Advanced Joinery Class of August 2013!

Although my absence for a week may have suggested otherwise, we have not had a dull moment here at The Lohr School of Woodworking! Last week we were graced with the presence of 8 eager and animated gentlemen as they tackled the Advanced Joinery class.

Ted, Buzz, Mike, Steve, Stephen, Chris, Randy, and Randy aka Arkansas were dedicated and quite amusing as they learned the more detailed and intricate techniques necessary to complete the project for this course. The more intricate details I refer to include drawer construction, mortise and tenon joinery, dovetail (hand and machine cut) joinery, buttons, floating shelves, Green & Greene style breadboard ends, and so on.

All students are required to complete the Practical Woodworking course at our school prior to enrolling in the Advanced Joinery class. Because of this requirement, when these gentlemen walked through our shop door last week, it was their second stay with us. It seems that having spent 6 long and busy days with us during the Practical Woods class in the past causes students to walk through our door excited, comfortable, and prepared for round 2. The comradery was instantaneous and carried on throughout the entirety of week. Even though I haven't assumed any formal teaching role in the advanced course yet, and hadn't had the good fortune of meeting most of these men before last week, I still felt like I was hanging out with 8 close friends by the end of the week.

As you can see, the sanding pavilion was in full swing thanks to the weather treating us so well as the students learned and created some stunning walnut and cherry side tables. The men made jokes as they got their hands on countless additional Jeffry Lohr original jigs paired with the usual machines; bandsaw, mortiser, routers, and tablesaws. This time around, however, students get their hands on far more hand tools and operations than the Practical Woodworking course requires. The gentlemen had to fine tune their hand saw, marking knife, chisel and mallet, and detailed sanding and gluing skills. All the while though, Rob and Jeff were there to remind us that most any question can be answered with the Jeff Lohr mantra, "All things will be revealed."

One of the more interesting (and often frustrating) operations in woodworking is learning to deal with dovetails. The joinery is undeniably beautiful and strong but, the jigs aren't always willing to be easy on the user. After the bulk of one day of the course being dedicating to hand-cutting dovetails, the students move onto the routers. Jeff does a thorough job explaining jig types and how to adjust them in order to provide fitted and proper dovetails but, that doesn't eliminate the fact that each student needs to adjust those jigs when they sit down to being their drawer joinery. Luckily, we had a shop full of students like Steve (pictured left) and his constant enthusiasm to bring light to even the most challenging tasks.

As I said, comradery was not missing from this bunch of guys. When glue up day finally arrived, a strong desire for perfection was not lacking so teamwork was essential. In order for the tables to function as intended (drawers that open and close, shelves that float perfectly between legs, and breadboard ends that hold everything in place), all things needed to be level, square, and aligned. Just as they did throughout the week, the gentlemen showed full dedication and soon enough the room was filled with assembled tables. In six very busy, rather intense days of instruction and work, there were 8 beautiful tables ready to find their way home.

A huge thanks to the Advanced Joinery Class of August 2013! Although the week demanded a lot and was fast-paced at times, you all wore a smile and delivered in production. I am happy to have had the chance to spend the week with all of you gents and I hope to see some photos of finished tables in the coming weeks! A special thanks to Chris & his thoughtful daughter for making the staff some fantastic (and incredibly appropriate) t-shirts! We'll wear them with pride.

And, as a final note, I will mention that Rob will grace the cover of Woodcraft Magazine on October 1st's issue AND we are working on the construction of a new website so keep checking back with us to see it's official launch!

Lohr Woodworking hosts VFES Summer L.I.F.E. Camp!

This week we are excited and happy to welcome a stellar group of students from the VFES Summer L.I.F.E. Camp!

In honor of the quickly passing summer, we have been busy in the shop making folding red oak lawn chairs. The chairs will be finished with linseed oil and assembled with hardware that won't rust from outside use. Each of the four students is working hard to make their own chair to take home as they work together through the new woodworking techniques and processes; And what a fantastic job they've done!

