Fine Woodworking Magazine Audio Slideshow

This past term, we said goodbye to a dear friend, who has began her much anticipated sabbatical. After the third week of the program, Caroline returned to Singapore to visit her family, before beginning an exciting new chapter in her life. For the last few years, she has talked about building a workshop on her property, so that she can return to the work that so inspired her before turning her attention to learning the craft of teaching at the school. While I already miss her, I am excited that she has begun the process. I very much look forward to returning to our amateur development with her on Sunday mornings later this fall when the dust settles.

Wood

I have always maintained that images, never seem to do our work justice. David Welter did as close a job as I have ever seen, and Tim Andres has done an amazing job here at the school since taking over our photography a few years back. Tim is scheduled to return to the coast later this fall to photograph student work from this term and next and bring the images from the last few terms. I will at that time post more student work, including a couple of exceptional pieces made by Andreas Pfister, from Munich Germany, shown above, in his last term at the school. With that said in this past term, one of the pieces made in the Upward Spiral program was JK’s chess board. The piece was made by Sam Gapic from Perth Australia, and as he will be leaving before Tim was able to photograph the piece, I used my very limited photography skills to photograph Sam’s lovely piece.

The playing surface of the chess board is bubinga and arbutus, or madrone as it is known, and the frame is doussie. The doussie, is from the plank used for Tang Chung Leon’s pipe cabinet, durning his Upward Spiral. Tang is returning from Malaysia for his third term this fall for Vidar’s Chair. We are very much looking forward to having Tang, and his lovely wife Judy, back at the school. Below is an image of Tang’s notebook from his first term at the school. 

The bubinga in the chessboard is from a plank used for a stand in by Jake Maughan’s composing piece, who we received a visit from this past term. Jake is working out of a cooperative space in Vancouver and has continued to produce some exceptional work. His piece shown below, continues to be a favorite of mine.

Workshop & Tools

Each Term I ask one of our students to read ‘The other end of the plank’ passage from A Cabinetmakers Notebook. That book, along with the conversations that took place between Jim and I in the years that followed lead to the opening of our school in thirteen years ago. I read that passage that appears on page 73 at the presentation of my first piece at the College of the Redwoods nearly twenty years ago, paying homage to my soul mate, my partner in life and work, who has been with me my entire life as a craftsman. As Yvonne say’s “it feels like we grew up together.” Last term I bestowed the responsibility to Dave Beauchesne who completed his Impractical Studies program. This past term I asked Geoff Munday, who after five years, completed his Impractical Studies program. Geoff and Dave are two of the last students who were grandfathered in from the one week format which phased several years ago. Geoff came to the school as a student, and left a very dear friend. Yvonne and I have so enjoyed Geoff and Victoria’s visits over the years, and dearly look forward to their next visit.

During the final Elephant of the term, students received their certificates, listened to one of Jim’s farewell addresses and after saying a few words myself we did our quarterly walkaround. While surrounded by family and friends, each of our students shared their triumphs and tragedies of the term. I said to Yvonne later that evening that it was one of the most heartfelt presentations we have had at the school in the past thirteen years. I was filled with immense gratitude and afirmation that we are on the right path.

Details

This past term Marion completed her second term of residency at the school. In addition to completing her beautiful lap desk in English walnut, she acted as a teaching assistant for much of the term, taking questions from her classmates, and assisting Yvonne and I in the daily operations at the school. I cannot imagine how we could have managed without her. Watch for images of her work in the winter addition of my Notebook. 

Merci mon cher ami

Inspiration

We received as special visit from one of our alumni in the final weeks of the term. The last Saturday of class, just after Jk’s lecture and slideshow. Juan brought by three of the pieces he made at the school several years back including ‘Trinity’ pictured above. As always it was inspiring for our students to see the many possibilities that exist in our craft and meet an equally inspiring and gentle man. 

I have been reminded on an all to regular basis, that our school has fallen behind the times with all the developments in social media. Many schools including my alma mater, now the Krenov School use Facebook, and now Instagram to share there work. I have not because, I would rather spend the time in my workshop and look for any excuse to avoid screen time. Perhaps one day, we will have someone at the school who wants to take this on, but it will not be myself. In the mean time, I thought I would include a few of our alumni instagram pages below that our current students frequent.

