"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...
Classes
December Loop Back Class
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...
A Big Long Trip (and a sale on online classes)
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...
A New Wheelbarrow Class
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...
Seat Blanks for Sale
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...
Greenwood Week with Eric Cannizzaro & Elia Bizzarri
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...
Wheelbarrow Making Class Photos
by Elia Bizzarri | Oct 15, 2023 | Classes | 2 Comments
Last week's wheelbarrow making class with Peter Ross was a great success. And a lot of fun. First everyone spent a day moving my firewood around, so they could learn the proper use of a wheelbarrow. (I'm mostly kidding.) My mentor Curtis Buchanan took the class,...
18th Century Loop Back Chairmaking Class
by Elia Bizzarri | Aug 19, 2023 | Classes | 0 Comments
Boy, I've been busy! I taught a wonderful class with Eric Cannizzaro at Penland, NC in July, building Jennie Alexander ladderback chairs. Then my wife Morgan and I toured around for ten days, visiting family, friends and Lost Art Press in Cincinnati. ...
Make a Wheelbarrow with me and Peter Ross
by Elia Bizzarri | Jun 13, 2023 | Classes | 4 Comments
My wife Morgan and I got back from our honeymoon in Italy a couple weeks ago. We focused on eating and walking, but I did see a 15th century riven-oak square thing (wardrobe?) in a museum, so I know they did have respectable trees once upon a time. ...
Samuel Wing Chair Class
by Elia Bizzarri | Feb 20, 2023 | Classes, Samuel Wing Book Project | 5 Comments
Last week I had four friends over for a trial run of a class set in the year 1803, building a copy of Samuel Wing's loop back chair. It was a great week. We all learned a lot, none more than me. Thanks to Damon O'Gan for the black-and-white photos below: We split,...
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