This year we are going to sell T-shirts at Woodworking in America. I swear this on a stack of Joseph Moxons. But we need your help.

You see, we'd like to have a humorous slogan on the shirt, but we're not funny enough to come up with anything suitably clever. All our slogans sound something like:

"Show me your feathered crotch!" (That was mine.)

"Wanna feel my fleam?" (Megan.)

"Gee, I've got cramps." (Megan, Glen and me.)

"I got hammered at WIA."

And so on.

So we'd like you to help us craft a slogan for our T-shirts. We're shooting for seven words or less. And it would be great if the slogan was funny, unlike ours. And it would be great if you could wear it to a church picnic, unlike ours.

So post your entries in the comments below before noon EST on Friday, Aug. 20. The winner will receive a T-shirt (surprise!), untold fame and Bob Vila's flowery underpants (shown above, not actual size, offer not valid in Guam).

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. Woodworking in America is sold out, but you can still get on the waiting list or come for the un-freaking-believable Marketplace (just $7 for two days). Check it out here.

If you've ever wanted to go to Germany and take a hand woodworking course from a guy who is mostly German (me), but doesn't speak a word of German (me again) but likes German beer, pork products and pork by-products (guilty), here's your chance.

Next month I am teaching a week-long class in basic handwork in the workshop of Dick GmbH, the massive German tool cataloger in Metten, east of Munich. The class, which runs from Sept. 13 to 17, will be taught in English and is titled "Classical Joinery." The class is 480 Euros (about $625).

Thomas Lie-Nielsen taught a class there earlier this week and reported that the facility is first-rate (get information here), the area is beautiful and that he wants to go again.

I've never taught this particular class before and am greatly looking forward to it. The five days will focus entirely on the precision sharpening, set up and use of the hand tools that are the core of the shop. This class will attempt to blend everything I've studied about craft history, modern toolmaking technology and practical furniture-making experience.

During the five days, we will be building a simple Shaker cabinet from the Hancock village that requires many of the skills we'll be exploring.

Here's the short list:

1. Sharpening straight and skewed tools (we might get into profiled irons if there is time)
2. Setting up and using bench planes
3. Setting up and using joinery planes, including rabbeting planes, fillisters, router planes and shoulders
4. Precision sawing with Western saws
5. Cutting joints using handsaws and handplanes, including rabbets, dados, tenons and half-laps
6. Cutting simple profiles with block planes or moulding planes
7. Nail technology
8. Fitting doors.

In addition, I'll be exploring the food and beer of Metten and the surrounding area. If you've ever taken a class with me, you know that I always try to drag students with me. (I'm also attempting to set up a special field trip, which I can't say much about at this point.)

I apologize for the short notice here. I've only recently found out there are a few spaces left in the class (the maximum size is 10 students). If you are interested in details on the class or even registering, visit the Dick site here.

— Christopher Schwarz

Several people have asked questions about the Marketplace at Woodworking in America. Here are some answers.

• If you are registered for classes at Woodworking in America, you can go to the Marketplace all you like. It's included in your registration fee.

• If you want to attend the Marketplace alone, then $7 gets you in for both days (Friday and Saturday). You'll either get an armband or two tickets.

• If you pay to go into the Marketplace (or are a full-conference attendee), you can visit John Sindelar's traveling tool museum (drool rags and Depends not included). It will be on the Marketplace floor.

• The Marketplace will also feature demonstrations by bodger Don Weber. Buy him a bagel or a beer and he'll teach you anything you want to know about coppicing, chairmaking or foot-powered turning.

• If you attend the Marketplace you can participate in the Hand Tool Olympics (game on, people).

• And yes, admittance to the restrooms is covered by the admission fee. You will be issued four tickets. One ticket per flush.

— Christopher Schwarz

As of 10 minutes ago, Woodworking in America is officially sold out. You can still sign up for a waiting list here or come and attend the amazing Marketplace that we have put together (admission to the Marketplace will be $7).

This will be the biggest Woodworking in America event yet. To ensure it's also the best one yet, we have secured additional space for instruction, we have brought on more than 60 vendors for the Marketplace (all woodworking-related), and we are even bringing in a traveling tool collection from John Sindelar that will make you (add hyperbolic verb here).

Thanks to all our customers who have supported us during these last three years to build Woodworking in America into one amazing orgy of tools, instruction and – dare I say it – community. We couldn't do it without you.

— Christopher Schwarz

This has been one of our busiest years ever at Popular Woodworking Magazine. Plus, I have been in many foreign lands with exotic cultures and their own languages: France, England, North Carolina.

As a result of my travels, I haven't had a chance to introduce you to some of the interesting stuff we have been working on in the wee hours, including a jumbo-sized project called "Exercises in Wood-Working."

This was a book published in 1889 that was designed to give students at the College of the City of New York all the hand skills they need to become industrious Neanderthals. The core of the book is 39 exercises for you to complete – everything from crosscutting a board to veneering to fairing a boat's hull.

These exercises are unlike a lot of woodworking books in that they focus on basic skills. Instead of building a cabinet to learn about tool – an overwhelming task – you square up a block of wood using a chisel to learn the more important lesson – how wood and steel relate to one another.

We're re-publishing this great book in hardback form, printing it in the United States and selling it for a reasonable price, $17.99. The book should arrive in our warehouse next week. Until that day, you can pre-order the book for $14.39. Visit our store to order your copy.

But that's not all. We're shooting 15-minute videos that walk you through many of the exercises in the book. I'm the host (lucky you). To get in the spirit of this historic book, I don a tie for these exercises, and our video crew desaturated the colors so it looks a bit like vintage footage (but it's not distracting – promise).

We've finished shooting the first eight exercises. The first three are available now as individual downloads in our store. Or you can wait a few weeks and we'll be collecting the first eight exercises onto a DVD (which you can pre-order here at a discount in a package deal with the book).

To show you how useful these are, we're giving away the text and illustrations for "Lesson 1: Use of the Chisel." This is a fun lesson, even if you are an experienced chisel user. The object of the lesson is to square a board using only a chisel. There are some good tricks (including how to burnish the high spots with your try square).

You can download the text and drawings for free here.

Exercise1v2.pdf (148.76 KB)

If you'd like to purchase the video that accompanies Exercise 1, you can do that here in our store. The individual videos are $4.99 each and are downloaded instantly to your computer.

I'm having great fun with these exercises and am looking forward to the next batch of them that we're shooting. I am not, however, looking forward to wearing that tie again.

— Christopher Schwarz

Purchasing Links:

• Pre-order the book: "Exercises in Wood-Working."

• Pre-order the DVD of the first eight exercises.

• Download the first video: "Exercise 1: The Use of the Chisel."

I've always been hesitant to get to know my personal heroes because it's usually a disappointment. They almost always turn out to be just like the rest of us. A bit vain. Self-conscious. Insecure. Troubled.

So when Roy Underhill of "The Woodwright's Shop" invited me to stay with him at his converted mill in North Carolina while I taught at his school, I was delighted and dejected.

I mean, who wouldn't want to hang out with Roy for six days? See where he lives? Get to chat about the crazy stuff that he's done, learned and seen while host of his PBS show, which is in its 30th season? Me, I was a tad worried that the Roy Underhill in my head wouldn't be the same guy after I saw him come down the stairs in a bathrobe and mussed (seriously mussed) hair.

After six days with Underhill I can say that my opinion of him has indeed changed. But how it changed was not what I expected.

This evening Underhill invited a bunch of the North Carolina woodworkers to come to his shop, buy me a beer and see some outtakes from the two episodes we shot during the weekend. The turn-out was great (I managed to drink only three beers, which is why I can still type right now).

As we all sat in the City Tap (the sweet bar behind "The Woodwright's School"), Underhill said some things that brought his personality into focus. He told the story of when he was invited to be on a radio program with other guests that was titled "The Past, the Present and the Future."

"They hired me to be the guy representing the past," Underhill said, sounding a bit astonished. "I'm not the past. I'm all about the future. What I do is the future."

That's when the whole week came into focus. His program is not about the past at all. Nor is his school, nor are his books. Sure, they look like they are about the past because he is using vintage tools to make traditional woodwork. But he's not seeking to explain the past so we can understand it. Instead, he is seeking only to influence the future course of human events.

"You don't need to buy things," Underhill said tonight at the bar. "You can make anything you need."

And that is the real lesson Underhill has been trying to teach us for 30 years. And it is something that flows through the way he treats people (even people who don't know Underhill from a hill in the ground). Yes, he looks like the rube on television sometimes, but inside beats the heart of a professor, a historian, a craftsman and an entertainer.

He structures his program so it moves fast – almost like you are being mugged – and is filled with messages that stretch back to the beginnings of civilization and stretch forward beyond our time here.

Will we merely consume the resources around us? Or will we build something that outlasts ourselves and everyone we know?

It is astounding that Underhill has managed to ask this question for 30 years and still remain optimistic, curious about the world and open to new ideas.

And that was the narcissistic revelation of the week – what will happen with my future? Will I become bitter, narrow, inflexible and guarded as I get older? Or will I become like Underhill?

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. For your viewing pleasure, here are some of the pictures I took at Underhill's mill.

When I teach classes, I tell my students to buy their winding sticks in the “18th-century Tool Section” of their local home center.

I would probably be a better person if I didn't interact with other people.

That is the thought that flashes through my head when Roy Underhill says to me: "I could go down the street and buy a plastic doll that you could saw in half."

Let's back up a couple hours. This morning I started teaching a three-day course on sawing at Roy Underhill's "The Woodwright's School" in Pittsboro, N.C. And I began the class (as is my way) with a quick survey of the history of saws and sawing.

I have always been fascinated by the Bible, so I quoted two passages from it about saws. These are not nice passages; they are about people getting sawn in two. Nevertheless, they are some of the earliest accounts of sawing that we have in Western literature. So I recite them in my best Charlton Heston voice.

Usually when I discuss Biblical resawing, I'm afraid that some wiseacre will ask me if the saws were filed rip or crosscut. But today something much more frightening happened.

Roy Underhill got a funny gleam in his eye.

That was before lunch. In the meantime, everything was going swimmingly with the class. I taught the students about selecting the right saw, how to hold it, how to use it, and the three kinds of saw cuts. About 4 p.m., Underhill disappears from the school and returns $1.50 poorer but with a bag in hand.

It's Polly, the only $1.50 doll available at the Dollar General store. Underhill prepares a special jig to hold her upright in my face vise.

"What," he asks, slyly. "Don't the other schools buy you plastic dolls to saw in half?"

I can't argue with that. So at the end of the first class session, Roy clamps the doll into my face vise. He sets up my camera and goads the students into pretending to have horrified expressions. And he takes the photo above.

I want to apologize to all the great Presbyterian ministers I grew up with. Sorry to say, but it looks like you failed.

Other than that, the rest of the day was incredible. The students moved swiftly through the lesson plan (perhaps too swiftly), and we are on track to building these sawbenches by the end of the day on Wednesday. I have more stories to tell about the day, but the clock is ticking.

— Christopher Schwarz

All photos by Roy Underhill

We have some good news on the Woodworking in America "Toolmaker's Dinner" front. We've decided to move the dinner to the Conference Marketplace – which means attendees will have the opportunity to tour the awesome Marketplace (60+ toolmakers and woodworking vendors!) on Thursday night, Sept. 30, before the Conference proper opens on Friday morning. And, that means we also have a lot more room, so if you weren't able to register for the dinner and you want to, now you can!

All you have to do is open your confirmation e-mail, click on the link that reads "Click Here to View the Event Summary" and enter your confirmation number. Then you can modify your registration by adding the dinner (a $35 fee).

Yes, that means the Toolmaker's Dinner folk won't get to see the Popular Woodworking Magazine shop – but there really won't be much in it anyway. We're taking all our benches (and then some) and most of our tools and movable machines to the Conference, so the shop will be an empty shell with only a jointer, planer, cabinet saw and dust-collection system – that's about it. Also, with the dinner at the center, it means there's no need to secure transportation for a 16-mile trip up I-71 to our (empty) shop!

Plus, we’ve secured more space and rearranged session locations, and all “closed” blocks have been lifted. So, if you want to modify your schedule for the conference, follow the link directions above to do that, too. (But remember: You’re still free to go to whichever sessions you want, whether or not they appear on your schedule).

And of course, that means if you haven’t yet registered – which I recommend doing before 11:59 p.m. EST on August 2, when the $40 Early-bird savings ends – you can do so now and sign up for any class you want. Click here to register now.

