Christopher Schwarz moderated this session on the second day of Woodworking in America in Berea, KY. Robin Lee and Thomas Lie-Nielsen participated. Highlights of items covered during this session:

Summary (from notes I took during the session – but everything is on the video):

1. Characteristics of both types of hand planes.
2. Questions with Robin Lee and Thomas Lie-Nielsen.
3. Questions from the audience.

Now for the good stuff:

Using a Veritas bevel-up plane as an example, Schwarz explained:

1. There is no removable frog.
2. These have been called “low angle” tools, which can be confusing because they can be made into high-angle tools.
3. What changes when using a bevel-up plane? We gain, due to some of the following advantages, and lose some due to a few disadvantages:

• The sharpening angle of attack influences the angle of the tool: Low angle, for end grain, for example; and high angle for “tricky” grain.
• The adjustment mechanisms are vastly different; they result in easier, and more accurate, blade adjustment with the bevel-up tools. Blade projection is easier; but lateral adjustment can be more tricky on the bevel-up planes.
• There is no separate chip breaker. Robin Lee discusses wood failure.
• Some discussion followed on changing the angle of attack by changing the back bevel on the iron; Schwarz does not like this approach, as it doubles sharpening time.
• A major advantage of bevel-down smoothers and jointers: Making adjustments “on-the-fly”, which gives great feedback to the user.
• A disadvantage of the bevel-up tools: Cannot “point” with the index finger, or make adjustments.

Starting about 45 minutes into the session, the panel took questions from the audience. This was a great session with two major players on the tool manufacturing side, an amateur woodworker who doubles as a magazine editor, and an audience hungry for information.

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Frank Klausz returns in this episode on Advanced Dovetailing, to share how he makes half-blind and mitered dovetails. He shares tips that are crucial to get excellent joint fit with a minimum set of tools. I filmed this during his wonderful session, at the Woodworking in America hand tool conference in Berea, KY.

The session opened with Klausz talking about his background, and his search in America for “…others who made dovetails like his grandpa made them, back in Hungary…”. He later told the audience he has made “… a total of 12 of these, and now is getting ready to make his 13th mitered dovetail joint…”

Pins-first is the order of the day when making both, the half-blind, and the mitered varieties of dovetails. Klausz also uses a sharpened pencil to mark the tails from the pins; and, from the Pins vs. Tails dovetailing videos I filmed during his first session, white glue is what he uses to assemble the dovetails. He considers white glue a great stress-remover when the time comes to glue up dovetail projects – the longer open time of the white glue is good for these, he says. Of course, he is right.

If you decide to download the video: The file size is 570 MB. It will take a while, depending on your connection speed.

Relevant posts:
Woodworking in America: Pins vs. Tails, with Frank Klausz

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This episode is all about workholding:

1. Face vises – Racking is the main reason The Schwarz does not like them.
2. Leg vise: Elegant, cheap, GREAT!
3. Shoulder vise: Best choice for dovetailing drawers – it is fast. It is great, but too complex.
4. Crochet: Used with holdfasts, it is great, and cool.
5. Sliding dog vise: Otherwise called the Wagon Vise. Recently installed one on of his benches.
6. End (tail) vise on European-style benches: Fragile, and they sag!
7. Dogs: Round or square? Likes square, bur coming around to round. It is hard to make square holes. The round dogs are best because there is a large after-market that caters to these.
8. Battens: Offer an effective way to work: Low profile, and cool.
9. Planing stops: Made from scraps; make them as thin and wide as possible; install on the face vise.
10. Planing boards: Great if the workbench is not flat; Chris has made available a construction drawing on his blog.
11. Deadman: Installed on his Roubo; has nothing but praise for it.
12. Other benches: Concrete block bench; wheelwright’s bench, with leg vise and cabinets; the Modern Roubo”; the English hybrid, with angled leg vise but straight legs; Moxon’s bench; the “sink” bench (laughter!), which is a Shaker bench corrupted.

