More Windsor Chair Plans From Curtis Buchanan - Plus Videos!

Curtis Buchanan has been pretty busy in the last year. If you are a windsor chairmaker then you may already know much of this. Curtis started making a series of Youtube videos back in 2011 on making a comb back windsor arm chair. I happened to get connected with him to draw up the technical plans for that chair so that he could make them available. It was a long process as I am not a professional illustrator. It was done in my spare time - so you can image the improvements that could be made to the process. I got quite busy after the first two plans were finished and it was at that point that we decided to find someone who could focus on the drawings full-time and bring professional illustrator skills to the table, as well. After filtering through a couple of illustrators we landed on Jeff Lefkowitz. He is a chairmaker and a former graphic designer. He's a real gentleman to work with, too.

There are now four plans available - the comb back arm chair, continuous arm chair and rocker, fan back side chair and the hoop back side chair. You can check those out here. Most recently, the comb back arm chair has been updated to have 1:2 scale front and side views in addition to the patterns. It has been a pleasure to be a part of this project that brings such high quality plans to the general public.

You might also enjoy a few recent documentaries that have been made regarding Curtis' work and life. This first one is from the PBS show "A Craftsman's Legacy" entitled "The Chairmaker". You'll need to register to view this episode. It's free and so far I haven't received a single piece of spam. The other episodes are quite enjoyable as well.

Fine Woodworking also made a nice video here.

Enjoy!!!

Peter Galbert Demonstrates How to Refine a Windsor Chair Seat Using a Claire Minihan Travisher

This is probably my favorite video of the the series I have posted on carving a windsor chair seat. It is just great to see the process and learn so much so quickly. Here Peter refines the shape of the seat. He has already adzed the bulk of the material away and followed it with an inshave/scorp as was shown in the previous video posts.

Warning! This video sounds like a paid advertisement for Claire Minihan's travisher. Sorry about that but they are really that good. If you happen to want one you can contact her at cminihanwoodworking@gmail.com or visit her site here. I of course don't make a dime off any sales she makes. 

Enjoy!

Why Use A Wooden Rabbet Plane & How To Guide Them By Hand

Rabbet planes so quickly get overlooked when it comes to making moulding. It is kinda crazy really. Because once you get into making moulding by hand you realize the rabbet plane is used for probably 90% of the cuts. Yeah no kidding.

We like to dream about all those shapely hollows & rounds and forget that they just do the final few passes and make all the hard work of the rabbet look pretty. I guess it is like how Stevie Ray Vaughan plays such awesome riffs you forget about Double Trouble. They are ONLY THE REST OF THE BAND! Its too easy to forget that without those really fat bass lines and super tight drum lines that Stevie would sound pretty lonely.

But seriously, the rabbet plane is not just an old version of a metal shoulder plane. Though it looks like its primitive cousin its function is for a totally different purpose all together. Shoulder planes are designed to remove relatively small amounts of end grain material. That is why it has a low angle of attack, around 38˚.

On the other hand rabbet planes are bedded like a typical bench plane with the  intent of removing large amounts of face grain material and quickly. No playing around here. Try and do that with a heavily set shoulder plane and it will just jam full of shavings in a hurry and feel pretty weak while doing it.

So here to remind you of the power of the rabbet plane I present two more sad low-budget videos. I know, what a let down. You might find the second video more useful though. It demonstrates how to start and guide a rabbet plane by hand (sans fence).

As always Enjoy!

Construction Of a Sash Window Frame From Raw Wood- Video

I stumbled upon this video not too long ago. I really enjoyed it and decided that you folks might like it too.

The video shows a window frame being made with all the basic steps in just a few minutes of video. It makes me want to make some windows especially after picking up the book on Doormaking and Window-making that LAP recently put out. Fascinating to see the difference between factory made vs. craftsman made.

I would like to find one of those coping planes that is used in this video. Would be a good one to study.

I should mention that the video is curtesy of the Arnold Zlotoff Tool Museum. The joiner in the video is Ted Ingraham. I would like to make it up to the place someday. Would be quite interesting I am sure.

Enjoy!

The Trade of the Joiner from Finn Yarbrough on Vimeo.

New Smaller Smoother In Action

If you subscribe to my Youtube channel then this is old news but if you don't then I wanted to show a little video of a new smaller version of my favorite smoother in action. This little guy is so much fun.