But, we have only 26 spaces remaining. Once those 26 are gone, the 2010 Woodworking in America Conference (Oct. 1-3 in Greater Cincinnati) will be officially sold out. So if you haven't already registered and want to, don't wait.

— Megan Fitzpatrick

I leave for North Carolina this week to shoot two episodes of "The Woodwright's Shop" with Roy Underhill then teach a three-day class on handsawing at Underhill's little Utopia of a woodworking school in Pittsboro, N.C.

One of the shows will be on English handsawing (no on-screen French-sawing DIY vasectomies are planned) and the other show will be about the simple toolkit of a joiner, circa 1839.

To prepare for the class and show, I built a new sawbench this weekend and improved the design a bit to use less material, I used a wood species that is easier to deal with when working with hand tools and I tweaked the design to make the sawbench ideal for those who do a lot of ripping on their sawbenches.

Here's why I made these changes:

1. Less Material: Previous generations of my sawbenches used 2x8 material. This allowed me to have the top fairly wide (just under 7") and to rip all the components out of the 2x8 and increase the chances that I'd end up with quartersawn stock. I switched to 2x6 material for this new generation, which reduces the cost of the project a bit (always a good thing). It also makes the top a little narrower, which hasn't been a problem yet. But it does mean I need to be more careful in selecting my stock because there's little waste when ripping up the 2x6.

2. New Species: By switching to 2x6 material, that meant I could use Canadian white pine instead of Douglas fir or Southern Yellow pine. I usually prefer yellow pine for this project because the stuff is durable. But when I teach students about sawing and we're cutting yellow pine, they struggle. The different densities of the earlywood and latewood give them fits. By switching to white pine, I can further reduce the cost of the bench and make all the joints easier to cut. And white pine is plenty durable for a sawbench.

3. Design Change: I now have one long stretcher down the middle of the sawbench instead of two long stretchers attached to the outside of the legs. This does a few things. It reduces cost and weight. It gives us another type of joint to cut. And it makes the sawbench easier to use for ripping. On previous generations of sawbenches, students would sometimes score the long stretchers with their ripsaws, especially when sawing with the tool vertical. With this new design, you can't nick the lower stretcher unless you are sawing wrong.

And one last change: The parts are fastened together using 6d cut nails instead of screws. The cut nails just look cooler.

After I get back from The Woodwright's School, I'll have a four weeks in the office and the shop before my next trip. That means I'll finally be able to give you the answer to the e-mail you sent me in May.

— Christopher Schwarz

Other Interesting Links on Hand Tools for You

• Read an interview with Roy Underhill about his most recent book. http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/An+Interview+With+Roy+Underhill.aspx

• Read my review of Roy's book "The Woodwright's Guide." http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/Review+New+Book+From+Roy+Underhill.aspx

• Have you heard about our reprint of the book "Exercises in Wood-Working"? It's a great lesson-by-lesson way to get familiar with hand tools. And I host some short videos actually performing the exercises. Fun! Read about it in our store.

• Like the PBS show "The Woodwright's Shop"? You can watch episodes for free here. http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/

• Got a drool bib handy? Go here: www.maison-de-l-outil.com.

John Sindelar, who owns the most jaw-dropping, drool-inducing tool collection I've ever seen, is bringing a big chunk of it to our Woodworking in America show Oct. 1-3 in Cincinnati.

And here's the best part: The collection will be displayed (in a traveling trailer) that will be on the floor of the Marketplace. If you are registered for our event, then you will get to tour the collection. No extra charge. Nothing else to register for.

And if you aren't registered, you can fix that here: WoodworkingInAmerica.com. We have about 50 slots left for the classes, and some slots still available for the Toolmakers' Dinner on the Thursday evening before the show opens. The event costs $335 for three full days of classes (more than 80) plus a Marketplace show floor that makes some other woodworking shows look like discarded freight sale (not that there's anything wrong with that).

If you don't know who John Sindelar is, you can catch up by reading this article I wrote about his collection for Popular Woodworking. Sindelar is a cabinetmaker in Michigan who has spent a good deal of his adult life – and his personal wealth – building a tool collection that is filled with the rarest of the rare. And he owns some of the most beautiful tools ever made, both ancient and modern.

We'll have more details soon.

One other cool update: I've been informed that Matt Hodgson from Gabardi & Son planes will be displaying his tools in the Marketplace. This is troubling news for the wallets of America.

— Christopher Schwarz

Tool Books You Should Hide From Your Spouse

• "Art of Fine Tools"by Sandor Nagyszalanczy. Yup, Sindelar owns some of these.

• "Tools Rare and Ingenious: Celebrating the World's Most Amazing Tools"by Sandor Nagyszalanczy. And some of these, too.

• "Classic Hand Tools" by Garrett Hack. Ditto.

• "Handplane Essentials" by Christopher Schwarz. He doesn't own the plane on the cover. I do. Neener neener!

Adam Cherubini at a Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event in Philadelphia.

For me, this is like the day I first saw my name in the phone book. I am somebody.

This summer I'm teaching a three-day class at Roy Underhill's school, The Woodwright's School, in Pittsboro, N.C., conveniently located next to the City Tap room. The class will run Aug. 2-4 and will be on sawing.

During the three days, we'll work on everyone's sawing skills using all the old tricks I've picked up through the years. Everyone will also build a traditional sawbench (me included; I need another one). We'll start with the big handsaws, learning how to rip and crosscut. Then we'll move into the joinery saws and learn to cut all sorts of odd angles and traditional joints, including dovetails.

The class is $405 (plus a small materials fee) and the class is limited to 10 students.

If you haven't taken a class there, you are in for a treat. Underhill's school is like stepping back in time about 80 years. There are no power tools. No dust collection system. Just benches, lots of natural light and a nice wooden floor.

If you'd like to read about my visit to his school last year, check out these blog entries:

• A Visit to The Woodwright's School

• Roy Underhill's New School

• One Schwarzpower. Fail.

For more details and information on registering, visit the school's web site.

— Christopher Schwarz

Other Traditional Hand Tool Resources I Like

• An interview with Roy Underhill

• A review of Underhill's new book "The Woodwright's Guide: Working Wood with Wedge & Edge" (UNC Press)

• DVD: "Handplane Basics: A Better Way to Use Handplanes"

Early chairs – especially American ones – look best when they are painted.

Like any good woodworker who is in love with his or her raw material, I've tried to make stick chairs without painting them. Some chairs, such as two Welsh stick chairs I built six years ago, look pretty good to my eye without paint. But they don't look traditional. Their albino skin tone makes them look quite contemporary.

Other stick chairs that I've stained then topcoated have ended up painted, which just about doubled the finishing time.

Tonight I started finishing the Windsor sack-back chair I built last week at The Windsor Institute. And there was never any doubt in my mind that I'd be painting the sucker.

I'm following Michael Dunbar's excellent instructions for applying milk paint that we published in our February 2010 issue. Many Windsor chairs started their lives painted a bright green in lead-based paint, according to Dunbar. Other colors became fashionable after green, so some vintage Windsors display several colors after they are broken in.

For my chair, I'm putting down a base coat of barn red milk paint, which I'll follow up with pitch black milk paint tomorrow. After that, I'll add some wear spots to the chair and add some varnish or wax – I haven't decided which topcoat to use yet.

Right now, the chair looks like a delicate brick with four legs. Despite its odd appearance tonight, however, it looks better than when it was raw wood.

— Christopher Schwarz

Other Finishing Resources I Recommend

• Purchase the February 2010 issue, which featured Dunbar's article on milk paint. You can buy the printed back issue or a pdf download in our store.

• Glen D. Huey's "Finishes that Pop" DVD is an excellent introduction to using aniline dyes to accent the grain.

• "Understanding Wood Finishing" by Bob Flexner is the absolute best book on the topic I've ever read.

• Issue 6 ofWoodworking Magazine has an excellent article on painting furniture using modern latex paints.

Fair warning: I have little doubt that we will sell out our Woodworking in America conference Oct. 1-3 in Cincinnati. We already have more people registered than we did for our first conference in Berea, Ky., and we've only had registration open for two weeks.

The size of the conference is capped at about 400 people for two reasons – one, there is only so much space at conference center; and two, we want this experience to be as intimate as possible so you can have face time with the instructors.

Also, our conference staff informed me that we are now officially sold out of two of the extra-curricular events (the trip to "White Water Shaker Village" and the "Feast of Andre Roubo"). We do, however, still have space for our "Toolmakers' Dinner" at our offices (thanks to some good ideas from the staff, we were able to double the capacity we can hold).

So, if you are holding off on registering, you might want to re-think your strategy. If we sell out, we won't be able to offer one- and two-day passes to the classes.

Just saying.

To register, visit WoodworkingInAmerica.com.

— Christopher Schwarz

Read About What Others Are Saying About Woodworking in America

• The Village Carpenter (Kari Hultman) calls it "The most wonderful time of the year."

• The Renaissance Woodworker writes: "You had better have a really good reason for not being there."

• Podfather Matt Vanderlist interviewed Managing Editor Megan Fitzpatrick for this podcast.

It took a fetus to convince me to come to Cincinnati in 1996. But I don't think you need to resort to such drastic measures (and perhaps painful surgery) to get your family in the car and on the road to Cincinnati next weekend for the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event on June 4-5.

When most people think of Cincinnati, they think of the television show "WKRP," or perhaps they think of the Reds and maybe even the odd stuff we call chili here. (Side note: This is the only town in America where you can tell a waitress you want a "three-way" and not get slapped.)

But there's a lot more here. Enough, in fact, to make it a nice Spring getaway for the whole family. They can do fun stuff while you hang out with us at our offices at 4700 East Galbraith Road.

As long-time readers of my blog might know, I live for good food. So here (grudgingly) are the best places to eat in the city. If you have a spouse who is a foodie, here is how to make that person happy.

Boca: This is the the best restaurant in the city. Period. It is high-end American food, but it really defies categorization. Perfect service. Bold flavors. A beautiful restored space. It's a bit expensive, but I never regret spending it there. It's about 10 minutes from our offices.

Nada: This is the other restaurant owned by the chef who runs Boca. It's a downtown Mexican restaurant, but it's unlike any Mexican restaurant I've ever been to. Say it with me: Crispy pork belly tacos. Look over the menu and make a reservation immediately. It can be tough to get in.

Local 127: Another downtown restaurant, this one is focused on local ingredients. I think of it as down-home food with some upscale touches. Everything on the menu seems to have some pork in it (my highest compliment). Prices are reasonable for a downtown restaurant.

JoAn: This is a Japanese restaurant located in Toyota's North American headquarters near the airport. It is great sushi, with authentic seasonal specials. And lots and lots of Japanese. Because of Toyota, we have an embarrassment of good Japanese restaurants. A close second (in Newport, Ky., on the river) is Aoi.

Tucker's: I hate to tell you about this one. It's in a crummy neighborhood. It has been open since the 1940s and has never been remodeled. But it is a fantastic place for breakfast. The best goetta in town. Awesome pancakes. Home fries. And the people are just as good. It has been called the most integrated restaurant in our fair city. You'll eat with city councilmen and drug dealers, and they all get along at Tucker's.

Gordo's: Another place I give up grudgingly. This is the best place for craft beer and high-end burgers. Get there early to be sure you get a table. Don't be put off by the drab exterior, which screams "livers killed here." It's also about 10 minutes from our office.

Hugo: I am addicted to Lowcountry cusine – grits, shellfish, fried green tomatoes, fish. South Carolina stuff. This restaurant is the closest you'll get to Charleston, S.C., in the Midwest. It's a nice space. Good wine list. Close to our office.

Dewey's: I have a pizza problem. This is the best pizza in town (at this point -- more on that later). It's a small chain, and they have an outlet around the corner from our office. All the pizzas are great (each member of the staff has a favorite). Good beer. Good wine. Excellent house salad. I would eat there every week if I could.

Frieda's: This little bakery near our office is run by a German master baker. Everything I've tried there is incredible. The almond croissants. Macaroons. Butter cookies. This is the best bakery in a town filled with great bakeries.

I could go on for many more pages, but here is one last one.

Ambar: We have a lot of good Indian restaurants here in town, but this is the one that stands above the rest. A good choice for vegetarians (and meat lovers). This one is by the University of Cincinnati in a funky college neighborhood filled with art cinema, coffee houses and bookstores. It's a fun place to hang out.

I know I've skipped the usual suspects (Skyline Chili, Graeter's Ice Cream, LaRosa's), but you can find those anywhere.