 Each day begins with a demonstration of the tasks to be carried out that day. Jeff, Rob, and I worked for the past few weeks to prepare jigs and organize lessons with the most efficient techniques to finish the four chairs in just five days. For the first time, I tried my hand at making jigs and, so far [knock on wood], they have been successful!

Josh, Waimond, Tim, and Marybeth have been 
 quick to learn and seemingly excited to see their work coming along so well in just a couple of short days!

Early this week, the students started with red oak boards milled-to-thickness. They were responsible for tracing the leg shape templates and taking to the band and jig saws to cut out those shapes. From there, we used the router, files, and sanding blocks to fine tune the shape and break the edges.

On Day 2, students were given 16 milled slats. They had to choose 7 to serve as the chair seat and 9 to create the back. When they had their seats and backs labeled as such, they took to the drill press jigs to drill four clearance holes in each slat. In the meantime, they were beveling the ends of the slats, countersinking drilled holes with a brace and bit, and sanding all their parts to perfection.

By Wednesday, the students were ahead of the curve. They honed their sanding skills and moved on to the first stage of assembly. They attached a strut between the set of back legs and a shorter strut between the seat legs. This required some careful center-marking and clamp work but, they didn't miss a beat! After their U-shaped bases were screwed together, they moved on to counter-sinking the four pilot holes in each slat as well as using the scroll saw to cut a hand-hold curve into their top chair slat.




With a few moments to spare before the rain began on Wednesday afternoon, Jeff and Rob took us outside to learn about the physics that we use in woodworking!

Starting with a demonstration about levers, Jeff stood on one end of a board balanced like a seesaw and had students try and lift his weight from the opposite end. Each time, he shifted the placement of the board to differing points along the fulcrum to show how the weight distribution changes how difficult it is to lift the load.

The second lesson addressed pulleys.  Jeff started by having the three boys of the class lift his weight using the rope attached to a single pulley hung from the beam of the sawmill.  The boys got him up off the ground but it was a challenge that took every ounce of their strength.  Next, he had the one girl in the class lift his weight using the rope passing through a four sheave block and tackle which enabled her to lift Jeff high off the ground with ease. He explained how a single pulley set up simply does the work of one man but when four pulleys are employed in conjunction with one another, it allows a single man to do the work of four men. It was a great way for students to see how we use these physics methods to move big logs and boards around the saw mill regularly.

On Thursday, we finished up any last minute sanding before we starting in on finishing! The campers got a hands-on (or, more accurately, a hands-off) chemistry lesson. At Lohr Woodworking, we aim to keep all our furniture as natural as possible so we avoid the use of stains or paints. Instead, we enhance the natural grain colors and patterns of the wood with boiled linseed oil. It is easy to apply and works wonderfully so we decided it would be best for the campers to use on their chairs. One major concern when it comes to this type of oil is how to handle the dampened rags when the finishing process is done. The rags can spontaneously combust because "when linseed oil is exposed to air, it combines with the oxygen molecules. This chemical reaction creates heat. If the linseed oil is on a rag in a pile or ball, the heat can't escape and, as you can see from the photo of our experiment, can reach extreme heat within just a couple of hours. Instead of balling them up, we hang them to dry over the rungs of a ladder so that the heat being created can cool on all sides of the rag as it dries. After a few days, the reaction is complete and the rag becomes stiff- then they are safe to throw away with the normal garbage.

After the chemistry lesson, students took to finishing their chairs with the linseed oil! With the table tops covered in plastic and some sticks to elevate the pieces for drying, they did a great job wiping on the oil to cover every inch of surface. The colors and grain of the red oak popped just as beautifully as we had hoped!

On Friday, everything came together! With all the chair pieces linseed oiled and started to dry over night, on Friday morning, we were ready for assembly. Last week, the Lohr Woodworking staff made a few assembly jigs that needed a bit of explaining. The backs and seats had separate jigs for attaching the slats. As the legs sit in a bed-like jig, there are stops and guides for each slat to sit while the pilot holes are drilled. We drilled pilot holes because red oak is a hardwood so, nailing straight into it greatly increases the risk of bending nails. From there, the students used good ol' fashion hammer and nails to attach the 16 slats. The slats were held on with stainless steel trim nails so that when the chairs are inevitably left outside, the nails won't rust! The jigs held the u-shapes up off the table so that they don't rock or bounce as they were hammering the nails. I heard from more than one camper that "it was time for the fun part -- hammer and nails!"

