Classes

Wheelbarrow Making Class Photos

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,...

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18th Century Loop Back Chairmaking Class

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. ...

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Make a Wheelbarrow with me and Peter Ross

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. ...

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My First Chair Class in Three Years

For the first time in three years, I am teaching a chair class. Or really a chair-and-table class.  I'm co-teaching with my friend Eric Cannizzaro for two weeks at Penland in the NC mountains. Come spend your days building chairs and your evenings watching the...

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Dave Sawyer

"I was talking with Dave Sawyer last week and I asked him if you could go work with him.  He said 'yes.'" I was standing in Curtis Buchanan's garden, helping him pick vegetables. I had been apprenticing with Curtis for six years and he was worried that I was...

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Rare Treadle Lathes for Sale

My blacksmith friend Peter Ross called last week.  "I bought a couple lathes in an auction.  Could you help me move them this afternoon?" This can be a fearsome request, for Peter has a habit of buying machinist lathes weighing in the thousands of...

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Growing a Loop Back Arm Chair

As most of you know, I'm at Curtis Buchanan's designing a Loop Back Arm chair. On the second day we had a visitor from NC, Reid Gamble who has been apprenticing with laddarback chairmaker Lyle Wheeler. First we bored for the bent stretcher. Curtis had to climb...

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Curtis, Eric and I

I am spending the next few days visiting with Curtis and Marilyn Buchanan. Eric Cannizzaro is here too. During the day we're working an a new loop back arm chair design for which Curtis hopes to publish a set of plans. At night, we are eating Marilyn's good food and...

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