Trend's Airshield Rescues Charles Brock from the Ravages of Walnut Dust

The Trend Airshield to the Rescue.

No it doesn't work wood. It is not an exciting purchase, but it is what you must have and use, if you are sculpting wood.

Without a doubt this was the most timely arrival of all the tools I have collected and used in 35 years. I have experienced several rashes as of late. The itching got so bad that it forced me to go to a doctor, who said I had scabies (my wife hit the ceiling while my mother-in-law said she knew that I had bugs that must be affecting my brain too) and finally to a dermatologist for a second opinion who treated it with some high-powered med that made it begrudgingly go away.  It comes back every time I engulf myself in lots of walnut dust (which is often). I'm wondering, "What is it doing to my lungs?" Walnut is a known carcinogen! I'll live forever, I hope!

Enter the Trend Airshield! I was presenting Masterpiece Wood Finish to Kevin Jacobs and Associates, a group of woodworking reps who are almost all woodworkers. I was telling them about my rash in an aside, when Kevin said I needed to get the Trend Airshield. My first thought was, it can't be comfortable. Wrong! I can't lecture a class while wearing it was my next thought, Wrong Again! I won't wear it enough to get any value out of it! Wrong for the third time! I also thought the battery would last about 15 seconds but no problem! It lasts 8 hours. Sounds great!

It is a breeze to wear. In fact it is a cool breeze that makes it so darn comfortable to wear and use. As I work, cool fresh air gently blows down my face keeping the inside of the shield from fogging while I remain refreshed with filtered air. You can't beat it when compared to gagging on the taste of walnut and having some stalactite formations of walnut forming in my nose (you know the word I'm talking about ) from breathing in all the fine dust.

I wore the shield while sculpting an arm for my January class and they could hear me talk, and talk, and talk, while I was working. Lately I wear it even while turning and at the table saw ripping sled laminations too.

Another plus is that it arrived my first day back at work after having a cataract removed from my right eye. The doc said not to get anything in it, because it might become infected. I had lots of sculpting to do trying to get orders ready for Christmas customers and couldn't wait. The Trend Airshield was the answer.

Do it! You will be happy and your wife will too! No more brown stalactites. Yuck!

Best Job in Woodworking

One of the Best Jobs in Woodworking 

Producing and hosting The Highland Woodworker is a dream. In the dream I am a dressed in a kilt with my trusted Irish hat upon my head. I am swinging a sword over my head and swinging it down to slice off big chunks of wood revealing a sculptured rocker. NO! EXCUUUSE ME! That was the wrong dream, I am not producing The Highlander Woodworker I produce The Highland Woodworker. Let me tell you about that dream and it's real.

Some woodworkers might say that I produce this show just so I can meet the icons of woodworking like Roy Underhill and Brian Boggs in their shops and spend some quality time with them. To that ridiculous thought I must say, "Absolutely, YES"!

Imagine sitting in Roy Underhill's living room talking to him about how he took an axe to North Carolina Public Television's studio to pitch his famous The Woodwright's Shop show concept. You would not have had a hard time coaxing me to take a tour of Whiteside Machine Company and find out how they make those award winning router bits. One of my favorite chair makers is Brian Boggs, the first time I saw one of Brian's chairs I went back to the museum exhibit every afternoon for a week to see its perfect form and function. In our second episode of The Highland Woodworker I was in Brian's shop talking about band sawing techniques. Wow!

If you haven't seen Highland Woodworking's new internet magazine show called The Highland Woodworker, well it's free and you can watch me have this dream as many times as you would like at www.thehighlandwoodworker.com. Did I mention that it's FREE? 

The Lowly Scraper Could be "King of Tools"!

After a recent class I noticed that my "go-fast, down-hill, no idea who made it or where it came from favorite scraper" had departed for "Parts Unknown"! It was the perfect scraper and very important to me. I could pluck a mistake right from the surface of a project with it without bothering any of the adjacent surface or having to back up much in my sanding schedule. It bent just right in hand to make a convex or concave surface. It always seemed to know what I wanted it to do and intuitively gave me the results I wanted. Someone unknowingly has this small piece of steel in their collection now and I wondered if it has become as friendly with the new master as it was with me. Parting has been sorrowful as I didn't have a "Go To" scraper to be used for the final detailng of a surface or popping a line on a project.

I have been searching for a replacement. Some were too stiff, some scrapers were too flexible until just recently I found one that was "Just Right"!

Mark Morris from Asheville, NC was down for a day of private lessons. I watched him go through his box of tools and picked a Lie-Nielsen scraper from his collection. YES! Love at first bend. I ordered a set (have to purchase a stiff and a flexible set though I just wanted the flexible one) and they arrived. Yesterday I enjoyed shaping a settee with my new friend. I liked it and I believe it liked me. We may become friends on Facebook.

Although, I would still love to have my "go-fast, down-hill, no idea who made it or where it came from favorite scraper" back home (and if you see a scraper that is not yours but seems to be flexible send it to me), I can go on and be my sculptural self.

What the Spokeshave Gives, It Can Suddenly Take Away!