After the nails were set and the slats fully attached, we had

students go back to set the nails below the surface of the wood. We wanted to make sure to avoid any future clothing snags on a nail sticking up above the surface.

To do this, each student used a drift. The tip of the drift was carefully held on top of the nail head and hit once or twice with a good hammer swing. Although frustrating at times, drifts do a good job of setting those nails properly.

Overall, assembly went quickly and smoothly. The chairs quickly turned from a pile of parts into foldable, usable lawn chairs! We are always excited for the final stages of assembly, not matter the project. You can't help but feel proud and fulfilled when all your hard work comes together into one functional, beautiful furniture piece. The campers were no exception to this feeling. They exceeded our expectations this week and hope that they are as proud as we are!

We were able to snap a goofy photo of the campers lounging in their chairs before they left. All the teachers and staff were such a wonderful part of the camp as well. We are grateful to parents, teachers, and campers alike for the chance to spend the week with such passionate and excited kids. We tackled a lot of tools, machines, techniques, and problem-solving together. Thanks to VFES Summer L.I.F.E. Camp for allowing us to create this course and thanks to EVERYONE else for such a fun week!

I am basically a pro with an Alaskan chainsaw mill

While Woodcraft was here to document all things Morris chair related, Jeff and I made ourselves scarce (and busy) by taking to the saw mill!

We spent two days slicing live edge slabs with the Alaskan chainsaw mill. Although I may not be a master of the 6-ft long chainsaw just yet, a few days of intensive practice definitely brought me closer to such a title. I can now oil, gas, sharpen, and start up a chainsaw all by myself! ::pats self on back:: This log was a cherry tree from which came several 2 1/4" thick crotch, live edge slabs with stunning figure. They have been coated in Anchorseal to protect said figure and any checks that might want to form.

While we were working, Donna and/or Tom snuck out and captured us in action. Beyond the fact that I now feel like somewhat of a woodworking celebrity, for those that may have doubted my scrawny build's ability to man a chainsaw, here is a bit of undeniable proof. Despite the heavy Pennsylvanian heat this summer, we now have cut and stacked a huge collection of live edge slabs. They have begun the drying process and, thus, are a few weeks closer to being usable. We are already anxious for them to finish drying!

Again, a huge thanks to Donna Chiarelli and Tom for such wonderful work on the Woodcraft Magazine article and now for sharing these photos with us! And, an additional thank you to Steve at Shreiner Tree Care for providing the beautiful logs, without which I wouldn't have been able to hone my awesome chainsaw skills a few weeks ago!

Woodcraft Magazine comes to visit!

What an exciting week it has been here at the shop! Woodcraft Magazine was here making the Lohr Woodworking staff feel like a bit more like rock stars for two days.

Jim, the Editor-in-Chief at Woodcraft Magazine, contacted Jeff in April to inquire about his Lohr-design Morris Chairs. What he proposed was a a cover project in which the designer and builder would get a short bio and a full article detailing the "how to" steps to building the chair. The plans for the chair would be shared with readers and used beyond just the article in the form of downloads, paper plans, and so on. They would come to our shop and photograph the steps, tools, and techniques as he constructed one of his chairs and it's ottoman.


Jeff was willing to share his design and plans with the world so, he accepted the Woodcraft Magazine article offer but, he requested that his second-in-command, Rob, take the reigns as front man/producer. Rob had been doing an impressive amount of preparation, planning, organizing (and, of course, wardrobe selection) in the weeks leading to this one so, I have been anxious to see it all unfold; And, unfold it did!