It is about 5/16" shorter than the standard size with a 1-1/2" blade and 5-13/16" long. Oh and the iron is bedded at 57.5˚.

My thinking behind the design was to have something that excelled at clean up in an area that had lots of reversing grain which limited different directions of attack you could take. Those big planes are frustrating in these situations. Heck a No.4 is way too big much less a No. 4 1/2.

I frankly was inspired by those really amazing infill planes that Sauer & Steiner make and of course Raney's (Daed Toolworks) infills as well. Maybe that's why I decided to make it out of solid persimmon. Get some all ebony going on.

Enjoy!

Peter Galbert Drawsharp - Tool Review

I should start off by making it clear, if you don't read my blog, that I am friends with Pete and this could be easily categorized as a biased review. I realize this but I am a chairmaker so here is my opinion. In fact it is probably just as much about my thoughts on sharpening in general.

If you haven't already seen the videos Peter has posted on how this works in use then I recommend checking them out to get the concept. UPDATE: Pete put up a post talking about why he designed this tool. Check it out here.

So is the Drawsharp just another sharpening jig? At first that is how I was looking at it. I guess it is. But I was thinking about how a turner uses jigs to rest there tools on supports to grind the edge or hold the tool in some other way while sharpening. I use jigs in these instances because they make my sharpening retain or achieve the shape I want as well as get there quickly without worrying about achieving a cutting geometry that is crucial to good turning. On the other hand, unless I see a real advantage, I am just too focused on what I am making to fuss with a jig, whatever it is, unless I see that it actually makes my work faster, better, or lessens the interruption of my craft which I think is hugely important. I sharpen all my plane irons by hand for this reason though I can see someone arguing for using a jig to do this faster but they just seem to irritate me.

What do I think of the Drawsharp? Is it a faster, slower or just a more accurate way of sharpening? Before I answer that I should say that I think this tool has two distinct tasks it can accomplish. First it would help you rehab a drawknife that is in the typical shape when found at a flea market or the like. Essentially the edge is very beat up. If you don't want to attempt doing all the clean up on a grinder then this is a far less intimidating way to get it to functioning and I think it may in some ways be just as quick if not possibly quicker. This of course really has more to do with the current condition of the drawknife.

My drawknives are in fine shape so I can't really comment on this process or the speed other than messing around with a few beat up drawknives at Peter's booth at Woodworking In America, the show these debuted at. It was quick, I must admit. It was simple for the first time user which would be the main reason I see some one like that using it. I came to realize it is much cheaper to rehab 3 flee market drawknives even considering the purchase of the Drawsharp than it is to buy a decent new drawknife which then still leaves you with only one drawknife and the standard method of sharpening it. A few different drawknives in chair making is useful if not necessary.

That takes me to the second task this accomplishes and the one I think makes it really most useful to me. It maintains the edge of the knife consistently and without fuss. For instance it takes me about 8 minutes to set up and resharpen my knife and get back to work with my traditional method which is a jig that holds my sharpening stone in an elevated position above my bench. However, the Drawsharp allows me to never even leave my shave horse to get my edge back up to full throttle. It seems to take me about 45 seconds once it is in my hand to be satisfied with the edge especially since maintaining it is so easy I don't even think to not just do it once I get the notion it is approaching dull.

In the end I would say that two types of people would be suited to the Drawsharp the best. The first is if you want to rehab a knife or knives and don't feel comfortable with the grinder for this task. I don't blame you since it is tricky.

Second is the person that does a lot of drawknife work and the down time this saves out weighs the cost of the tool or you simply do this for a hobby and your free time in the shop is of more value than the cost of the tool.

So if you don't mind rehabbing your drawknife with a grinder or you have enough time in your craft to sharpen the old way or enjoy this method of sharpening then you can pass on this tool.

Hope that helped anyone who was trying to decide if this tool was right for them.

Final disclaimer- I do not profit from the sale of this tool.

Cyma Recta / Reversa Ogee Moulding Plane Demonstration

Here is another complex profile moulding plane that I wanted to share. It really is fun to use. I just love making a new plane like this.