The Schwarz answered many questions, all terrific and relevant, until he ran out of time. The discussion could easily have run much longer, but everyone had to run to lunch, to the Marketplace, and to other terrific sessions.

I took a good look at the construction of the sliding deadman…

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In this episode Christopher Schwarz, Editor of Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine, presents, discusses, and points out pros and cons of several benches and their features:

1. The European bench: He is not happy with this form, but also is not anti-European-form. His problem with this one: People take old principles and apply them to other benches. He likes to apply the kitchen door test (typical sizes we work on) and the kitchen carcase test (pushes him to narrower benches) to all benches, for suitability.
2. Materials: For example, the Nicholson bench required only a small amount of material. He likes soft woods for his benches; SYP (Southern yellow pine) does not move much, is stiff ((no flexing), it dents (no detriment), and he can flatten a workbench in 45 minutes using a #8 jointer hand plane diagonally. Also, SYP does not sag; however, one of his benches has developed a low spot i.n the middle. He believes the critical area that requires total flatness on a bench top is the front 8 inches to 10 inches.
3. Roman style bench: This is the one he finds in most pro shops. Pros: It is simple, and stout. Con: No planing stops, etc.
4. The French undercarriage: Pros: Great clamping ability. Con: Requires a log of material, primarily due to its massive legs.
5. The English bench: Pros: Requires very little wood. Con: Undercarriage clamping is tough.
6. The Danish bench: Pro: Easy to knock down. Don: Can’t clamp easily on the front.
7. The Shaker bench: Pros: Great looks, and storage for everything and everybody. Cons: Hard to clamp on.
8. Tool trays: Cons: They are always full of “stuff”.
9. The Hayward bench: The thin top flexes; but the front apron takes away some of the flex.
10. Top thickness: At 3″ to 4″, the beam strength is enough to provide support on the legs. Holdfasts reach their holding limit around 4 inches.
11. Bench height: For hand planing, it should hit the joint between the pinkie and the palm of the hand.
12. Bench width: Finds that 22″ is great, but 18″ tends to be tippy.
13. Bench finish: NO slick film. The formula he uses is 50/50 BLO (boiled linseed oil) / varnish, with solvent added to make it possible to wipe on the mixture. There is no need to finish the underside, unless the owner wants to finish it.

Next: The ending of the session on Forgotten Workbenches and Workholding.

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Related posts: Watch more videos from Woodworking in America on this blog.

First, a lengthy apology: The lighting in the room used for this session was challenging at best. As a result, I compensated exposure in the video camera manually, as the automatic system kept being fooled by some lights in the background. An overhead light was in front of the projections screen, which interfered with a small portion of the images. And I also I continued to have tripod problems, so panning side-to-side, and tilting, were terrible at best (I tried to keep these to a minimum).

Second: Be on the lookout for the moves, now famous, that lead to The Schwarz Dances. NOW you can see them in the context of his terrific presentation. Hint: Around 31:30, and also 36:45 of this Part.

Over the years, Christopher Schwarz has built many benches – from the Roman style door-and-saw horse, to much-improved models based on old references. And he has published a book that has become a true library reference for many woodworkers: Workbenches, From Design & Theory to Construction & Use.

Now to Part 1: From my notes, a mix of some comments and facts from the presentation by Christopher Schwarz. I hope the following will get your interest in watching the video:

• Target: How to build a bench at a reasonable cost – It must appeal to readers. Thus, the $175 bench.
• Evolution of a simple bench, over time.
• “Fights” with Joel Moskowitz in Joel’s apartment, while looking at his world-class woodworking library – Roubo found; Plate 11, the start of The Schwarz’s “conversion”.
• Built the first Roubo for $300, including the crochet (pronounced “crow-shay”, not “croh-chett”…) and leg vise, and put it through its paces.
• Some comments on the minuses of the European benches.
• His research led Chris to ask himself “…what other early, cool benches might be buried in the literature?”

I have several pages of notes, but won’t post the remainder here. It is all in the video.

Next: Part 2 of the session on Forgotten Workbenches and Workholding.

Related Posts:
More stuff from Woodworking in America on this blog.