— Christopher Schwarz

"When newspaper reporters write about this school, some of them write, 'And he builds chairs without using nails!' That's like saying: 'And he builds automobiles without using hamburger.'"

— Michael Dunbar, May 20, 2010

During my week at The Windsor Institute in Hampton, N.H., I've gotten a lot of questions from readers of the blog about the school, their equipment, their teaching methods and if my father is willing to switch teams (he's not).

Instead of answering every question individually, I'm going to be hyper-lazy and do it here on the blog. Here we go.

What, no shavehorses?
Indeed, all the shaping operations for the chairs built at The Windsor Institute are made at a joiner's-style workbench with a quick-release end vise. Now, it's not my intent to open a full scale War of the Horses here, I do have the gumption to say the following. I own a shaving horse, a shaving pony (a device that clamps into a vise) and multiple quick-release vises.

All of the workholding systems work really well. In fact, I was surprised how much I liked working my spindles in a quick-release vise. And the bonus is, of course, that you don't have to build a shaving horse and you don't have to store it (which is a real problem for me. Those suckers are big.)

But isn't it slower than a shavehorse? Maybe it is a little slower when shaping spindles. But I think you make up for that time when you need to shape your arms and bows. The quick-release vise is worlds better and faster than a shaving horse for this in my opinion.

The bottom line here is all the systems work. And if you are worried about the ghosts of chairmakers coming down and haunting you because you are using a quick-release vise, fear not. Michael Dunbar showed me early engravings of chairmakers in enclosed shops using joiner's vises. So all the vises are good vises.

What, You Didn't Turn the Legs and Stretcher?
No, we didn't turn the legs or the stretcher. Those were supplied by the school. And there's ample evidence that lots of chairmakers worked the same way. It was economical to buy the turned parts from a turner who did that task alone. Lots of early woodworking businesses were segmented this way, especially in urban areas. There would be turners, carvers, finishers, gilders, etc.

I've turned my legs and stretchers during two other chair classes. I enjoyed the process. But turning is a different skill than chairmaking. And The Windsor Institute is a chairmaking school.

Why Did You Choose The Windsor Institute?
Dunbar has long been one of my heroes, even before I met him and brought him on as a writer at this magazine. What's unique about this school is that it is – more than anything – a complete support group for chairmakers. In addition to classes, the school sells high-quality supplies and specialized tools. They offer marketing and business advice for budding entrepreneurs. And, most of all, the focus is on teaching the craft in a way that can be easily replicated in your shop immediately when you get home.

Dunbar, his staff and students have refined the process of making a chair to the point where if you pay attention and take some care, you can build a chair. Their specialty is debunking the process. Ever single compound angle and wild tapered joint has a simple solution. My forehead is still a tad red from slapping it so many times when a new trick was revealed.

And I've built about 10 stick chairs already, so I think that's saying something.

By the way, I'm sure some of you are wondering this, so I'll write it out. I paid full price for my class (and my father's class). I paid for my own travel. Paid for my lodging and food (except for one Allagash beer). And it was out of my pocket, not the magazine's.

And one more thing: I'm already making plans to go back. The only thing standing in my way is figuring out which style of chair to build next.

— Christopher Schwarz

Other Chairmaking Books I Recommend

• "Traditional Windsor Chairmaking" by Jim Rendi

• "Chairmaking Simplified" by Kerry Pierce

• "The Chairmaker's Workshop" by Drew Langsner

• "Windsor Chairmaking" by James Murcell

• "Welsh Stick Chairs" by John Brown

Do you like the look of the strapping doctor in the plaid shirt above? That's my dad. Today he learned about the power of a blog, and he just asked me if I could use it to find him an attractive female companion.

Me, I use the powers of the blog only for good (read: beer). I wouldn't use it to look for a meaningless (or meaningful) relationship. But hey, it is my dad. So bring it, ladies.

Today as we were drilling the holes in our seats to receive the spindles, a reader stopped by and dropped off a nice Belgian Trippel from Allagash (thanks Matthew!). My dad was a bit stunned.

"People just bring you beer?" he asked.

"Sometimes, yeah," I replied.

"Do you ask them to bring you beer?"

"No. But sometimes I mention that I like good beer. They do the rest."

I hope that the reason people bring me the occasional beer is that they are trying to do me a favor. And "favors" was definitely the theme of the third day of our class at The Windsor Institute.

We made a lot of progress on our chairs – we legged up, drilled holes for the spindles and stumps and we fit and shaped the arm. We also made a lot of mistakes – or we almost made mistakes. I was getting ready to drill a hole in my leg for a stretcher when Dan, a fellow student, stopped me short.

"Wrong way."

He was right. I was about to drill the hole in my leg at the exact opposite angle I needed. It would have been an embarrassing and time-consuming fix. But his two words saved me. And that was the scene the entire day – it was like an AA meeting on a tight wire over a pit of emaciated and perturbed piranhas. I caught at least two fatal errors before they happened. And everyone else had at least as many saves.

That's something that people don't really talk about much about woodworking classes. Working with other students keeps you on track, out of trouble and highly amused. It's a contrast to when I try to learn new things in the shop by myself. My progress is slower and riddled with false starts and dumb errors.

So tonight as I am sipping my Allagash Belgian ale and typing this, I am thankful for my fellow woodworkers. They keep me out of trouble in the shop during the day and in deep, barley-fueled trouble in the evenings.

— Christopher Schwarz

Other Woodworking Schools I Like

• Kelley Mehler School of Woodworking (kellymehler.com)

• Marc Adams School of Woodworking (marcadams.com)

• Northwest Woodworking Studio (northwestwoodworking.com)

Chair making is an equal-opportunity agonizer. After the first day of dealing with spindles and steam-bending, we came back to our beach-town bungalow (price: $300 for the week!) and collapsed on the couches.

We each had a beer in hand and sat immobile for a good 30 minutes before we could get up the energy to scratch our noses. We were whupped like rented mules.

Today we got up, chugged the ibuprofen and headed back for another day at the salt mines, Dunbar-style. We started the day by saddling the seat. And I was wondering if I was going to have to visit a massage parlor on the boardwalk. (Piece of advice: Never order anything at a massage parlor with "happy" in the name. Happy Dragon, Happy Grapple, Happy Happy. Just don't.)

But the seat saddling was easy and fast. Why? Eastern white pine. The other seats I've saddled have been elm or tulip poplar. The tulip poplar is OK. The elm makes me want to curl into the fetal position and suck my toes.

After saddling the seat, we started "legging-up" the chair, which is where you drill the holes for the legs in the seat at some wacky compound angles. Then you fit the stretchers. If you tried to describe it with geometry, your head would implode.

But Michael Dunbar at The Windsor Institute has a way of explaining this process that is clearer than anything I have ever encountered. I've read every book on Windsor chairs I have been able to get my hands on. I've taken two other classes on the topic. But Dunbar's explanation is like someone propping your eyes open with toothpicks. You cannot help but see what needs to be done.

I legged up my chair in record time. I've built several Windsor-style chairs, but this was the fastest, most empirical and easiest time I've ever had legging up a chair. Kudos, Mr. Dunbar.

Of course, my head started to ache by 4 p.m. So I asked some really dumb questions. Kudos, Mr. Dunbar, for not laughing in my face. And as I plopped down in the couch in the beach bungalow tonight, I could barely think straight.

For the first time, I really, really understand the leg geometry. And it hurt.

Hope I get some more pain tomorrow.

— Christopher Schwarz

Other Geometry, Chair and Beer resources I recommend

• Founders Brewing (foundersbrewing.com)

• "Practical Shop Math" by Tom Begnal

• "Chairmaking Simplified" by Kerry Pierce

Green wood is a wacky thing. Yes, it can be easy to work. But don't fall for its easy-going nature. It's like a Type-A hippie chick.

Sometimes you can do anything (go against the grain, ignore the grain, like bourgeois shrimp cocktail) and it all works out fine. Other times you are doomed no matter how sharp your tools are, no matter how much you work at it and no matter how odiferous you are/aren't.

Today was the first day of classes at our sack-back chair class at The Windsor Institute. As someone who has taken and given woodworking and writing classes, I can tell you that this is a world-class operation. On the outside, the place looks casual, with a low-key staff.

Dig a little deeper and you'll find assistants with long careers in mechanical engineering or the Marines. And it's all run by an instructor who has a complete grasp of the topic – plus fine teaching skills, an incredible library and a fascinating collection of chairs.

Today we worked on the chair spindles for our Windsors, plus we bent the bow and arm (very cool!) and prepared the rough shape of the seat. It was a long but exhausting day. My friend John Hoffman is sitting to my left at his laptop. He is completely asleep. My dad is in the kitchen making a tuna-fish sandwich for his lunch tomorrow. This is important because that's what he ate every day when working at the family farm.

And I am dreaming of chairs.

I had a fairly good day, though most of the other students were faster than I am. I am going to chalk it up (that is, rationalize) to my perfectionism. I was, however, one of the first students who was called up to bend my arm and bow.

The rectangular arm bent without a problem. Then I bent the bow with the help of a fellow student. One section of the 1"-diameter bow fought us. It wouldn't follow the bending form. And its grain delaminated when I finally wedged up the assembly.

After clamping up the split in my bow, I hung the completed nasty bow up onto the hooks of the ceiling of the furnace room, where our bows and spindles will dry.

After I hung up my bow and arms, I looked to the bent bows and arms made by the other students. Bad idea. Mine looked primitive. And it was the only one with a C-clamp on it.

— Christopher Schwarz

Quick – it is time to make up a quick excuse to your boss to arrange a sham business trip to Cincinnati on June 4-5. On those two days we are going to open wide the doors of our office and shop and host a Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event.

(If you need ideas for how to trick your boss into traveling here, let me know. We have a wide variety of businesses here. Just say "Procter & Gamble," "Kroger" and "Macy's.")

 Like the event last year, this one will be large. In addition to the Lie-Nielsen folks (including Thomas Lie-Nielsen himself), we'll have John Economaki here from Bridge City Toolworks, Kevin Drake from Glen-Drake Toolworks and Andrew Lunn from Eccentric Toolworks. Oh, and how could I forget the most awesome part: members of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM) are giving demonstrations on a wide variety of skills the entire two days.

Last year the SAPFM members demonstrated inlay, carving, design, moulding planes and lots of other stuff.

This year we are doing a couple things a little different. The show will be on Friday (4 p.m. to 9 p.m.) and Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; no Sunday hours). But the Friday show is going to go later into the evening. We'll have some dinner food for sale. And I'll be presenting a seminar at 7 p.m. on workbenches. I'll be showing my new Roubo workbench plus some very cool workholding devices you haven't seen yet.

Then, at 8 p.m. we'll be having a big roundtable question-and-answer session with all the toolmakers. Expect some sparks to fly. Perhaps some leg wrestling and other feats of strength. If you attended last year's program, you know that things get out of hand when you throw all these people in a room.

Oh, one more thing: All of this is free. Just show up at our offices at 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236 on either (or both) days.

And by the way, lots of attendees brought their families along last year. Cincinnati is a fun town for a weekend getaway. Later in the week I'll post some of my favorite things to do here and places to eat (do you like goetta? You will).

For more information, visit the Lie-Nielsen web site.

— Christopher Schwarz

Other Good Hand Tool Resources

•  John Economaki's crazy blog at Bridge City (bridgecitytools.com/blog)

• "Handplane Essentials" by Christopher Schwarz

• Andrew Lunn's blog at Eccentric Toolworks (eccentrictoolworks.blogspot.com)

• "The Complete Illustrated Guide to Sharpening" (Taunton) by Thomas Lie-Nielsen

Most American woodworkers struggle with bowsaws. Now before you think that bowsaws are tools for beret-wearing, Gitano-smoking woodworkers who eat espresso and croissants when on a break, think again.

Michael Dunbar at The Windsor Institute has used bowsaws for many years while making Windsor chairs and teaching thousands of others how to do it. I'm taking a sack-back class this week with Dunbar (plus my father and my friend John Hoffman). The class starts on Monday, but today Dunbar and I spent a few hours taking some photographs for three upcoming articles in Popular Woodworking Magazine.

One of the articles is all about bowsaws. And Dunbar contends that one of the reasons Americans struggle with the tool is because we're just doing it all wrong.

To help augment the article, I shot this short video, which covers just a small part of his article. And because the video is ready, and I am sitting near the beach and feeling magnanimous (no, I haven't had a beer yet), I decided to upload this video now. I think it might prompt a healthy discussion. Take a look.

