Woodworking in America Registration is Officially Open

Yes, it was a few hours later than expected, and we're sorry. But registration is now officially open for Woodworking in America: The Ultimate Skill-Building Weekend, October 1-3 in Greater Cincinnati.

At the conference, you'll get expert instruction from such woodworking luminaries as Frank Klausz, Roy Underhill, Michael Fortune, Marc Adams, Jim Tolpin and more (including Christopher Schwarz).

You'll find classes in everything from cutting tenons by hand to tuning your bandsaw for precision work; from sharpening handsaws to router joinery. Plus, we've added design classes to this year's conference, and brought back the popular "SketchUp Hand-On Clinic" from last year's St. Charles event.

For a full list of classes and class descriptions, instructors, exhibitors, travel information and more – and to register – visit WoodworkingInAmerica.com. And if you register before August 2, you'll save $40 off the regular price.

— Megan Fitzpatrick

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Great Strides at White Water Shaker Village

The woodworkers who are restoring the White Water Shaker Village are making significant progress – just in time for the Woodworking in America tour of the village on Oct. 3.

Newly built and authentic windows are going in on the first floor of the Meeting House, which completely changes the appearance of the historic structure, both outside and in. The windows are walnut, just like the originals, and are being built using donations from the public (our magazine has sponsored construction of one of the windows).

Inside the meeting house, the restored wainscot is also changing the feeling of the entire first floor. All in all, the structure is beginning to feel a lot like the Shaker Meeting House at Pleasant Hill, which I visited last week. The open space. The nice woodwork. The windows that look out over a pastoral scene.

This fall, we'll be offering a guided tour of the White Water Shaker Village (which is not open to the public) for attendees of our Woodworking in America conference. We've chartered a bus to take about 50 attendees up to the village on the morning of Sunday, Oct. 3. The additional cost will be $15 – just enough to cover the bus rental.

While at the village, you'll get a guided tour of many of the structures curated by the Friends of White Water Shaker Village, a non-profit group that is devoted to restoring the village outside Cincinnati and opening it to the public. The volunteers are incredibly knowledgeable about Shaker life, construction and furniture – they've taught us a lot during the last year.

If you are attending Woodworking in America and are interested in the tour of White Water, be sure to sign up for it when you register for the conference. Registration for Woodworking in America opens in early May at woodworkinginamerica.com. Space will be limited on this tour. If demand is strong we might charter a second bus, but two buses will be the maximum number of people we can manage on the grounds.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. To read more about the White Water village, visit the organization's web site, or read this free online story I wrote or watch this video tour of the village shot by Drew DePenning.

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Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event in Our Office

Quick – it is time to make up a quick excuse to your boss to arrange a sham business trip to Cincinnati on June 4-5. On those two days we are going to open wide the doors of our office and shop and host a Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event.

(If you need ideas for how to trick your boss into traveling here, let me know. We have a wide variety of businesses here. Just say "Procter & Gamble," "Kroger" and "Macy's.")

 Like the event last year, this one will be large. In addition to the Lie-Nielsen folks (including Thomas Lie-Nielsen himself), we'll have John Economaki here from Bridge City Toolworks, Kevin Drake from Glen-Drake Toolworks and Andrew Lunn from Eccentric Toolworks. Oh, and how could I forget the most awesome part: members of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM) are giving demonstrations on a wide variety of skills the entire two days.

Last year the SAPFM members demonstrated inlay, carving, design, moulding planes and lots of other stuff.

This year we are doing a couple things a little different. The show will be on Friday (4 p.m. to 9 p.m.) and Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; no Sunday hours). But the Friday show is going to go later into the evening. We'll have some dinner food for sale. And I'll be presenting a seminar at 7 p.m. on workbenches. I'll be showing my new Roubo workbench plus some very cool workholding devices you haven't seen yet.

Then, at 8 p.m. we'll be having a big roundtable question-and-answer session with all the toolmakers. Expect some sparks to fly. Perhaps some leg wrestling and other feats of strength. If you attended last year's program, you know that things get out of hand when you throw all these people in a room.

Oh, one more thing: All of this is free. Just show up at our offices at 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236 on either (or both) days.

And by the way, lots of attendees brought their families along last year. Cincinnati is a fun town for a weekend getaway. Later in the week I'll post some of my favorite things to do here and places to eat (do you like goetta? You will).

For more information, visit the Lie-Nielsen web site.

— Christopher Schwarz

Other Good Hand Tool Resources

•  John Economaki's crazy blog at Bridge City (bridgecitytools.com/blog)

• "Handplane Essentials" by Christopher Schwarz

• Andrew Lunn's blog at Eccentric Toolworks (eccentrictoolworks.blogspot.com)

• "The Complete Illustrated Guide to Sharpening" (Taunton) by Thomas Lie-Nielsen

Read detailed wood lathe reviews at Wood Lathes Online

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