May 21, 2012

“An amazing moment” at Woodworking in America 2010

Racing between sessions on Saturday during Woodworking in America 2010 I noticed a very small group gathering by an outside window of the second floor of the Covington (Kentucky) Convention Center. I recognized two of the people, and moved in closer. Wilbur Pan was showing Christopher Schwarz how he uses Japanese hand planes. For me this meant an immediate change in plans; I decided to stay, listen, and maybe catch some video. The video at the bottom of this article is from that informal session in the hallway by the window.

The following is a screen capture image of the event, after Frank Klausz, woodworker extraordinaire and dovetail savant, joined in the informal session:

Left-to-right: Christopher Schwarz, Wilbur Pan, and Frank Klausz.

I just received my copy of the latest issues of Popular Woodworking Magazine. In the magazine, Schwarz writes his Editorial article under the title On the Level. In the latest, he writes about “What I Learned at Woodworking in America” – it is a terrific article. He describes the “amazing moment” he had when Pan holds “…his ground and explains the things he has learned to Klausz…” Don’t miss this video episode; I loved it, and I think you will too!

Right-click to download this episode in Quicktime format
Duration — 25:16 minutes
Size: 438 MB

Al Navas

Woodworking in America video: Dovetailing drawers – tails or pins first?

Frank Klausz and Roy Underhill show how each cuts dovetails; each starts with a different part of the joint. This has been a perennial issue with these two amazing craftsmen. Klausz always starts pins first (with one exception, the hidden mitered dovetail), while Underhill always starts tails first.

I have watched both in every Woodworking in America conference – and every time I am amazed not only at their skill at making this joint, but also their teaching ability. They are ageless.

Right-click to download this episode in Quicktime format (156 MB)
Duration: 14:24 minutes

I would love to hear from you:

  • Which do you cut first, pins, or tails?
  • What type of saw do you use?
  • Do you have to do a lot of paring to get good fit?
  • Or are you good enough that the joint fits right off the saw?

Al Navas

Woodworking in America video: Using dividers to lay out anything

From the Woodworking in America “Instructors” web page, this is the summary of George Walker’s session:

Use dividers to lay out anything, from dovetails to casework

One of the simplest woodworking layout tools is also the most powerful. The are precise. They don’t require mathematics to use. And they simplify many of the layout operation. You layout dovetails quickly and perfectly with dividers, plus you can use them for many other layout chores that would be tedious and prone to error with numbers and math. George R. Walker, the host of two influential DVDs on design and the “Design Matters” columnist for Popular Woodworking Magazine, shows how you can use dividers at every stage of a project, from designing the carcase and mouldings to placing the hardware.

In this video Walker gives the historical background of the divider, and sets the stage for laying out drawers. I had a bad angle to show properly the layout of the graduated drawers using dividers; but you are in luck, because you can read his Popular Woodworking Magazine article “Graduated Drawers”, at this link. Toward the end of the video Walker shows the “classic Doric order” to illustrate proportions (bingo – perfect for using dividers!), stating that it “…contains the “DNA of traditional design…”, studied by architects, carpenters, silversmiths, etc.

Al Navas

Page optimized by WP Minify WordPress Plugin