Tonight, I'm headed to the Portsmouth Brewery for dinner. Then a stroll down the boardwalk to smell the fried dough. I better not eat any – I didn't bring any Lipitor.

— Christopher Schwarz

Other Sawing Resources I Recommend

• Vintage Saws, Pete Taran's site on Western handsaws (vintagesaws.com)

• Bugbear's plans for a bowsaw

• WoodJoy Tools, which makes bowsaws that Dunbar likes (woodjoytools.com)

• "Hand Tool Essentials" from Popular Woodworking

This week I'll be taking a sack back Windsor chair class with maestro Michael Dunbar at The Windsor Institute, his school in Hampton, New Hampshire (a state my daughter has re-named "New Hampster").

This is my third chair class. I took my first one in Canada with David Fleming. My second class was with bodger Don Weber. And at long last, I have made it here for a class.

You are probably asking yourself this question: Why am I reading the blog of a guy who is so dense that he has to take a class three times? That's like flunking kindergarten. Twice (I think).

For those of you still reading this, the answer is that chairmaking is one of my hobbies. I've made most of the chairs in my house, and I am fascinated by the different ways of building the same Windsor-style chair.

Windsor chairs, unlike Shaker chairs or frame chairs (such as Morris chairs) derive their strength from the seat. The legs are tenoned into the seat, as are the spindles of the chair. To me they are an interesting challenge in geometry and engineering. And they involve entirely different parts of my brain than when I am building casework. In many ways, chairs require both more and less precision than casework. If you've ever built one, you know what I mean.

This isn't my first visit to Dunbar's school, however. I've been up here to shoot photos for his articles in Popular Woodworking Magazine. And, in fact, I'm shooting photos for two article on Sunday before the class begins. (No, Asa, I won't tell you what the stories are about).

During these earlier photo shoots, I've always felt a pang of desire when I walked into the school, which is a beautiful space. This week, I get to strangle that pang.

Dunbar's chairmaking techniques are different than those of my previous two teachers. Fleming was almost entirely a hand-tool guy. Springpole lathe. Brace and bit. Hatchet. And we started from the stump. With Weber, I got to learn steam bending and his tricks for turning spindles on an electric lathe. And I'm greatly looking forward to soaking up Dunbar's decades of wisdom.

— Christopher Schwarz

Other Chair Resources I Recommend

• Visit Don Weber's web site (handcraftwoodworks.com)

• "Chairmaking Simplified" by Kerry Pierce

• Country Workshops, a chairmaking school in North Carolina (countryworkshops.org)

Yes, it was a few hours later than expected, and we're sorry. But registration is now officially open for Woodworking in America: The Ultimate Skill-Building Weekend, October 1-3 in Greater Cincinnati.

At the conference, you'll get expert instruction from such woodworking luminaries as Frank Klausz, Roy Underhill, Michael Fortune, Marc Adams, Jim Tolpin and more (including Christopher Schwarz).

You'll find classes in everything from cutting tenons by hand to tuning your bandsaw for precision work; from sharpening handsaws to router joinery. Plus, we've added design classes to this year's conference, and brought back the popular "SketchUp Hand-On Clinic" from last year's St. Charles event.

For a full list of classes and class descriptions, instructors, exhibitors, travel information and more – and to register – visit WoodworkingInAmerica.com. And if you register before August 2, you'll save $40 off the regular price.

— Megan Fitzpatrick

With Woodworking in America in our backyard this fall, we are going all out to show the attendees a good time in the greater Cincinnati area.

So we've planned several extracurricular activities for the attendees. All of the events below have a limited number of seats available and will be first-come, first-served (except the pub crawl). There will be a small added expense (except for the pub crawl) to cover transportation or food. We're not doing these to make money -- we're doing them because, uh, we really want to do these things during Woodworking in America and thought you might, too.

In the coming weeks I'll discuss some other fun events at the conference, such as the return of the Handtool Olympics, programs for spouses, and our own personal guide to the restaurants and hotels around the Northern Kentucky Convention Center and downtown Cincinnati.

For more details on the Oct. 1-3 conference, visit WoodworkingInAmerica.com. Registration opens in May.

'Toolmakers' Dinner' at the Popular Woodworking Magazine shop
When: The Thursday evening before Woodworking in America
Where: Our offices and workshop in suburban Cincinnati
Details: A lot of toolmakers will be unveiling new products at this conference, so we thought it would be a fun evening to invite all the toolmakers to a dinner at our headquarters plus as many attendees as we can fit. We'll provide dinner that will give you a taste of local food (LaRosa's pizza, Skyline chili, Graeter's ice cream), plus a few local malted beverages for you to try. You'll get to tour the shop, see the newest tools before everyone else and get to chat up the toolmakers.

'The Feast of Andre Roubo' with Roy Underhill and Don Williams
When: Saturday evening
Where: A restaurant near the conference
Details: Don Williams and a team of scholars are in the middle of an historic task: translating A.J. Roubo's 18th-century masterwork "L’Art du Menuisier." Williams will present – for the first time in public – some of the very cool things he's learned about early workshop practice during this project. (And if you saw Williams at the conference last year, you know he's an amazing speaker.) Also, Roy Underhill – who reads Roubo in the original French – will share some of the fascinating details he has unearthed about the man. We're looking to have this at a nearby restaurant and it will be a la carte. So you'll just pay for what you eat and drink.

'Covington Pub Crawl' with the Popular Woodworking Magazine Editors
When: Friday evening (after the keynote dinner)
Where: Covington's Main Strasse
Details: Find out just how well Megan Fitzpatrick holds her liquor (here's a tip: she's tipsy when she starts using big words in a Southern accent). Our editors lead you on a trip down Covington's Main Strasse, a nicely restored 19th-century street just a couple block from the conference. Chat woodworking as you sample beers from some of our favorite German beer gardens and the Cock & Bull English pub (which has the best fish and chips in town). There's no formal program – just a casual evening with a bunch of fellow woodworkers. This will be a free event. You pay for what you drink.

'White Water Shaker Village' – a Personalized Tour
When: Sunday morning
Where: White Water Shaker Village (bus transportation provided)
During the last year, Popular Woodworking Magazine has become involved with the restoration efforts at the White Water Shaker Village, a beautiful group of original buildings still in their original setting. The village isn't open to the public, but we have arranged to get you special access to the village with guides who are restoring the village's Meeting House. Get a close look at Shaker craftsmanship – from the toolmarks to the cut nails. See some of the original furniture pieces in the collection, and get a privileged look at this amazingly untouched gem. We'll probably only be able to take 80 to 100 people on this special trip. So be sure to register early for this one.

— Christopher Schwarz

This year's Woodworking in America conference features 44 different classes taught by world-class instructors with lots of opportunity for you to get dusty, sweaty and skilled.

The conference is Oct. 1-3 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, Ky. For those of you unaware of the wacky geography in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area, here's a map that explains it. The conference is right across the river from downtown Cincinnati with lots of walkable hotel, dining, museum and shopping options for you and your family.

We've hired a full slate of instructors who will be running classes during the three day conference, and we've planned some interesting side trips and events (which I'll be writing about in an upcoming post). Here are some of the people who will be teaching during this gluttonous weekend of woodworking.

Roy Underhill, host of "The Woodwright's Shop," will be teaching lots of hand-tool skills: sharpening saws, cutting dovetails, using bowsaws, learning about chisels and on and on. Underhill also will be delivering the keynote address this year at the banquet. He's cooking up a special program that involves our next instructor.

Frank Klausz, owner of Frank's Cabinet Shop. Klausz is a certified master craftsman from Hungary with a wide range of hand and machine skills he's honed as a professional cabinetmaker. Klausz is teaching a variety of hand dovetailing classes, plus classes on how not to overcut your line with a chisel, designing dovetails for strength and how to mortise by hand.

Michael Fortune, a renowned studio furniture maker, will be teaching classes on contemporary furniture design, inlay and how to tune up your band saw to an extremely high level for resawing, joinery and the like. This is Fortune's first year teaching at Woodworking in America and we're thrilled he's accepted our invitation.

Marc Adams, the founder of the Marc Adams School of Woodworking, will be teaching a variety of hand and power skills. Adams will be showing off his particular and highly successful methods for sharpening and using chisels and scrapers – methods that have transformed how many people approach these tools. Plus, he'll be demonstrating the use of Japanese saws for precision joinery and debunking many of the myths about routers.

Ron Herman, owner of Antiquity Builders, will be running a continuous one-man hand-tool show at Woodworking in America. He'll be showing you how to sharpen your saws, choose the right chisel, understand auger bits and a whole heck of a lot more. Herman made some huge waves at last year's conference. And this year he's back to shake up things again.

Don Williams, a world-renowned furniture conservator, finish expert and master of boullework, will be running a special one-afternoon session on boullework. This is an incredible opportunity to learn how metal and wood can merge with astonishing results.

Don Weber of Handcraft Woodworks will be back at Woodworking in America to spin tales of the coppice, demonstrate the treadle lathe and show off his chairmaking skills – he specializes in making beautiful Welsh Stick Chairs.

Jim Tolpin of the Port Townsend School of Woodworking will be teaching about stock preparation with handplanes, plus how to refine your drawknife skills. Tolpin is one of our favorite authors and a great instructor to boot.

George R. Walker the author of our "Design Matters" column, will be teaching a number of sessions on furniture design that you won't want to miss. Walker's no-nonsense approach to design has opened a lot of woodworkers' eyes during the last couple years. No matter what style of furniture you build, Walker's advice on whole-number ratios can help you.

And, of course, the staff of Popular Woodworking Magazine will be teaching a full slate of classes as well. Executive Editor Robert W. Lang will be teaching lots of classes in basic and advanced SketchUp (and Arts & Crafts joinery). Senior Editor Glen D. Huey will be running the power-tool component of the event and will be showing off his impressive router and table saw skills. And I'll be teaching lots of hand-tool classes, from grinding to honing to handplanes, to hand routers and joinery planes.

The classes are a hybrid of a lecture and hands-on session. The instructors will teach for 45 minutes, then be available for an hour after the lecture for hands-on practice or questions. We'll have benches and wood available so you can dive right in.

The classes are just one aspect of the Woodworking in America conference; there's also an incredible Marketplace area (more than 40 vendors have signed up) and extracurricular events. I'll be covering those aspects of the conference in short order.

Registration opens in early May at WoodworkinginAmerica.com. Attendance is limited, especially for some of the extracurricular events, so be sure to register early if you plan to attend. Not only will you be able to get into the events you want, you'll get a better price, too. For those who register early, we're reducing the price to $335 for the conference – the same price as the first WIA in Berea, Ky. We'll have more information on registration in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, download this 19-page list of all the classes we'll be running and make sure that weekend in October is clear.

— Christopher Schwarz

The April Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event in Chicago is starting to become a bit of a tradition. It's a great little show with some good exhibitors: Jameel Abraham from Benchcrafted, Ron Brese of Brese Planes, and John Economaki from Bridge City Tools.

Plus, I'll be there, as will Thomas Lie-Nielsen himself.

The April 9-10 show is free and is located at Jeff Miller's Handcrafted Furniture at 1774 W. Lunt Ave. in Chicago. You can get more details about times and parking at the Lie-Nielsen web site.

This show is always a treat for me. I'll take any excuse to visit Chicago (I went to college there and miss it) and eat at the Hopleaf or maybe (this time) the Publican.

This show I'll be doing some sawing demos, including joinery and different ways to rip – French style, overhand style, the painful English style. I've become very fond of the French method. You get to sit down and there's even a place to put your croissant. I'll also be trying to get attendees to try it French-style. Once you go French....

I'll also be demoing bench planes, joinery planes and anything else people ask me about. Oh, and we'll have some books, DVDs and magazines to sell.

Stop by and say hello if you can.

— Christopher Schwarz

Some of the superstars of the period furniture world will gather June 25-27 at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, located in Lancaster, Penn., for a long weekend of demonstrations and discussion.

The event is the The Society of American Period Furniture Makers' Mid-year Conference, and if you like building 18th-century furniture, you are going to want to attend (I want to – badly – but my travel schedule prohibits it).

This year the presenters include Phil Lowe, Dave Lunin, Fred Wilbur and Don Williams. Lowe, a Cartouche winner and Director of the Furniture Institute of Massachusetts, will tackle case joinery for both straight and curved furniture pieces. Lunin, a builder of both traditional and contemporary furniture, will demonstrate turning practices applicable to period work. Wilbur, an author and master carver, will address topics such as gadrooning, egg-and-dart and acanthus to name but a few. And  Williams, a senior conservator at the Smithsonian, will demonstrate historical furniture finishes and the “weird and wonderful tools and techniques surrounding them” (those are Don’s words -- no surprise).