In almost every one of my seven day rocker classes there is a student who brings a spokeshave. They always ask why I don't recommend use of a spokeshave to shape spindles and other rocker parts. The next question is usually "Can I use mine?" After demonstrating the proper use of the shave, everyone is full of excitement because they have been saved from the demon rasp.

The spokeshave is almost the perfect shaping hand tool. What it can do in the experienced hand is to execute almost finished surfaces, efficient fairing of inside and outside curves, crowned and rounded over surfaces and beautiful cuts on end grain. Wow! All of these cuts make up the process of shaping rocker spindles. Then why don't I use it in my DVDs?

Windsor chairmakers use the spokeshave for shaping spindles almost to the exclusion of other possibilities. Do they know something I don't?

Back to spokeshave use in class. So, I generally give permission and the exuberant woodworker starts out rounding over the front of the spindle by making the facets that I teach. They sail along and everyone is impressed with the work and suddenly the shave grabs the reversing grain and without the experience to feel it before it before it lifts and pulls a big chunk of reversing grain out .......... Yuck! We have TEAR OUT!

The spokeshave is one I use and love. It can be used to tremendous advantage shaping rocking chair spindles. The problem is one of great risk for the user who can't easily feel the difference in the slicing of the iron and the tearing of the grain as it is being lifted by the iron. It is subtle and in an instant can ruin a project. I want all woodworkers to become proficient in using the spokeshave and enjoy the beauty of its use. The rocker class with the clock running, seven spindles to make and limited resources is not the place to learn. Unlike Windsor spindles that have been riven to provide straight grain, the sculptured rocker spindle is usually an "S" curve with reversing grain and many surprises.

For years my favorite spokeshave has been a cherry Dave's Shave that I bought for a Michael Dunbar Windsor chair class. I have a nice collection of others but the Dave's Shave just feels right to me. I have a nice Brian Boggs Lie-Nielsen with a radiused sole and although it has seen considerable use it just doesn't cut as well as my Dave's Shave. The Lee Valley shaves are very nice and also have a great feel, although I do not own one as of this writing.

The Auriou rasp and Microplanes and such really don't care so much about grain. They don't leave the great surfaces like the shave but they work. In stock with reversing grain especially figured stock the rasp is a hero. It will save you the tragedy of dreaded tear out.

Now you know!

Building A Cradle with the Late James Grisham

I received a call for help from a sweet lady named Linda Grisham. Her story was very interesting, the kind that tugs at your heart and keeps you from forming the word "No" as a response.

Linda explained that her husband James was a woodworker and had built several Maloof style pieces of sculptured furniture. He'd finished several rockers and was working on a cradle when a drunken driver hit and killed him during one of his early morning bike rides near Carrolton, Georgia.

Linda said she found me through Highland Woodworking in Atlanta, GA. She asked if I would finish the cradle because their first grand child was due in June. See what I mean?

Linda and her son Todd Grisham arrived at my studio one day with the cradle and its frame. The cradle as delivered to my studio is pictured with my work bench. It looked absolutely "Maloofian". A walnut frame with double stretchers and a cradle with coopered ends and a walnut strip basket between them made up a large cradle for the new Grisham baby. I would take the challenge, but not for pay. Thanks would be enough. How do you charge for a project like this one?

I have often imagined my unfinished projects at my passing. My family will not know what to do with them, my tools or wood stash. When attending woodworkers' estate sales, I have often felt empathy for the departed woodworker and their families. This project brought these thoughts to the forefront.

Right after taking this assignment, a lot of good happened. I was blessed with the Martha Stewart Show appearance and had two full rocker classes. I scheduled the project for late May and here it is June 9th and I’m just finishing it up. Todd and his wife Alyson are awaiting the birth of a girl due on June 12th. I have been racing the stork. I finished it on the 12th and delivered it on June 13th in time for the "Baby Grisham Girl" to come home to on Monday.

I must say I have never finished another man’s project. In this situation I tried to look for clues as to what James Grisham was thinking, the lines he was seeing and the methods he was implementing in designing and building such a piece. I removed a lot of material making lines that will move the observer's eyes.

The walnut was very brittle. It was almost too dry as if his shop had been in a basement with a running dehumidifier. I asked Todd about the location of his dad's shop and a possible dehumidifier and it was a "Bingo" on both guesses.

Titebond III was new on the market (I believe) in 2008. Squeeze out was everywhere and it did not come off easily. It was just too gummy even after all this time. On the good side the glue line was not visible.

The coopered ends were joined perfectly and all the project needed was a lot of shaping and sanding. Yea! Sanding is great fun! Well, it’s the results that count. My Festool RAS 115 grinder and RO-90 sander were big assets along with a lot of good old hand sanding.

In the Maloof tradition, the hardware used for hanging the swinging cradle should be durable but not visable. I hung the cradle on steel pins that were epoxied into the frame arms. They mate with bronze bushings in the cradle's extended arms.

I could feel James’ presence with me all the way. When I pass, I hope I am not assigned to a sanding station in heaven. I'm pretty sure that if there is one I have been sent to a certain theological destination of unending punishment. I also hope someone will finish an important project like this for my family.

May God bless you James Grisham. I think I know you.

