Book Review: Make a Joint Stool from a Tree

I’m a sucker for Lost Art Press books, especially when you get an introductory sale price for a new book about to be published. I have enjoyed all the books I’ve purchased from them, so when “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” by Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee went on sale, I could not resist buying it.

 

If you enjoy hand tool work, you will most likely enjoy this book. It checks two boxes for me, history and woodworking, along with really going from log to completed project. Now will I fell a mighty oak tree and make a joint stool like they do in the book? Doubtful, but I learned a lot from reading about the process.

Alexander and Follansbee really do use 17^th century style tools from the boring to the painting. So you might be asking yourself; why wouldn’t Yaakov want to make a joint stool like they do in the book? Good question. It does look like fun and something I’d be interested in doing, but I simply don’t have the tools. Aside from dividers, a good workbench and a couple of chisels, I don’t have any of the required tools, and to be honest, I’m very happy with my 20^th and 21^st century tools.

That being said, there are a lot of hand tool techniques to be learned from this book. Chopping out mortises, cutting tenons, picking the right stock and draw boring are clearly explained and nicely illustrated.  Even the section on period paints was interesting. And I can’t forget to mention the section on turning using a spring (pole) action lathe. Would I ever bother with a foot powered lathe? No! But it certainly was interesting reading about his techniques. So many of the woodworking techniques used in the 17^th century still translates well to 21^st century woodworking.

If you enjoy using hand tools with your woodworking, then I think you will get a kick out this book. I can’t wait till the next Lost Art Press book comes out!

Drinking and Woodworking

When it comes to wives, I am a lucky guy. Why? How many wives encourage their husbands to drink beer? Well mine does! You know why? Because Passover is coming! The day after our Purim holiday, two words are spoken that make me groan; Passover cleaning. Oy Vey! I loathe Passover cleaning. The only good thing about cleaning the house for Passover is that beer and most liquors are wheat based, so we either have to throw it away, or drink it; therefore my wife encourages me to drink it. Think about how well this works; my wife is happy, I’m happy (and buzzed), and we are not pouring money down the drain. How cool is that!

So, in an effort to be a good husband, I have been drinking all the beer in the refrigerator. And to do that in style, one needs a beer bowl! So I made a very simple Norwegian beer bowl out of ash using my lathe. Wow, I got to combine woodworking and beer drinking in a safe way! For those of you who don’t know what a Norwegian beer bowl is, you can see my blog called Knockin’ em out. My bowl is about 8” wide and 3” tall. The bowl has a shellac (all bug natural) finish, and the exterior has a top coat of carnauba wax. I could have added more decoration to it because the ash is very plain, but after three or four bowls, who cares!

Bottoms up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finishing up

I’m sure that most of you…..well, maybe some of you…..okay okay, perhaps two of you (hopefully), remember my post about making a walking stick.

When I left off, I was looking for advice about fuming. I was honestly really excited to try it, but looking for information about how to do it was like asking ten Jews a question and getting twelve different answers. Data overload!

The biggest problem was finding the ammonia. I had no idea that you can’t just buy it at the supermarket. BTW, I absolutely loathe going to grocery stores. I am very thankful that my wife enjoys it. So in the essence of time, I gave up on the fuming idea. Sorry.

So what did I use? Danish oil. It did bring out the grain, so I applied a couple of coats. Once the Danish oil cured, I applied three coats of General Finish’s satin polyurethane. Next, I put it on the buffing wheels to polish it up and gave it a final application of carnauba wax for a protective shine.

Here’s the final product. It is laying on an afghan that my grandmother made for me back in the 1970’s. I hope my mother will use this walking stick for many, many, years to come.

My day with David Ellsworth

For those of us who are in the lessor known ranks of wood turners, a visit from David Ellsworth is certainly a big event.  I was lucky enough to host David when he came to Baltimore a couple of days ago to do a demo at the Baltimore Area Turners club.

For those of you who do not know who David Ellsworth is, this will give you a tiny glimpse of his rich bio:

Over the past thirty years, David Ellsworth has become known as one of the premier designers of turned wooden vessel forms. His work is included in the permanent collections of thirty museums and numerous private collections.

He is a Fellow of the American Craft Council, is a Trustee of the American Craft Council, and has received fellowship awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, and the PEW Fellowship for the Arts. He is the recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American Association of Woodturners and the Collectors of Wood Art, and he runs his own private school of woodturning at his home and studio in Buck’s County.