Members of the organization will gather for a reception-barbecue on Friday evening as well as banquet on Saturday night. Attendees are encouraged to bring pieces of their work for the members gallery or digital images for a presentation Saturday evening. On Friday, there will be an optional bus trip to Winterthur Museum where members of the curatorial and conservation staff will share some of their insights on this prestigious collection. A Saturday program for spouses will be available as well.

For more information, visit www.SAPFM.org, or contact Jim Altemus at cjaltemus@frontiernet.net, 585-657- 5328.

Note to self: Next year, don't schedule anything for June.

— Christopher Schwarz

Note: The photos above are pieces from Dave Lunin.

This October, Woodworking in America will be held in our backyard here in Cincinnati from Oct. 1-3. Registration will open in early May, and we'll start telling you all about the instructors and 80 sessions as soon as we get all the contracts signed.

But there is one aspect of planning this conference that I could use your help with. For this conference, we're planning some extra evening events. And I'd like some advice from you about which ones you think are most interesting. Read these short descriptions then click on the ones you like the best using the polling widget below.

Thanks in advance for your help.

'Toolmakers' Dinner' at the Popular Woodworking Magazine shop
When: The Thursday evening before Woodworking in America
Where: Our offices and workshop in suburban Cincinnati
Details: A lot of toolmakers will be unveiling new products at this conference, so we thought it would be a fun evening to invite all the toolmakers to a dinner at our headquarters plus as many attendees as we could fit. We'd provide dinner that would give you a taste of local food (LaRosa's pizza, Skyline chili, Graeter's ice cream), plus a few local malted beverages for you to try. You'd get to tour the shop, see the newest tools before everyone else and get to chat up the toolmakers.

'The Feast of Andre Roubo' with Roy Underhill and Don Williams
When: Saturday evening
Where: A restaurant near the conference
Details: Don Williams and a team of scholars are in the middle of an historic task: translating A.J. Roubo's 18th-century masterwork "L’Art du Menuisier." Williams will present – for the first time in public – some of the very cool things he's learned about early workshop practice during this project. (And if you saw Williams at the conference last year, you know he's an amazing speaker.) Also, Roy Underhill – who reads Roubo in the original French – will share some of the fascinating details he has unearthed about the man.

'Covington Pub Crawl' with the Popular Woodworking Magazine Editors
When: Friday evening (after the keynote dinner)
Where: Covington's Main Strasse
Details: Find out just how well Megan Fitzpatrick holds her liquor (here's a tip: she's tipsy when she starts using big words in a Southern accent). Our editors lead you on a trip down Covington's Main Strasse, a nicely restored 19th-century street just a couple block from the conference. Chat woodworking as you sample beers from some of our favorite German beer gardens and the Cock & Bull English pub (which has the best fish and chips in town). There's no formal program – just a casual evening with a bunch of fellow woodworkers.

'Make this Tool, Please' – Lunch with Manufacturers
When: Saturday at noon
Where: a room at the conference center
Details: One of the biggest frustrations many woodworkers have is that many tools they want are not made anymore. Who makes a decent folding rule anymore? At this special lunch, you can bring your wish list of tools, which we'll present to many of the leading hand-tool manufacturers around today. They'll let you know why they tool isn't being made (maybe they don't think there is a market, or materials are too expensive, or they never thought of it). And perhaps – just perhaps – you'll inspire them to make the tool of your dreams.

'Woodworking Night at Molly Malone's'
When: Saturday evening
Where: Molly Malone's Irish pub, a block from the conference
Details: We take over a floor of Molly Malone's, an Irish pub and restaurant that's a short walk from the conference. In addition to hanging out with the editors, toolmakers and other attendees, we'll arrange for some traditional woodworking music – yes, you guessed it – musical saws.

'White Water Shaker Village' a Personalized Tour
When: Sunday morning
Where: White Water Shaker Village (bus transportation provided)
During the last year, Popular Woodworking Magazine has become involved with the restoration efforts at the White Water Shaker Village, a beautiful group of original buildings still in their original setting. The village isn't open to the public, but we have arranged to get you special access to the village with guides who are restoring the village's Meeting House. Get a close look at Shaker craftsmanship – from the toolmarks to the cut nails. See some of the original furniture pieces in the collection, and get a privileged look at this amazingly untouched gem.

— Christopher Schwarz

There are still some spots open in the woodworking classes I’m teaching this winter. If you’ve recently come into a little money (thank you First National Bank of the Plasma) and have a little time available, here are some details on these classes.

Handplanes and Workbenches

Feb. 26 at the Woodcraft in Alpharetta, Ga. (suburban Atlanta).

This is a lecture-style class designed so I can dump any and all information I have on handplanes into any available skull. We’re covering and demonstrating everything, from grinding and honing up to the finer points of removing tear-out.

We’ll cover all the edge geometry of bevel-up and bevel-down planes so you can choose the right tool for you. I’ll present the basic kit of handplanes that woodworkers need to build furniture (it’s much smaller than you think), including bench planes, joinery planes and moulding planes. I’ll show you how to set up all of these planes and put them to use (the bench planes and joinery planes in particular are very different).

And, most importantly, there will be plenty of time for questions so you can get answers to personal and specific questions. Should I buy a bevel-up jack plane for the work I do? What honing angle should I use on a plow plane? What are the differences between the premium plane makers and vintage tools?

And finally, because you cannot easily use a plane without a decent workbench, I’m going to show you how the workbench evolved from a rock up to its most perfect form in the 18th century and then de-volved into something that makes me want to work on a rock instead. We’ll show how the workholding on these benches has changed and discuss how you can modify your bench so it is optimized for planing.

Handplane Weekend with Thomas Lie-Nielsen

April 24-25 at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking

I’ve assisted Thomas Lie-Nielsen with this class for five years now and never get tired of teaching it. The two days are always a blast because the students are always an interesting sort, bring along lots of fascinating tools to the class and ask really tough questions.

And, best of all, this class is hands-on. The Marc Adams School of Woodworking has some great workbenches that make this class really work.

During the two days, Thomas and I discuss everything related to handplanes. Bring your sharpening equipment. If you struggle with sharpening, this is your chance to put that behind you. By the end of the first morning Tom, the assistants and I have everyone creating cutting edges that could split an atom.

We go deep into plane theory and boil it down so you can understand how the steel in your plane should encounter the wood so you get the result you desire. Hint: It’s as much about understanding wood as it is understanding tools.

We discuss set-up and then applying bench planes to the work and how to flatten stock by hand, even if you are beginning with a rough board. (Most planing classes skip this important step). Then we get into joinery planes and scrapers.

All the while, Thomas answers questions about toolmaking and even discusses some of the tools coming down the pike (last year he showed off his nice bench hardware). He narrates a movie about the toolworks – it’s different every year – and shows how he makes the tools.

And we wrap things up with a contest to get a board completely dead flat using the techniques shown here. There are valuable prizes at stake.

— Christopher Schwarz

When I teach anything – writing, woodworking, how to play the armpit flute – I always feel like I'm faking it. I know my source material quite well, but communicating it so it sticks in your head and inspires you to improve your skills is difficult.

I was reminded of this last year when I taught a class on handplanes here in our shop at the magazine. Managing Editor Megan Fitzpatrick offered to assist me that Saturday, and as we were packing things up at the end of the class, someone asked Megan something about dovetails.

Within about 10 minutes she had the entire class engaged in a demonstration on the process at her bench, eating out of her hand and watching her work.

In other words Megan can teach.

When she's not putting the smackdown on our ill-begotten use of the subjunctive mood here at the magazine, Megan spends her free time teaching about "early modern drama" at the University of Cincinnati. We're not sure what early modern drama is exactly, but it has a lot of "prithyees" in it, so it must be quality stuff.

This May, Megan is going to teach her first woodworking class, a two-day affair at The Marc Adams School of Woodworking. If you or someone you know is just getting started in the craft, I think this class will be an excellent way to begin. For starters, it's a class that focuses on how to use basic hand-held power and hand tools to build nice furniture.

In other words, it's a lot like our "I Can Do That" column in Popular Woodworking. And if you follow that column, you know that Megan likes to build a lot of those projects (even though it's not in her job description).

The students will be building a small chest that was featured a few years ago in the magazine. It's a sweet piece of work. I think Megan has had to build a few of them for other people in her family who saw her story.

But beyond the project, the class will be a great way to get started in the craft without a lot of tools but with the help of someone who honestly knows her stuff and can teach it.

The class is May 8-9 at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Franklin, In. The class is $250. More details are available at The Marc Adams School of Woodworking's web site.

— Christopher Schwarz

At long last, Roy Underhill has launched his new web site with a complete list of classes and online registration for his school in Pittsboro, N.C.

If you were shut out of his classes next year, stop reading my drivel and get your hinder over there. Last year some classes filled up within minutes. The web site is http://www.woodwrightschool.com.

There are lots of classes from which to choose, from inexpensive one-day seminars on single topics, such as cabriole legs, dovetails and sash work (yay!). And there are three- and six-day workshops on building a tool chest or a Windsor rocker.

Underhill has also brought on a couple guest instructors to teach classes: Bill Anderson and Elia Bizzarri.

I visited his school earlier this year and was quite impressed with the school (read that account here), but not with my own abilities on his foot-powered grinder.

The school is in an awesome space, located in a cool little town and run by a nice guy. I highly recommend you check it out.

— Christopher Schwarz

This year I tried to keep my teaching and traveling schedule fairly light so I could spend more time tinkering with our magazines, assembling books such as "Handplane Essentials" and hanging out with my wife and two girls.

For 2010, my failings as a spouse, parent and diligent editor are your gain.

I've decided to teach a few select classes in 2010. I really missed teaching, the close contact I get with readers and the stuff I learn from them. Teaching helps me with my job at the magazine. I would have never written the book "Workbenches," for example, if I hadn't watched students struggle on sub-par benches.

Here is a quick roundup of my calendar for 2010 in case you want to do a drive-by heckle.

February 26-27: Atlanta Woodcraft in Alpharetta, Ga. I'll be teaching two one-day classes. One day will be on precision sawing. The other class is still up in the air. The classes aren't posted yet on the store's web site. I might also get to see one of my sisters during this trip – she and her family split their time between Atlanta and St. Louis.

March 27-28: Northeastern Woodworkers Association's Showcase in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. I love this woodworking show. It's the perfect blend of education, demonstrations, a gallery and commerce. I've been asked to teach short seminars this year on two topics: "Mastering Joinery Planes," which are the essential planes for cutting and refining joints and how to choose, sharpen and use them. And "Why Ancient Workbenches are Better," which is a slideshow trip through history to understand how many modern workbenches are failures at some important workholding tasks.

April 24-25: Handplane Weekend at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking: I love this class. Essentially, I assist Thomas Lie-Nielsen as we introduce students to the basics of choosing, setting up and using handplanes. Plus we have a few fun planing contests.

Sept. 13-17: Hand Joinery at Dick Gmbh – Fine Tools in Metten, Germany: I don't speak a lick of German (OK, I can order beer), yet, the nice people at Dick, a very large supplier of woodworking supplies, have asked me to come teach a class in basic hand joinery. We'll be building a small cabinet from the Hancock community as part of the class. Also, David Charlesworth will be teaching at Dick that same week. I'm either going to have to bone up on some German or start practicing mime.

Sept. 25-26: Nine Essential Handplanes at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking: This is a new course I developed this year that I'm quite excited about. We're going to take a deep dive into the details of the nine most essential planes of the craft: the jack, jointer, smoother, fillister, plow, shoulder, router, scraper and block planes. Each plane has its own personality and is sharpened, set up and used differently. We're going to take two days to master these tools so you can use them with complete confidence in your shop at home or work.

Oct. 23-24: Hand Tool Boot Camp at Kelly Mehler's School of Woodworking: This is another new course I developed this year. It is, in essence, how to get started in hand tools in a fairly painless way (by that I mean how to do it without spending tons of money). The course focuses on learning the basic skills with a few select tools and then gradually expanding your reach until you have a serious problem and need professional help. We also will build the Hancock cabinet shown above.