Peter Freeman

Jacques Breau

Kylee Sebree

Jay Miron

Jason Klager

Juan Carlos Fernandez

Craig Johnson

With Immense Gratitude

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our students, past and present, and remind you that our school not only exists for you, but because of you. 
Be well and enjoy your work, I know I do,
Robert

Residency

Marion Couvreur – France

VIdars Chair

Brett Almey  – Canada

UPWARD SPIRAL

Matt Thornhill  – Canada
Sam Gapic – Australia
David Stevens – United States

IMPRACTICAL STUDIES

Geoff Munday – Canada
Kerry Kyriacou – England
Iain Rolfe – New Zealand
Lev Winograd – Canada

ADMISSIONS & STUDENT SERVICES

Yvonne Van Norman

RESIDENT CRAFTSMEN & TEACHERS

Robert Van Norman
Caroline Woon   

TEACHING ASSISTANT

Stephen Esdon

RELIEF TEACHER

Gary Kent

At the end of this past term, I said good bye to a student, a friend, whom I will dearly miss. It has been such a pleasure watching Andi’s progress as a craftsman at the school. More than two years have passed since Andi suggested to a friend he was looking for a place to train in our craft. His friend replied, “my sister is teaching at a school in Canada, you should look at that school.” Michael, Caroline’s brother, visited us shortly after and we sent back a copy of A Cabinetmakers Notebook. A few months later Andi, left Munich to join us for the first two terms of the Impractical Cabinetmaker Program, where in his second term completed one of the most ambitious Upward Spiral pieces to come out of the school. The truth is that piece has caused me nothing but trouble since, raising the bar for feasible second term pieces. After his second term, Andi returned to Germany to set up his workshop and made several pieces before returning last May for what was was supposed to be two more terms, he ended up staying for a year. He has been an wonderful mentor at the school this term most notably Matt who had the pleasure of being his bench mate this past term. Matt mentioned to me more than once the influence Andi had on his work.

During one of my final consults with Andi, I suggested to him that he was ready to go out on his own, that the yellow cedar is getting thin. We shared a laugh, as he immediately knew to what I was referring. When he returned to the school last May for Vidars Chair, and then through each of his composing and residency terms that followed, he would arrive at our Saturday afternoon consult with a stick of yellow cedar and something to write with. He would take notes on the fine grained fragment wood, durning our consult, then later organize his thoughts in his notebook. In preparation for our next consult, he would take a few shavings from the yellow cedar, giving himself a clean slat so to speak. Over the months that followed, I noticed the piece of wood, with a couple of bandsaw kerfs on the one end was approach the thickness of a shop sawn veneer. I’ll remember him fondly each and every time the fragrance of yellow cedar drifts through the workshop.  

I am coming up short on words to adequately express my gratitude for having the opportunity to work with such a fine young craftsman at the beginning of his journey. I will on this occasion, as I have in the past, defer those words to Jim’s. At each term end Elephant, we listen to one of the many farewell addresses Jim gave to my students. In one of those lectures, Jim relays a story, I have included it below.

In each successive term of the Impractical Cabinetmaker program, students are gradually working towards working more independently. Andi and I spoke of this early on, and as the months passed our consults took the shape of him arriving and suggesting his next principle steps. Initially we would adjust them together, when I would suggest a change in the sequence or method. In the later consults there was less and less to adjust. As a teacher this is confirmation that the program is working. Our attention drew us more to the subtleties of the craft, and as I reflect back on all of the beautiful moments I have had as a teacher. I am not sure there has been anything that I have enjoyed more than my Saturday afternoon consults with Andi. Be well my friend and enjoy your work.

Wood

In my last notebook entry I spoke of a wood run to the island, that Yvonne and I went on just before our spring term. The image above was taken the day we arrived home with a woodworkers lifetime supply of wood, and shows approximately half of our precious cargo. We came back with a very full cargo van filled with Pear, english brown oak, Andaman padauk, European sycamore, teak, Cuban mahogany, several pieces of massive genuine mahogany, English elm, tulip wood, Brazilian rosewood, ziricote, partridge wood and various other rosewoods, forty years of collecting wood. He has since bought a old wooden boat already keeping him busy. Ron joined us for a mid term elephant to share his thoughts on making a living at the craft. Ron was introduced to us by Geoff, a student, and friend, shown below who will be returning to complete his program this term.

Kwila, was one of Jim’s favorite woods. It is an open grained wood, with grain similar to mahogany, but harder.  Its colour varies from rich dark red brown to pail light brown. It it typically has yellow or even black specks, and is also known as Merbu. It is lovely to work with shearing tools but can be tough on cutting edges. When we opened the school, we purchased a thousand board feet of doussie and kwila combined. Over the past thirteen years, our stocks have dwindled, and it has become more and more difficult to obtain, especially with Canada’s very strict import restrictions. While it is not on the CITIS list as of yet, I suspect it will find its way there soon. A few years ago, while on a woodrun with students to Sydney on the island, I came across a couple of sticks. They were narrow, just seven inches wide, but long, fourteen feet, straight and rift to quarter sawn. I purchased them with stands in mind. 