Chuck

Sculptured Rocker Classes at Popular Woodworking's WIA2011

I am amazed as you, but thanks to Ches Spencer (a fellow that doesn't understand the meaning on "NO") and others, I will be a presenting instructor at WIA 2011, September 30 - Oct. 2 in Cincinnati Oh. (actually across the river in the N. Kentucky Convention Center) . The list of other instructors is a who's who of icons like Brian Boggs and Roy Underhill. I am a relative who's that!

Come if you can! It will be a blast. One of my Ohio students will be assisting me at the show. Enrollment is limited and will sell out quick next month.

Making a Coopered Chair Seat

A deeply contoured, coopered seat makes a great invitation to sit down and rest some weary bones. The coopered seat (or saddle) has highlighted the work of Sam Maloof and other contemporary chair makers for years. Charles will clue you in on all the angles and how to join them together. He will demonstrate the process of sculpting the contours using the band saw, angle grinder and die grinder as well as rasps and scrapers. He will provide a question and answer session to allow you to find out how a coopered seat can be adapted to your next chair, stool or bench project.

The Art of Sculpting Flowing Furniture

Have you grown tired of working flat, square boards? Have you been dreaming about crafting a piece of furniture that looks like it is moving even when it is standing still? Charles will demonstrate how he sculpts chairs to become flowing, organic pieces of art. Even if you are more of the engineer than the artist, you will be able to design and build using curves. Your work will never be the same. You will learn to use hard and soft lines to transition between surfaces and furniture parts. Charles uses both power tools and hand tools to create furniture that will move you to start thinking in lines, shadows and curves, Oh my!

The Ultimate Seat to Leg Joint

A great chair joint has mechanical strength, has maximum glue surface, can be easily adapted to various angles and is visually stunning. This joint can be crafted with a table saw and 2 common router bits. It may look complex but is very simple. Learn how to design with your projects utilizing joinery that will set your work apart from the rest. Charles will demonstrate how to first cut the joint and then fit it using a router plane and a sanding block. A question and answer session will follow the demonstration.

The Sculptured Rocker - A Study of Form and Function

The sculptured rocker is a true American art form as inspired by the work of Sam Maloof and others. Find out how why this rocker is so comfortable. How it is crafted to endure the stresses of rocking. Learn about hard and soft lines and how they invite a sitter. Explore the design uses of the flattened "S" curve and how they enhance the chair's form while adding support to the sitter. Charles will explain every part of the chair from geometry to construction and answer your questions after the presentation.

Rock'N Chairman University Offers a NEW 5 Day Build Your Rocker Class

Seven days is a long time! Especially for a young 62 year-old like myself. I enjoy the classes especially in my new location and facility, BUT!

• More woodworkers will be able to attend 5 days than 7 days because of the cost and the time commitment.
• The price is $1800 including the walnut.

I have decided to try a more compact class focusing more on the joinery and shaping. A jump start if you will. Less in class spindle shaping and such. The woodworker will find a walnut kit waiting at their bench ready to build. The class will begin with contouring a prepared set of seat boards before cutting and rabbeting the seat to leg joints. After gluing up, the seat will be shaped with a grinder and the legs will be marked and the dados cut and fitted. The front legs will be rough turned and the back legs profiled. An arm will be fitted and the the headrest attached. The sleds will be glued on a form. Woodworkers will watch a demo to see how to shape the arm and headrest and all participants will shape at least one spindle.

That's a heavy order for 5 days, but generally do-able. Now more woodworkers will have the opportunity to build a great sculptured rocker and become a Rock'N Chairman!

Sanding A Sculptured Rocker or Daddy Aren't We There Yet?

"If you are a fine woodworker, do you have to like sanding?" I had a student ask me this salient question yesterday. He was building a Krenov style table at my woodworking school and hand sanding the gentle curves of the table's legs. The answer for me is this - I do not like sanding "Sam I am"! I do love the results of my efforts.

Final sanding of a rocker is a marathon not a sprint! Sanding a rocker takes a lot more time than the initial roughing out. I can build a rocker in a couple of days. Sanding is something different. I use to do it by hand then I found some time savings from using an angle type drill with a 2" disk and an interface pad. The drill was a good one but did not last under the punishment. The disk would also fly off the interface pad with just a little speed. Then I moved to a pneumatic sander with another 2 inch random orbit pattern. Speed was hard to control and there was no dust pick-up except my nose and a dust-pan.

Because of all of the variations in surfaces and the problems with sanding the seat contours and under the arms, I can't use a 5" random orbit power sander because they it's too big, bulky and just plain too hard to work with on this project.

It takes some true grit to remove the rasp marks and scratches made by 24 grit paper on my Festool angle grinder. First sanding with my new Festool RO-90 at about 40 to 60 grit is still in the realm of shaping, you must work out all the highs and lows in a surface or discrepancies in a hard or soft line and reconcile one part or side to the other for the sake of symmetry. I consider myself still shaping until I get to 100 grit. Just establishing a consistent scratch pattern is the next order of business. The Festool Rotex Sander is just the best tool I have found for removing rasp and grinder scratches and preparing the first consistent scratch pattern to most of the chair's parts.