My other goal for 2010 is to take a class myself. Since the day I started woodworking I've been hankering to take a Windsor Chair class from Mike Dunbar at The Windsor Institute. I've visited the school on a couple occasions for photo shoots and just love it. And Mike is one of my heroes. A great teacher, a scholar and a funny guy. This is the year.

— Christopher Schwarz

You know, at our Woodworking in America event last week I didn't get to talk to a lot of the toolmakers. In fact, I didn't even get to see some of them. That is what a madhouse it was. So that's why I'm particularly pleased to announce a couple additional toolmakers who are coming to the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event Oct. 16-17 in Indianapolis.

Jameel Abraham from Benchcrafted (and hopefully his brother Fr. John as well) will be there demonstrating their awesome bench hardware, including their cool tail vise and their Glide face vise. They also sell my favorite scraper called (cleverly) the Skraper. It's a carbide-tipped tool that is great for removing glue, paint and even wood.

If you haven't met Jameel, you owe it to yourself to get to know the guy. He's an amazing craftsman (ask to see one of his ouds). And funny (ask him about Harbor Freight).

I'm also going to take the opportunity during the event to twist his arm about writing some stories for us. (Sheesh, I hope Fine Woodworking doesn't read this blog. I blab too much.)

Also, Andrew Lunn from Eccentric Toolworks is coming to the Indianapolis show to demonstrate his saws. I've spilled so many pixels on Andrew already it's hard to add to my long list of superlatives about his saws. Simply put: Try Andrew's saws. They will make a believer out of you. They are beautiful to look at (photos don't do them justice) and they are tuned to an almost ridiculous level.

And, as I mentioned before, Kevin Drake from Glen-Drake Toolworks will be there, plus design guru George Walker and staff from the Marc Adams School of Woodworking.

One more thing to tempt you that I neglected to mention in my first post about this event: Martin J. Donnelly is holding an auction and tool sale nearby at the Ramada Inn East in Indianapolis those same days (Oct. 16-17) It's a 10-minute car ride from the Lie-Nielsen show and well worth seeing. Click here for details on that.

If you need directions or more information on the event, click here.

— Christopher Schwarz

I've had my head plunged deep into the cracker barrel of the 19th century this year while working on the forthcoming book "The Joiner and Cabinet Maker."

One of the things I really like about writing books is the research. I have, for example, learned more about the history of pencils this year than during any other period in my life. In fact, I'm considering making some for my own amusement if I can get some graphite from Cumbria.

Of course, all this research has also made me one of the most boring people to be around in our neighborhood.

During my research I've also become fascinated with the benevolent societies of the 18th and 19th centuries. These were, in essence, clubs that had several aspects to them. They would provide insurance in case you died or your tools were stolen. They provided a social network – there are many accounts of parades and celebrations (think Shriners with sharp tools). And these groups sought to further their education. Many of these societies hosted traveling lecturers to speak on the craft.

So this morning I'm cleaning off my 350-pound French workbench to load it into the truck for Valley Forge, Pa., and the Woodworking in America conference. I swore I'd never move this bench again. (Actually, that was my back that was doing the swearing.) But despite all the grunting ahead of me, and some anxiety about my lecture on bench planes, I'm looking forward to Woodworking in America in a way that transcends the fact that it is part of my job.

You see, I've never been one to join clubs. I wasn't in a fraternity. I never attended the French Club meetings (except when they had those Toblerone candy bars). Heck, I don't even belong to the Society of Professional Journalists.

But this weekend, I know I'm going to get to see all the people who make my job so rich, including both toolmakers and readers I have known for more than a decade. I'm going to get to meet people I've always wanted to know – Toshio Odate and Peter Follansbee to name only two. And I'm really looking forward to the Hand Tool Olympics. Wait until Mike Siemsen gets his claws into you -- you're going to love it, too.

This event, for me, almost captures the spirit of these benevolent societies. If you went to Berea last year, you know what I mean. If you're going to Valley Forge, you are about to find out.

All we really need now are some funny hats and a secret handshake.

Back in June, some of you might remember that I was building an Ohio copy of a fascinating three-legged Chinese stool. And some of you might also remember how I flamed out at the very end of the project, cutting a single tenon at the wrong angle, ruining the entire thing with no time to recover before the scheduled photo shoot.

Well I got pulled into another project, and Senior Editor Robert W. Lang started building two of the stools last month for the Winter 2009 issue of Woodworking Magazine. Bob is just as interested in the stool and its joinery as I am, so he seemed happy to take up the challenge.

Until today.

As I was cutting through the shop to get to the copier Bob was at his bench working on the stool and I stopped by to check his progress. During the last month I've watched as he ran into the same challenges that I did. And he's recovered nicely each time.

But today he got one of the stretchers flipped over as he was marking it and he cut its shoulder at the opposite angle he was looking for.

But Bob is smart. He has that second stool already in the works, and I'm sure he'll pull it together in time. Meanwhile, I've got that Shaker bench to build – and I better get cracking at my presentation at Woodworking in America.

Couple quick notes on that event next weekend in Valley Forge:

1. We will have copies of my new book "Handplane Essentials" there to sell as well as our reprint of Joesph Moxon's "The Art of Joinery" with my commentary.

2. We will not have copies of the new book we're publishing with Joel Moskowitz titled "The Joiner and Cabinet Maker." However, I hope to have a printout of the book to share there and will be discussing the 1839 bench plane techniques there in public for the first time.

3. It will be a bench-lover's paradise: The Roubo, the Holtzapffel, the Gluebo and Bob's 21st -century Workbench will all be there and in use.

I hope you can stop by Oct. 2-4.

— Christopher Schwarz

The free Marketplace area of our Woodworking in America shows are – hands down – the best woodworking shows I've attended since I started in the craft. The exhibitors are top-shelf (no ShamWow) and are hand-picked. (We say "no thanks" to several sellers.) See the complete list here.

And, I might add, the Marketplace is totally free. Check it out Oct. 2-4 in Valley Forge, Pa.

What's more, I think you can visit the Marketplace and learn an astonishing amount about woodworking. Many of the exhibitors are also A-list craftsmen and are happy to walk you though using the tools in the booths – almost everyone brings workbenches and wood. Both the tools and the exhibitors are sharp.

I will warn you, it's hard to escape without buying something. And that's because you are going to see stuff that you never ever see in person. How many of you have used a saw from Eccentric Toolworks? Where are you going to find "new old stock" files and Starrett stuff if you don't visit Slav at Mustang Designs. (Watch out for Slav. He always gets me for a couple hundred bucks.)

Get Don McConnell of Clark & Williams to show you how to use moulding planes. See the incredible Glide vise in person from Benchcrafted. Custom toolmakers such as Sauer & Steiner, Brese Planes, Bad Axe Tool Works and D.L. Barrett & Sons will be there. See their wares, try them out and try to resist.

Plus you'll find exhibitors who don't traditionally do shows. The Best Things? You gotta meet Lee Richmond there. Gramercy Tools? Meet Joel Moskowitz himself. And how often do you see Lee Valley Tools and Lie-Nielsen Toolworks at the same shows? Not too often.

And it's not all hand tools. MicroFence and Woodpeckers will be there – they make some of the best darn router accessories around.

I'll be there (and so will my credit card). Just don't get between me and those Starrett wing dividers in the Mustang Design booth. I'll poke you good.    
Woodworking in America exhibitors

Clark & Williams

The Acanthus Workshop

Adjust-A-Bench

Bad Axe Tool Works

Benchcrafted

Blue Spruce Toolworks

Blum Tool Co.

Brese Plane

Bridge City Tool Works

Czeck Edge Hand Tool

D.L. Barrett & Sons

Di Legno Woodshop Supply

Eccentric Toolworks

Gramercy Tools

Hock Tools

Horizon Wood

Lake Erie Toolworks

Lee Valley Tools

Lie-Nielsen Toolworks

Manny's Woodworker's Place

Medallion Toolworks

Micro Fence

Mustang Designs

Philadelphia Furniture Workshop

Phoenix Lock Company

Powell Manufacturing Company

RJR Studios

Robert Larson Company

Sauer & Steiner Toolworks

Society of American Period Furniture Makers

The Best Things

Woodpeckers, Inc.

(as of Aug. 31, 2009. Subject to change)

– Christopher Schwarz

I mean, who doesn't like a good girl fight?

In high school, fights among the boys were boring. Lots of posturing. Maybe some shoving. At best they might clasp into some Greco-Roman grip that would immobilize both of them for up to five minutes. Yawn.

Give me Heather "Cat Food" Barker vs. Tammy "Runs With Scissors" Gentry any day. There was always some hair pulling. The occasional dirty punch. And, if you got lucky, some good bloody fingernail scratches.

And that is exactly what you are going to see at Woodworking in America in Valley Forge, Pa., on Oct. 2-4. Heather Griffin, the conference's organizer, and Megan Fitzpatrick, our managing editor, have vowed to compete head-to-head in the boring competition at the conference's Hand Tool Olympics.

The two first met in boring battle at the Hand Tool Olympics in St. Charles, Ill., where they vied for last place (Megan came in third from last. Go Megan!)

This week in the office, things are getting ugly.

Heather stopped me in the lunch room and said she had three (printable) words for Megan: "Game on, girl!"

I took the message to Megan. She replied:

"Oh, she is going down!"

Quick side note: Megan issued this counter-challenge while snacking on a little spreadable goat cheese that was blended with Vermont butter and spread on a freshly baked herbed mini-baguette.

But before you put all your money on Heather, rest assured that Megan is going to practice at boring. I told her she didn't need any practice.

I am so dead.

— Christopher Schwarz

As someone who works in a shop every day with a bunch of bright and talented woodworkers, let me say that the craft is a lot more fun when you can compare notes, tease each other and work together. And you learn new skills a lot faster as well.

Woodworking clubs around the world are a great way to get a taste of this. For some nominal annual dues you get to tap into the club's expertise, usually get a discount on equipment and the chance to bond with fellow woodworkers. I've been to a lot of club meetings, and I recommend you seek one out in your area.

Now Marc Spagnuolo (aka the Wood Whisperer) has launched an online woodworking club called The Wood Whisperer Guild that offers many of the same benefits of a local club, but with members all over the world and content that is accessible all the time. Plus, Spagnuolo has come up with some additional cool ways to use technology to add features you don't see in physical meetings.

One of the cool things the Guild does is to build projects together. They can share ideas and help each other make design modifications. Recently, the Guild tackled a project from Popular Woodworking's "I Can Do That" column – a magazine rack built by Senior Editor Glen D. Huey. Spagnuolo built the project following our plan (above, left), then he built the project using his own design sensibilities.

Spagnuolo said the Guild was considering tacking the Knife Block project featured in the August 2009 "I Can Do That" column. And I think that's great. We publish the "I Can Do That" column to encourage woodworkers to get into the shop and build (no matter what their skills). And it's clear that the Guild is full of builders. So my hat is off to you.

In addition to getting in on the building fun, Guild members get additional Wood Whisperer videos, live demos, coupon codes to save money at online vendors (such as Rockler and Eagle America) and you get to bend Spagnuolo's ear if you need fast assistance with a woodworking project.

You can read all the details on The Wood Whisperer's site. Even if you don't sign up for the Guild you should take some time to watch some of the videos there. Spagnuolo is a good teacher, a funny guy and a fine builder. You can try out the Guild for six months for $48. Or you can get a year for $84. Check it out.

— Christopher Schwarz

One of best ways to learn how a piece of furniture is put together is to take it apart. Many of the best furniture makers I know who work in historical styles have done a fair bit of restoration or conservation work

Last week at the Woodworking in America: Furniture Construction and Design conference, all the attendees got a chance to dive deep into how American casework is built with the help of Jeff Headley and Steve Hamilton of Mack S. Headley & Sons cabinetmakers.

Jeff and Steve brought an entire van load of reproduction furniture they've built that could be completely disassembled. And during the three-day conference, they took pieces apart, put them back together showed us every single trick we asked about.

Want to know how to make a curved French foot? They showed us how. It's so simple that I am now crazy to give it a try myself.

They explained how they do complex angled work. In a nutshell: Don't angle the tenons. Angle the mortises. And when they passed the pieces around, the scales fell from my eyes.

I attended one of their lectures on Saturday where they assembled a Chippendale chest of drawers, a Hepplewhite chest of drawers with a French foot and a gate-leg table with some incredible angled work. Plus they disassembled a scale highboy (I think it was Queen Anne).

But that wasn't the half of it.