Andi was immediately drawn to them and wanted to use them as the starting point for his final cabinet at the school. He worked much of the kwila with a high angle wooden plane, with a cutting angle of approximately sixty degrees. He was using Jim’s no glass showcase, featured in Worker in Wood as a starting point. The kwila would be used for the frame work, with complimentary woods used for the panels and veneer. At the time there was just one of the planks left and after carefully looking through the plank there would not be enough wood to build the piece, to the size of the original. I suggested to Andi that we could scale the piece down, or use a sacrificial wood and skin the rails. In the Details section below I will describe where it is useful and the process.

Matt used the same method when it came to one of the rails for his frame and panel back. I think for me what is most appealing about this method of work, is that, like shop sawn veneer, it stretches a precious resource. The image below, shows the teak rough sawn and shows the intimate relationship of what will become two doors and the sides of his cabinet. Watch for images of his lovely cabinet in next terms entry of the Teachers Notebook.

Workshop

This past term saw a few changes in my home workshop. I began by moving Jim’s jointer and planer adjacent to the bandsaw. I then moved Jim’s shaper and mechanical press where the jointer was. Jim’s original bench was then moved into the benchroom adjacent to my workbench.  

I made a small shelf that is mounted above his bench that houses fourteen of the more than two dozen drawers I have made as at the school in our Impractical Studies Program. I am currently making a small rack that holds the last four planes Jim made, in various stages of completion. As the jointer is still not connected to power I came full circle dimensioning the pieces of the bandsaw with a plane. I told my students in the final weeks, that I was thinking of leaving it disconnected as it was bringing me back to the days when thats what I did, without access to a thickness planer.

This past term, I also made a few things for our home, including the tea shelf above. The redwood came from Jim, the river redwood used in the panel/ shelf came from Monroe Robinson, when I was in school. The wall hangers came from Caroline who made them in her demo this past term.

Tools

When I was in school, we used inserts to fit the mouth of our curved bottom planes. Jim had always done it this way, and the insert could be replaced as the sole wore over time. I remember arriving at school, with what I thought was a brilliant modification on one of my curved bottom planes, an adjustable mouth. When rough shaping concave work, where significant material needed to be removed, I would open the mouth to facilitate heavy shavings, then closing it off when I wanted to dial in the final shaping and surface quality. When I proudly showed Jim, he seemed less than impressed so, I took it out and put an insert in. I have thought about revisiting this concept again, and still may at some point.

Above images shows a few of my curved bottom planes. third from the front is one of Jim’s earlier planes. The plane in the foreground is a plane of vera that is curved front to back and side to side. The second plane in is  a plane of tulip wood with a modified one inch straight Hock iron. Over the years, we have also made our own irons from old files and breakers of spring steel, tool making and modification continues to be a ongoing activity at the school. Below is an image of some of Mario’s efforts from this term. 

In the mean time, when we started making planes at the school, I explored another option. I decided to carefully pre-shape the forward ramp, before assembly. When I shared this idea with Jim, he approved, and we have been making them that way since. As the sole of the plane wears, an new insert can be added to extend the life of the plane.

Details

In the final week of the first term, after working exclusively with solid wood, students are introduced to real veneer as Jim discusses in The Impractical Cabinetmaker. While there are many benefits to working with shop sawn veneer, the one I would like to focus on is the stretching of a precious resource. 

Jim used to say that one of the reasons he worked in modest scale was that our material is precious and the most pieces of special wood are often small. He would say jokingly, that “Good wood doesn’t grow on trees!”. While I continue to use shop sawn veneer in my own work, and in our advanced programs at the school. Even when working in solid wood, there is occasion when we do not have quite enough wood to do what we want to do. When this issue arrises we skin the wood, that is we laminate a precious piece of wood over or around a sacrificial core that has similar seasonal movement characteristics. The thickness of these skins can be as thin as a shop sawn veneer to significantly thicker to facilitate shaping. Unlike veneer we have found that it is not necessary to balance the piece by applying to both sides. The skin is applied early on in the process, it is taken close to dimension and allowed the time to rest before taking down to final dimension and completing joinery. We have used this process in frame and panel where we can give ourselves a panel that is the primary wood on the outside and a lighter coloured wood in the inside to brighten up the interior of the cabinet. We have used it to create harmony grain in frame members and even drawer fronts.