As for scraping I do continue to scrape all the way up to 100 grit in the shaping mode. After establishing the overall shape. I usually will lightly scrape the entire piece.

How long is the journey and how many stops do we have to make? How fast can we do it? Sanding a rocking chair is more about quality than quantity. You have to sand with each grit until you have:

1. Established a consistent scratch pattern all over the piece or area.
2. Removed all deviations or exceptions to the the surface you are preparing.
3. Softened all hard or knife edged lines to the touch.

You must utilize all the grits once you start. (24, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 150, 180, 220, 320, 400, Then the 3M pads (red, gray, white) taking it to 1000 grit (if you are sanding a ring porous wood like walnut). Do not skip around. It's important to know what grit with which to start and when to stop. I start with the most effective grit that accomplishes the above. It also has to be the highest grit (by number that will do the job). You can't effectively sand a project like this with 24 grit scratches all over it with 100 grit paper! So you must start aggressively with at least 40 or 60 grit paper by hand or with power. I usually use the higher grits like 180 + to provide softening.

Well daddy are we gonna walk (sanding by hand) all the way or ride in a car (use a power sander)? Their are some places on the rocker where you really need to sand by hand. Such as the front leg to set at joints because of the inside radii. You can get a feel for the wood and its smoothness, how much pressure is necessary and just get intimately acquainted where the paper meets the rocker.

The Festool R-90 Rotex Sander helps me sand on the go fast side. It uses a 3" disk and an (accessory) interface sponge pad so that it does a great job of making constant contact with the contoured surfaces without removing the lines that I have worker so hard to make. The detail that remains is very crisp. After roughing out the chair and shaping it with a collection of rasps both powered and unpowered, I can start with 40 grit hook and loop paper and work my way up the schedule. This saves time and produces outstanding results. The sander is easy to hold and move around the chair. I like to sand as much as possible before I start gluing up the chair. I finish by gluing, fairing in the parts and sanding the transitions. Like most Festool products, dust extraction is easy and excellent. It works in two disk modes. Rotex is fast and aggressive, the other random orbit. After 40 grit I seldom use the Rotex mode. They also have a red and gray 3M pad equivalent that makes burnishing very easy.

Then I go over everything with a white 3M pad by hand. It looks like I have a very slight coat of finish on at this time and it will tell me what I missed. Yes the blemishes just jump out. Then only back up as much as is necessary grit wise to remove the alien inhabitants (I'm not sure I know what I am talking about).

Sanding stars, flap wheels, inflated sanding domes, drums and such can all be used to move the sanding down the road.

Now, does A fine woodworker like to sand? The answer is .............. NO!!!!!!!!

How did Sam Maloof's Rocker Inspire Us with Just a Glance?

What makes Sam Maloof's work so attractive at first glance? When I saw my first picture of his rocker in the old 1983 article in Fine Woodworking, What jumped out at me and said, "Wow"? What inspired all that has been said and done by woodworkers and lovers of fine furniture based on that initial look at his rocker?

Maloof was a master woodworker, designer, finisher, personality and other things wonderful but my thought is to capture all of us so totally with that first glance he used something strong, powerful and quite probably unintentional. Maloof was a master of designing the lines of his chairs around a series of flattened "S" curves. The "S" curve is also called a cyma curve or a french curve among other names.

The allure of the "S" Curve may be based on the power of the human form. Yes it is sensuous. A kind of rough southern gentleman saw my Maloof inspired rocker and exclaimed, "The seat on that chair looks like my wife's **** looked when we got married"! I know he was on to something.

Sam's chairs are a series of almost continuous "S" curves. Looking at the rocker from almost any position the curves are long open , reversing radii that just make you feel good as they seem to resolve themselves with a gentle reverse just like the resolution of returning to the major chord in a musical composition. Rarely did he use a tight radius.

The easiest example to observe is the flow of the rocker sleds as they reverse from a 42" radius. Study pictures of his work and you will see! For starters observe one of his arms and a leg from his high back dining chair. How many "S" curves do you see?

I'm teaching a weekend demo class at the Maloof Inspired School of Woodworking the 26 &27 of this month. I'll be demonstrating the methods and tools used to apply "S" curves to your chair.

The Martha Stewart Show Meets Charles Brock and the Maloof Inspired Rocker

See the Maloof Inspired Rocker Segment from the Show

Click here for a slideshow

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I Got the Call!

My daughter Emily, and my wife Sheila and I were on our way to Nashville on Friday January 7th to celebrate my granddaughter's birthday party. We were in two different cars as Emily was leaving from the party to drive home to Cleveland, Ohio. We stopped to eat in Birmingham and Sheila was telling me that this was a family outing and I shouldn't be checking my Blackberry. She said, "There is nothing big that you will receive on that thing today"! My phone went off in that instant as we got into our different cars. The person identified herself as Barbara Fight the producer of the Martha Stewart Show. She said Martha would just love to have me on her woodworking show that will be taped January 19th. I said, "Yes"! Barbara told me Martha's brother Eric Scott, whom I had taught a year ago in a seven-day rocker class, considers me his woodworking teacher, mentor and a master woodworker. Both of us would be on the show with our rocking chairs. I called Sheila and told her of the invitation and haven't heard anymore about checking my Blackberry.