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This is Part 3 of 3 of the session on Scrapers: History, Preparation and Use, with Christopher Schwarz. Part3 concludes the series on scrapers.

To get some continuity from Part 2 into Part 3, I included the last 3 minutes from Part 2 as the introduction to this episode. This way you can get back to speed quickly.

In Part 3 Christopher Schwarz actually draws the burr on the scraper. This Part starts with some discussion by The Schwarz on drawing the burr, and continues with the rest of his findings on the study he conducted:

1. Best way to get a consistent angle at which to pull the burnisher: Adjust the height of the card scraper in the vise, until you find an angle that gives you the best burr. Use this height setting from now on, and lay down the burnisher on the vise chop (the moving face on the vise). This will give you a constant reference angle as you pull the burnisher.
2. Use a lubricant when drawing the burr:
   - Use a Japanese hair tonic such as Camellia oil (a Japanese hair tonic)
   - Other accounts suggest that the Japanese hair tonic is not the best.
   - Rather, one should use oil from behind the ear, or from the nose.
3. Make several passes with the burnisher, using light pressure. After each pass, “feel” the burr with your fingers.
4. Up until today, Chris had always drawn the burr on the pull stroke. After the first pass, someone from the audience asked whether doing it on the push stroke would also work. In the end, it did, and even The Schwarz learned something during this session!
5. What pressure to use? “About 12.4 lbs…” <laughter from the audience…>
6. Effect of the shape of the burnisher: A tight radius produces a more aggressive burr, i.e., it cuts more at roughly the same pressure; for harder scrapers, use this tight-radius burnisher. But, for softer scrapers he recommends using a wider-radius burnisher. This is the main reason for differences in the shape of the burnishing rod.
7. Always buy and use a highly-polished burnisher. He criticizes some commercial burnishers for not being polished enough, which results in jagged edges on the scraper.
8. Chris likes to draw the burr while slowly moving the scraper away from the edge. This makes a lot of sense, as it “…keeps the oil moving…”
9. Results: Beautiful shavings!
10. A huge crowd gathered around Chris and his workbench immediately after the presentation. I am truly sorry I did not leave the camera running to record this!

Approximately the last half portion of Part 3 consists of a Q&A session. Several very good questions originated from attendees to this session, with (what else?) equally good answers from The Schwarz.

I hope you enjoyed this three-part series on scrapers, and hope you will return for more videos from the following sessions I attended:

• Advanced Dovetailing, with Frank Klausz
• Bevel-up vs. bevel-down planes, with Robin Lee, Thomas Lie-Nielsen, and Christopher Schwarz
• Forgotten Workbenches and Workholding, with Christopher Schwarz
• Furniture Design, with Kevin Drake and John Economaki
• My summary and wrap-up, with scenes from the conference.

Not on video, but rather from my own notes, I will have a post on Modern Tools, Tolerances & Myths, with Robin Lee, Thomas Lie-Nielsen, Konrad Sauer, and John Economaki.

I would love to receive your Comments, and any questions or suggestions regarding the Woodworking in America series of videos, and any other content.

Note: I split this session into three parts, for easier downloading of the high-resolution file, and viewing in shorter segments. I apologize for the clumsy tripod movements – for example, at around 50 seconds into the video, the camera came close to hitting the floor. But everything in the session is on video.

Background:

By the end of Part 1, Christopher Schwarz had covered the history of scrapers, using information from “…12 dead guys and 2 living…”, the literature back to the mid-1800s; he was unable to locate earlier references in the literature. He also covered interesting facts about how wood fails, documented with superb photographs of the types of shavings formed. As Part 1 ended, he was filing one edge of the card scraper on the bench.

It is worth repeating here that this work first was published on the PW blog on April 20, 2007; you might want to keep the printed article for future reference. In my opinion, though, it is worth the time to watch Christopher Schwarz go through the entire procedure, in which he fully documents every step, and many misconceptions, about sharpening card scrapers.

