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The Hal Taylor rocking chair

 

The topic of the St Joseph Woodworkers Guild meeting on Tuesday, July 11, was “Sculptured Rocker”.

The Presenter

Tim Streeby, Guild President, has been building a Hal Taylor rocking chair using air-dried black walnut. He shared his progress, and the details of the famous Taylor rockers. He invited Mike Spencer, a long-time Guild member, to bring in the Taylor chair he built in 2010. Seeing one of these beauties in person was gratifying; but being able to sit on one was wonderful, according to many of the attendees to the meeting.

The Hal Taylor rocking chair

Tim’s shop

With Tim’s permission I also show some of the machinery in his shop, as members gathered and chatted prior to the start of the meeting. I hope you will enjoy the detail shots I attempted with a hand-held video camera.

 

 

— Al Navas


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A great weekend

Once the chores are done, Sandy and I love to share special times with our granddaughters. This past weekend was one of those times. We took four our granddaughters to participate in the St Joseph Arbor Day activities at the Missouri Department of Conservation  regional office at Missouri Western State University. Our Guild participates, sharing information about the Guild activities; members display some of their projects, and the visiting public enjoys the Guild’s participation. In this photo is Cherie, recent past Guild President, proudly displaying her spectacular burl box:

Cherie and her gorgeous burl box.

I snapped this photo while past President Larry stepped away for a while; he makes beautiful boxes, for sale at craft shows: The Missouri Department of Conservation is said to be a leader in several areas. In my mind, one of the most important functions is in the education of our children. As a result, we try to expose our granddaughters to the activities of the Commission, including Arbor Day. Granddaughter #2, Sierra, enjoyed applying several stamps to a small branch sample:

Arbor day is great for the kids!

The Department of Conservation also provides, at no charge to the public, a staggering amount of educational literature. For Arbor Day celebrations, this picnic table displays literature on diseases that could affect our local trees. It also serves as the distribution point for the tree seedlings that are given away to families every year, two per family ((Norway spruce, redbud, hazelnut, river birch, serviceberry, wild plum, flowering dogwood, black haw, aromatic sumac, ninebark and northern red oak):

And it is also great for the older kids!

Following our visit to the Department of Conservation, we traveled 50 miles to Lawson, Missouri. Located in the rolling hills of Northwest Missouri, Watkins Mill is the last fully equipped 19th century woolen mill in the United States. It is technically a part of the Watkins Mill State Park. Sandy and I strolled with the girls a short distance to the of Spring on the Farm festivities:

Walking path at Watkins Mill, Missouri.

Below is last photo I was able to snap before the camera battery quit. Two of the farm hands are shearing a sheep using human-powered shears — the man in the hat is cranking the wheel that keeps the shears working (hard, hard work!), while three of our girls (in the bandannas from Arbor Day) watch the men:

Getting naked - a demo on shearing sheep.

To me this was a moving scene, as Sierra, the 10-year old, already spins wool and other fiber using a drop spindle. Later I watched her showing the 1870s-attired thread spinning interpreters how she uses the drop spindle, to the amazement of the interpreters.

My only regret: that the camera battery gave up on me as we started the Spring on the Farm tour. <grrrr…..>

— Al Navas

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A weekend with Christopher Schwarz

It was a wonderful weekend (March 18-20) of woodworking talk, seminars, and personal perspective by Christopher Schwarz, Editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine. If your Guild or some other type of organization has an opportunity, invite Schwarz — you and your colleagues will be treated to a wonderful woodworking time!

On Friday night (March 18) Schwarz talked about growing up in Arkansas; and working on the family farm to build a house using hand tools. Despite his early experiences with hand tools on the farm outside Hackett, Arkansas, Chris remains an avid student and advocate of traditional hand tool techniques. His two-hour talk set the stage for the rest of the weekend; I had read bits and pieces of his early years, but had never heard him tell his story in person. It is both fascinating, and captivating. I truly hope all my readers will get a chance to hear Schwarz tell his story.

The schedule for Saturday (March 19) and Sunday (March 20) was as follows:

  • Hand Plane Essentials
  • Sawing Essentials
  • Dovetail Joinery
  • Workbenches and Tool Chests

It would be impossible to cover the sessions in this space. I will limit my comments to a brief summary and my personal impressions.

In Hand Plane Essentials Schwarz told us we need only nine (9) hand planes. Nine. Of course, this does not include the moulding planes, which are a different story. He explained how joinery, bench, and moulding planes work. By the end of this session I decided that I truly, really, truly need a very basic set of moulding planes. As a result, I am searching…

The Sawing Essential session showed us how to use a saw to dimension stock, for final sizing of casework pieces, and fine cutting for precision joinery. We got to see first-hand the proper stance, the grip, and the body motions that will help us develop our skills quickly.

In the Dovetail Joinery session Schwarz discussed how to approach the dovetail joint, and the different ways to cut the joint depending on the project. He covered through dovetails, and half-blind dovetails, and the saws, chisels, mallets, and the marking and layout tools that help complete the joint.

In the session on Workbenches and Tool Chests I got a peek at the historical record of workbenches Schwarz has been sharing with his readers over the last several years; it included several plates I had never seen at the many sessions I have attended at various conferences. This is a fascinating topic, and still generates hot discussion on the woodworking forums. In the session on tool chests, he showed us photos of the wonderful Anarchist’s Tool Chest he will unveil in the near future; he designed it to hold his basic tool set – the forty tools “…required to build just about anything…” So, stand by, and wait for further details on this chest. You will love it!

Now some photos, courtesy of the Kansas City Woodworkers Guild.

Rob Young spent most of the weekend manning the video camera that projected the details of Schwarz at the workbench — the images were projected on huge screens throughout the Guild floor (Note: all photos courtesy Kansas City Woodworkers Guild). In the following photo you see Rob in a familiar position at work, while Schwarz uses a coping saw to remove some waste from a dovetail joint part:

Rob Young manning the camera while Schwarz works a dovetail joint.

In this next photo are Kevin Thomas and Schwarz. Kevin is the current President of the Kansas City Woodworkers Guild:

Kevin Thomas, Guild President, and Christopher Schwarz.

Kara Paris is the Training Director of the Kansas City Woodworkers Guild — she spent the entire weekend ensuring all attendees had signed in, and coordinating event happenings with other volunteer Guild members:

Kara Paris and Christopher Schwarz.

My impressions:

I feel lucky to have participated in this 2+ day event organized by the Kansas City Woodworkers Guild. All I can say to Kevin Thomas and the Guild is “THANK YOU!” for the opportunity to attend. The session content was terrific and, in my opinion, the time allotted to each session was just right as an introduction to the topic. I cannot help but think that the interest of other attendees was piqued sufficiently that many will follow through with several of the techniques so aptly demonstrated by Christopher Schwarz. The entire weekend was one I will remember for a long time. I, for one, am searching for a better crosscut saw, and for moulding planes.

I look forward to your Comments on this type of session. If you prefer, click on my signature below, if you wish to send me a message via my new Contact Page:

— Al Navas