Planning for the Show

This trip to Nashville was a quick one. We went up one day and back the next because I was starting my annual January rocker class on Tuesday the 11th and finishing on Monday the 17th. On Tuesday, I received all the details in an email from Barbara's assistant Allie Wyman. I was to fly from Columbus to New York City on Tuesday the day after the class finished. I didn't have much time because I was teaching from 8:30AM - 7PM daily. On Monday I met with Cecil and Bettye Cheves and chose one of the five rockers I crafted for them to be on the show. On Tuesday, I had to crate the rocker for transport to the show, teach, meet with the producers and Eric for an hour-long conference call, and manage my business simultaneously and at the same time, too! My trusted friend and teaching assistant Mark McGowan crated the rocker and got FedEx to ship it. Atlanta was still frozen in from an ice storm and he found the only possible way to get it to Manhattan in time. Thanks Mark! Allie and I were able to finish planning the script and all the details through a series of over 40 emails. The plans were set including my daughter Emily joining me in New York for the adventure along with my valued business associates Curt Jarrell and Gerry Hicks, the owners of Newco USA Industries. The local newspaper and the ABC affiliate covered the story of the appearance and my rocker class. Wow!

The Adventure Begins - Day One

I started the day with a final editing of the script for my segment and emailing the changes back to Allie. Then I packed and headed to the airport. Martha's staff purchased airplane tickets that had me flying from Columbus to Atlanta then to LaGuardia in New York. Flying from Columbus is a game of chance. When it works it is great but when it doesn't, it's terrible! I reported 45 minutes early and waited until they invited us to approach the Delta counter. The clerk recognized me from the newspaper story that morning with glee and then announced, "Your flight to Atlanta has been canceled"! She said I should drive to Atlanta and pick up a later flight. I drove up, found some high priced parking and checked the bag containing my hand tools. I called Allie and told her I was finally getting on a flight. She re-scheduled the limo for a 6:30 PM arrival in the Big Apple. Freddie from Jersey was there at baggage claim with a sign saying "CHARLES BROCK". He whisked me into town to meet my daughter and friends at the Fashion 26 Hotel. It didn't seem real!

The Martha Stewart Show - Day Two

Part 1 - Getting Ready

We walked a block down to the studio and entered a secure door at 7:30 AM. Only to learn the shows taping had been rescheduled for 11AM. This was really good. I finally got to breathe a little. We returned a little early and went through a security check. We followed the catacombs of narrow hallways and stairs until we entered another security door and entered the studio. The studio is made up of offices for the show and all things "Martha Stewart" in addition to the shows production set. One hundred people are on payroll to tape most shows with about 60 being permanent employees. Our first stop was our "green room" which wasn't green, but glassed on two sides. It was kind of a fish bowl. It contained a conference table for seating up to 10 guests, a large TV for a monitor and a long side table with an awesome grouping of 10 Emmy Awards. The staff waited on us hand and foot as we met the other guests on the show. The staff was assigned to put us at ease and help us to be successful. I wanted to know where the rocker we shipped was located, if it arrived in good condition, etc.? They answered everything. These professionals have great people and organizational skills. Eric and I were reunited and thoroughly enjoyed catching up. Very quickly we were entertained with a tour of the studio. Emily was in heaven seeing Martha's perfection. There is nothing temporary about the set. It is huge at 16,000 square feet. The kitchen area is in the center and is designed based on kitchens in two of her homes. As you can see on TV her choices for colors are again perfect. They are meant to be neutral and make everything featured on the show really pop. The cabinet drawers are all perfectly organized with liners and containers. They even have a picture on the inside of each drawer to show where its contents should be returned. There is no wasted space. When she is facing the camera to the right there is a best of everything test kitchen with multiples of everything and 6 cooks. This is where we first encountered Martha who was approving some recipes and some completed dishes. She came over and introduced herself and met each of us. She was very charming in a warm way. She explained that her lip was better and that a flesh colored piece of tape had been placed over the 9 stitches. You couldn't tell unless you looked closely. After thanking us all for coming we continued with the tour. The left side of the stage contained an enormous green house with LED lighting used for grow lights. A multi-use set was in front of the greenhouse. This is the area where my segment would soon be taped. Audience seating was in a gallery behind a short knee wall with two groupings of chairs up close for extra special guests. Every chair had an assigned seat. I worked out my segment with various assistants. We found clamp on vises and everything was set in place to show Martha how to carve a back spindle for the rocker. Then everything was removed and returned in perfect order for rehearsal. We were led back to the green room and were fed the best lasagna and meatballs I have ever enjoyed along with a salad and deserts. They were prepared during a food segment taped in the morning. I was able to watch while the other segments were rehearsed with their producers. Martha doesn't attend the rehearsals. After the rehearsals the producers meet with her and they prep her for about an hour. Then she goes to wardrobe and makeup, then its time to "Tape to live" as they say. I rehearsed my segment with Barbara. She told me to just talk to Martha and it would be great. Then I dressed for the show with my leather apron and Irish wool hat. Deb came and took me to make-up. I now know how important it is to have a make-up artist like Deb to even everything out by taking off a few splotches and lines here and there. Then back to the Green Room to wait my turn. A gentleman was assigned to Eric and myself to escort us onto the set at the appropriate time. Right before it was my turn, Barbara came in and said just tell Martha what you want her to do and take charge and she won't have to work so hard to pull it together. I liked hearing that because I'm use to taking charge of the story. Just don't tell my wife!