Now, Part 2:

In this episode Chris does the prep required to get the edge ready to turn the burr, and covers the following:

1. Finishes filing the edge of the scraper, as indicated by complete removal of the marker ink he used for this purpose.
2. Stoning the edge: It is essential to keep the scraper at 90° to the stone surface. The best method he found to do this is to use the same block of wood he used to keep the file square to the scraper face. In addition, he moves the block of wood after every stroke.
3. Sharpening stones he uses: Shaptons, 1,000 and 4,000 grit. Chris makes the point that a polished edge is more durable, and keeps the sharp edge better than a non-polished edge; thus, stoning with 4,000 grit.
4. Polish the side, or face, of the card scraper, using the ruler trick developed by David Charlesworth to prop up a plane iron on a stone to sharpen a very small area on the face of the iron. This drastically reduces the time required to flatten (and polish) the face of the scraper.
5. Burnishers: Use a polished burnisher, not a cheap one!
6. Use a little oil to burnish the face of the scraper, using rapid movements across the entire face. Doing this creates a specific sound that resulted in burnishers being called “ticketers” in days past.
7. This Part ends with some discussion on turning the burr: How? Slide the burnisher? At what angle? Use the Veritas variable burnisher – he set his at 7.2°! How much pressure to use? How many strokes with the burnisher?

It was only earlier this year I finally found myself able to properly sharpen a scraper with any kind of repeatability. But, if you are still struggling to get nice, thin shavings, this session is for you!

To be continued in Part 3…

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Christopher Schwarz, Editor of Popular Woodworking (PW) magazine, does a terrific job in this session. He is entertaining, and has an uncanny ability to convey his message accurately and succinctly. I split this session into three parts, for easier downloading and viewing. This is the high-resolution video (as high as I can get with an old video camera).

Background:

This session is Schwarz’s presentation on a topic he researched, and published on the PW blog on April 20, 2007. The published article shows the steps required to properly do the job, and mentions “…a list of 14 different techniques for sharpening this rectangle of steel that have been published since 1875.” In the video he talks about the references he found, from “12 dead guys and 2 living”, and which were the foundation of this work.

For Part 1:

In this first Part, Chris covers the historical background (nothing about sharpening scrapers appears in the literature until 1875), his work on wood failure (Types 1, 2, and 3 shavings, and why tearout occurs), and the first part of scraper preparation: Filing the edge.

The next two episodes will show the rest of the session with Chris, and the wonderful shavings he produces with a well-sharpened scraper.

Apologies:

In three areas I came close to disaster – the camera and tripod came close to falling to the floor… My apologies, as I also had trouble with tight tripod movement. But the entire session is on video.

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In this episode Frank Klausz discusses the importance of undercutting below the base line, and his preference for cutting both pins and tails flush with the boards. Roy Underhill introduces the concept of “bishopping”, which involves leaving the pins proud and using a ball peen hammer to “spread out” the protruding wood to make the fit appear better than it truly is.

Later, both present several variations on the dovetails:

1. Half-lapped (or half-blind) dovetails: Look carefully inside this joint, as “there is room to undercut in every direction”.
2. “Secret” mitered dovetail: Most of the joint is concealed, so it is impossible to determine how “clean” the joint may be. Frank Klaus will cover more on this joint, when he actually cuts one in the Advanced Dovetailing session. I will also have this session on film.
3. In one segment Roy Underhill calls himself “The Rhinestone Wood Guy” – to the delight of the audience.
4. The Puzzle Dovetail, done on the diagonal.
5. The Rising Dovetail, used to hold mallet heads and highlighted on the workbench in use for this session.
6. The Swallow Tail dovetail – I am not sure if this one is accurate, but it is on the video. Klausz and Underhill agreed that this one is truly a scarf joint. And I believe it is a very interesting joint. Layout involves careful work with gauges, etc.

A short discussion ensued on chisels suitable for dovetailing work. Most important: Sharp cutting edges, and beveled edges, to allow the chisel to get in tight quarters! When asked about the best angle to sharpen the chisels, Klausz answers, true to form: “The angle is SHARP!”