Yesterday was the last day of the Guild Apprenticeship with Guild member David Nichols. David was a good sport and proved to be a great helper all month long. He even helped me refine the design of the Barrister’s Bookcase, collaborating with me on joinery and finishing details. Today being my first “office day” in a month, I’m left pondering the whole experience and the lessons learned. One such lesson is one that we all need to remember: mistakes happen.

In the first week, a mistake was made that required us to have a complete mulligan. We were building the side frames for the Barrister’s Bookcase and after a quick dry assembly, I noticed a big problem. At nearly every rail and stile joint we had a discrepancy. Somehow, the boards were thinner at one corner. While some mistakes are salvageable, I just couldn’t see a way to avoid a complete do-over. We were on day 3 at this point so it was quite a punch in the gut to David. We discovered that as David did the finish sanding on these pieces, he wasn’t quite used the the balance requirements of my random orbit sander, something you REALLY need to think about when sanding narrow frame pieces. The end result was the thinning of almost every frame piece at opposing corners.

We had several discussions about the incident since then and the bottom line is David just does things differently in his shop. In the case of small frame parts, he usually uses his drum sander at its finest grit leaving only hand sanding prior to finishing. So balancing a sander on narrow pieces was something he’s never really had to do. Because he was a guest in my shop, he didn’t necessarily feel comfortable speaking up at the time and simply did what I asked of him.

While we did lose three days of effort, it only took us a day and a half to catch up and in the process we improved a few things along the way. The end result was a better project. So while mistakes are never fun, especially the ones you can’t recover from, they can certainly be beneficial to the project and to your skill set. Ultimately, the most impactful lessons are the ones you learn from mistakes on REAL projects. While I encourage folks to practice as much as they want, it’s the building of real projects where the rubber meets the road and when the stakes are high things tend to matter more.

Because this whole apprenticeship thing was designed as a learning experience, I made sure David understood that I wasn’t upset at all. This is what happens when you’re learning. And the reality is, we should NEVER stop learning the details of our craft. By extension, we should never arrive at a point that we don’t make mistakes. Well, if you’re truly satisfied with where you’re at in your woodworking education, I’m sure you can arrive at near perfection. But as soon as you venture into unknown territory, you can bet those pesky mistakes will come back to haunt you. So build! Make mistakes! It’s all part of the never-ending learning process!

The post Mistakes Happen! appeared first on The Wood Whisperer.

Yesterday was the last day of the Guild Apprenticeship with Guild member David Nichols. David was a good sport and proved to be a great helper all month long. He even helped me refine the design of the Barrister’s Bookcase, collaborating with me on joinery and finishing details. Today being my first “office day” in a month, I’m left pondering the whole experience and the lessons learned. One such lesson is one that we all need to remember: mistakes happen.

In the first week, a mistake was made that required us to have a complete mulligan. We were building the side frames for the Barrister’s Bookcase and after a quick dry assembly, I noticed a big problem. At nearly every rail and stile joint we had a discrepancy. Somehow, the boards were thinner at one corner. While some mistakes are salvageable, I just couldn’t see a way to avoid a complete do-over. We were on day 3 at this point so it was quite a punch in the gut to David. We discovered that as David did the finish sanding on these pieces, he wasn’t quite used the the balance requirements of my random orbit sander, something you REALLY need to think about when sanding narrow frame pieces. The end result was the thinning of almost every frame piece at opposing corners.

We had several discussions about the incident since then and the bottom line is David just does things differently in his shop. In the case of small frame parts, he usually uses his drum sander at its finest grit leaving only hand sanding prior to finishing. So balancing a sander on narrow pieces was something he’s never really had to do. Because he was a guest in my shop, he didn’t necessarily feel comfortable speaking up at the time and simply did what I asked of him.

While we did lose three days of effort, it only took us a day and a half to catch up and in the process we improved a few things along the way. The end result was a better project. So while mistakes are never fun, especially the ones you can’t recover from, they can certainly be beneficial to the project and to your skill set. Ultimately, the most impactful lessons are the ones you learn from mistakes on REAL projects. While I encourage folks to practice as much as they want, it’s the building of real projects where the rubber meets the road and when the stakes are high things tend to matter more.

Because this whole apprenticeship thing was designed as a learning experience, I made sure David understood that I wasn’t upset at all. This is what happens when you’re learning. And the reality is, we should NEVER stop learning the details of our craft. By extension, we should never arrive at a point that we don’t make mistakes. Well, if you’re truly satisfied with where you’re at in your woodworking education, I’m sure you can arrive at near perfection. But as soon as you venture into unknown territory, you can bet those pesky mistakes will come back to haunt you. So build! Make mistakes! It’s all part of the never-ending learning process!