Part 2 - We're Live!

The woodworking show started with Nick Offerman (TV actor and star of "Parks and Recreation") showing Martha how to make a boat paddle. David Lancaster showed her how to turn a bowl and Eric showed his wonderful Connecticut High Boy, fish carving and bowls before introducing Martha to the rocker he made in my class last year. Martha said, "When we come back we will introduce Eric’s mentor and teacher, master woodworker Chuck Brock." Then they brought me out, I was standing under all those lights, which by the way were not hot. Immediately I wanted water. They brought Martha water and she placed it under the workbench on a little stool. I really wanted that water but the director said, "Three, two, one, now we are live!" All I can remember was being told just have a conversation with Martha. We finished the spindle and all of a sudden her photographer was snapping pictures of all of us. Then pictures of just Martha and I. Wow! Then she sat in the rocker I had crafted and said, "This is great! I can see me sitting here reading and just enjoying". I was sitting in Eric's rocker next to her having a conversation with her while the photographer continued shooting pictures.

After the Lights Dimmed

Fine Woodworking Magazine's editor and his staff greeted me after the show and we talked about Martha 's show put woodworking and woodworkers in the spotlight for a change. I was assured by the carpenter that she would re-crate the chair. We said goodbye to all and Emily and I taxied to Saks 5th Avenue to buy gifts. Martha had agreed to join us for dinner and made reservations at her favorite restaurant Ciano. She was unable to attend but what a treat. The veal was amazing! I saw the Empire State building while walking back to the hotel and slept like a log that night. The next morning Anthony (Pavarotti’s driver for seven years) drove us to the airport.

Final Thoughts

It was a blast! I enjoyed watching the show and was more than pleased seeing the first run of the show on Friday. It will also re-aire twice before it is archived on her website.

I felt like I represented everyone in my hometown of Columbus, Georgia and every woodworker working in every shop or garage around the world. This was a pure blessing from God. The love of the Lord can bless us with more than we could ever dream. You can be next.

Thanks

The following people just make everyone around them better. They have inspired and taught me unselfishly. I owe each of them for any success I have had or will have:

Sheila Brock, Emily Brock, Keri Price, Stephen Price, Cecil and Bettye Cheves, Chris and Sharon Bagby, Mark McGowan, Eric Scott, Doug Hall, Bert Scarbrough, Curt Jarrell, Gerry Hicks, et als.

Four Guys, Seven Days & Four Maloof Inspired Rockers

Click Here To See The Slideshow

Four woodworkers came from Canada, Wisconsin, Texas and Alabama to my studio in Columbus, Georgia to build their “bucket list” rocker with me October 25-31.

Day One
They all started with 8/4 and 10/4 prepared walnut stock stacked on their Hoffman and Hammer work benches. They began by crafting coopered seats so their seat could have that “Smile”. They cut the bevels in their seat boards and reinforced them with Festool Dominos. After cutting the seat to width they cut their notches in the seat to begin the signature joinery at the schools new SawStop using a Kreg miter gauge and a cross cut sled. Two other tasks also began. Charles’ assistant Mark McGowan worked with each woodworker individually gluing up sets of laminations to make their reverse curve rocker skids. Charles demonstrated spindle making using a bandsaw, patterns, Auriou Rasps, Microplanes and scrapers of various shapes and sizes. Seven spindles have to be made for each rocker. Learning to carve and reconcile a set of spindles is the primer for carving the entire chair.

The Taste of Columbus Lunch Tour began with all the fix’ns at Country’s Bar-B-Que.

Day Two
The rasps were rasping out spindles while the coffee pot was brewing up another round on day two. Spindle making was at full tilt. I hated to slow spindle making, but progress had to be made on the rabbeting the seat joints. Each woodworker experienced rabbeting the joints on the superb Kreg Router Table. With great care in set up and with everyone understanding how to use the starter pin, the rabbets were just jumping off the table. Next, I demonstrated the process for laying out the seat bowl and removing waste at the band saw before glue-up. While each waited their turn at the shop’s Agazzani and Steel City band saws more spindle carving and skid glue-ups were taking place. Everyone got their first crack at using the set of three Festool RAS 115 grinders w/ Dust Collection we have at the school. They used the grinder to shape and waste some stock from some seat boards that would be hard to band saw unless you were Sam Maloof. Since no one decided to be a hero, they all successfully used the grinders. A long day indeed! Everyone dusted off and got a good nights sleep.

The Taste of Columbus Lunch Tour visited B. Merrell’s today for wings and good American food.

