Open house at the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop

The Demonstrators
Jim Blauvelt • Jim will work with Harrelson Stanley and demonstrate hand cutting various intriguing Japanese joints as well as other Japanese methods of work. Jim is a master woodworker specializing in architectural construction and furniture, and is one of the leading authorities on traditional Japanese design and woodworking methods in the United States. After spending a good deal of time in Japan studying and working as a carpenter on traditional homes, in 1995 Jim returned to Connecticut and opened Bluefield Joiners, which specializes in traditional Japanese architectural woodwork and similar items. See his work and learn more about him and his company at: http://bluefieldjoiners.com.
Adam Cherubini • Saturday only. Adam will demonstrate basic stock preparation with hand tools, including planes and saws. He will begin each hour, on the hour, with a discussion of choice and set up of planes and saws for this purpose. He will cover not only techniques, but "smart strategies" for getting the job done quickly in a range of materials. Adam is a furniture maker, teacher and scholar who uses only handtools in his passionate pursuit of our woodworking craft. Complete with period garb, he is an entertaining presenter.
Bill Grumbine • Bill will demonstrate the art and craft of bowl and spindle turning. He will also demonstrate duplicating table legs. Bill is a master wood turner and turning instructor from the Kutztown,Pa., area. He has produced two videos: Turned Bowls Made Easy and Beyond the Basic Bowl. Bill will also have some inventory of turned objects and DVDs available for purchase at the Open House. His business, Wonderful Wood, maintains an informative website: http://www.wonderfulwood.com/home.html Bill is available for demonstrations, workshops, and private lessons.
Joel Moskowitz •Joel is a fan of the free-hand high speed grinding of edge tools, and the free-hand honing of these tools. He will demonstrate both of these historic techniques. Joel is the founder and owner of Tools for Working Wood and a woodworking author. Joel has developed the new line of Gramercy hand tools, which are some of the finest being made today.
Mario Rodriguez • The Handcut Dovetail – These is a reason that dovetail jig manufacturers often brag that their machines cut dovetails that look like handcut dovetails: handcut dovetails look better. The latest of Mario's published work is an article on precision drawermaking, including handcut dovetails, featured in the Feb 09 Popular Woodworking. Come to our Open House and watch the master execute this critical furniture joint. • Repairing and Patching Veneer – Whether you are restoring a piece or working in new veneers, there is usually the need for a patch or repair at some point along the way. The issue is not whether a piece has a repair, the issue is whether it is it obvious. Learn to hide your errors like a pro. Mario is a noted teacher and author, with two books and more than 60 articles under his belt. His work has appeared in Fine Woodworking, Popular Woodworking, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Country Living, Hudson Valley Magazine and the New York Times. Mario now hangs his shop hat at PFW where he teaches, builds for commission, and writes.
Christopher Storb • Selecting and sharpening carving tools • Historic furniture carving • Carving the ball and claw foot Originally trained as a sculptor, Christopher is a furniture conservator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, specializing in 18th Century Philadelphia furniture carving. His techniques for carving Philadelphia Ball and Claw feet are also the focus of Adam Cherubini's Arts and Mysteries column in the Feb 09 issue of Popular Woodworking. Learn more about Christoper, and a little history as well, at these two web sites. Philadelphia Art Museum and Antiques & Fine Art Magazine.
Alan Turner • Precision Measuring and Marking – If you can’t lay it out you can’t cut it. • Mortise & Tenon cut with hand tools Alan is the founder of PFW, where he also teaches. He occasionally writes and almost always has a serious piece of furniture under construction. Several of his pieces and a short bio. are on the Fine Woodworking website. http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/Community/ArtistProfile.aspx?id=26991
The Vendors
In addition to ongoing and scheduled demonstrations, we will also have in attendance some of the best specialty woodworking vendors in the country. This will be a great chance to browse and actually try out tools that for most of the year are only available via mail order. And, of course, there will be great show specials.
The current list of vendors include:
Festool – Makers of the finest portable power tools on the planet, here’s a chance to see how a precise accurate tool can make furniture making and home remodeling so much easier. Festool will be building furniture in a hands on demonstration throughout the weekend. Note: Festool prices go up on Feb 1, 2009.
Fox Chapel Books – will have a large selection of woodworking books that you can brouse and figure out which is right for teaching you. http://www.foxchapelpublishing.com/
Gramercy Tools / Tools for Working Wood – A leading vendor and manufacturer of traditional hand tools. They will give you a chance to use their wonderful hand filed saws so you can see what makes them special. They will also have the new line of Ashley Iles chisels, Ray Iles Mortise chisels, and other fun. Visit the store at: Tools for Working Wood
Japanesetools.com – Importers of Shapton Waterstones and many other traditional Japanese tools. Proprietor Harrelson Stanley will be demonstrating sharpening in his booth and will also cover the proper care and use of many Japanese tools. His sharpening technique will include the use of the Sharp Skate, a new side sharpening jig which he invented. This is a completely different method of sharpening edge tools such as chisels and plane irons. Harrelson Stanley is a graduate of the North Bennett Street School and later apprenticed in Japan for 11 years studying traditional crafts. He enjoys a passion for sharpening and teaching sharpening skills, and his firm sells high quality Japanese tools and waterstones. He is a frequent presenter at woodworking conferences. Learn more at: http://www.japanesetools.com/
Kennedy Custom Upholstery – Trevor Kennedy specializes in custom upholstery work, both for furniture makers and antique dealers, and on a retail basis. He will have samples of his work, supplies and fabrics used in custom upholstery, and a partially completed chair to better explain this sometimes mysterious process. Saturday only. Kennedy Custom Upholstery – Somers Point, NJ 609-602-8689
Londonderry Brasses – Under the experienced eye of founder and owner Nancy Andersen, Londonderry carries a wonderful selection of true period brasses. This is one of the few events that it attends. Once you see and touch this hardware you will quickly understand the difference that quality hardware can make on your own furniture. http://www.londonderry-brasses.com/
Slav’s Toolshop – specializing in new old tools that he has found languishing in hardware stores around the country. We can’t wait to see what he has saved from extinction this time around. Rumor has it that there might be a bit of NOS Bedrocks in his secret bag, and a WWII era Norris panel plane.

