Top Posts of 2016
I realize that this website is a mixed bag, but it is a reflection of what I do. I’m interested in many different things and old enough to be pretty good at several of them. As it’s time to get … Continue reading →
Water Colors on Wood Carvings
I use watercolor pencils to add color to my carving work. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one to do this, but I’ve never seen any step by step description of the process. Here is a pictorial run though … Continue reading →
2017 Classes At Marc Adams School of Woodworking
Marc Adams School of Woodworking is a special place and I’ve been invited to teach a few classes at MASW in 2017. It is the largest woodworking school in the country with an incredibly well-equipped shop and an experienced staff … Continue reading →
Byrdcliffe Sassafras Leaves Carving-Left
This piece is for sale, in stock for immediate delivery. Scroll down for purchasing information. This carving is based on the left hand door panel of the Byrdcliffe linen press. The original linen press is in the Metropolitan Museum in … Continue reading →
Byrdcliffe Saffafras Leaves Carving-Right
This piece has been sold, but I would love to carve another one just for you. Click Here to send me an email. It doesn’t seem like ten years have passed since I built a reproduction of the Byrdcliffe Sassafras … Continue reading →
Stickley No. 700 Bookcase Class at MASW Follow Up
I spent last week in the company of a dozen or so woodworkers at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Franklin, Indiana. We were working on reproductions of the iconic Gustav Stickley/Harvey Ellis No. 700 glass door bookcase. This … Continue reading →
Thoughts Occasioned By An Anniversary . . .
. . . A Plea For a Democratic Art In the October 1904 issue of “The Craftsman” magazine, Gustav Stickley looked back on three years of publishing and many more years as a furniture maker. The article is worth reading … Continue reading →
Boxes With Gwinnett Woodworkers Association
There are hundreds of woodworking clubs in the United States, and last week I spent three days + one morning in the company of members of one of the best, the Gwinnett Woodworkers Association. Many of the faces were familiar … Continue reading →
Stickley Bookcase Class at Marc Adams Oct.3-7, 2016
There are still a few spots available in my upcoming class at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in fabulous Franklin, Indiana October 3-7, 2016. CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE MASW WEBSITE AND ENROLL We will spend the week making … Continue reading →
Joinery Class in Atlanta September 14-16, 2016
A local woodworking club is a great way to connect with friends you haven’t met yet. One of the best organizations I’ve visited is the Gwinnett Woodworkers Association located in the north east corner of Atlanta, Georgia. I was there … Continue reading →
Hiroshige Iris Carved Panel
This piece is for sale, available for immediate delivery. In the late 1800s, Japanese prints became the “latest thing” in America. Frank Lloyd Wright and Harvey Ellis both enjoyed and collected prints, and the influence of this aesthetic can be … Continue reading →
Grueby Tree Carving
This piece is for sale with immediate availability. In the course of studying Arts & Crafts style furniture for many years, I’ve also had the privilege to see many beautiful works in other media. Glass, prints and pottery are some … Continue reading →
Shop Drawings for Greene & Greene Furniture-TOC
There was a discussion last week over at WoodTalk Online about Darrell Peart’s books on Greene & Greene Furniture and my book “Shop Drawings for Greene & Greene Furniture” was mentioned. The question was about what projects are in the … Continue reading →
Tulip Carving
Back in stock, new carving available for immediate shipment! The lines between art and craft have always been wide and fuzzy. I have studied Arts & Crafts period furniture for a long time, and along with the furniture of that … Continue reading →
How Gustav Stickley Made Drawers
In the early 1900s Gustav Stickley had one of the most modern, best equipped furniture factories in the world. If you are as nerdy as I am about this stuff, you should get your hands on a copy of The … Continue reading →
PDF Download Plans Now Available
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. You can, but sometimes it takes a while. After my first book, “Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture” was published in 2001 I began selling large format printed plans of many … Continue reading →
Alabama Woodworkers Guild SketchUp Model
Here is a link to the SketchUp model of the modified Harvey Ellis/Gustav Stickley bookcase that was the subject of a weekend build workshop held April 9-10, 2016. Click and drag with the left mouse button over the model image … Continue reading →
Alabama Woodworkers Guild Follow Up
I had heard nice things about the Alabama Woodworkers Guild before I left last week to teach a two-day seminar in building a Stickley cabinet and an evening SketchUp workshop. When I arrived on Friday I found a shop that … Continue reading →