Day Three
Yes we do have glue! But first, we faired the back legs band sawn from the pattern and squared the arm and seat joint stems with a Lie-Nielsen hand plane. I love those hand tools! We cut the front profiles of the back legs at the band saws before gluing on adder blocks at the seat stems. These will be ready by afternoon for some tapering, dadoing, rounding and fitting to the seat joints. We fit the front legs to the seat joints by cutting the dados, rounding them over using router planes, sanding blocks and floats fit them to the rabbeted notch. Then we band sawed the profiles and turned them. Also more spindle making (started making 1/2” tenons) and as our friend from Wisconsin said, “Back to the rasp”! More skids, too! and Oh Yes! We glued up the seats!

The Taste of Columbus Tour wentUptown in Columbus to Minnie’s. Southern food served by ladies that call you honey and sugar and just make you feel welcome. Our woodworking friend from Ottawa really enjoyed the experience.

Day Four
We started grinding the seat bowls into the signature contours that make this a wonderful rocker. We had three going at one time while I worked on details with each woodworker. After drilling holes with the Miller Dowel Bit and driving Spax screws we were all legged up by the end of the day. Time for a major celebration! Yesssssss!

The Taste of Columbus Lunch Tour had a treat at our place to go eat lunch in Columbus for the last 60 years. Dinglewood Pharmacy. This is the home of the “Scrambled Dog”. They took pictures of it, ate them and lived to tell about the experience.
Day Five
I showed the guys how to fit, band saw and sculpt a Maloof Inspired arm. We worked at that for most of the day!
We also worked on seat, and leg refinements, spindle reconciling and gluing transitions. They were happy but tired when they scurried out at the end of the day.

The Taste of Columbus Lunch Tour enjoyed generic Mexican at El Carrizo. This was on my dime!

Day Six
Everybody worked on arms, skids, spindles, and such before starting on headrests. We fit them by mitering them at the table saw. Then cut the front back and bottom profiles before, drilling the seat and headrest mortises. A full catch-up day of woodworking!

The Taste of Columbus Lunch Tour visited Rose Hill Seafood for fried catfish, shrimp, broiled flounder and the like. My parent’s favorite!
Day Seven
Get-A Way Day! Airplanes and automobiles after an all day session on sculpting the chair. I went through every joint and how to sculpt them with several different tools. There is a secret to getting that monolithic flowing look that comes from fairing in the joints. Now they know it! We also worked on finishing sanding and recipes for that Maloof inspired finish. We took pictures, packed chairs for transporting and shared our joy over the project and experiences we have shared together.

We ate in the shop on this busy final day.

Wow! I just love teaching this chair! It is especially good in my new school facility consisting of a 500 square ft. bench room and a 1000 square ft. machine room. All with heat, AC and plenty of good light. I can also sleep in my own bed each night.

-- Charles Brock

Maloof Inspired Rocker Kit

Yes! Yes! Yes! After months of working on the project, the Maloof Inspired Rocker Kit is now a reality. Thanks to my licensing partnership with NewcoUSA.

This past Friday I visited the production facility and viewed the parts for the first 20 rocker kits before packing and shipping to Highland Woodworking. Quality control is very important as well as a relationship with the craftsman (Barry, Keith and Donnie) making the parts for a product that bears my name. I saw the quality of the kit, joinery and the people involved first-hand. In my estimation they are all excellent. American craftsman can compete with anyone in commitment to high quality at an affordable price. Even the packing is first rate. Each part is encapsulated by a kind of "French Fit" of foam making sure your rocker parts arrive at your shop in great shape.

Selecting boards for the various parts is always a tedious task and I was thrilled to see much thought had gone into everything from color matching of seat boards to choosing grain orientation for strength and beauty. We also went through all the culled parts and we all agreed why each one was sent to the heap.

Many more woodworkers can now make their Maloof inspired rocker a reality. For example, a "father to be" can make a fine rocker for the "mother to be" without spending over two hundred hours on the project. Woodworkers, new and experienced who have been reluctant to build it from scratch using my instructional bundle will be legged up in no time and be able to spend their woodworking time carving the parts (which is great fun) instead of worrying about the seat to leg joinery. The kit will make it possible to more quickly craft a dream rocker in less time and without the worry of making mistakes executing the signature exposed joinery, also with less time and expense selecting wood and preparing stock. The beautiful coopered seat has tremendous strength from the insertion of 3 Festool Dominoes in each seat board joint allowing the woodworker to sculpt the seat thin without worry about strength. The side profiles of all seven spindles have been cut and sanded. In addition, all the laminations and transitions for the "S" curve rocker skids have been sawn ready to glue up on the form. If a part fails or even fails to meet expectations, we will send you a new one.

Another important part of the value of the kit is savings. You won't need a big and expensive 8" jointer or a Festool Domino! The expensive walnut 8/4 and 10/4 (hard to find) wood alone is $550 plus shipping.

If you need help with sculpting the parts you can even take a class this February 26-27 that will demonstrate the methods and tools utilized to make those beautiful hard and soft lines "pop" on your rocker.

Within a few weeks a non-stick form for gluing up the skids will be available for purchase as well as the "Ultimate Beeswax Finish" for your beautiful Rocker. Wow!

The kit will make a great Christmas gift that will be a prize in your family for years to come. If you would like to read more about the kit click here!