Inspiration

The James Krenov Archive is now available online. A few years ago, our small school passed along Jim’s archive of earlier work to Kevin Shea to digitalize.  David Welter, the Archives curator said the final push took five months to complete. It is a real treasure, he, David Mathews, Jim son in law and Kevin Shea deserve all our gratitude in undertaking such an ambitious project. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who have made this school possible. To our students, this school not only exists for you, but because of you. Caroline, my student, colleague and friend. Michael Burns, Jim Budlong and David Welter, my other teachers at CR now The Krenov School. Jim and Britta, I dearly miss you presence, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of you both. And last but, certainly not least, soul mate, my partner in life and work, Yvonne, for continuing to carry the other end of the plank. 
In Gratitude,
Robert

COMPOSING

Andreas Pfister – Germany
Marion Couvreur – France

UPWARD SPIRAL

Brett Almey  – Canada
Matt Thornhill  – Canada
Torrie Smith – Canada

IMPRACTICAL STUDIES

Dave Beauchesne – Canada
Sam Gapic – Australia
David Stevens – United States
Mario Paredes Otalora – Spain
Frank Bowles – United States
Dave Giammarco – Canada  

ADMISSIONS & STUDENT SERVICES

Yvonne Van Norman

RESIDENT CRAFTSMEN & TEACHERS

Robert Van Norman
Caroline Woon   

RELIEF TEACHER

Gary Kent

I’m just not good with change, Yvonne would be the first person to tell you that. A few weeks back, we signed a lease, that will ensure our small family run craft school will remain in its current location for at least another ten years. 

As I reflect back on the nearly decade and a half in our current location I am filled with a deep sense of gratitude for all the beautiful work, but mostly the beautiful people who have past through our doors. On behave of Yvonne and myself, thank you.

Wood

We returned from Portland and our visit to our friends at Gilmer Wood Company, with several blanks for planes and wood for pulls and latches in various exotics not on the Cities list. I hand picked an epic plank of 5/4 Cedar of Lebanon, a 12/4 wonderful plank of Swiss Pear and five pristine planks of 8/4 Sucupira all of which is being shipped to the school.

Brett and Torrie stand beside two of their exceptional finds during our annual woodrun to Portland which took place the day after our term ended. At Goby Walnut some of the finds were English Walnut, Oregon Walnut, Myrtle, figured walnut, and Madrone, what we call arbutus in Canada.

Before heading out on our wood run, we received our annual shipment from A & M Wood Specialty in Cambridge Ontario. In this years shipment included Burmese teak, narra and English brown oak. We also purchased some 8/4 ipe for plane making. 

Yesterday, I received word from a friend, also an alumni of the school telling me of a Vancouver Island woodworker selling off all his wood. The wood being sold was wood that had been carefully selected over the past 43 years, wood dating back from the early years at A & M and Unicorn. Tulipwood, English brown oak, European pear, English elm, various rosewoods, South American and Cuban mahogany. After talking things over with Yvonne, we  rented a truck and will be heading over to the Island in the next few days.

Workshop

A student recently said to me that it is Yvonne really is the glue that binds everything at the school together. She loves working with the students and tolerates the office work better than anyone I know. Over the past two terms, she has really embraced the machine maintenance at the school. While I have always taken pride in the state of our facility and machines, in a recent feedback form from one of our returning students, they suggested that the machines have been at their best since Yvonne took them on.

Over the last few weeks of this past term, Caroline replace all the fences on Jk’s table saw, the Wadkin dimension saw and the General table saw. In the coming term she will be replacing the fences on both the General shapers. She is using some well seasoned European beech that Yvonne milled at the beginning of last summer’s term.

The image above, was taken by a student on Friday evening. While Yvonne and the  students were enjoying a pint, I sat at the front bench and refined a stet of pins on my drawer. I was lost in the work, something that has been happening more often in my life since I have cut back on teaching and returning to my own work. While Saturdays continue to be my favorite day of the week at the school. With the machines off, it gives me a chance to have quiet conversations with our students. I have yet another reason to look forward to on the weekends in the coming term. On Sunday mornings, when our students are sleeping in or catching up on their chores, Caroline and I will be heading into the school for amateur development. I have a set of four chairs in narra, that have been sitting under Jim’s bench in my workshop for a few years now. Over the break, I took the parts down to the school and found a place to store them. Caroline and I have had very little time together in the workshop since she took on a teaching role at the school. I am very much looking forward to spending this time with my co teacher and friend as we will be working on the chairs for a few hours each Sunday morning.

Details

In the first week of the program I tell students that the two of the most important things they will learn at the school, they learn in the first week; one of these things is a very much neglected aspect of our craft, grain graphics. 

Shortly after leaving my spacious mountain side workshop just outside the Banff National Park gates; a rather large, glass front workshop with two skylights over looking mount Rundle to a small dimly light workshop in behind our Exshaw home, I discovered just how important grain graphics is in our work. Its where I had been the most happy in my work, up until recently. It was in that little workshop in the mountains that I really discovered the playfulness in the use of grain graphics.

