Thanks Jim

“… when we see a fine piece of cabinetmaking, we should look closely, and think about what it means, and remember that it is not just pieces of wood put neatly together, but a measurable part of an honest craftsman’s life.“– James Krenov

At the end of each of the lecturers Jim presented when I was in school, and here at our school, there was always a resounding “thanks Jim” from his students. Looking back, I think that it was not only a gesture of respect but a deep appreciation for our teacher. 

At the end of last month, I completed my brown oak cabinet, and have titled it ‘Thanks Jim’. On the following Saturday morning I presented it to the class, and a very special guest. Our grandson Elijah, joined us for what would be the first presentation in our new working school. I feel that it was appropriate, that I should be the first to present a new piece. 

The case is made from a plank of brown oak, I picked up from Jim in 2006, and was a joy to work. Shortly after announcing that he was no longer able to continue with his work, and that his eyes had betrayed him. He asked me to come down and pick up the last of his cabinet wood. 

Among the planks and bits and pieces were leftover veneers from his final cabinets all carefully kept in sequence, his sequence. The were several where he had written and even sketched. On a piece of spalted European beech shop sawn veneer, he had sketched a playful pattern of dovetails, as he handed me the stack of veneer he said that it was when preparing to cut the  dovetails on the drawers of his final cabinet that he new it was time to step away from the bench. It was this piece of shop sawn veneer that would be the starting point for my cabinet to house my notebooks.

The case is dovetailed, and the doors coopered and tapered. The absence of pulls and very fine open grain, gives the piece a quite feel I think. The latches and fittings are carved of bocote, and are from a off cut from one of his last planes. The interior, including the back piece is waxed the exterior received two very thin coast of polish. All wooden hardware including the latch has been left untreated.   

This past term, has been the realization of a dream more than two decades in the making, and has given me a renewed sense of rhythm in my life and work.  Since I began teaching, more than two decades ago, the personal work I have managed to do was always segmented. The work often set aside for periods of time so that the school, and more so my students receive the attention they require and deserve. While I continue to enjoy three hours in my workshop before the students arrive each morning, I also enjoy working quietly at my bench along side my students in a warm, well lit workshop in a beautiful place. Be well and enjoy your work, I know I am.
Robert

Still Life

I so enjoy my Sunday mornings. While the students are away preparing for the week, I stroll out to the workshop mid morning, to write. The above photograph was taken on Thursday, but very much captures the view from my workbench and the feel of where I sit today. 

I finished my brown oak cabinet a few weeks back, and the following Saturday, I presented it to the class and a very special guest. Our grandson Elijah was out for a visit. Yvonne and I so look forward to our grandchildren weekly visits. In my next notebook entry, I will share some photography and thoughts on the first piece completed at our new school. 

Since then, I have begun a cabinet for the hall in Roberts Creek. A few years back we were approached by the Community Association who were looking for someone to build a free library. There was little interest from the students so I agreed to make the cabinet myself. I feel very blessed to give back to a the community where our school began its journey, where our children and grandchildren continue to call home.

The cabinet will be made of some beautiful Alaskan yellow cedar milled by Billy Davis a friend and local sawyer. The three planks are in sequence and feature some wonderful colour near the center. This will be the starting point for the cabinet. The cabinet will be loosely based on a cabinet that Gary made as a student in the inaugural program at the College of the Redwoods now the Krenov School. 

This past week, I rough milled the stock for the cabinet, and have completed the door Frames which will feature glass above and panels with some of the gorgeous colour near the heartwood below. On one morning when Yvonne, Matt and James were in the benchroom, I ran the stopped rabbets for the glass and panels. I find the fragrance quite strong, even with our new and improved dust collection it tends to linger a bit. 

The front of the frame is stepped, which I began on the bandsaw, after completing the frame joints. Then, I finished the surfaces and edge treatment with one of my fine planes. What a joy it is to work this wood with shearing tools. I mocked up panels and made adjustments on Saturday morning before the students arrived. On Monday, I will make the cauls and assemble the frames.

Yvonne has begun fitting the dovetails on her case. The french walnuts is wonderfull to work with fine tools. She is using a modified knife and chisel that she made in the the Impractical Studies Program. She is so very patient and methodical in her work. It was so beautiful to watch her lost in the work this week. 

James has cut the low side rails in his chair and will be working toward the front to back assemblies early this week. It has been a joy to watch his progress this term. The chair is a complex piece, particularly when you think students begin it after just twenty weeks at the school. Gary once suggested that his fifty years in the craft, the set of four he made in narra were among the most complex work he has done. Vidar’s Chair Program focus is on three aspects of the craft, the first being grain graphics. This week I watched I watch as a light come on for James, as I have witnessed so many times before. While each of the joints on the chair are increasingly complex, each of the his joints are getting finer off the machine. He has been visiting his sharpening station more frequently, and having to spend less time. He is fitting the joints and shaping the the parts of his chair with joy and this is most evident in the work. The chair really is, a wonderful lesson in grain graphics, joinery and shaping. 