I know this might sound silly because I am a grown man, but I was down right giddy and nervous waiting for him to arrive. We had exchanged a number of emails, but meeting him in person is very different. I was going to meet and host “The David Ellsworth.” I guess if you were a football fan, it would be like having Joe Namath spend the night with you and give you pointers. At just after three o’clock, my wife called from upstairs, “He’s here”, so I ran upstairs taking two at a time, and there he was in my front yard.  Now I have met other well known turners, but David is in a different league. From the moment we shook hands all my nervousness when away. There is something about David that makes you feel like you have known him for a long time. Goodness knows I have read enough about him, but his natural charm and humor put you right at ease.

We had an hour or so just to sit on the couch and chat, then my wife made us a great dinner of homemade fried chicken and a made from scratch apple pie (one great pie I might add), then David and I headed off to the local WoodCraft store for the Turner’s Club meeting. In his van as we were riding along, I said out loud, “Holy crap! I’m riding in a van with David Ellsworth!” And I received a hearty chuckle in return.  He might not be a celebrity like Brad Pitt, but in the turning world he certainly is. We spoke about that, and he said that it was good to have heroes, and then he listed off a number of artist he had as heroes (of whom I only knew of a few).

David Ellsworth

The demo at the turners club went well, and I was amazed at how fast he could make a natural edge bowl. I never knew much the good technique makes the process happen much faster. He turned one bowl in 40 minutes plus talking and technical issues that would have taken me a couple of hours or more. He mentioned a number of small things about design, tools, and techniques that I would have never thought of. I guess after you teach turning for 35 plus years, you know a thing or two.

David at my lathe

David is an early riser like myself, and after breakfast the next day we headed out to my shop for some one on one teaching time. I recently acquired a load of American Holly and we picked out a nice piece to make as a natural edge bowl. I broke out my chainsaw and cut out the blank. I let him trim it the way he likes it, and even his chain saw work technique looks better than mine. Granted; Jews aren’t known for their chainsaw work.

 

I purchased one of his signature gouges and we used it for most our time making the natural edge bowl. Its handle is much longer than any of my Sorby tools which really made a difference. That added length helped me learn his techniques. The gouge’s steel is a powdered metal that holds its edge better than my other turning tools. I am definitely sold on his tools.

One happy Yaakov!

Working with David one on one in my shop was great. He is such a good teacher and he gave me so much good advice, and better yet, it was so much fun working with him. I was, and have always been a comedian, and we had a lot of good laughs. Together we made a lovely bowl (that I can’t wait to sand after it dries out).  At one point he said, “it’s okay if we blow the bowl, it’s just wood.” So I told him “oh no it’s not! This isn’t just any bowl! It’s a bowl I worked on with David Ellsworth!” This is a bowl I will show my grand kids. And we had another good laugh.

One way to use collaborative Bar Am / Ellsworth bowl

What a great twenty-four hours it was. I got to meet and become friends with one of my woodworking heroes, I learned a load of new things, and we shared a lot of laughs. What a great day and a great guy. Thanks David!

Book Review – The Cutting Edge by Kevin Wallace

Hi, I am Yaakov Bar Am, and I am an avid reader. Not only do I read in public and behind closed doors, I am proud to admit; I like history. And I like to read all about the things I am interested in. In this case, wood turning. And I want to tell you about a book I just finished which covers two things I enjoy; history and woodturning. The book is “The Cutting Edge, Contemporary Wood Art and the Lipton Collection” by Kevin Wallace and published by Fine Arts Press.

I saw a couple of ads for this book in my American Wood Turner magazine, and when I saw that the AAW (American Association of Wood Turners) members could get a discount, I could not resists buying it. I remember when I was a kid, I saw an ad for a great looking game in the back of a comic book. So I clipped the order form out of the comic, got my mom to write a check and mailed the order form off. And in 6 to 8 weeks, I forgot all about it. Then a couple of months later it showed up. What a disappointment it was. Well, although the process was the same, I certainly was not disappointed by this book. But to be honest, clipping an order form out of a magazine and having to mail it off was a pain. Why you couldn’t order this book online is a mystery to me. When the book arrived, I had no idea what it was. It had been that long since I ordered it. Fine Arts Press is not going to sell a lot of copies if they don’t use today’s technology.

Anyway, I was not sure what to expect from the book other than loads of great photos and some words about Dr. Lipton.  As I expected, the photos were great, but what I was not expecting was a great history of wood art and the artists who pioneered the way. I had vaguely heard about the Lipton Collection, but I knew nothing of Dr. Irving Lipton.  His story and his patronage of the wood art scene was a huge part of how we got where we are today in contempoary wood art.