Tuesday morning, the shop was graced with the presence of Jim (the Editor-in-Chief) and Chad (the Art Director) from Woodcraft. In charge of the article photography was Donna Chiarelli and her assistant, Tom. What a tremendous team they formed! They were here for two days and managed to fully document a chair construction that takes around 100 hours to complete. Everyone had such a pleasant attitude and the shop was filled with structure, professionalism, genuine interest, and even some jokes and smiles to add to the ambiance. It was incredibly impressive to watch all five cooks in the kitchen working so harmoniously to exchange ideas and tactics to best encompass the visual and written process for readers.

The idea was to capture the "mysteries or more challenging steps of the process" in photograph form so that readers could have a clearer idea of what to do on their own. Rob worked closely with Jim to create a photo script to encapsulate the chair creation process.

From what I saw, Rob was a natural magazine article star. Being surrounded by lights and cameras seemed to be second nature as he showed the magazine world how to make a killer Morris Chair one step at a time.

Eoin was kind enough to snap all these photos of the photo shoots that took place on Monday and Tuesday but, to learn how to make a JD Lohr Morris Chair and see the front angle of the cover photo (as well as the Morris Chair in it's entirety), you'll need to invest in September's issue of Woodcraft Magazine!

The staff of Lohr Woodworking thank Woodcraft Magazine, Jim, Chad, Donna, and Tom for their hard word and such a wonderful opportunity. As I mentioned, this week was enormously enjoyable and appreciated. We are a small operation here but, Jeff and Rob's work is astounding so we are always grateful to those who acknowledge and share the beauty of the furniture.

Make sure to keep an eye out for Rob's magazine cover debut in a couple of months! And, bonus, learn how to make a Lohr Morris Chair for yourself!

My First Trip to Hearne Hardwoods

Since day one of working at the shop, I have heard nothing but praise, excited description, and anecdotes from my fellow Lohr Woodworking staff members about Hearne Hardwoods. After 8 months of building positive, high expectations, I finally got the chance to take my first trip out to Oxford, PA to see it for myself.

Spoiler Alert: I was not disappointed

It all began as a live edge, burl slab shopping mission for a recently commissioned project. Because they are credited as being "one of the largest specialty lumberyards in the world," Hearne Hardwood was the destination for such a purchase. Beyond that, Jeff and Rick Hearne have a friendship dating back to years when I was learning my multiplication tables so, it was just as much a trip to visit an old friend.

The part of the mission to find the perfect material for the project was successfully completed. A selection of incredible slabs that matched the guidelines for our project awaited us in one of the massive hangars that are loaded with collections of stacked and dried material. I can't even begin to tell you how extensive their selection is. The project we were shopping for had specific requirements and, the very patient, Ed let us move all the slabs around, inspect their twists/curves, and photograph every possible book match pair. We settled on the beauties you see pictured. By lunchtime, we loaded up the truck with two beautiful live edge, Big Leaf Maple burl slabs! But, alas, our trip did not end here! The rest of the day was composed of a continuation of the most magical woodworking-related adventures I've had to date.

First, I saw the most massive band saw mill that man has ever created. Although the previous statement may be slightly apprentice-naivety induced exaggeration, it is a 67" vertical band saw mill and, as you can see, it's huge.

The gentleman running the mill sits in a booth and controls the machine as it moves the log around, rolling it this way and that way until it's positioned perfectly. Then, the log is wheeled through the band saw blade like butter through a warm knife. It was incredible.

Next, we were given a tour of the house. Although we were warned of it's status as a "construction zone", it was still more beautiful than I can put into words. So kindly escorted by Brian Hearne and Ric Allison, we were led upstairs to meet this beauty; A Ric Allison sofa nearly complete and as stunning as they come. Behind it, stands a banister with Allison-crafted spindles. I can't even wrap my brain around how objects so breathtaking are made yet but, like Jeff's work, they serve as one hell of an inspiration.

Above the living room hovers a catwalk that sits gracefully atop the ceiling beams. An equally-as-beautiful staircase led the way to the catwalk that curved it's way toward a bedroom. The lighting, the ceilings, the walls, the floors; everything about this house was just astounding.