This plane is aimed at making primarily a cyma recta profile. That is the ends of the "S" of the profile are horizontal while a cyma reversa has the ends of the "S" being vertical. Just think reVersa for vertical. This plane can make the cyma reversa profile if you stand the board vertically while working the edge. You just have to stop it at the right depth on your own rather than using the depth stop.

Here is a video of it in action. Enjoy!

Fun With Raised Door Panel Planes At Woodworking In America

So I am gearing up to be at the Woodworking In America Show in a couple of weeks. It has been a funny back and forth game. Am I going, am I not? I rented a booth about six months ago and then canceled it when I realized with all the work I had on my plate there was no way I would have time to prepare what I wanted to present, which was planes.

Well wouldn't you know it, Peter Galbert calls me and has space in his double booth for me if I want to use it. OK, I say, I will go if you twist my arm. If he only knew I was secretly planning on showing up, be a party crasher, and hang out in his booth uninvited. I knew he would be too embarrassed to tell me to go home. OK, maybe that is not true, but I obviously have wanted to go this year and looks like I will.

So I won't have all the planes ready that I want to show off. In fact, I will probably only have two sets of planes for sale since I am so ill prepared but if you have wanted to try out some traditional 18th century style planes then here is your chance. I will have some moulding planes (hollows, rounds, custom profiles) and bench planes on hand.

With that said I wanted to show off a plane for making raised door panels. It features a skewed blade for making really smooth cross grain cuts without splintering. I was inspired to make this plane after seeing it in use on The Woodwright's Shop with Roy Underhill episode 3209 of the 2012-13 season. Go to the 21:30 minute mark and you will see his in use. I think he says this is circa 1830 plane that he is using.

On the fly, I threw together two videos of the plane making the long grain and the cross grain cuts. I didn't plan this video so, as you can see, I didn't make the cross grain cuts first as you actually do in making a real door panel but this gives you an idea of how it looks in action. I am cutting this in walnut so you can imagine how nice this will cut everything else. Hope you like them!

Long grain cut.

Cross grain cut.

Comic Relief

Well, it has been about six months since I left good ol' Texas. Their are a few things that I don't miss but there are a few things that I do.

I came to really like the Mexican and hispanic communities and peoples their. There was always such an nice family atmosphere that was welcoming. Even when my neighbors sometimes had a big party with Mexican music, it always sounded like they were having a great time and no problems. I never listened to it myself but I miss the Mexican music that seemed to be so common around me. Didn't know it was missing until it wasn't there.

Anyways, nostalgia has gotten me. With that in mind I wanted to share one of the funniest Youtubers out there. He is a fellow in Mexico that shows off and demonstrates his Lie-Nielsen tools at work. I still haven't figured out if this guy is for real or just playing it up a bit. I think it is legitimate. Whatever the case it makes me laugh and reminds me of the good about Texas.

Enjoy!

The Coffin Shaped Smoother- Up Close

Have you tried making that smoother from the plans that I posted up recently? Need a little help or a closer look? Well, here it is.

I put together two videos to show its details and how it performs in that order below.

I really love this little smoothing plane. I hope you make one. It will become a go to plane as it has for me.

I will eventually offer these for sale as well if you don't have the time or the desire to make one yourself. I understand that making a tool is not everyones interest but the using of it is. Let me know if you want more information.

Enjoy!

Skew Chisel Sharpening- The Critical Geometry

Do you love to turn but have a panic attack when you pick up the skew chisel? I think this is the most feared tool for a new turner. They buy a set of tools and start turning. Everything is so so with a few successes and a few mishaps. Then they go to sharpen the tools. Doing this for each tool is a bit confusing for the beginner to say the least. There are a great many sources out there nowadays to get you going in the right direction... except maybe when it comes to the skew.

Why do I say that? To me it is mind boggling that with all the discussion about the different angles to sharpen the edge at in relation to this and that and blah blah blah... The most critical part is always left out. DON'T ROUND OVER THE CUTTING EDGE. Maybe I should say that louder. 

What I mean is that it doesn't matter squat what all that other stuff is if your cutting edge is dubbed over. That is to say that their is not a straight line between the bevel and the cutting edge. It must not be sharpened with a rounded edge like you might see on a carving tool. Why? The skew is a simple tool to cut with on the lathe and requires one key to its successful use and that is you must have the bevel in contact with the turning to support the cutting edge while cutting. If you don't then the tool will catch. 