The post Mistakes Happen! appeared first on The Wood Whisperer.

Nicole and I recently decided to take our son to Disneyland. It’s only a 6 hr drive from Phoenix and since we’re both big kids at heart, it was the perfect choice for a 3-day getaway. We booked our stay at the Disney Grand Californian primary due to it’s proximity and access to the park. Based on the price, I fully expected it to serve our needs in terms of the vacation itself. What I didn’t expect was to be treated with an additional feast for the woodworker’s eyes at nearly every turn! Please forgive the photography that follows as these pics were taken with my phone and the lighting was less than ideal.

The first surprise occurred as I walked through the front door and passed through the entryway. I was greeted with an undeniably Greene & Greene piece. I couldn’t help but wonder how many happy families pass by this table every day and never give it a second thought. I’d guess most of them. But not me! I gave the piece a good inspection while other guests gave me funny looks.

Once in the lobby proper, the view was almost overwhelming. A large central gathering area features ample seating, impressive timber architecture, and numerous pieces that reflect G&G, Mission, Arts & Crafts, and possibly even Wright-influence.

From there it became something of a personal little game as I tried to spot the less obvious details and hidden gems. It seemed the more I walked around the more details I  discovered. I tried to capture some of my favorites in hopes of sharing them with you for a little inspiration. I hope you enjoy the rest of the pics. The vacation was awesome and the hotel stay was terrific. If you are ever in need of a great place to stay during a Disneyland trip, don’t hesitate to book this place. It’s impressive to say the least!

The post A Woodworker’s Surprise at Disneyland appeared first on The Wood Whisperer.

Nicole and I recently decided to take our son to Disneyland. It’s only a 6 hr drive from Phoenix and since we’re both big kids at heart, it was the perfect choice for a 3-day getaway. We booked our stay at the Disney Grand Californian primary due to it’s proximity and access to the park. Based on the price, I fully expected it to serve our needs in terms of the vacation itself. What I didn’t expect was to be treated with an additional feast for the woodworker’s eyes at nearly every turn! Please forgive the photography that follows as these pics were taken with my phone and the lighting was less than ideal.

The first surprise occurred as I walked through the front door and passed through the entryway. I was greeted with an undeniably Greene & Greene piece. I couldn’t help but wonder how many happy families pass by this table every day and never give it a second thought. I’d guess most of them. But not me! I gave the piece a good inspection while other guests gave me funny looks.

Once in the lobby proper, the view was almost overwhelming. A large central gathering area features ample seating, impressive timber architecture, and numerous pieces that reflect G&G, Mission, Arts & Crafts, and possibly even Wright-influence.

From there it became something of a personal little game as I tried to spot the less obvious details and hidden gems. It seemed the more I walked around the more details I  discovered. I tried to capture some of my favorites in hopes of sharing them with you for a little inspiration. I hope you enjoy the rest of the pics. The vacation was awesome and the hotel stay was terrific. If you are ever in need of a great place to stay during a Disneyland trip, don’t hesitate to book this place. It’s impressive to say the least!

The post A Woodworker’s Surprise at Disneyland appeared first on The Wood Whisperer.

Nicole and I recently decided to take our son to Disneyland. It’s only a 6 hr drive from Phoenix and since we’re both big kids at heart, it was the perfect choice for a 3-day getaway. We booked our stay at the Disney Grand Californian primary due to it’s proximity and access to the park. Based on the price, I fully expected it to serve our needs in terms of the vacation itself. What I didn’t expect was to be treated with an additional feast for the woodworker’s eyes at nearly every turn! Please forgive the photography that follows as these pics were taken with my phone and the lighting was less than ideal.

The first surprise occurred as I walked through the front door and passed through the entryway. I was greeted with an undeniably Greene & Greene piece. I couldn’t help but wonder how many happy families pass by this table every day and never give it a second thought. I’d guess most of them. But not me! I gave the piece a good inspection while other guests gave me funny looks.

Once in the lobby proper, the view was almost overwhelming. A large central gathering area features ample seating, impressive timber architecture, and numerous pieces that reflect G&G, Mission, Arts & Crafts, and possibly even Wright-influence.