As I had the chance to sit and chat with the man-in-charge, Rick Hearne, as well as Ric Allison and, of course, Jeff Lohr over lunch, I felt surrounded by sheer woodworking genius. As I ingested my chicken ceasar wrap, I listened to these inspirational men just chat over lunch. What was so humbling though, was that they are so kind, personable, and dare I say 'normal'. The idea that such beautiful art and master knowledge of the craft can come from the hands and minds of these gentlemen makes the intimidating woodworking world in front of me seem so comfortable and accessible. Needless to say, my motivation is on an exponential incline.

Then, it was onto the offices. Naturally, every desk in the place has a gorgeous live edge top and a flawless base to match. Every corner as something wooden to admire. Upstairs, we found a George Nakashima table surrounded by seven matching chairs. I had to be reminded that although this a piece of sought-after art, it is also a piece of furniture and furniture is meant to be sat on, eaten off of, and used in a functional way. Let me tell you, that chair is the most comfortable sitting apparatus I have had the pleasure of sitting in (and I have crashed a few quality beanbag chairs in my day). Full disclosure: Even with my huge stature and whopping 113 lbs, I still sat and stood very slowly and carefully as I was self-convinced I would ruin something.

It seemed as though everything I saw throughout my visit was more incredible than the last. It was truly an honor to meet the Rick, Brian, Ric, and all the Hearne Hardwoods staff. I am happy to have snagged this photo with Rick in the office beneath the head of a deer that his son took down with his bare hands in self defense. That statement alone should be some insight into the level of awesome my day reached on Monday. I had built up some high expectations from the flattering words of my co-workers but, my expectations of Hearne Hardwoods were met and exceeded.

I want to thank everyone that took part in my first trip and was so kind to me. My interest, passion, excitement, and inspiration for woodworking continues to grow daily because of people and places like this. I can only hope that in the near future I will get the chance to take a another trip out to this woodworking paradise tucked into the hills of some Pennsylvania Amish country.

Practice Woodworking: July (heatwave) Edition

The summer of 2013 is filled to the brim with woodworking classes here at the Lohr School of Woodworking. Tomorrow will close out another Practical Woodworking course.

I must first commend our current practical woods students for being so brave and willing as they have managed to show up with smiles and motivated attitudes despite this unbearable north east heatwave. I am a Floridian girl and even I am dyin' from these temperatures so, good job guys, your dedication is admirable!

Jeff, Doug, Terry, Susan, Bill, Cate, Paul, Dan, Gwen, John, and Vince have done a wonderfully impressive job this week learning, listening, and executing new woodworking techniques. Furthermore, they have really become one as a class as they work together to implement their newly absorbed woodworking procedures! Each of them started the week with three rough, FAS, red oak boards and, today all eleven workbenches are graced with nearly completed hall tables.

We have been lucky enough to have the week to get to know the students and today is the day that they get the chance to add details that make their tables unique to them. I love to watch the creativity and personality shine through the pieces as they quickly approach completion.

Throughout the week, students see demos covering every concept, machine, tool, technique, strategy, and jig design we can cram into the week. Although the weather has been rather warm, we did stick to the status quo of making the messiest, dustiest tasks into outdoor activities. Here, Rob is demonstrating how to use the router sled/table. In this demo, he explains the jig's assembly, design, and use. As we use it as a method for milling one face of a board too wide to fit through the jointer or planer, it is safe for you to assume that the router throws a lot of dust and chips around as it levels the face's surface. Luckily, in the summertime, the mimosa tree is in full bloom so we were able to teach, learn, and mill board faces under the shade of a beautiful and delicious-smelling tree.

The latest and greatest addition to the shop was fueled by Jeff's efforts to contribute as little was we can to the ever-growing landfills. As we are located on the farm with it's own functioning ecosystem and work with all natural, earth-grown wood, we do our best to make environmentally-friendly decisions with our trash and material reuse.

A fancy new water cooler will limit the number of plastic water bottles we go through here at the shop (especially in the height of the summer). The idea is to have one reusable bottle for each student/staff to last the week instead of 2-5 throwaway bottles per person per day. Perk number one of this handy machine: the water is always ice cold without having to restock the refrigerator. So, welcome to the shop, new water cooler. We look forward to your convenience and ice-cold hydration services.