Demonstration Schedule Each demonstration will last approximately one-half hour and will be followed by a question and answer session.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Ongoing:
Jim Blauvelt – Handcut Japanese joinery Bill Grumbine – Bowl and spindle turning
Program:
2:00 pm • Joel Moskowitz – Free-hand high speed grinding of edge tools 3:00 pm • Mario Rodriguez – Veneer repair using traditional methods 4:00 pm • Alan Turner – Hand cutting the mortise and tenon joint 5:00 pm • Joel Moskowitz – Free-hand honing of edge tools 6:00pm • Alan Turner –Shellac: An old-world finish for the modern woodworker. Alan will cover the selection and mixing, and demonstrate the hand application of this finish.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Ongoing:
Jim Blauvelt – Handcut Japanese joinery Adam Cherubini – Basic stock preparation with hand tools Bill Grumbine –Bowl and spindle turning
Program:
9:00 am • Christopher Storb – Selecting and sharpening carving tools • Joel Moskowitz – Free-hand high speed grinding of edge tools • Alan Turner – Precision measuring and marking 10:00 am • Christopher Storb – Historic Furniture Carving • Mario Rodriguez – Hand cut dovetails 11:00 am • Christopher Storb – Carving the ball and claw foot Noon • Alan Turner Getting started in woodworking: Setting up your first shop. Alan will cover allocating space, purchasing equipment, electrical requirements, dust collection, the essential workbench, and acquiring hand and power tools. 1:00 pm • Christopher Storb – Selecting and sharpening carving tools • Joel Moskowitz – Free-hand honing of edge tools • Mario Rodriguez – Veneer repair using traditional methods 2:00 pm • Christopher Storb – Historic Furniture Carving • Alan Turner – Hand cutting the mortise and tenon joint 3:00 pm • Christopher Storb – Carving the ball and claw foot

PFW gratefully acknowledges the sponsorship assistance of its friends at Wood Central.

For more details on this event, please contact Philadelphia Furniture Workshop at 215-849-5174, or by email

at info@philadelphiafurnitureworkshop.com .

For press inquiries, please contact Raney Nelson at (908) 788-0700, or by email at raney@gspr.com .