It was a beautiful moment to see Matt’s cabinet in the benchroom, dry fit for the first time this past week. The cabinet has been made with a great deal of care and attention and you really do feel it’s quiet presence. I feel so very blessed to watch our students development through the four programs. This piece was disrupted not once, but twice with the pandemic and it took a while to recapture the initial excitement, but he has found it again. This piece, like much of the work we do represents much more than a piece of furniture. In many ways, this piece pays homage to his family and Matt’s dedication and passion for the craft. The woods used in this piece all have such delicate, textures, grain and complementary tones and perhaps more importantly one piece in particular, has a profound meaning to the maker.
Be well, and enjoy your work,
Robert  

Wood has a Story

“Of all the tools we cabinetmakers have around us, the ones that are most neglected are knives… knives that fit our hand and the ways of carving suited to making certain things.” -James Krenov

The above passage is taken from page 38 of A Cabinetmakers Notebook. We use knives at our school daily for a variety of tasks, from carving and fitting wooden latches, consoles, edge treatment and fitting joinery. I spent a great deal of my youth in the far north, and I was always drawn to being out in the woods. It was there that I discovered the pleasure in making things, and carving.

I have often wrote about the other end of the plank passage in A Cabinetmakers Notebook on page 73. Upon completing my first piece as a student of Jim’s I read the passage that begins: “looking back on it…” At the end of each term at our school I have asked a student to read the passage in recognition of those who support us in our lives pursuing our beautiful craft.

This past week, I introduced a new exercise at the new school to further acknowledge these people, whether it be a partner, child, parent, family member or friend. I have carved rings for Yvonne for as long as I can remember. While many would argue that wood, is not an ideal material for this. If we are trying to make them delicate and fine, they also become quite fragile. While carving one recently for Yvonne, the pink ivory ring shown above, I remember thinking what a wonderful carving exercise it would make.

Bruce Moseley, and his partner Doneal were among the first people we met and made us feel so welcome upon arriving in Roberts Creek. I later learned that Bruce had taken a class with JK, the first I also went to in Santa Cruz 1978 his first lecture in California and then at Mendocino Art Center the following year. Upon returning suggested to Gary Kent that he should apply for the new fine woodworking program being set up there in Fort Bragg. Over the years both Gary and Bruce have been so very supportive of our school. Gary has served as our relief teacher since the schools inception. Bruce as well as speaking from fifty years in the craft as a true amateur, has passed along a significant amount of fine cabinet wood he has collected over the years to the school. Among the first pieces he passed along were some wonderful planks of kingwood and Honduran rosewood. Over the years some of this wood has found its way into some very special pieces of furniture made at our school including the cabinet that James made in his last term. That cabinet, turned out to be the last piece completed at the school in Roberts Creek. I have always recognized the importance of the wood’s story and have made a point of sharing this with my patrons and students over the years.

Last week, I took an off cut of some of the kingwood, and cut four ring blanks on Jim’s Stenberg bandsaw. One for Yvonne, myself and each of my students. Once carved they will be passed along to someone special at the end of the term. On Monday morning my students, Yvonne and I sat around the centre bench in the warm and quiet benchroom, and as I carved, I thought of our friends Bruce and Doneal.
Be well and enjoy your work, I know I am,
Robert

Cut Rounded

“Hands will caresss this shimmery surface, a thumb will discover the edge which I am rounding. An edge rounded with my plane. An edge cut rounded…” - James Krenov

The above quote appears on page 32 of A Cabinetmakers Notebook. As many of you know, this book has special meaning to me. This book, and it’s author changed the course of my life. I first read these words, after picking up a copy of notebook from a small wood supplier in rural Saskatchewan who stored his wood in a large barn and decommissioned school busses. Jim’s words encouraged me then to pursue the craft, and they continue to encourage and influence my work, both as a craftsman and as a teacher.

There are many intimate connections we share with our work in this craft, but perhaps none more so, than shearing surfaces and edges with fine cutting tools. Just as the workshop and school came to life when the wood was brought in. My little cabinet has begun to come to life as I began shaping its edges.

My students tell me that the first time they round or ease an edge with a plane, spokeshave or knife, it felt like magic. I tell them, that feeling has never gone away for me. It continues to be one of the most enjoyable things we do in the craft; it is there I feel the deepest connection with the work. The way we can accentuate or diminish a curve, or give an edge a bit of tension or lift, appears so easy, and yet like many things in our craft there is a lot to realizing our intentions. Sharp tools, set just right. How we hold the tool in our hands, and how it responds to varying degrees of pressure as we move across the work, is just the beginning.
Be well and enjoy your work,
Robert