At the two-hour-long question and answer sessions, Steve and Jeff worked with everyone one-on-one and showed us even more pieces, such as a Winchester drop-front desk with 13 secret compartments and a tall clock. And they had dozens of examples of carving and joinery to pass around for us to inspect.

They explained why they use white glue almost exclusively in their shop. How they finish their pieces. All the carving tools they use (by brand, number and sweep). In two hours I think I took in about as much information as I can gather by hunting myself in a year.

This is the same format (lectures plus extended hands-on/question-and-answer sessions) that we're going to be using for our hand-tool conference in October in Valley Forge, Pa. If you liked our conference in Berea, you'll be blown away by our conference in Valley Forge. I can't wait.

— Christopher Schwarz

 “The machines need the numbers. We don’t need the numbers.”
 — Jim Tolpin

After attending almost two days of lectures at our Woodworking in America conference, my head is swimming with both big ideas about the craft and the fine details of joinery.

Each of the lectures I’ve attended reminds me of a snake eating a pig. I have taken in a huge amount of information, but it is going to take me weeks or months to digest it. I hope that we’ll be able to do this construction and design conference again in a future year because this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever attended.

Now until I can get that pig past my gallbladder, let me try to give you a taste of one of the interesting themes that have been running through the seminars.

Jim Tolpin: Measure Once or Not at All
Tolpin is one of my woodworking heroes. He’s been a professional cabinetmaker all his adult life and built his career on how to make a living making furniture. His approach was machine-centric. (Heck he wrote the “Table Saw Magic” book.)

But now Tolpin is going through an interesting transition. He’s given his power equipment away to his stepson and is working with and teaching others about hand tools almost exclusively (and he’s writing a new book about it).

Tolpin’s lecture explored the different furniture design approaches that result from working with machines vs. working with hand tools. Both have advantages and disadvantages. When working with machines, Tolpin contends that furniture design becomes constrained by the machines. You’ll create details and joinery that machines can produce. You will rely more on glue. And that changes or advances to a design cost a lot of money (new tooling; new tools).

“Your stuff tends to look like other people’s stuff because you have the same machines,” Tolpin said.

The advantage with the machine approach, he said, is that you can make a living at it.

When you work with hand tools, then sketches and mock-ups drive your design. You use graphic geometry instead of calculus. Scaled drawings and cutlists are unnecessary. And you can use an analog recording system, such as a story stick.

This approach, which Tolpin calls the “artisan” approach, is best suited for home woodworkers, studio furniture makers, prototype development and museum-grade reproductions. It is very difficult to make a living making furniture this way.

After he explained the woodworking world using these terms, he designed a stepstool on the whiteboard without using any measurements. Instead, he based the components off of the human body with the goal of creating something functional, durable and beautiful. He used the measurements of his hands, shoulders and feet to create the stool (at one point he pulled his shoe off and held it up on the board).

The result was really quite nice and really did meet the requirements of a human body instead of a machine. As we got up from our seats I started thinking about trying out the concepts on a future piece of furniture. I then had to head down to our computer lab to check up on the SketchUp clinic we’re running continuously there. And I wondered if Google could add a “draw foot” tool to its menu bar.

Probably not.

Next entry: Don Williams dispels the myths of the machines in the 19th century. This one kinda made my head explode.

— Christopher Schwarz

Today I was standing in line at our hotel waiting to check in, when I did a foolish thing.

“Oh my gosh,” I said (OK, I actually kinda squealed.) “It’s Thomas Moser!”

And sure enough, there was Thomas Moser, checking in at the hotel in style. I felt like a total furniture dork and turned a shade of crimson. Then I felt a lot better when the guy in front of me turned around and said:

“I know! It is him!”

Welcome to the Woodworking in America: Furniture Construction & Design Conference in St. Charles, Ill. Today the entire staff of the magazine drove from Cincinnati to Chicago to help set things up for the three-day conference that begins tomorrow.

As always, there is lots to see as the vendors unpack their boxes. Here are a few tidbits.

At the Lie-Nielsen booth, they had a couple interesting things to see on one of the sample workbenches they’d brought along. First, off, they added a sliding board jack to a European trestle-style workbench. The track for the board jack (sometimes called a “deadman”) was attached to the legs with finger joints and hex-head bolts. It is a welcome upgrade to the fine Lie-Nielsen benches.

But the bigger news was getting to mess with the new Lie-Nielsen twin-screw vise. Lie-Nielsen Toolworks has started making its own vise hardware, and this new twin-screw vise looks like a real winner.

For starters, it has only one handle to turn. It wracks very little. And it is adjustable when you set it up so you can have up to 24-1/8” between the screws. The whole setup is very tidy. Very tight. Very impressive.

Also cool: I saw one of Andrew Lunn’s new saws that are minus the etching but with the addition of a new medallion. Sweet. (Sorry, no photos.)

The Benchcrafted folks had their new carbide scraper, which is branded the “Skraper.” It’s a cool little tool – a glue scraper with a carbide tip. It might be the last glue scraper you ever buy or sharpen.

The Lee Valley booth was already set up when I arrived and covered in blankets. And I didn’t have the courage to peek underneath.

And then there’s Slav, the file-monger. Slav showed up with a van full of new-old-stock files and rasps and a bunch of other tools.

Even though I’m on the clock here, this is going to be an expensive weekend for me personally.

— Christopher Schwarz

Many woodworkers think that the ability to design a beautiful piece of furniture from scratch is a God-given talent. Either you have the knack or you should just make knock-offs.

I'm here to tell you that idea is crazy talk.

While there are some people for whom design comes naturally, I insist that anyone can learn to design well-proportioned, inspiring pieces that are built to last generations. Building things that endure is not just about using the right joinery – it's also creating a form that transcends the shackles of contemporary taste so that it will never be kicked to the curb.

Like any woodworking skill, your eye for design needs to be developed so it can flow through your hands, onto the page and into the wood. And that's why we created the Woodworking in America: Furniture Construction & Design conference.

This three-day event in St. Charles, Ill., will bring together the very best minds on furniture design and construction. And through a carefully orchestrated series of lectures, question-and-answer sessions and hands-on training, you will make serious advances in your ability to create furniture that looks good now, will look good in 100 years and is stout enough to endure everyday use.

The program, which runs from Aug. 14 to 16, is divided into three parts:

• Mastering the mechanics of the design process
• Gaining a deep understanding of the predominant American furniture styles
• Learning to create the right joinery, mouldings and details to execute your designs.

Mechanics
During the last few years, Google SketchUp has changed the world of designing furniture. This free 3D drafting program works on virtually any computer and can be mastered by anyone willing to learn the ropes.

During the three days in St. Charles, we'll show you how Google SketchUp can be used for designing all kinds of furniture, and how you can harness its astonishing power to create designs that can be quickly modified. In addition to interactive lectures, we'll have an open SketchUp laboratory where you can bring your laptop and get hands-on instruction and advice from SketchUp wizards who are also dyed-in-the-wool woodworkers.

And with the help of Jim Tolpin – author of the seminal "Measure Twice, Cut Once" – you'll learn how to take those designs and execute them in a power-tool or hand-tool shop.

Furniture Styles & Details
Though there are many furniture styles, woodworkers tend to build in early American, Shaker, Arts & Crafts and Contemporary styles. So we gathered the foremost experts on the last four centuries of furniture styles to deepen your understanding of them.

Jeffrey Greene – author of "American Furniture of the 18th Century" – will show you how you need to understand regional details to create period furniture that looks right. Robert Lang – author of several books on the Arts & Crafts style – will help you explore this misunderstood era and realize it's not all about dark oak and straight lines. Jerry Grant, curator of the Old Chatham Shaker Museum, will dispel the many myths about Shaker furniture and show you what it really looks like so you can build more authentic, better-looking pieces. And Oscar Fitzgerald, author of "Studio Furniture of the Renwick Gallery," will take you on an inspiring tour of contemporary furniture styles that will open your eyes to the work of the last 100 years.

Construction
Good design is worthless without sound construction. So we brought together some incredible woodworkers who can tell you exactly what joints are appropriate and how to scale them.

For 18th-century furniture, Jeff Headley and Steve Hamilton from Mack S. Headley & Sons will explore authentic casework joints and mouldings, which they reproduce daily in their shop (they've even done work for the White House). Conservator Don Williams will explore the joinery of the 19th century and how it went from being cut entirely by hand to almost entirely by machine – and what that means for your work.

For the Arts & Crafts era, we've brought on Jim Ipekjian, a professional woodworker from Pasadena, Calif., who has built hundreds of pieces in the Greene & Greene style. Jim has an unrivaled mastery of the incredible joinery of this era. And for the contemporary woodworker, we have enlisted Brian Boggs to help you unlock the secrets to composing your projects using wood grain – one of the defining aspects of modern design.

To top it all off, the keynote speaker will be Thomas Moser of Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers. Moser, one of the most successful designers and builders of contemporary furniture, will explain how he started as a home woodworker and became one of the premiere designers of the 20th and 21st centuries.

And if this is not enough, we also will have a Marketplace area filled with vendors selling the finest tools available now. This really is a weekend not to be missed.

The cost of the three-day conference is $375. You can read more details of the conference and register at woodworkinginamerica.com. I'll be there this summer, most likely sitting next to you and taking it all in.

— Christopher Schwarz

If we haven't yet convinced you to abandon your family/job/comfortable retirement and head to Cincinnati on May 16-17, I hope this blog post will help you come to your senses. That weekend is the free Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event here at our magazine's editorial office.

But it's not just going to be me and Thomas Lie-Nielsen cooking weenies and shooting the shinola about bedding angles. The local chapter of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM) has volunteered to give free demonstrations during the two days on a variety of topics. Here is the schedule:
 
Saturday, May 16            
Time    Demonstrator        Topic           
noon      Robert Crouse        Hollows & Rounds    
1 p.m.    Dave Heyer           Carving Acanthus leaves on a period chair
2 p.m.    Charles Murray     Bench Planes    
3 p.m.    Dan Reahard       Carving Fluted Quarter Columns
4 p.m.    Donna Hill            Inlay: Preparing Inlays and Sandshading
5 p.m.    Bob Compton
             & Jim Crammond    Chairmaking: Windsors
            
Sunday, May 17
Time    Demonstrator        Topic           
10 a.m. Mark Arnold           Inlay & banding    
noon     George Walker        Scratch beader    
2 p.m.   Donna Hill              Inlay: Preparing Inlays and Sandshading
4 p.m.   George Walker       Design: Incorporating Ornament in a Design

And lest you forget, we'll also have other toolmakers in addition to Lie-Nielsen at the event, both showing off their wares and showing you how to use them (the real heart of these events, I might add).

John Economaki of Bridge City Tools. See the Jointmaker Pro (which we awarded a Best New Tool of 2008 award) in action.

Ron Hock of Hock Tools. Ron is a long-time bladesmith who is extremely knowledgeable about steels and sharpening. Ask him about his forthcoming book on sharpening tools.

Kevin Drake of Glen-Drake Tool Works. Kevin builds my favorite marking gauge of all time (the Tite-Mark), plus other thoughtful tools, including chisel hammers, plane hammers and the thought-provoking double-handled dovetail saw.

Ron Brese of Brese Planes. Ron makes incredible infill handplanes at down-to-earth prices. If you're in the market for an infill, he's should definitely be on your short list.

Bob Zajicek of Czeck Edge Hand Tool will be showing off his wares. He makes fantastic marking knives, awls and other tools.

Jameel Abraham of Benchcrafted will be showing his awesome wagon vise, plus I hear he has a new product in the works that is very interesting.

Need ideas for things for your family to do while you are enjoying yourself? Click here.

Again, you don't have to register. The event is free. Give up your will.

— Christopher Schwarz

Make plans to be in Cincinnati on May 16-17, 2009, for a free woodworking show at our offices here at Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine.

Lie-Nielsen Toolworks' traveling Hand Tool Event is coming to Cincinnati. There will be free demos, tours of our shop and plenty of time to ask questions about setting up and using hand tools.

In addition to Lie-Nielsen, there are several other toolmakers planning on exhibiting at the show, including:

John Economaki of Bridge City Tools. See the Jointmaker Pro (which we awarded a Best New Tool of 2008 award) in action.

Ron Hock of Hock Tools. Ron is a long-time bladesmith who is extremely knowledgeable about steels and sharpening. Ask him about his forthcoming book on sharpening tools.

Kevin Drake of Glen-Drake Tool Works. Kevin builds my favorite marking gauge of all time (the Tite-Mark), plus other thoughtful tools, including chisel hammers, plane hammers and the thought-provoking double-handled dovetail saw.

