a
finish wrecker (Pic.2).
If you choose to wait until the glue is dried, a paint scraper is
the go-to removal tool. Scraping works best if the squeeze-out
is thin and small, reducing the risk of pulling out chunks of wood
(Pic.3). If the bead is thick, I would put some warm water on it
for a few minutes to soften the glue prior to scraping it.
The last option for cleaning up the glue is to do it while
the glue is somewhere between wet and totally dried. In this
approach, let the squeeze-out sit for half an hour or so until it
has reached a rubbery consistency. Then peel off the firm skin
cleanly with a sharp edge, such as a putty knife, chisel, or chisel
plane (Pic.4). If you have a beat-up old block plane, you can
easily modify it to work like a chisel plane (Pic.5).
Letting the glue skin over is my preferred method, but
regardless of how the clean-up is done, I always check for any
missed residue before proceeding to the finishing stage. Lastly,
I use mineral spirits or paint thinner rather than warm water for Gluing and clamping go
checking because the grain will not be raised. hand-in-hand for a typical assembly job

01 02
Aim for a thin bead of glue squeeze-
out when doing a panel glue-up

To prevent smearing, use a clean part

of the rag to remove the residue

03 04 A putty knife or a crank- 05

Scraping removes the hardened glue neck chisel is ideal for
as well as levels the glue line peeling off the skin

Cut the toe off of the block plane, and

shape the wings to a pleasing curve

62 Winter 2023 Quercus Magazine

Footnote

An Age to Go
The job to fulfill a dream is done, writes Nick Gibbs

born a Newcastle United

babygrow in 1996 and me faint
praise by way of stern words.
John longed to publish then,
with my help, The Anarchist
Woodworker, based on his
columns; an allegorical tale of
a retired businessman stranded
on an uninhabited island
with nothing but a chest of
tools for him to learn enough
woodworking skills to live and
Nick with Edward Bouvier finally escape.
on the way to Handworks In asking John to write for
Good Woodworking I had
veritastools.com
picked up a twig and later

T
wenty-one is a coming of the baton was passed to editor, keeping me on track,
age, a special moment Chris Schwarz, with which sharing ideas and warning me
in time for parents and he has run like the wind, that of blunders. No project like
children alike. So it is that this column helping to fuel LAP his straight-legged sawbench
issue, QM21, is set to be our and build a new enthusiasm (QM02) has been copied by
last together. Being invited to for making chairs, stick ones as many readers in all my time
Handworks, the most reputed in particular. I get emotional editing. He may not agree, but
show for working wood by reading Ethan Sincox’s article his article charting the history
hand and based in the USA, this issue using a 4in sliding of Gerrit Rietveld’s Red Blue
symbolised the respect we had bevel to make a stick stool. chair is, in my opinion, the best
been granted, and confirmed That passion confirms Quercus feature we have produced,
the dream John Brown and I has performed; done with the alongside David Savage’s
had to produce a magazine lightweight, rollable paper and comparison of two great
for chairmakers and hand-tool an illustrated cover (created by chairmaking Johns, Makepeace
enthusiasts had been met. Yet Lee John Phillips), that I had and Brown in the first issue.
what began as a plaything is always wanted to produce. David once asked the
now invading my life. Robin Lee and Richard Wile American designer and nor even an assistant for a
John and I knew our proposal of Lee Valley came immediately furniture-maker Tim Hucker father and son pair of ‘travelling
was ambitious, and while I to hand by ordering boxes of why he continued to make tree surgeons’.
did other things, he drove the Quercus to sell online and at such unconventional pieces, In six months time I may
idea onwards, getting Fine shops, and Classic Hand Tools pieces that may well not satisfy yearn to rekindle the Quercus
Woodworking to subscribe up have given me a personal and potential clients. “If I didn’t do flame, but for the moment, in
front. That Drew Langsner was commercial leg-up (hence that,” Tim Hucker replied, “I refunding all subscribers, we
ready to pay, confirms the value the ads). Others include Tom wouldn’t know who I was.” It have to assume that won’t be
of the concept. The green-eyed Lie-Nielsen and Joel & Sally scares me that I’ll feel that way the case. Even if you’d prefer,
monster in us both would envy at Tools for Working Wood. when QM21 goes to press. kindly, not to be repaid, the
the success of courses and Paul Hayden at Westonbirt pay-back process can only
publishers who have benefitted Woodworks has provided the Close at Hand be done for one and all, while
from a growing appreciation psychological support that’s Then, of course, there’s my digital subscribers will be
of stick chairs in general, and made him an empathatic friend family and my girlfriend Jane to credited by PocketMags to
Welsh ones in particular. and guide. thank. They have had to cope choose other online titles.
I felt a pang of jealousy I was lonely in 2020, and with my enthusiams, deadlines, Don’t forget there were only
watching a queue of fans at I’ve been reminded that I have absences, and frustrations, 12 episodes of Faulty Towers
the Lost Art Press stand in friendships around the world. not to mention my impetuous before John Cleese went on
Iowa, to shake Chris Schwarz’s On the contents page I nature and changing ambitions to do other things, never to
hand, meet Megan Fitzpatrick, have tried quietly to thank and hopes. They must now return. You must conclude that
and buy their books. From the contributors, but I’ve surely fear the void, previously it’s “Goodbye and Thank You”.
day we met in his power-free missed some and must add filled by mad searches for a I can go now to Wales and
kitchen beneath the Preseli that we’d never have survived new vocation. Never again, I whisper to John Brown’s ashes,
Hills in 1992 to his death in without Robin Gates (and his promise, will I be a Deliveroo scattered across his beloved
2008, John was a friend and inspiring wife Omi, who created rider, a country club warden, a hills, that we’ve fulfilled our
a father figure, giving my first Moki) as proofreader and sub- warehouse picker and packer, promise, and done Good Work.

Quercus Magazine Winter 2023 63

Carol’s chair designed and made
by David Savage in pear
Photo by Matt Lacey