From there it became something of a personal little game as I tried to spot the less obvious details and hidden gems. It seemed the more I walked around the more details I  discovered. I tried to capture some of my favorites in hopes of sharing them with you for a little inspiration. I hope you enjoy the rest of the pics. The vacation was awesome and the hotel stay was terrific. If you are ever in need of a great place to stay during a Disneyland trip, don’t hesitate to book this place. It’s impressive to say the least!

The post A Woodworker’s Surprise at Disneyland appeared first on The Wood Whisperer.

You may have heard through the grapevine or through my own lips that I’ve decided to pare down my Festool collection. Well, it’s true! But I promise you the story isn’t quite as interesting as you might think it is.

History & Facts

In spite of what many seem to think, Festool has not been an official sponsor of The Wood Whisperer since 2009 when they decided not to renew our agreement. A year later, Festool came on as a regular advertiser and giveaway partner and that was the extent of our relationship until just recently.

So why didn’t I seek out a new portable power tool sponsor back in 2009? Because for me, it’s not all about money. The “smart” business move would have been to contact other potential sponsors and try to arrange for a new deal. But because of my personal enjoyment of the tools and the relationships I formed with several Festool employees, it just didn’t feel right to completely bail on them. Being true to myself, I WANTED Festool’s presence in my shop. Furthermore, Nicole and I were already cooking up a new idea for bringing in revenue that would allow us to pick sponsors by preference, not by necessity. That idea was the Wood Whisperer Guild.

As time went on, it became clear to me that incorporating more accessible brands into the show would ultimately increase our appeal. After all, people tend to enjoy seeing someone build things with tools they can actually afford. But because I do this for a living, I can sometimes justify having tools that are out of reach for the average weekend woodworker. But by the time every single portable power tool in my shop featured a bright green logo I started to feel like the pendulum may have swung a bit too far. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I was able to turn so many people on to Festool and what their tools can do but ultimately my goal is to encourage quality woodworking, not necessarily quality tool-purchasing. So this idea of a brand shift was something I’ve been mulling over for years and it’s at the heart of my current decision to scale back my Festool collection.

So What Happened?

Recently, after a bit of an internal reorganization including the departure of my primary connection to the company, Festool backed out of a year-long advertising agreement suddenly and without notice. Business is business so I don’t take this stuff personally. But it did allow me the opportunity to reflect upon my tool choices and the brands I use. While Festool makes great tools, there are certain tool categories I feel I’d be just as happy with if they were yellow, green, blue or whatever. And coming from a Festool-centric experience, I feel there’s a real opportunity in evaluating some of these other brands and reporting back on how my supposed “downgrade” is going.

So that’s the deal. I’m getting rid of much (not all) of my Festool gear and replacing it with more accessible brands. I’m picking the brands I think would be good contenders (Milwaukee, Porter Cable, DeWalt, Makita, Bosch, etc), using them over the next year and either selling or giving away the ones I choose not to keep.

So what’s staying from the Festool lineup? ETS and Rotex sanders, TS55 and MFT, a couple CT Vacs, and the Dominos. The Rotex, TS55, MFT, and Dominos are what I consider to be game-changer tools so they aren’t going anywhere. The ETS sander is very high quality, but I’m only keeping it because I have lots of Festool paper and the Festool sander integrates well with the CT vac. What’s going? Everything else! Drills, various format sanders, Kapex, and the routers. As you can see, this isn’t meant to be Festool mass exodus. Instead, I’m just paring down to what I consider to be the Festool essentials. I still love the brand and will continue to explore what they have to offer in the future.

So there’s no ill-will here, no fun story of vengeance or rallying against corporate greed, and certainly no reason to question my integrity (which I always find amusing). Just trying to make lemonade from a few lemons.

The post What Happened With Festool?! appeared first on The Wood Whisperer.

You may have heard through the grapevine or through my own lips that I’ve decided to pare down my Festool collection. Well, it’s true! But I promise you the story isn’t quite as interesting as you might think it is.

History & Facts

In spite of what many seem to think, Festool has not been an official sponsor of The Wood Whisperer since 2009 when they decided not to renew our agreement. A year later, Festool came on as a regular advertiser and giveaway partner and that was the extent of our relationship until just recently.

So why didn’t I seek out a new portable power tool sponsor back in 2009? Because for me, it’s not all about money. The “smart” business move would have been to contact other potential sponsors and try to arrange for a new deal. But because of my personal enjoyment of the tools and the relationships I formed with several Festool employees, it just didn’t feel right to completely bail on them. Being true to myself, I WANTED Festool’s presence in my shop. Furthermore, Nicole and I were already cooking up a new idea for bringing in revenue that would allow us to pick sponsors by preference, not by necessity. That idea was the Wood Whisperer Guild.