Ron Brese of Brese Planes. Ron makes incredible infill handplanes at down-to-earth prices. If you're in the market for an infill, he's should definitely be on your short list.

Bob Zajicek of Czeck Edge Hand Tool will be showing off his wares. He makes fantastic marking knives, awls and other tools.

Jameel Abraham of Benchcrafted will be showing his awesome wagon vise, plus I hear he has a new product in the works that is very interesting.

And the entire magazine staff will be there. Senior Editor Glen D. Huey will be demonstrating how to hand cut dovetails (pins-first). Senior Editor Robert W. Lang will be demonstrating how to cut through-mortises. And Managing Editor Megan Fitzpatrick will be reciting bawdy early modern poems on the hour.

I'll be there, too, showing off drawboring, advanced nailing (yes, it exists), sharpening, sawing, stock preparation and running at the mouth (my best skill).

As a bonus, we'll have some great workbenches there for you to examine and use. Lie-Nielsen Toolworks is bringing some of its benches. Plus there will be Glen's Shaker workbench, Bob's modern workbench and my Roubo. And if Megan gets her act together, you'll be able to see her new bench that we're helping design that uses a very unusual material.

Be sure to bring the family. We're one block from the area's biggest upscale mall. And Cincinnati has lots of excellent attractions (Megan has written about them here), good watering holes and great restaurants (I'll follow up with my favorite list in a couple weeks).

You don't have to register. Just show up. The hours are noon-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday; admission is free. So set your GPS for 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH, 45236. Or use this handy Google map to plan your trip. We hope you can make it.

— Christopher Schwarz

Cincinnati is a great destination for vacations, whether you’re feeding your tool habit at the Lie-Nielsen show May 16-17, or your tummy (the Queen City is home to Graeter’s, Oprah's favorite ice cream, and Montgomery Inn Ribs, Bob Hope’s favorite, as well as several world-class restaurants).

Just a block away from our office is Kenwood Towne Centre, Cincinnati’s premier shopping destination with 180 specialty retailers including Williams-Sonoma, J. Crew, Coach, as well as three department stores. But if antiques are more up your alley, it’s a short trip to both Waynesville and Lebanon where you’ll discover architectural gems as well as many of the best antique shops in the metro area.

For family fun, visit the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (rated one of the best zoos in the nation), pet the sharks at the Newport Aquarium, or spend the day at the Kings Island amusement park or the Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park. Cincinnati is also home to a wide range of museums, including three at the historic Union Terminal: Duke Energy Children’s Museum, Museum of Natural History & Science and the Cincinnati History Museum, and the Robert D. Lindner Family OMNIMAX Theater.

The Cincinnati Art Museum, located in beautiful Eden Park, offers free admission to see more than 60,000 objects, spanning 6,000 years of world art. Also in Eden Park is Krohn Conservatory, a nationally recognized showcase of more than 1,000 plant species from around the world. And in downtown Cincinnati, you’ll find the Taft Museum of Art, The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, The Cincinnati Fire Museum, the Contemporary Arts Center and more.

For more information on Cincinnati and her attractions (and a hotel locator), visit cincinnatiusa.com. And to return to the Lie-Nielsen Toolworks Traveling Hand Tool Event post, click here.

— Megan Fitzpatrick

Like most woodworkers, I've been to my fair share of woodworking shows. I've bought the $5 router bits that fell off a truck. I've been wowed by the Sham Wow. I've eaten too many cheese fries.

So here's a word of advice: The best all-around woodworking show I've attended is the Northeastern Woodworkers Association Showcase in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. I've attended this show twice, and I'm bummed that I can't make it this year.

What makes this show special? The association has really found the right balance of education, inspiration and commerce. You can easily spend two days at the show soaking up a ton of information. Here are some details of the show, which runs March 28 and 29.

Education: Except for the time they hired me to demonstrate, the Showcase brings in real top-shelf demonstrators who are running lectures the entire weekend. This year you can meet (and learn from) W. Patrick Edwards, a brilliant and talented marquetry expert. Also, Jim Tolpin, one of my favorite authors. Adam Cherubini will be there to talk about period woodworking (let's hope he brings along some of his saws and chisels). And turner Molly Winton.

But that's only some of the education offered at the Showcase. In past years, the members have set up booths where volunteers were demonstrating carving, turning and a whole host of jigs and fixtures.

Inspiration: Almost one-third of the floor space at the Showcase is devoted to displaying the work of the members. There are hundreds of pieces to look at, everything from casework, to canoes, to guitars, to pens turned from corncobs. Some of the work is done by beginners; others is done by people with extraordinary skills. I spent about six hours browsing this area of the show.

Commerce: The show floor is great. There are lots of local and national vendors. Lie-Nielsen and Veritas have been there. JapaneseTools.com. DMT. Several local lumber dealers. Plus guys selling vintage tools.

Ah, two more things: If you go, be sure to check out the bar attached to the hotel restaurant. It has – hands down – the best selection of Belgian ales I've ever seen (except for one place in Philadelphia where I spent a bleary evening with Cherubini).

And finally: Saratoga Springs is beautiful. It's a charming old town in a bucolic setting. The main street is dotted with excellent shops and restaurants. In other words, your family will be glad you took them.

For more details, check out the event's web site.

— Christopher Schwarz

The afternoon is quickly fading to evening in Roy Underhill’s shop in Pittsboro, N.C. And as the shadows across the workbenches grow longer from the windows facing Hillsoboro Street, Underhill announces he is going outside to do some sharpening.

He pulls a foot-powered grindstone out onto the sidewalk and fetches a coffee cup filled with water to drip on the stone. And as the evening car traffic builds in the street, he cranks the stone and sharpens a wide firmer chisel.

About 30 seconds into the job a mother and her toddler wander up to the grindstone. The little boy stares intently at Underhill as he grinds a new bevel on the chisel. Then Underhill stops and looks up – not at the mother, but at the boy.

“This is sandstone,” he tells the boy, as if he’s addressing an adult. “I use it to sharpen things like scissors. Or maybe an axe so I can chop down a tree.”

The boy says it must be hard – really hard – to sharpen. Underhill just smiles.

That’s because if Underhill’s plan works, his latest endeavor will make it easier for the next generation to enjoy hand-tool woodworking.

“This is not about the past,” Underhill says, his arms spread wide toward the 10 beech European workbenches lined up on his shop’s floor. “Well yes, of course it’s about the past in one sense. But it’s really about the future. The objective is the future.”

Then he pauses for a moment, and you know that something important is coming.

“If you have a hobby,” he says, “why not make it an ethical one – as opposed to one that is noise-making, planet-damaging and waistline-expanding?”

Roy Underhill, host of “The Woodwright’s Shop” TV show, has opened a woodworking school in the small but artistically inclined town of Pittsboro, N.C. The hamlet of about 2,500 is right outside the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill triangle and is a nice assemblage of tidy old homes and active storefronts.

Next door to Underhill’s place, called The Woodwright’s School, there’s an ice cream parlor. Unofficially they have the best chocolate malts ever. To the rear of the school is a cozy bar that serves Red Oak, a locally brewed beer. Plus, there are antique shops, a music store, barber shop and photographer who has Barbie issues (ask Mr. Underhill about that).

“Even the people who live here say it’s Mayberry,” Underhill says. “How about another piece of cherry pie?”

The Woodwright’s School is an ambitious venture. Not only is it a tough time to start a business, but how about a school that focuses on hand work exclusively? All the woodworking tools in Underhill’s shop are powered by cholesterol (or alcohol). The closest thing to a table saw you’ll find is a Graves foot-powered treadle circular saw (want one) and a treadle lathe and scroll saw.

“This should look like you have stepped back into a shop class in the 1930s,” he says.

There are 10 German Hoffman and Hammer workbenches, and each is equipped with a basic set of tools for joinery (and everything is sharp – I looked). The walls are decorated with old prints and photos (FDR). There’s a huge old radio at the back of the shop. If you can ignore the digital camera attached to one bench, it really does look like an old shop.

As a result, there are a few rules for students when they bring tools to his classes. No tape measures are allowed. Or plastic-handled chisels. Or Japanese-tooth saws.

“We’re going to be doing English-style joinery,” he says. “You wouldn’t build a shoji screen with a big Disston. That would be like stir-frying grits.”

Then he thinks about it for a second.

“We’re trying to do early music with the original instruments,” he says.

The first music is being made this weekend (February 2009) with a series of one-day classes on basic joinery. Those will lead to classes on building a tool chest. And Underhill says he’s going to bring in other instructors as well.

Those people will teach a class for a week and then Underhill will shoot a segment with them during the weekend for “The Woodwright’s Shop.”

The other different aspect of Underhill’s school is that he wants to ensure that locals, especially young locals, get plenty of opportunity to take classes. That’s why he’s planning shops that will run on weekends or, for example, on consecutive Thursday nights.

“We’ll see,” he says. “We’ll see if I can get people to do this sort of stuff.”

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. The school doesn’t have a web site yet (hey, it’s the 1930s OK?). If you want to get on Underhill’s mailing list to learn about future classes, send your request to woodwrightroy@gmail.com.

First the bad news: All of the spots at Roy Underhill's new woodworking school in Pittsboro, N.C., are all filled. But here's the good news: He'll be scheduling more classes soon, as soon as he gets the next television season's shooting schedule finalized.

And more good news: I'm traveling to the school next week to shoot some photos for an upcoming article that Underhill is writing for us, and I'll give you a full report on the facility, the tools and the workbenches.

The school – called The Woodwright's School – has been in the works for some time now, and Underhill says it is a logical extension of what he's been doing his entire adult life.

"I began teaching woodworking over 30 years ago and continued – in a way – when I was master housewright at Colonial Williamsburg," Underhill wrote in an e-mail. "Now I'm returning to it with my own place equipped with vintage hand tools and an atmosphere that takes you back to the 1930s.

"The Woodwright's School will give me a chance to learn from my students and from the other craftsmen who join me there. I look forward to working with folks of all ages, and I'll know that the school is a success when I have as many young people as I do retirees in the classes. Another step forward for subversive woodworking!"

If you want to sign up for his e-mail newsletter so you can be notified of future classes, click here. In the meantime, enjoy these photos he sent along of his facility.

— Christopher Schwarz

One shot of the exterior of The Woodwright's School.

Roy Underhill looking ready to work in the new school.

A nice romantic shot of Pittsboro, N.C.

There are still some spots available in the class on handplanes that Thomas Lie-Nielsen and I are teaching in April at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking. This is the only class I am teaching in 2009.

The weekend class is April 25-26 at the school, which is just south of Indianapolis. The class is fast paced because Thomas and I cover a lot of ground about the history, theory and use of handplanes. And students get plenty of hands-on time to put the lessons into practice on the excellent Lie-Nielsen cabinetmaker's workbenches at the school.

Here, in a nutshell, are the major areas we cover.

• Handplane anatomy and geometry. Thomas and I dissect the different types of bench planes and explain their differences and similarities. We also debate the practical differences between bevel-up and bevel-down planes. We also delve into the geometry of the tool and explain the trade-offs you'll have to make with your angle of attack, the effort to use the tool and the amount of tear-out you're experiencing.

• Sharpening. We show you what real (not theoretical) sharpening looks like in the shop. We take a new plane iron from the wrapper and prepare for use it in about five minutes. We also show you how to get a curved cutting edge (essential to bench plane work), and how to get extremely straight edges on your chisels and joinery plane irons. After the lecture, all the students put the knowledge to use by sharpening their own plane irons.

• Use. Learn to flatten a board with handplanes, whether it's rough from the sawmill or fresh from an electric planer. We show you how to detect and remove twist and cupping from a board using historically accurate techniques. Then every student gets to put these principles into practice on their own board.

• Your questions. Every year, the students' questions also fill up a significant amount of time. Some years we emphasize joinery planes. Other years we discuss moulding planes, specialty planes, tool maintenance, rust, manufacturing tolerances, rehabbing old tools, tools in the works at Lie-Nielsen Toolworks and so forth.

• A Tour of the Toolworks. Thomas always brings a great video that shows how he makes his tools, from casting to polishing and assembly. He narrates the whole thing and takes questions as he goes. If you've ever wondered how your planes are made, you'll find out. Plus Thomas is always happy to sign your tools. (And me, I'll sign anything.)

The class is $300. You can register online at marcadams.com through this link or you can call 317-535-4013. You can learn more about the school and other excellent classes there through this link.

— Christopher Schwarz