Craftsman Furniture: History vs. Marketing
My cynical side believes that there isn’t much difference between history and marketing, and my rational side has to admit that a lot of recorded history exists to sell something. Maybe not a specific product but a set of ideas … Continue reading →
Some Things Never Change
I spent a little time this morning making a SketchUp model of one of the pieces from Gustav Stickley’s “The Craftsman” magazine. This table has always intrigued me, it was designed by Ernest Gimson in the early 1900s. This was … Continue reading →
SketchUp Rules For Making Changes
The biggest advantage of SketchUp (or any other CAD software) isn’t in making an initial plan. That takes a while no matter what method you use. But if you want to change something, or make new design that is similar … Continue reading →
Stickley Build and SketchUp Workshops
At the Alabama Woodworkers Guild – April 8-10, 2016 In a few months I will be traveling to Maylene (just south of Birmingham), Alabama to present not one, but two workshops for the Alabama Woodworkers Guild. The main event will … Continue reading →
Hebrew Chai Carving
This piece is available to purchase – scroll down for information. This is a hand carved, hand painted rendition of the Hebrew word Chai. It means life, now and in the hereafter. The carving is solid basswood, and the frame … Continue reading →
Tapered Parts & the Jig Builder’s Best Friend
Making jigs (and writing about making jigs) is a popular topic. So popular that some woodworkers (and some authors) spend so much time creating jigs that they never accomplish much of anything else. I’m not one of those guys. I’m … Continue reading →
How I Fit a Through Mortise
One of the curious things about woodworking is that you don’t really know how thorough to be in one step until you are knee-deep in the next. With experience you develop a routine and can move along efficiently. Without experience … Continue reading →
2016 Classes: SketchUp and Stickley Bookcase
I only have a few classes scheduled (at the moment) for the coming year. Space is limited and my classes often fill early. Here are dates, places and information about signing up: SketchUp Weekend at Rockler Denver, January 30-31, 2016 … Continue reading →
Stickley Tabouret Reproduction
This piece is available to purchase – scroll down for ordering details. This little table is 16″ in diameter and the top is 18″ above the floor. It is made entirely from solid quartersawn white oak with through mortise and … Continue reading →
Carved Hebrew Letter Chai
Bits and pieces of this piece have appeared here for the last month or so. I’m blessed with a talented, lovely and charming wife, and this is a collaboration between Joyce and I. If you don’t read Hebrew, this is … Continue reading →
Greene & Greene Edge Details
The details that make the difference between furniture that is ho-hum and furniture that is WOW are most often subtle. If all you know about historical pieces is based on second hand information, you might believe that the way things … Continue reading →
Color Wood With RIT Dye
There was a time when I was snooty about finishes, proudly boasting that I used no stains or dyes, preferring the beauty of the natural grain with a hand-rubbed oil finish. While there is a lot to be said for … Continue reading →
One Good Thing About Aging
It isn’t getting what my dad used to call the “gray hair discount” and it isn’t the fact that almost everyone calls you “sir”. Those things don’t make up for the creaking joints and failing eyesight. It’s the color that … Continue reading →
Down the Byrdcliffe Carving Rabbit Hole-Part 2
When you reach a certain age you find yourself becoming more careful about some things, but not giving a hoot about others. There are a lot of interesting things I could pursue, but I find myself deliberately avoiding some new … Continue reading →
Down the Byrdcliffe Carving Rabbit Hole-Part 1
Like a guy who remembers the first girl he kissed, I know exactly when and where my fascination with Byrdcliffe carving began. In the late 1980s I came across one of the best books about the Arts & Crafts period, … Continue reading →
Byrdcliffe Carving Class Follow Up
A few weeks ago I spent the weekend teaching a class on carving reproductions of the panels from the Byrdcliffe Iris Desk at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking deep in the corn maze of central Indiana. Carving is the … Continue reading →
Woodworking Articles From Stickley’s “The Craftsman” Magazine
I’ve never been to Madison, Wisconsin but it is one of my favorite places because it is the home of the University of Wisconsin Decorative Arts Collection. This is an online image resource that I highly recommend, but with the … Continue reading →
Byrdcliffe Panel Carving Class
Space is still available for this class August 1 & 2, 2015-Click Here to sign up at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking website. On the weekend of August 1 & 2 I’ll be teaching a weekend workshop at the … Continue reading →