All in all, last week was yet another wonderful week spent with ambitious and motivated aspiring woodworkers. We were pleased to host the eleven of you and hope to see you return to the shop in the future!


Another week begins here at Lohr Woodworking so look out for an update or two about our next summer adventures.

Last week at the saw mill...

Despite the presence of full-on summer climates, we spent a good portion of the past few weeks outside at our saw mill. We were finally able to make some room on the drying stacks by loading the kiln so, we finished making slabs of the beautiful logs Steve (the man in charge at Shreiner Tree Care) donated to us!

When it comes to milling here at Lohr Woodworking, some logs are easier to cut than others. Our band saw mill has it's size limitations so, for the narrower logs, the process is relatively quick and dirty. After rolling the logs onto the mill, we need to decide how we want the boards to be shaped along their live edges. In most cases, when we mill the logs ourselves, we have no intention of milling the edges to be straight; they will likely be left in their natural, live edge form so we want the shapes to be as interesting as possible.

After we position the log how it needs to lay to provide the most appealing and interesting live edge shaped boards, we use wedges (and in some cases a car jack) to hold it in place to can cut a flat face. Because it is far safer to cut the log with a flat surface sitting on the mill's base, once the flat face is cut, we flip the log over and cut the boards from the opposite side.

Here, I am cutting an 8-quarter slab. The band saw blade spins horizontally as we manually push it through the log. Even for a clearly incredibly muscular girl such as myself, pushing this mill is far from effortless.

Now, what happens when we find ourselves with a log whose diameter is longer than what our band saw mill can cut? Well, we break out the Alaskan chainsaw mill of course!

First, we need to halve the log so that we have the largest flat surface we can get for the straight cutting guide of the chainsaw mill to ride on. Before that flat surface exists though, we need to make an exterior flat surface in order to make a straight cut to halve the log. To do this, we attach a long straight, milled board to the top of the log. We attach it by leveling the board as it sits atop the log, then screw a small square of plywood to the ends of the log with it's edge flush with the level board. From there, we screw another small piece of wood to the plywood, make it flush to the level board as well, and screw through that piece into the level board. This way, the board is firmly held into a level and secure position as we use it to guide the chainsaw.

Then, out comes the Alaskan chainsaw. As I have written about before, this monster of a machine is composed of two chainsaw motors attached by a 6-ft long bar and chain. The straight cutting guide is an adjustable frame that allows the long bar to remain straight and level as it cuts through the log.

Here, you can see Jeff and Rob making the first cut to one of the logs. The guide rides flat along the level board we attached and as the cut is made, small wedges are pushed into the cut so that the weight of the upper portion of the log doesn't weigh too heavily on the chainsaw blade.

Eventually, the log is halved and we break out ol' Trixie the tractor to move the upper half. We place the half up on lifts so that we can easily get to the bottom when we need to lift and move it again.

This is one of the best parts of woodworking; being the first person to see the inside of a tree. The plant has spent years and years growing it's annual rings and keeping them sealed and hidden under it's newer layers and bark. When the half is lifted, the grain patterns and colors are revealed to the human eye for the first time.

From there, we use the large, freshly cut, flat surfaces as the level face for the chainsaw guide to ride on for the remaining slab cuts. The guide is easily adjusted to cut any board thickness we want.

And, by the end of last week, we have stacks of brand new live edge slabs! The slabs are temporarily stacked on saw horses with equally-sized sticks placed in between to prevent warping and allowing air to pass between the slabs so both sides can dry at the same pace.

In this photo, you can see the white, waxy substance applied to the ends and along the figure of the slabs. We use a coating called Anchorseal to seal the ends of the slabs to prevent checks from developing/growing through the drying process. The sealant also helps protect the interesting figure from any cracking or splitting it might do while the slabs dry.

Now, these slabs will find themselves on the drying stacks for a year per every inch of thickness. From there, they will make their way into the solar kiln for a couple more weeks. And, some day in the distant future, they will become part of some  one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture to carry on their legacy.