I prefer to size stretcher tenons with a Turner's Gate (Sorby calls it a Sizing Tool). It's major advantage over dowel plates and tenon cutters is that the tenon shoulder can be easily removed using a skew, plus the tenons are always in line with each other. A...
How-To
Finding green wood
by Elia Bizzarri | Aug 24, 2017 | Chairmaking Tools and Supplies, How-To | 7 Comments
Green wood is everywhere. In fact, dry wood doesn't usually exist in nature: trees are veritable pipes full of water and once they die the rotting process is fed by water. Yet finding green wood can be a daunting task for many modern woodworkers. Where to look? What...
Milk Paint DVD
by Elia Bizzarri | Jul 23, 2017 | Chairmaking Tools and Supplies, Craft Films, Finishing | 2 Comments
My Popular Woodworking Milk Paint DVD has just come out. While many paints hide the wood's subtle surface quality or create a plastic looking finish, milk paint is an incredibly thin, natural-looking paint that allows every pore of the wood and every tool mark...
Storing Green Wood
by Elia Bizzarri | Jun 18, 2017 | How-To | 0 Comments
You've got your hands on some green wood. How do you store it? If your winter stays below 40 or 50 degrees, take your time, it will probably keep fresh till spring. However, with several recent warm winters, rot seems to be becoming a year round event here in...
Octagonal Legs
by Elia Bizzarri | May 23, 2017 | Classes, How-To | 0 Comments
A couple months ago I filmed an Octagonal Side Table DVD and a Milk Painting DVD with Popular Woodworking. They should be out sometime this summer. Here's a photo of the table: To film a DVD you need lots of parts at various stages, so I made a pile of bent...
Making Shellac
by Elia Bizzarri | May 10, 2017 | Craft Films, Finishing | 0 Comments
This video was made by the fellow I buy my shellac flakes from. Who knew it took so much effort by insect and man to make a pound of shellac? Or that different trees make different kinds of shellac? Now I feel bad for spilling the stuff.
Curtis Carving Spoons/Settee Class
by Elia Bizzarri | Apr 23, 2017 | Classes, How-To | 0 Comments
Curtis Buchanan and I spent some time carving spoons last January. I photographed his process, which he describes as "the way a chairmaker with bad elbows carves a spoon." Or something like that. He carves the bowl first. This is steam bent cherry....
Kiln Construction
by Elia Bizzarri | Mar 18, 2017 | How-To, Kiln | 0 Comments
We have talked about kiln temperatures and kiln heaters, now onto kiln construction. Size The primary use of a chairmaking kiln is to super-dry tenons. It's nice to be able to set bends in a kiln too. This requires the kiln to be large enough to fit the bend while...
Dowel Plates/New Class
by Elia Bizzarri | Feb 9, 2017 | Chairmaking Tools and Supplies, Classes, Craft Films, How-To | 0 Comments
Over a decade ago, a customer told me he used a dowel plate to cut the tenons on his spindles. "That won't work," I...
Pitchforks with Curtis
by Elia Bizzarri | Jan 29, 2017 | How-To | 0 Comments
I've made a few pitchforks for historical museums over the years, though I can hardly say I'm an expert. Curtis Buchanan called me a few months ago and said he wanted to make a pitchfork. Here's some photos from my weekend in Jonesborough, eating the Buchanan's...
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