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Woodworking in America at Valley Forge: A 17th century carved box by Peter Follansbee

October 31, 2009 By Al Navas

I invite you to step back in time. Step back to the 17th century, please, and admire the carving in this little box by Peter Follansbee; the attention to detail in the delicately scalloped edges of the lid; and the joinery, enhanced by the beautiful nails used to assemble the box.

I also recommend Peter’s web site, and his blog. In them he documents his work, and his “Joiner’s Notes”.

follansbee-box-1

follansbee-box-2

follansbee-box-3-till

follansbee-box-4-till

follansbee-box-6-scallops

follansbee-box-5-till

Thanks for sharing your work with, us, Peter. I look forward to learning so much from you!

And for my readers: This is intended strictly to whet your appetite. I have video of Peter’s sessions at the conference, both his formal presentation, and the hands-on-session. I think you will like those two!

Update: My thanks to Bob Easton for suggesting in the Comments section that I start including something in the photos, to give an idea of size of an object. Bob, I will find something, I promise! In the meantime, I called Peter and got the (approximate) dimensions for the box shown above:  it is 5-1/2 inches high; 12-1/2 inches wide; and 7-1/2 inches deep. He gave these from memory, as he had already made a second one, and he remembered these dimensions as being quite close.

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—— Al Navas

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Filed Under: Blog, Conference, Joinery, Valley Forge, Woodworking in America Tagged With: 17th century, box, carving, Conference, Joinery, Peter Follansbee, Valley Forge

Woodworking in America at Valley Forge: Dovetails – the details, with Roy Underhill

October 27, 2009 By Al Navas

Download this episode in Quicktime format
(In Windows, right-click on link above, then | Save Link As…)
Duration: 17:12 minutes

Funny. Entertaining. Hilarious. Serious. Supreme raconteur. What else? Oh, yeah – historian of our craft.

If you have never watched Roy Underhill perform, be prepared to be entertained, and to learn important aspects of the history of dovetails. Also, prepare yourself to volunteer to go back to the first half of the 19th Century, to “correct” a craftsman for using dovetail angles that were “too steep”. But wait! Maybe the craftsman allowed his magazine subscription to expire, and totally missed on the “proper” dovetail angles???

In this episode you will see something old, by way of an old chest full of very old tools of a trade. In addition, I invite you to watch, and learn novel ways of cutting your dovetails. No matter what your background, be prepared to be entertained, and to learn along the way. For Roy Underhill has been doing this for close to 30 years!

I would love to learn if YOU cut dovetails in a way similar to the way in which Underhill does. And, if you do, I, too, will have learned something new.

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—— Al Navas

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Filed Under: Blog, Conference, Dovetails, Joinery, Valley Forge, Video, Woodworking in America Tagged With: Conference, Design, Dovetails, history, Joinery, Roy Underhill, Valley Forge

Woodworking in America at Valley Forge: Making and fitting drawers, with Mario Rodriguez

October 23, 2009 By Al Navas

Download this episode in Quicktime format
(In Windows, right-click on link above, then | Save Link As…)
Duration: 19:34 minutes

You can read a short description of the work by Mario Rodriguez at the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop web page, and at FineWoodworking.com.

Making drawers, and fitting them well, separates a good piece from a great workpiece. As a result, it behooves the craftsman to learn how make drawers properly. Mario used a case containing two drawers to illustrate differences in fitting options.

Included in this session you will the following: milling the wood, letting it “rest” to acclimate to the shop environment, milling to final dimensions for a perfect drawer front fit, suitable material thickness, layout of the dovetails, fitting the bottoms, hardwood bottoms and grain orientation, drawer slips to beef up the thickness of the sides, drawer web with dust cover, and installation and sizing of drawer stops.

Mario ended the session with a verbal description of the technique he uses to cut and fit the dovetails by hand.

Although I edited the 90-minute session to less than 20 minutes, I hope you will find all the critical information to properly make and fit drawers in your next masterpiece.

If you ever have a chance, make the time to attend one of the Woodworking in America conferences. I know you will likely learn something new, will meet new people, and will enjoy the Marketplace and the terrific tool makers!

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——  Al Navas

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Related posts:
More Woodworking in America posts on this blog.

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Filed Under: Blog, Conference, Dovetails, Joinery, Layout, Valley Forge, Video, Woodworking in America, furniture Tagged With: Conference, Design, drawer, drawers, fitting, furniture, Mario Rodriguez, Valley Forge, Woodworking in America