Jim talks about the use of graphics in his books. In The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking, on page 33, he does an admirable job illustrating with photographs and text what is a inherently difficult subject to articulate in words. I had spoke to him about this before, but it was while making two rocking chairs for a client in the Netherlands, that it really hit home for me. 

I had just cut the crest rails for the chairs, the first chair was in olive ash the second in figured eastern maple. While the chairs were essentially identical, as Jim talks about in the Impractical Cabinetmaker, different woods gave each of the chairs, a very different feel. Some of the dimensions had been adjusted. I had straighten the grain and it was rift to flat sawn. I cut the curves and the rails were clamped in place. It was then, when I immediately realized that I had reversed one before cutting the curve. The crest rail on the chair in ash, with very dominate annual rings and lovely colour had strong oval pattern in the center. While it was symmetrical, it was not harmonious with the shape of the rail, and not what I had hoped for. The chair in maple had a stretched pattern, which was my intention, however due to the fine grain and heavy figure it was less noticeable. I looked through what was left of the plank of olive ash and was unable to find the stock for another rail in a similar cut to that of the maple chair. I was able rotate and straighten a piece, giving me rift cut with a a bit of colour to the bottom at the back. Cutting the curve in this piece changed everything for me. Now, I couldn’t leave the rail in the maple chair I returned to what was left of the figured maple plank and was able to rotate the stock for a similar cut. This was the starting point for my fascination with the use of grain graphics in my work.

This would later become an obsession when I made Vidar’s chair and was unable to find stock thick enough for the crest rail. On a quiet Sunday in the school back in 2006, I made a discovery that enabled me to get the crest rail for that chair in 8/4 stock, which up until that point had only been made with a minimum of 12/4 stock. The method continues to be used at our school when making Vidar’s chair, and has been adopted by our friends at the Krenov School where the chair continues to be made on occasion. Jim often spoke of the importance of curiosity in our work.

Andi completed Vidar’s Chair program this past summer, and in the fall was invited to give a presentation at the local wood guild to present his chair, talk about his experience building it, and talk about the significance of this chair at our school. Jim suggested to our students that it is an emotional craft. While we do not open the reproduction for any interpretation or change, each chair reflects the sensitivity of the student making it and is evident in the details such as edge treatment.

Andi just completed his fifth term at the school and will be staying on for another term with the residency program. In this past term, Andi, as the first recipient of the Doug Ives Scholarship, completed rather large showcase cabinet in English Brown Oak mid term.

He has moved onto another large cabinet with integrated stand in kwila, doussie and boat wood, a lovely piece of vary heavy wood that we are unable to identify donated by a local boatbuilder.

Marion completed her reproduction of Jim’s games box in French walnut in the Upward Spiral Program. It features a sliding lid with lock, and whimsical use of the delicate fine grained wood.

Marion has discovered the playful use of Parquetry in the Composing program and will be staying of for a short residency before returning to France at the end of March. She is shown here selecting her shop sawn english walnut veneers with Robert for her parquetry lap desk.

The images above show Andre’s pipe cabinet reproduction in garry oak with a tray of bocote.

Above he is shown wrapping his chair in the final days of Vidar’s Chair program at the school. I am very much looking forward to Andre’s return for the Composing program this fall. The chair was a gift for his lovely wife Andrea. Just a few days after completing his chair, he joined us on another another epic wood run to Portland. The enthusiasm shown by our students on the wood run was worth the trip for me.

Tang completed his reproduction of JK’s pipe cabinet during his Upward Spiral program this past fall. He chose doussie, one of Jim’s favorite wood, wit the tray of cocobolo. The doussie has a similar feel, yet different than the English brown oak that Jim used on the two versions he made the originals.

Last spring in the Upward Spiral program Leanne completed this lovely curved front wall cabinet in makore with locally harvested spalted maple back panel. The drawers are amazonian rosewood. The frame and panel back features a veneered section in behind the drawers and pocket using lumber core and shop sawn veneers. Leanne is currently building a tiny home in Roberts Creek.

Torrie, from Vancouver just completed his Upward Spiral program at the school, shown during a walkaround. The walkaround, is an opportunity for students to share the triumphs and tragedies of their work. His ambitious curved front cabinet with dovetailed case in the background with three curved front drawers in granadillo underway. Over the coming months, Torrie is in the process of gathering wood and setting up his workshop in Vancouver. We are very much looking forward to his return for Vidar’s Chair.