As time went on, it became clear to me that incorporating more accessible brands into the show would ultimately increase our appeal. After all, people tend to enjoy seeing someone build things with tools they can actually afford. But because I do this for a living, I can sometimes justify having tools that are out of reach for the average weekend woodworker. But by the time every single portable power tool in my shop featured a bright green logo I started to feel like the pendulum may have swung a bit too far. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I was able to turn so many people on to Festool and what their tools can do but ultimately my goal is to encourage quality woodworking, not necessarily quality tool-purchasing. So this idea of a brand shift was something I’ve been mulling over for years and it’s at the heart of my current decision to scale back my Festool collection.

So What Happened?

Recently, after a bit of an internal reorganization including the departure of my primary connection to the company, Festool backed out of a year-long advertising agreement suddenly and without notice. Business is business so I don’t take this stuff personally. But it did allow me the opportunity to reflect upon my tool choices and the brands I use. While Festool makes great tools, there are certain tool categories I feel I’d be just as happy with if they were yellow, green, blue or whatever. And coming from a Festool-centric experience, I feel there’s a real opportunity in evaluating some of these other brands and reporting back on how my supposed “downgrade” is going.

So that’s the deal. I’m getting rid of much (not all) of my Festool gear and replacing it with more accessible brands. I’m picking the brands I think would be good contenders (Milwaukee, Porter Cable, DeWalt, Makita, Bosch, etc), using them over the next year and either selling or giving away the ones I choose not to keep.

So what’s staying from the Festool lineup? ETS and Rotex sanders, TS55 and MFT, a couple CT Vacs, and the Dominos. The Rotex, TS55, MFT, and Dominos are what I consider to be game-changer tools so they aren’t going anywhere. The ETS sander is very high quality, but I’m only keeping it because I have lots of Festool paper and the Festool sander integrates well with the CT vac. What’s going? Everything else! Drills, various format sanders, Kapex, and the routers. As you can see, this isn’t meant to be Festool mass exodus. Instead, I’m just paring down to what I consider to be the Festool essentials. I still love the brand and will continue to explore what they have to offer in the future.

So there’s no ill-will here, no fun story of vengeance or rallying against corporate greed, and certainly no reason to question my integrity (which I always find amusing). Just trying to make lemonade from a few lemons.

The post What Happened With Festool?! appeared first on The Wood Whisperer.

You may have heard through the grapevine or through my own lips that I’ve decided to pare down my Festool collection. Well, it’s true! But I promise you the story isn’t quite as interesting as you might think it is.

History & Facts

In spite of what many seem to think, Festool has not been an official sponsor of The Wood Whisperer since 2009 when they decided not to renew our agreement. A year later, Festool came on as a regular advertiser and giveaway partner and that was the extent of our relationship until just recently.

So why didn’t I seek out a new portable power tool sponsor back in 2009? Because for me, it’s not all about money. The “smart” business move would have been to contact other potential sponsors and try to arrange for a new deal. But because of my personal enjoyment of the tools and the relationships I formed with several Festool employees, it just didn’t feel right to completely bail on them. Being true to myself, I WANTED Festool’s presence in my shop. Furthermore, Nicole and I were already cooking up a new idea for bringing in revenue that would allow us to pick sponsors by preference, not by necessity. That idea was the Wood Whisperer Guild.

As time went on, it became clear to me that incorporating more accessible brands into the show would ultimately increase our appeal. After all, people tend to enjoy seeing someone build things with tools they can actually afford. But because I do this for a living, I can sometimes justify having tools that are out of reach for the average weekend woodworker. But by the time every single portable power tool in my shop featured a bright green logo I started to feel like the pendulum may have swung a bit too far. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I was able to turn so many people on to Festool and what their tools can do but ultimately my goal is to encourage quality woodworking, not necessarily quality tool-purchasing. So this idea of a brand shift was something I’ve been mulling over for years and it’s at the heart of my current decision to scale back my Festool collection.

So What Happened?

Recently, after a bit of an internal reorganization including the departure of my primary connection to the company, Festool backed out of a year-long advertising agreement suddenly and without notice. Business is business so I don’t take this stuff personally. But it did allow me the opportunity to reflect upon my tool choices and the brands I use. While Festool makes great tools, there are certain tool categories I feel I’d be just as happy with if they were yellow, green, blue or whatever. And coming from a Festool-centric experience, I feel there’s a real opportunity in evaluating some of these other brands and reporting back on how my supposed “downgrade” is going.

