Woodcraft Magazine August/September 2017 (78)

Apprenticing under master chairmaker Curtis Buchanan put Elia Bizzarri on the path he follows today, using traditional tools to rive, hew, shave, and turn beautiful Windsor chairs. He also teaches classes at his workshop in central North Carolina and at other schools in the region. Check out the knockdown Chairmaker’s Workbench (p. 22) and his website: handtoolwoodworking.com. A masterful furniture designer/builder for over 35 years, Mario Rodriguez has authored countless magazine articles and several books. A former instructor at The Philadelphia Furniture Workshop, he now maintains a personal work space in a local co-op shop and enjoys his new life as intinerant teacher and lecturer. Check out his Tall Bureau on page 36. Photographer John Hamel gets around. In addition to snapping stellar photos in numerous woodshops (see page 55), he has…

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In my short and stressful stints as a remodeling contractor, I’ve often utilized the standard explanation of trade-offs that every homeowner needs to accept before work can begin. “Good, fast, and cheap. You can have two of these, but not three.” There’s plenty of common sense behind this classic contractor’s admonition. And of course, it applies to woodworking as well. Doing quality work takes extra skill, care, and time. Rushing through a project, building with sub-par materials, and using low-quality tools are common enemies of excellent results. When you understand the “good, fast, cheap” equation, it’s easy to appreciate the rare occasions when you actually achieve all three goals, as we’ve been able to do in this issue. Take Bill Sands’ Dynamite Dining Table, for example. We challenged this veteran woodworker to…

Aphotographer found it too expensive to have his work framed and decided to make the frames himself. After buying a few tools and watching how-to videos, he found his calling. “I want to do woodworking videos and blogs, like these people do,” decided David Picciuto. Here are the highlights from my chat with the host of Make Something (formerly, The Drunken Woodworker), co-host of the podcast Making It, and author of two woodworking project books. —Chad McClung WC: How did Make Something get its start? DP: I changed the name of the show to Make Something because it became my career. The whole Drunken Woodworker thing was a joke. Sixty percent of the reason for the name change came from an embarrassing moment when a 14-yearold kid introduced me to his dad…

Searching for Water I can’t tell you how much I enjoy your magazine. Each issue seems to have something that makes me say, “I want to make that.” My biggest complaint is I can’t keep up with the projects, but I will do my best to catch up, so you need not slow down. Inspired by Brendan Whitehead’s “River Table,” I am now building a river-style top for a patio bar. I found two live-edged spalted maple slabs, and I am planning to separate them with a glass waterway. My problem is I have not been able to find a source for the tinted glass used in the story. Could Brendan share more info about the glass to help me in my search?—Harry Tennis, San Antonio, Texas River Table builder and author Brendan…

When it comes to finishing, woodworkers split into two camps: those who regularly reach for their spray gun, and those who haven’t yet pulled the trigger. HOMERIGHT’S Finish Max offers something for both sides. For beginners, this $70 HVLP sprayer is easy to operate (fill the cup, plug it in, and spray) and a cinch to clean, making it the perfect gateway into the world of spray finishing. For experienced finishers, this compact and affordable sprayer can serve as a handy back up for smaller finishing jobs. At first glance, the Finish Max resembles an airless sprayer, but looks are indeed deceiving. Although it lacks hoses, pumps, or air compressors, this self-contained HVLP system successfully handled a gauntlet of finishes, including chalk paint (slightly thinned and gauged, using the included drip…