 If you collect art books, or like books about turning, you will certainly enjoy this book.

Readers to the rescue

One of the best things about being a blogger is the friends you make in the blog-o-sphere. You get to chat with people from around the world, and you might gain new local friends too. And best of all, these friends become a source for help.

Ed Lebetkin

A case in point: In a previous blog, I mentioned that I wanted a spokeshave, and the company I tried to order one from was out of stock. Soon after posting the blog, one local friend commented that he had a couple of them and I could borrow one, and another friend, Ed Lebetkin, the owner of Antique Woodworking Tools in Pittsboro, North Carolina emailed me in short order and told me he had a number of spokeshaves in stock.  We exchanged several emails and he suggested that I get a Stanley #151M. I have told you about his shop before in a previous blog, and once again, I can’t recommend Ed’s Shop more highly. He is a super guy, knowledgeable, and he saved me $100! I was about to spend $135 plus shipping for a new Lie-Nielsen (not that I don’t love LN) but I got my U.S.A. made spoke shave for $35.00 plus shipping.

I got the spokeshave in three days, and I believe the model I have is a Type 4 with the Sweetheart Logo on the blade, and made sometime between 1923-1936. I sharpened it up in no time and began practicing on a scrap piece of cherry and it worked just fine. Granted it does not work quite as well on quarter-sawn white oak, but it certainly did the job.

Making the grip notches

The cane is coming along just fine. Here is what has happened so far: I used a ¾” forstner bit to make the grip notches for the handle. Yes, I could have used a heavy rasp to do this, but hey, time is money and I have other commissions I’m working on too.

 

 

 

Paring down the tenon

Next, it was time to make the tenon on the shaft. I knew the tenon needed to be ¾ “ round, so used a compass to draw in the tenon circumference on the top of the shaft, then measured the distance from the outer edge. Then I used a piece of tape on my saw to give me a depth stop. This method worked great, then I used a chisel to pare down the wood. It took a little bit of time to get it exactly right, but it worked well, I have a nice clean tight fit.

 

Starting the shaping with my new spokeshave

Now that the handle fit down on the shaft, I made a 3/8” dowel pin from a scrap piece of purple heart and drilled a centered hole through the handle and the shaft for the pin. Once all glued up, the shaping of the handle could be completed. I used a number of different tools to shape and smooth the handle, and after I finish sanding down to the final grit, I will begin the finishing process.

 

Shaping pretty much done

Since the cane is made of quarter-sawn white oak, why not try the fuming process! I want to make a Morris chair one day out of the same material, so now might be a good time to get a practice run. Anybody have advice on fuming?

Rounding over and Purim

Sometimes things are meant to be, and you just have to proceed on your own. And today, I just have to keep on walking step by step with this walking stick project. I had been contemplating how I was going to make the octagon round, and I was going to purchase a spokeshave, but fate blocked the road.

I called Lie-Neilsen to purchase spokeshave, but they were back ordered! Drat! I could order the Lee-Valley model, but I want to buy American, so I will buy one later and continue on.

Rounded over

My Stanley block plane did the trick just fine. It knocked down those little octagon ridges in no time flat and then a little 100 grit sandpaper finished the job. The shaft of the cane is nice and round. My jack plane and my block plane did a great job and that put a smile on my face.

 

Before I make the tenon to receive the handle of the cane, I made the hole for it first. Now you must be thinking that this poor sick woodworker must be somewhat addled if he is making holes into nothing. I might be sick, and somewhat addled at times, but I did have the laminated handle blank ready. I used a 3/4″ forsner bit and drilled a hole all the way through it.

Next, I will make the tenon, because it is much easier to adjust the size of the tenon than the size of the mortise (aka “the hole”). And once the tenon is cut, I will cut a kerf in it to receive a wedge of ebony to help lock it into the shaft. And I was going to do all that today, but frankly, I don’t have the strength or the energy. This virus is really taking it out of me, and tonight is Purim.

Purim is my favorite of the Jewish holidays. I like seeing the children dress up in costumes, and I like going to my friend’s houses to deliver shalach manot (gifts of food and wine). And better yet, I like receiving these gifts too. Yummy! If you are not too familiar with the Bible, the Purim story is the book of Ester. It’s a great story if you have not read it, and we are commanded to celebrate this date every year.  So a freilichen Purim to all my Jewish subscribers!