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Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Amish Furniture

Early American Folk Art was "discovered" in the 1920s. It was around this time that Amish furniture, with its distinctive style, first started to gain attention with the folk art movement. Since then dealers and historians have placed great value on the beauty and quality of the pieces. The Amish, located primarily in Ohio and Shipshewana, Indiana, do not use electricity because of their beliefs. Therefore many of the woodworking tools in their shops use hydraulic and/or pneumatic power run by diesel engines. Amish craftsmen often do the detail and finish work by hand to ensure the finest quality - some craftsmen use old-fashioned hand tools.

Amish furniture comes in several different styles or schools. The Jonestown School began in the late 18th century in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania and is most widely known for its painted blanket chests decorated with hand-painted flowers on three panels.

These chests are quite beautiful and several are on display at the Smithsonian Museum and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Soap Hollow, Pennsylvania School specializes in furniture brightly painted in red, gold, and black.

Henry Lapp, a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania furniture maker and accomplished watercolorist, is responsible for the furniture designs that we think of today as being Amish. He was the first to abandon the painted German-style and opted for an undecorated, plain style similar to the Welsh furniture of the time.

His order book (like a catalog) containing hand-painted watercolor representations of his pieces is a collectors dream, and is now on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Amish furniture making is often a skill passed down through many generations. Since most Amish children rarely attend school past eighth grade, they often help out in the wood shops and later become wood makers themselves.

No piece of furniture is ever identical because of the care taken to select the wood. Only 100% wood is used. There is usually no particle board or laminates used in the construction. Each piece of wood is hand selected to match the specific piece of furniture in mind. Craftsmen pay careful attention the grain when gluing the pieces together often trying to highlight the features of each individual piece.

The Amish, because of their beliefs, are prohibited from running websites (I guess its the electricity thing) but Amish furniture can be found online through non-Amish retailers. This makes Amish furniture available to those that might not be near an Amish woodworking shop. Online ordering makes it possible select the upholstery, stain, and wood of your choice. The furniture is directly shipped from the Amish wood shop to your home.

June Giveaway

Every month, we have various woodworking items up for grabs, including tools, accessories, and DVDs. This month’s super sweet items are listed below. The random drawings occur at the end of each month and the winners will be announced on our website. The contest is open to everyone, including our international friends.

One lucky winner will receive a copy of Sand Shading – Mastering the “Hot Sand” Method for Shading Inlays by Ralph Bagnall. If you ever plan on doing inlays, this is a technique you really need to know! Learn More!

One lucky winner will receive 3 Month Guild memberships. If you’re already a member, the time will be added to your account. Learn more about the Wood Whisperer Guild!

One lucky winner will receive a hard cover autographed copy of my book, Finishing: it ain’t over till it’s over. Over 70 pages of woodworking “common sense” advice! Learn more!

All you need to do is participate. Each month, we select the winners(s) randomly from the folks who comment on our videos and blog posts (this one doesn’t count). So the more you comment, the better your chances of winning! Good luck!

Click Here and Start WoodWorking

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Abigail building the garden bench

Heres how Abigail Richards took on her first woodworking project. She built this bench based on my plans for her 7th grade Supervised Agricultural Experience class. And I love the color she painted it! Well done, Abigail. It will last for years. You should be proud of yourself.

Beer camp!

Any of you with kids knows that we are in the midst of summer camp season. Of course actual camping rarely takes place in these camps. My son is involved in rehearsals for Midsummer Nights Dream. Though thats not a camp per se, but an actual production, it does occupy five days a week.

However, he is also in a bowling league. Today, while observing him and the other bowlers, I happened upon this drink coaster:

Finally! A summer camp for me!

Working wood is the easy part

Since Ive started posting videos on You Tube, and since Ive started this blog, viewers and readers have come to expect content. Fair enough. And I try to come with a new project every week. But the fact of the matter is — and I hope other non-commissioned woodworkers will attest to this — it aint easy to come up with ideas. Well, put more specifically, the ideas are easy...figuring out how to do them is hard. Or, if you will, cutting and assembling wood is easy: inspiration is hard.

So with all intentions, I headed out to my garage this morning to build something out of wood. I have the notion to make a cool wood version of the classic "Connect 4" game.

Well, I spent a lot of time staring at my sons actual version and fussing with ways to improve it. You, know, make it out of wood. Yeeeah...

I decided my shop was a mess, hauled out the ShopVac and began tidying up. No shop that has actual work taking place should look this clean:

I organized my "very special" cut-offs that I will never use into their own dedicated box:

I even put all of my enormous collection of a/v wires and connectors into their own box:

Then I vacuumed all the cobwebs out of every corner. Even up high:

I found a 1 1/8 inch dowel that might work for the game pieces. I examined it for a long time:

Eventually I cut a 1/4 inch thick disc out of the dowel to use for my Connect 4 game:

Yep. Looks good. Then I calculated that I need 42 of them. Hmmm. The game will need — maybe — holes. I bored a hole! Now progress is happening:

And well, between that and working out in the yard, thats what I accomplished on this holiday day off. One hole and a disc.

Woodworking is easy.

Monday, March 3, 2014

A window blind rainstick

Youve probably heard me say before, "Im not green, Im just a cheapskate". While people often find that quip amusing, it is meaningful to me. I try to use every part of the buffalo that I can. Repurposing wood is both practical and frugal.

Many people give new life to old wood pallets. I like to scour Craigslist for free stuff — old desks, shelves, chairs, whatever — that I can take apart and salvage their once-beautiful woods. A little sanding, a few passes through a planer, and even the most horrific-looking wood is as good as new. Not only is lumber (and paper, I might add) a renewable resource, but it recycles well. Its what woodworkers have always known and practiced without having to announce it on bumperstickers or eat tofu.

I was delighted to see that Philippe Chretien came up with the clever idea to reuse some old window blinds and make his own rainstick! I love how long the rain sound lasts in his version. Also, Phillipe has posted detailed instructions on Instructables.com. Rock on Philippe: a true Mortal woodworker.

If youve made some cool new stuff out of old stuff, lets see it! If you havent signed onto the Mere Mortals Facebook page yet, head on over. I recently figured out how to let users upload their own project photos. (Yeah, Im a little slow on the learning curve.) There are already a whole bunch of pictures and great ideas. Show us what youve got!

Shaker Cabinet

This is a fairly faithful reproduction of a Shaker hanging cabinet. Local pine.