Brett from friendly Manitoba, is shown here with Marion, setting up the high fence to cut the veneer for his sailing exercise. Brett completed all the exercises in the Impractical Studies program. We are grateful that Brett will be  staying on for the entire Impractical Cabinetmaker program. Brett shared with me just how much grateful he was to have Torrie, also originally from Manitoba as his benchmate in his first term. One of the benefits to having four programs running simultaneously at the school is the sharing of knowledge between students.

David, from Seattle shown carving the finger pull for his drawer in European cherry. Jim often suggested that knives were an often neglected tool. It is for that reason that we have always made and used knives in our work. When shaped thoughtfully and sharpened well, these very personal tools are as sensitive as any of our tools and capable of everything from rough shaping to the final surfaces, leaving subtle fingerprints, or finger candy.

“The manner in which you get ready for work, go to work, and the way you are while you are there affects not only those you work with, but also the quality of your work. Everything we do in our lives has an effect on our work. I, myself, am a poet but I love working in the garden growing vegetables. One day an American scholar said to me, “Don’t waste your time gardening and growing lettuce. You should write more poems instead; anyone can grow lettuce.” That is not my way of thinking. I know very well, that if I do not grow lettuce, I cannot write poems. The two are interrelated. Eating breakfast mindfully, washing the dishes, and growing lettuce in mindfulness are essential for me to be able to write poetry well. The way someone washes the dishes revels the quality of his or her poetry. Similarly, the more awareness and mindfulness we bring to our daily actions, including our work, the better our work will be. “ – Thich Nhat Hanh

Each year, Yvonne and I retreat to a little cabin on Vancouver Island, where I have used the time to reflect on the previous year, in an effort to continually improve the program and our school. There has always been a rule though. Yvonne’s rule, that for the first three days I couldn’t talk to her about work. So, I would reflect and write in my notebooks. On the fourth day after her morning coffee, I was permitted to share my thoughts. This year was no different. I have often spoken about balance, I’m obviously a slow learner but for me the quote above says it all. Since returning to my own work, teaching has become a new playground for me, one I am grateful to share with so many curious students. 
Be well and enjoy your work,
Robert

ADMISSIONS & STUDENT SERVICES

Yvonne Van Norman

RESIDENT CRAFTSMEN & TEACHERS

Robert Van Norman
Caroline Woon   

RELIEF TEACHER

Gary Kent

COMPOSING

Andreas Pfister – Germany – Doug Ives Scholarship
Marion Couvreur – France

Vidars chair

Andre Plante – Canada

UPWARD SPIRAL

Torrie Smith – Canada

IMPRACTICAL STUDIES

Brett Almey – Canada
David Glickerman  – United States

“What we need, is more heart in the work!” -JK

This past week, we completed the fall term of our Impractical Cabinetmaker program. While students continue to enjoy 24/7 access to the school, this term we returned to our six day a week teaching schedule. Saturday is a special day at the school for me. We begin the day listening to one of Jim’s lectures and watching a slideshow from his archive. The rest of the day is dedicated to lectures that do not require machines and individual consults. Advanced program students and I have the opportunity to review their upcoming work and principle steps.

During Henry’s first visit to the school he wrote a blog about his time here. I found out this term, that it was his blog that was responsible in part for for Tang first attending our school. I am so grateful for this and for the opportunity to work with such a lovely man.

It has been such a pleasure to work with such a kind and gentle soul. I am so pleased that Georg intends to balance woodworking with gardening when he returns to Mexico following the program. Georg like many of our students was new to the craft. On the final day of the program, as I sat with a cup of tea on the porch. I watched Georg plane the surfaces of his curved veneered panel. The taping as he set the plane, the shavings that surrounded his bench and the smile on his face. I was filled with a deep sense of gratitude.

At the end of summer term, we had a last minute cancellation. I’m not sure who we lost, but I am so happy we had the opportunity to work with Fu. He is a very patient man with a background in furniture manufacturing in his native Taiwan.

Matt is a talented young craftsman who took full advantage of the 24/7 access to the school. In addition to completing all his exercises very well, Matt made a small dovetailed box in curly maple with a veneered sliding lid featuring parquetry, a very ambitious side project, beautifully done. We very much look forward to his return this spring for the Upward Spiral program.

Already a skilled woodworker, Greg used his time at the school to refine his hand skills and in doing so, did some of the tightest work we have seen in the Impractical Studies program. Greg’s passion for the craft was most evident in his work. Even having come from a machine heavy environment, Greg really embraced the emphasis on handwork here at the school. 

Watching Torrie develop as a craftsman has been a joy for me. We are so grateful to have this fine young craftsman back for the Upward Spiral program next term, as he continues on his journey. Torrie shares his passion for the craft with his wife Maggie, who was regularly in attendance for the Saturday morning lectures and carries the other end of the plank.