So that’s the deal. I’m getting rid of much (not all) of my Festool gear and replacing it with more accessible brands. I’m picking the brands I think would be good contenders (Milwaukee, Porter Cable, DeWalt, Makita, Bosch, etc), using them over the next year and either selling or giving away the ones I choose not to keep.

So what’s staying from the Festool lineup? ETS and Rotex sanders, TS55 and MFT, a couple CT Vacs, and the Dominos. The Rotex, TS55, MFT, and Dominos are what I consider to be game-changer tools so they aren’t going anywhere. The ETS sander is very high quality, but I’m only keeping it because I have lots of Festool paper and the Festool sander integrates well with the CT vac. What’s going? Everything else! Drills, various format sanders, Kapex, and the routers. As you can see, this isn’t meant to be Festool mass exodus. Instead, I’m just paring down to what I consider to be the Festool essentials. I still love the brand and will continue to explore what they have to offer in the future.

So there’s no ill-will here, no fun story of vengeance or rallying against corporate greed, and certainly no reason to question my integrity (which I always find amusing). Just trying to make lemonade from a few lemons.

The post What Happened With Festool?! appeared first on The Wood Whisperer.

This is a guest article written by Guild member Steve Lyde about his recent experience building a Sculpted Rocker with fellow Guild member Tim Fuller.

What is a woodworking vacation?  I recently went on what I call a woodworking vacation, a 2000 mile trip spread out over 3 weeks with the intent to build something great with a friend.

I think most hunters dream of the big game safari trip and most fishermen dream of a deep sea charter trip. But what do most woodworkers dream of? Just some time off work to spend in our shops? Or maybe you dream of taking a course at one of the many great woodworking schools around the country? My vacation build consisted of traveling from Oklahoma to Iowa for a few weeks to meet an online friend and build a Maloof-style rocker together. Then I would come home via Kansas City for Woodworking In America 2015.

What does this have to do with The Wood Whisperer Guild you might ask?  I have followed Marc’s great videos for many years and joined the Guild about 3 1/2 years ago so I could build the Split-Top Roubo Workbench.  Since then I have gained so much from being a Guild member including both project plans and woodworking techniques.  What I never thought I would gain from the Guild was friendship.  When Marc and Nicole created the Guild Facebook Page they hoped it would be a great place for fellow Guild members to meet up and share ideas and that’s exactly what has happened for me.  Last winter, I was searching the Guild FB page for ideas on building a bucket list project: the Blacker House Chair.  That search lead to becoming friends with fellow Guild member Tim Fuller.

Tim and his family recently invited me to bring my 5th wheel trailer, my dog, a few tools and come spend some time with them in Iowa.  What kind of crazy people do such a thing?  Woodworkers who are crazy about advancing their skills and knowledge do these things. Tim and I are both life long hobbyist woodworkers; which has developed into a passion, or some might say an obsession, for building fine furniture.  We decided it would be great if we could build something together.

Early September, I hooked onto the camper and headed out on my 900 mile journey from southwestern Oklahoma to eastern Iowa.  After arriving, I found that Tim had full RV hookups at his shop so I had a free place to stay. And diesel fuel is as cheap now as it has been in many years so the expense of this trip was actually minimal.

Now working in another man’s shop is a little like wearing someone else’s clothes. It took me a while to get into the swing of things to say the least.  While Tim’s shop is fully equipped and larger than mine, it’s different. Different layout and different tools. Tim had already built two of the Maloof style rockers, similar to the one Marc built in a recent Guild project.  I, on the other hand, had only built one chair: a G&G Blacker House chair. Now before you ask who get’s to keep the chair, it was a gift for someone in Tim’s family. They paid for the walnut from Bell Forest and we provided the labor.

Our chair build uses a different crest rail design and different back slats than those in the Guild chair; these are a Hal Taylor design.  The crest rail is made from several pieces of vertical grain wood coopered and glued together.  We went with the coopered seat and carved a recess into the top of the arm rest so they hold your arms in place as you sit in the chair.  The finish is the two-part oil and wax Sam Maloof finish from Rockler.  We worked on the chair for about 8 days and I spent a few days seeing the local sights.  Tim’s family has some land with trees and a 1940’s saw mill which they were kind enough to fire up one afternoon.  It was very exciting for a flat land Oklahoma boy to see that process.  And yes I brought home a big stash of fresh cut oak and ash.