If your edge is rounded over then when you place the bevel against the turning the cutting edge will not be able to make contact with the turning forcing you to lift off the bevel to engage the cutting edge. When you do this you WILL catch. 

Often a related problem to this is not having a rounded edge from improper sharpening but simply a dull edge. A dull edge is another way of saying that your edge is rounded over. Keep your edge sharp and avoid catches

Also it is important to create a smooth arch to the edge. Not one that has transitions from one area to the next which will make problem prone areas for catching since you will tend to rock from one area of the edge to another while trying to keep the edge cutting. This rocking or shifting that you do while trying to keep the tool cutting lends itself to making you lift off the bevel and catch. 

So here are a few photos of what your edge should look like. Don't focus on the angles of anything but look at how the grooves left by the grinder are smooth and don't transition but create one smooth arch across the bevel. 

Notice that when everything is in one plane the light reflects off the edge consistentaly.

One way to help keep your grind smooth is to "bell" or round the face of your grinding wheel and ride across that high spot. Notice the darker area on the wheel in the background. It is the high shot. I am not trying to sharpen across the whole face of the wheel which would give me way too much area to worry about controlling. This gives me a small area to concentrate on while sharpening. I have no use for a 1" wheel as you might guess.

Now with a nice bevel, it is on to a few passes over my 8000 grit water stone and I will have a gleaming edge. Sounds easy. This is the part where you can round over the edge quickly. It is imperative that you keep the bevel against the stone while honing the edge. Firm (but not grinding) pressure should be applied while evenly and smoothly sharpening from heel to toe and back. 

I admit that is not a great description of how to actually do the honing but fortunately someone (Pete Galbert) made a video a good while back that demonstrates this part quite well. More people should be watching it but unfortunately they are probably learning how to do this from a woodworking writer not a professional maker. (The cynic in me coming out.)

Finally, notice again, that the reflection of light is even across its edge. Once you have removed the grinding wheel marks I stop here and go the lathe. I will return every turning to make a few passes to keep me sharp and catch free.

By the way it is nice to have a bench stone holder like the one pictured to have it up nice and high so you can hone with more control. 

Moulding Planes - Where to Start

If you are going to put to use those garage sale finds the place to start is with a solid working rabbet plane. These will be used more than any other plane in your box. You will use them to do all your rebate and chamfer work unless you plan to use a table saw. One with a straight edge is what you want for work along the grain. Cross gain work usually is handled with a skewed version, thought not a must.

These are not just a wooden shoulder plane. A shoulder plane is expected to take a slicing cut on end grain and usually has a low angle. On the other hand a rabbet plane is designed to rapidly but smoothly cut side grain and thus will have a bed angle like a bench plane. A good rabbet plane will eject shavings out the escapement where as a shoulder plane will quickly clog since it was not designed to cut large amounts of side grain material. A good rabbet plane is a joy to use and a wooden one is light and quick.

To demonstrate I put a couple of videos together to show you how a properly set one will work. First, I I have a left hand side round that I use to set the gage line for my 3/4" rabbit to track in. I have the rabbet plane set moderately heavy. Watch the shavings really shoot out the escapement as I get going toward the end of the video

Now I show a full width shaving that is set on the lighter side for a 1-1/8" rabbet plane. A large rabbet plane like this is nice to have. I find I can keep my rebates level and plum much easier and track my gage line by using my fingers as a fence more easily as well.

These are planes that I made and will be part of what I will be continually offering as my range of moulding planes expand. For now I have these available in my Etsy shop. 

How to Weave A Danish Paper Cord Seat - Series

So I have been wanting to post a series on how to weave a Hans Wegner style Danish paper cord seat for a few years. I finally have gotten around to it. I just finished up a set of 6 chairs that are the CH36/37 in mahogany and they really are the perfect chair to demonstrate with.

Here are the videos starting with part 1 through to part 6 totaling about 38 minutes. I tried to edit out all the none essentials but I left comments on parts that will not only get you through the weave but some very helpful pointers that I could have used when I began. I suggest watching it completely through before starting. Once you have completed a chair, if you watch it again, you will likely understand and appreciate the additional comments better.

Please leave your comments. If I have left anything out or something seems to not make sense, please let me know. I spent a bit of time editing these so I would like them to be useful.

