by Elia Bizzarri | Nov 22, 2024 | Classes | 0 Comments
"Penny Hewitt runs a great class," Curtis Buchanan told me after traveling to Vermont to make a pack basket with her. "She's personable and laid-back, and she knows her stuff. You should have her teach at your shop." A couple weeks ago, Penny emailed...
by Elia Bizzarri | Oct 14, 2024 | Craft Films, No-Glue joints, Samuel Wing Book Project | 13 Comments
I have finished writing my book about Samuel Wing. Sure, there's still editing to be done, but that never ends. The Lost Art Press folks will be here in February to photograph the book and we'll go from there. Jeff Lefkowitz just sent me the proofs...
by Elia Bizzarri | Sep 16, 2024 | Classes | 0 Comments
Just yesterday I finished teaching a wheelbarrow class with Peter Ross. One of my favorite parts of this class is the intersection between wood and fire. The tire gets heated in a wood fire before it is shrunk onto the wheel and even the staples for the staked sides...
by Elia Bizzarri | Jul 26, 2024 | Chairmaking Tools and Supplies | 8 Comments
I sold my first reamer in 2004 or 2005 for about $40. Compared to the reamers we make now, it was a pretty rough affair; I ground the blade from a Stanley compass-saw blade and made the body from a maple blank for a Windsor chair leg. Since then, the price of our...
by Elia Bizzarri | Jul 14, 2024 | Chairmaking Tools and Supplies | 20 Comments
These tenon cutters were donated by a former student who has retired from his chairmaking hobby. We'd like them to go to someone who would have trouble affording them and would use them a lot. If you know someone like that, please nominate them (or yourself) in...
by Elia Bizzarri | Jul 4, 2024 | Chair Stories, Classes, Samuel Wing Book Project | 4 Comments
I've been gone for what seems like forever. In the beginning of June, my wife and I went on vacation for a week with the ultimate goal of Eric Cannizzaro's shop in Vermont. There I taught a green woodworking class with Eric for a week. It's a pretty idyllic...
by Elia Bizzarri | Apr 19, 2024 | Classes | 2 Comments
Peter and I are at it again. Last year's wheelbarrow class was so much fun we've decided to do it again. A local sawmill is at work sawing one of the last green ash logs in the Piedmont for barrow frames (no thanks to you Mr. Emerald Ash Borer) and we've got Roy...
by Elia Bizzarri | Mar 21, 2024 | Classes | 0 Comments
I've been doing some spring cleaning. Yesterday and today I've been hauling pine seat blanks into the attic from where they've been air-drying outside. Before that, I was going through more seats upstairs, making room. The upshot is that I have found some surplus...
by Elia Bizzarri | Feb 12, 2024 | Classes | 0 Comments
I'm excited to be teaching this class again. It's the kind of woodworking I love best, and I love getting to share it. And I'm especially excited to be teaching with Eric Cannizzaro again - he's an excellent chairmaker, a good teacher and a really nice...
by Elia Bizzarri | Jan 28, 2024 | Samuel Wing Book Project | 3 Comments
It's been a long time since I've posted on this blog. It seems that spending hours each day sitting in front of a computer writing a book, limits my motivation for sitting in front of a computer writing a blog post. Oh well. The book is coming along great...
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