The wizard hat was Yvonne’s suggestion for the dark arts lecture. I am including this image because I still love her, even though she often makes strange requests and suggestions.

Andre during the presentation of his upward spiral. Andre made a fine pipe cabinet out of a piece of garry oak, a piece that had been resting in my workshop for a few years. I bought the piece on a wood run to the Frazer valley with the pipe cabinet in mind. We are grateful to have Andre returning for the winter term for Vidar’s chair.

Tang completed Impractical Studies last fall and went home, making several pieces before returning for the Upward Spiral program this past term. During the presentation of his fine pipe cabinet Tang shared with us his approach to the work; care, competence and confidence. While on the coast Tang’s wife Judy joined a local quilters group and was immediately embraced by the community.  We very much look forward to their next visit.

 Andi’s showcase cabinet is staged for the first time, a moment of celebration and impromptu walkaround. Sharing of the work with one another continues to be an important part of learning at the school. 

This past term, was Stan’s sixth visit to the school. His first was during the last year Jim spoke at the school. Stan completed the Artisan program the rather condensed previous incarnation of Impractical Studies over a few summers while still working as an engineer. Within a few days of retirement, he returned for the Upward Spiral program where he made a fine cherry box and frame with a spalted maple panel. This past spring he joined us for Vidar’s chair. This term he began his composing program piece a fine double door curved front cabinet on a stand. The wood for the piece came from Goby’s on the wood run to Portland last fall. The tones in this piece of ash range from pinks, to orange to mauve unlike any ash I have seen before. With the wonderful colors came several defects that had to be carefully worked around. The intention was to make the case in solid wood, but once the doors where taken out the remaining wood a challenge to piece together. The decision was made to make lumber core and lay it up with shop sawn veneer and edges. There are many pieces of wood in this fine cabinet.

Andi with the doors hung on his lower cabinet. The upper cabinet has since been completed with the glass doors hung and backs installed. Andi just has the pulls and base to complete next term before moving onto his next cabinet. Andi is the first recipient of the newly established Doug Ives Scholarship, which was announced at the celebration of life for Doug held at the school this past September. The intention of the scholarship, is to provide graduates of our Impractical Cabinetmaker program the opportunity to continue their studies at the school. Since the celebration of life we have received generous support for this scholarship through Doug’s family and our alumni. If you would like to make a donation to this scholarship, please contact Yvonne.

This past term I completed a cabinet that I began thirteen years ago. I took the advice of Michael Burns, one of my teachers who suggested that after leaving school we build one piece a year from the heart. Since founding the school, I have found it a challenge to find the time and the focus required for such work. In the end there were three obstacles that stood in the way of completion of the cabinet. The damage to parts not carefully stored over the years, in many cases with no replacement wood. My abilities as a craftsman and the third the enthusiasm for the piece which wained over the years.

As with most pieces I have made, this cabinet began with a piece of wood. In the dark corner of lumber yard in Burlington I found a small piece of Balsamo. I was immediately taken by the warm tones and the spicy floral fragrance which is still evident when one opens and closes the drawers. The balsamo was easy to work with a high angle plane. I have since past along to one of my students.

The drawers parts were taken from a thick plank of doussie from Jim. The doussie was straight and rift, with a lovely dark streak that ran down one side of the plank which I aligned through all the drawers. The doussie was easily worked with my planes and spokeshaves. The pulls were a joy to curve with one of Jim’s fine knives.

The drawer bottoms are wonderfully fragrant Mendocino cypress with a bit of curl, a gift from Todd Sorenson (now teaching at the Krenov School) during his residency here back in 2007.

The wood for the stand we picked up on a wood run on Vancouver Island a few years ago. I was looking for the right piece of yew to make the stand for my cabinet when Gavin, one of my students at the time said, “Would this be any good for making planes?” I said yes, that we had used goncolo alves for planes in the past, but that it would also work for my stand. Gavin was a kind and gentle soul and was very gracious allowing me to have that piece. I cut the shoulders and cheeks of the tenons on Jim’s bandsaw. The wood was very hard and had a lot of defects, but what was usable worked beautifully under Jim’s wonder shave.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our students, our alumni and our families who make it possible for us to pursue this wonderful craft. I would like to thank alumni Tim Andries who has taken on the photography for the school. I will post student work from the last two terms when it is available. I would like to thank Caroline my co-teacher and dear friend who’s efforts enable me to return to the craft that so inspired me to found this school. And of course my partner in life and work, my soul mate Yvonne, who continues to keep it fun lovin’ and groovy.  
Be well and enjoy your work,
Robert

ps Happy Birthday Jim:)