By the way, if you click on the "Danish paper cord" tag to the right of this page then you will see some posts on the basic weaving kit that I use. I don't cover this in the video to keep it concise.

Enjoy!

Click here to go to my YouTube channel with all 6 videos.

Volute Carving Exercise

Since we are on the subject of volute carving I thought I would share this little snippet from a video with Mack Headley on The Woodwright's Shop that discusses classical carving in the 2008-2009 season. Here is a link to the video and if you move the video up to about midway (14:00) there is a nice overview of a simple practice for carving a volute.

Just to quickly hit the high points you will see that he hand draws the volute by eye. Based on a 1/2" center he graduates in 1/8"s of an inch per half a circle radiating out form the center as it extends. Each chisel that he choses is used for a half of a circle within the volute. Notice how he walks the chisel when defining the line and how the edge is sharpened in an arch aiding in a natural motion of the hand while moving along the arch. He notes that the chisel sweep that defines the line of the volute will be used to excavated the adjacent area towards the center of the volute.

Some nice points to use in practice to further simplify the thinking behind making this fundamental carving easier to grasp and allows you to feel free to work with this element within your own designs.

I have included a link to a post from Peter Galbert's blog for a method for drawing a volute by eye on a handhold.

Volute Carving - Behind the Scenes

Well I don't know if that is the best title but here is a peak behind the camera of what the tools look like up close. Sometimes the hardest part seems like just figuring out what tools to do the work with. We spend so much time looking at tools in the woodworking world that it is hard to just get to the woodworking. I feel your pain. So I wanted to share what tools Curtis had me using while I carved the volutes on the crest of his comb back arm chair.

If you have been watching his video series then this would go with video No.9. I don't plan to give instruction on how to carve the volute since Curtis' decades of experience shown in his video is far more useful.

The above photo is of the tool set for the carving. You can see the sweep stamped at the base of the blade or handle. Note that there are two different no.7 sweeps. Keep in mind that sweep varies from tool maker to tool maker. And the sweep varies based on the width of the gouge from the same maker. So I have shown a ruler to judge the size. (These are actually metric gouges.) I am showing this not so that you can buy the exact tools but it will give you a better idea of the tools to look for when buying. 

The best thing to do is take the volute pattern you are wanting to carve and then match up the sweep of the gouge to the pattern until you have a set of gouges to carve that pattern.

Below is a photo showing generally where the gouge is used. The blue marks are the line where I worked up to using that particular numbered gouge in doing the initial defining of the volute line. You can see that the no.3 gouge is used only at the very first then follows with the no.5 for a large portion of the rest and so on. It is nice to see though that two of the same gouges can be used in carving the recessed area with the exception of the larger no.7 and no.8.

The orange lines follow the same pattern but are in regard to the recessed area that is carved out. Of course this is not an exact reference on how to carve this but just some guidelines that could aid you when starting to carve one of these for the first time. 

Take your time. Use a good solid mallet that doesn't bounce and feel the wood respond as you carve. Remember that oak splits well for getting that straight grain fibers we want for almost every other chair part but it can split when we don't want it to when carving. Keep an eye at the top and bottom of the volute portions where the short grain can quickly break off. 

Now get out there and do some carving! Keep a smile on your face... you do better work that way.

Comb Back Windsor Arm Chair

About a year ago I had a nice opportunity to come and work in the shop of Curtis Buchanan a windsor chairmaker in Jonesborough, TN. We spent two weeks, including weekends, pouring over the construction of one of his better known pieces. Many have been watching his youtube series on the making of his Comb Back Windsor Arm Chair. If you haven't seen it yet then you have to check out this link, for sure. http://www.curtisbuchananchairmaker.com/videos.html

Below is a picture of the chair I made based on his original design.

I was there when he was about 2/3 of the way through making his popular video series and my time there allowed us to work on some projects that both aided me to understand his traditional methods to a greater degree while I helped on some behind the scene things that hopefully will be coming out soon. I am very excited about them and as they progress I will touch on them more.

Until then I thought it would be fun to share some of my observations while building this chair myself and a few notes that might help the new chairmaker understand some of the finer details. This is a very complex chair.

I plan to share first my observations about the carving of the volutes for the knuckles and ears, so stay tuned.