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!

Days 4 & 5 of Practical Woodworking

Another Practical Woodworking class comes to a close today but not before they learned all about routers and sanding (and today, finishing)! As I mentioned in my last update, Rob holds a "Router University" on Day 4 of the class. This is when the details of the table begin to take on the shape, design, and uniqueness of it's maker. He tells them how to use the plunge router to add detail to the edges of table tops and how  to create templates and cut out designs from the edge of the skirt boards or into the face of the skirt boards. It's amazing all the things that this one tool can really accomplish.

We teach students to use batten strips, a nail, and clamped sanding blocks to create a natural and symmetrical curve wherever it is desired. For the table made in this class, curves are commonly cut along the bottom edge of skirt boards. After the curve is traced, they use the band saw to cut out the curve and then go on to the sanders and block planes to smooth it out. It's just one of the many detail options we introduce to students for their skirt boards. We also have a router table with a beading bit as well as the option to draw your own design to trace and cut out!

Cooped with router day is sanding day. I find that sanding day is a day of relief for students as they have fitted their mortises and tenons, assembled their tables without glue, and are pleased to see the project coming together. From there, they can take to the sanding pavilion. Here, they get the run down on sanding machines, paper, and technique. Then, they are turned lose to tackle one of the final stages of their table completion. We use random orbit sanders and four stages of sanding with 80, 120, 180, and 220 grit paper for a nice, smooth surface ready for finish.

Another detail that is introduced during the 4th and 5th days is leg treatment. Naturally, another set of Jeff original jigs comes into play to cut tapered legs or to router subtle rectangular detail near the feet of the legs. We also introduce the option of using the beading bit on the router table to add a bead to the corners of the legs. Here, you can see Andrew using Jeff's leg-tapering jig on the table saw.

As the final demos begin in the shop as I type, I am proud to know that by the afternoon today, we will have a room full of nearly finished tables and eleven new, happy Lohr School of Woodworking graduates! I will do my best to capture some photos of the tables and their new, fancy looks so you can see what Lohr students are capable of! For now, we are onto the last 8 hours of table construction, gluing, and finishing.

And, on this chilly Friday, I bring you Joie, the ever-entertaining shop dog. She is here to wish our students a very smooth and accomplished final day here at the school. She says, "You guys learned all about the basics of practical woodworking for furniture building in just 6 days?!" Yes, Joie, they did and they did it amazingly well!

For the rest, she is here to wish you a lovely weekend and say, "We haven't seen you at the shop yet. You want to learn about woodworking? Didn't you know that our school is the perfect environment for any type of learner/level of experience?" And on that note, I will return to the group to enjoy our last day of class.

Current students, you have done a wonderful job and we hope you return to the shop in the future! Future students, I hope these entries give you an idea of what to expect and heightens your excitement for your class to begin. Potential students, we hope to see your name on our roster some day soon. And, to the rest, thank you for reading and look out for a new post early next week!