ADMISSIONS & STUDENT SERVICES

Yvonne Van Norman

RESIDENT CRAFTSMEN & TEACHERS

Robert Van Norman
Caroline Woon   

RELIEF TEACHER

Gary Kent

COMPOSING

Andreas Pfister – Germany
Stan Adams – United States

UPWARD SPIRAL

Chung Leong Tang – Malaysia
Andre Plante – Canada

IMPRACTICAL STUDIES

Torrie Smith – Canada
Greg Hamilton – Canada
Georg Maurer – Canada
Fu Chang – Canada
Matt Thornhill – Canada
Henry Tsang – Canada

With my return to teaching full time for the term, we felt it best to limit the intake. The small class size felt a bit like coming full circle for Yvonne and I. We both spent a lot of time reminiscing about the early years at the school, with just her and I and a few students. 

With Caroline away on sabbatical, Yvonne took on a much more active role in the workshop. In addition to her office duties, she has taken on an teaching assistant role and machine maintenance at the school. Over the years, I have trained several people on the machines, however I don’t recall anyone taking it on with such enthusiasm and doing it so well. I can’t take much credit here, all the years working along side her father, a farmer and heavy duty mechanic, I think had something to do with it.

As a graduate of our Impractical Studies Program and having been with Robert his entire life as a craftsman, Yvonne has been involved countless assemblies. Yvonne is shown here with Marion during the first assembly of her chair.

Ron from Mission British Columbia completed his first term. He is shown with Marion during the assembly of his wabi sabi cabinet early on in the program. Ron, already a seasoned woodworker has taken his craft to a whole new level. Ron has an impressive collection of fine Japanese tools, many handed down to him by his wife Yuko’s family. His work is only out shined by his generosity, sending each of his classmates and teacher away with several pieces of special wood.

Andi and Marion served fine mentors to our first term students.

David from Scotland just completed his first term. I will always remember David as you see him here, at his bench. In all his time at the school, I only recall seeing him outside the school on two occasions. When I would arrive in the morning, leave in the evening or come in after yoga on Saturday and Sunday mornings this is where I would find him, at his bench. David took full advantage of twenty four hour a day, seven days a week access to the school. His incredible progress was influenced by his aesthetic sensibilities and architectural background however it was his focus and dedication to the craft that was most inspiring for me.

Marion from France just completed her third term of study. As I watched her gracefully (ok gracefully might be a strong word) remove the last of the protective wrapping of her chair, I reflected back on her inspiring progress as a craftsman. To think that when she visited the workshop a year ago, she joined us with no experience and just completed what Gary Kent, our relief teacher describes as one of the most challenging pieces he has made over all his years as a craftsman. We are very grateful to have the opportunity of working with this fine young craftsman at the beginning of her journey, and are very much looking forward to her return in November for two terms of our Composing program. 

Andi from Germany just completed his third term, will be joining us for our Composing program for the fall and winter terms. Andi finished up his chair, in time to mockup his composing cabinet and has already cut veneers and rough milled for most of the large showcase cabinet in English brown oak. It will be a challenging piece filled with subtleties and complexities. As many of my students have found, having just built the chair instills their confidence as a craftsman. I suspect Andi is pressing the last of his lumber core as I write. Andi is a gentle soul, has a good eye and has developed wonderful hand skills since arriving at the school.

Refeal from Israel just completed his Residency, his seventh term at the school. There is no greater feeling of accomplishment for a teacher than watching one of their students abilities surpass their own. It has been a pleasure watchings Refeal grow as a craftsman and as an individual throughout his nearly two full years at the school. Throughout his time here, and even more so in his final two terms, he has served as a fine example to his peers. 

Metta

In addition to teaching full time this term, I found myself at the school more after hours, and realized how much more I enjoy being at the school, when the machines are not in use. In the early years, I taught with the machines running six days a week. Several years ago we made the decision to drop Saturdays with the expectation that students would use the time to nurture their hand skills. At a year end exhibition, one of our alumni suggested, that the significantly reduced machine hours lead to greater productivity and an increase in quality. This fall term will mark my return to teaching Saturdays, but without the machines. While we have never neglected the use of machines at our school, there has always been a sensitive and sensible emphasis on the use of hand tools. The JK lecture and slideshow will also be moving to Saturday mornings at 9am making it easier for our alumni to join us, a trend that continues to grow. 

In the Vipassana tradition of meditation, which I practice for an hour twice a day, metta is given at the end of each sitting. Metta is described as the transmittance of unconditional love and compassion. This fall my return to teach on Saturdays is the metta that I give to myself and to my students.
Be well and enjoy your work,
Robert