When I arrived at Rocking Chair U on the morning of Day 3 I was greeted by Hal’s four horses in the paddock beside the barn. Each afternoon around 2 o’clock they come walking by the shop and you can watch them go by from the large window facing the riding ring. You could pretty well set your clock by them.

Over the past couple of days I found that working with Hal was very similar. Each part of his chair building process was done methodically, step by step. Each day had a particular thing or number of things to be done that was paced very comfortably over the length of the project. There was no race. No rushing to the end. It was a very calm and dedicated approach with the project being enjoyed along the way. I quickly learned more appreciation for the journey and not just on the destination.

Today’s journey brought us to the fitting of the front legs to the seat. First, the legs were notched on the tablesaw:

Continue reading 'Rocking Chair University Week – Day 3'

It was my second day here at Hal Taylor’s Rocking Chair U and what a grand day it was! Today we focused on the rocking chair seat that we glued up yesterday as well as took a bit of R &R. I also got to do a bit of hands-on finishing work today!

The first step was to plane the seat and to make it easier this was done on Hal’s CNC machine. As a professional craftsman getting the mundane work out of the way as easily as possible is paramount. The CNC surely takes the body stress out of this part of the job.

Once the seat blank was planed to an even thickness the notches for the back legs were cut out on the tablesaw. Hal uses the Tenryu Gold Metal series saw blades because of the ease of feed they offer.

Continue reading 'Rocking Chair University Week – Day 2'

A couple of months ago my stars were aligned in favour and I had the opportunity to spend a week with Hal Taylor at his Rocking Chair University!

Hal has built almost 300 rocking chairs over the past 15 years and his attention to style and detail has led him to become internationally known for his quality workmanship. Influenced by both Sam Maloof and James Krenov Hal approaches his woodworking as he does life -with patience and in harmony. He crafts his unique chairs from the finest of woods and builds each one to be cherished for generations.

Hal has also taught hundreds of woodworkers to build their own chairs, many of whom have gone on to starting their own business building and selling rockers.

The Rockingchair University gives you the chance to spend a week with Hal, observing the building of one of his fine rocking chairs. Because the buyers of these chairs expect them to be handcrafted by Hal himself your participation is limited to observing, listening and helping with sanding and small tasks. Nonetheless, you walk away with a wealth of rocking chair building experience, a manual, templates, the confidence to build your own and above all, a great friend!

Continue reading 'Rocking Chair University Week – Day 1'

I recently attended a day long seminar at Lee Valley on sharpening plane blades.

Since I bought the LV Bench Plane a few months ago I have been using it occasionally and I knew that I would soon have to sharpen it. I also came across an old Record Smoothing Plane that I acquired a few years ago from my father-in-law that needed a fair amount of TLC to make useable. This was a great opportunity to get some hands-on instruction on how to sharpen and tune up these planes.

The instructor for the seminar was Jay Perry. Jay has taught at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design for over 20 years and now teaches woodworking classes at the Nova Scotia Centre of Craft and Design. His woodworking interests include making musical instruments, woodworking for the theatre and, of course, planes. He is also a member of the Atlantic Woodworkers Association.

Jay obviously knows his planes! He is not a collector per se though he owns a lot of them. He buys them, restores them and then uses them. Here is a photo of a few of his planes that he brought in:

Continue reading 'Seminar On Sharpening Plane Blades'