Of course you know when you spend that much time in someone’s shop, you come away with tool envy and for me that was Tim’s Nova DVR XP lathe.  And as luck would have it, I found a new Nova on a special sale that I couldn’t refuse!

I spent about 2 weeks with the Fullers then headed home via Kansas City for the WoodWorking in America event.  This was my first time attending a woodworking show. It was a blast!

A special thanks to the Fullers for making this trip possible, Tim and Marianne are fantastic hosts.  I learned so much about working style and techniques and how to build a  Maloof-style rocker and of course gained a great life long friendship.

The post A Woodworking Vacation and the TWW Guild appeared first on The Wood Whisperer.

This is a guest article written by Guild member Steve Lyde about his recent experience building a Sculpted Rocker with fellow Guild member Tim Fuller.

What is a woodworking vacation?  I recently went on what I call a woodworking vacation, a 2000 mile trip spread out over 3 weeks with the intent to build something great with a friend.

I think most hunters dream of the big game safari trip and most fishermen dream of a deep sea charter trip. But what do most woodworkers dream of? Just some time off work to spend in our shops? Or maybe you dream of taking a course at one of the many great woodworking schools around the country? My vacation build consisted of traveling from Oklahoma to Iowa for a few weeks to meet an online friend and build a Maloof-style rocker together. Then I would come home via Kansas City for Woodworking In America 2015.

What does this have to do with The Wood Whisperer Guild you might ask?  I have followed Marc’s great videos for many years and joined the Guild about 3 1/2 years ago so I could build the Split-Top Roubo Workbench.  Since then I have gained so much from being a Guild member including both project plans and woodworking techniques.  What I never thought I would gain from the Guild was friendship.  When Marc and Nicole created the Guild Facebook Page they hoped it would be a great place for fellow Guild members to meet up and share ideas and that’s exactly what has happened for me.  Last winter, I was searching the Guild FB page for ideas on building a bucket list project: the Blacker House Chair.  That search lead to becoming friends with fellow Guild member Tim Fuller.

Tim and his family recently invited me to bring my 5th wheel trailer, my dog, a few tools and come spend some time with them in Iowa.  What kind of crazy people do such a thing?  Woodworkers who are crazy about advancing their skills and knowledge do these things. Tim and I are both life long hobbyist woodworkers; which has developed into a passion, or some might say an obsession, for building fine furniture.  We decided it would be great if we could build something together.

Early September, I hooked onto the camper and headed out on my 900 mile journey from southwestern Oklahoma to eastern Iowa.  After arriving, I found that Tim had full RV hookups at his shop so I had a free place to stay. And diesel fuel is as cheap now as it has been in many years so the expense of this trip was actually minimal.

Now working in another man’s shop is a little like wearing someone else’s clothes. It took me a while to get into the swing of things to say the least.  While Tim’s shop is fully equipped and larger than mine, it’s different. Different layout and different tools. Tim had already built two of the Maloof style rockers, similar to the one Marc built in a recent Guild project.  I, on the other hand, had only built one chair: a G&G Blacker House chair. Now before you ask who get’s to keep the chair, it was a gift for someone in Tim’s family. They paid for the walnut from Bell Forest and we provided the labor.

Our chair build uses a different crest rail design and different back slats than those in the Guild chair; these are a Hal Taylor design.  The crest rail is made from several pieces of vertical grain wood coopered and glued together.  We went with the coopered seat and carved a recess into the top of the arm rest so they hold your arms in place as you sit in the chair.  The finish is the two-part oil and wax Sam Maloof finish from Rockler.  We worked on the chair for about 8 days and I spent a few days seeing the local sights.  Tim’s family has some land with trees and a 1940’s saw mill which they were kind enough to fire up one afternoon.  It was very exciting for a flat land Oklahoma boy to see that process.  And yes I brought home a big stash of fresh cut oak and ash.

Of course you know when you spend that much time in someone’s shop, you come away with tool envy and for me that was Tim’s Nova DVR XP lathe.  And as luck would have it, I found a new Nova on a special sale that I couldn’t refuse!

I spent about 2 weeks with the Fullers then headed home via Kansas City for the WoodWorking in America event.  This was my first time attending a woodworking show. It was a blast!

A special thanks to the Fullers for making this trip possible, Tim and Marianne are fantastic hosts.  I learned so much about working style and techniques and how to build a  Maloof-style rocker and of course gained a great life long friendship.

The post A Woodworking Vacation and the TWW Guild appeared first on The Wood Whisperer.