Maloof Inspired School of Woodworking: A Tour

The Maloof Inspired School of Woodworking is opening in the new studio and school facility October 25th with a Seven Day Build A Maloof Inspired Rocker Class. The studio will provide room for the woodworking publication business ("Build A Maloof Inspired Rocker/ Low Back Dining Chair with Charles Brock") to film more videos for instructional bundles without having to move to another location for filming. The school will have a home for classes without having to move up to Highland Woodworking in Atlanta for a seven day class. My shop, studio and school are now in one location which is a dream come true.

Let me take you on a tour of the facilities. The building is 1,500 square feet located on the edge of town in a new commercial park with plenty of trees and fresh air all around. There are plenty of hotels and and eateries within two miles of the school for student accommodations.

The entire facility has lots of light, high ceilings, air filtering and has split heating and air conditioning systems to provide comfort for every woodworker. The front room of the school is the bench room with five wonderful German Hofmann & Hammer student woodworking benches. Several work stages are also present for showing and working on rockers and chairs without having to get in uncomfortable positions. There is also a hospitality area for cold drinks and coffee. Soon I will have a big screen TV for viewing instructional materials and an occasional ball game while I'm at work. HA!

My workbench, hand tool wall and power tool cabinet dominates the entrance into the machine room. The new Professional SawStop is waiting to safely cut all the various chair joints students will make for their Maloof Inspired rockers, low backs and other "bucket list" projects. A heavy-duty Kreg Router Table with lift is close-by as is a drill press and a lathe. A cutt-off saw is further down the wall and all of these items are supported by dust collection.

The other machine room wall has a 14 inch bandsaw, 8 inch jointer, 20 inch Agazzani band saw and a dust collector cyclone with a muffler providing a safe and clean work environment.

One of my favorites is actually having lumber, project and chair parts storage. This replaces two storage buildings and every corner of my old 24x24 garage shop. We were supposed to have a garage for the first time in the 14 years since we moved to our current house. Immediately my wife moved her stuff into the garage from a storage building. I still can't park my truck in the garage, but neither can she park her car!

I had a Five Day Build A Maloof Inspired Low Back Dining Chair mini-class last week to test things out. A woodworker from Canada and from North Carolina came down and we just had a great and productive time shaking down the new school space.

Yesterday, I journeyed up to Highland Woodworking to pick up a few odds and ends. Some of the odds meaning since we moved I can't find my turner's double stick tape. Some of the ends being some new drill bits, some more "You Can't Ever Have Enough Clamps" clamps and a few items to improve my dust collection systems. I also got a coffee pot to welcome all who have traveled from far and near to take a class, come by to visit or see what in the heck is going on in there! When I returned I was just thrilled to see my new school/ shop and studio.

Come on down and build your Maloof Inspired Rocker with me! Escape the cold of another winter and soak up some southern hospitality (the Taste of Columbus Lunch Tour is a must!) and Maloof Inspired Woodworking at its finest. I have one bench open for the October class and one for the January Class. Call me at 706 366-3152 or email rocknchairman@gmail.com.

To get more information go to the rocker class page at www.charlesbrockchairmaker.com.

Maloof Inspired School of Woodworking: Once A Dream Now A Reality

Once a teacher and school administrator always one. I retired from teaching and administering schools over a year ago to become a full time woodworker. Ha! This is even better than my wildest dreams could muster. The "maloof Inspired School of Woodworking will open by the end of September with its first full class by the end of October.

For the last couple of years I have been holding my classes 100 miles from home at Highland Woodworking in Atlanta. Chris and Sharon Bagby, Ed, Terry and the entire group of woodworking tool specialists have been the best hosts anywhere. I would not have this expanded woodworking career if not for their support. They cumulatively have many talents but one of them is growing woodworkers. They originally hired me into their teaching faculty to teach a class I called Build A Maloof Inspired Rocker with Charles Brock.

Eventually I had my own students and struck a deal to use their classroom for my "Seven-Day Build Your Maloof Inspired Rocker" hands-on class. Students have continued to come from all over North America to make their "bucket list" rocker and take it home to finish. Everything was good except the packing of tools and being away from home for 8 days and 7 nights at a B&B in Atlanta. I'll miss my extended family at Highland Woodworking. They are tops!

My wife and I spent a year trying to sell our house to move to the Nashville, Tennessee area to be more "involved" grandparents and to open my school there. Well this economy changed everything. There are no buyers for a house in our price range so after 9 months of cleaning and showing we took it off the market and I found a great place in Columbus, GA that would provide me with 1500 square feet of production space for my woodworking DVD business and room for the Maloof Inspired School of Woodworking.

I have been busy getting the "Maloof Inspired School of Woodworking" ready for the last month. We have installed massive amounts of dedicated electrical circuits, heat and AC lighting, painted everything in light colors to reflect the light without creating glare, epoxied the floor, installed dust collection, air filters, workbenches and some new woodworking machines.

The next post will take you on a tour.

And the Best Picture of the Year Goes to ......

A student from my January Seven Day Build Your Maloof Inspired Rocker with Charles Brock Class sent me a picture of the two Maloof Inspired rockers he has finished. You can write your own blog to go with this interesting picture. He is a Rock'NChairman and she is a Rock'NChairwoman! Eric (last name withheld to protect the dysfunctional) is a 72-year old dentist who loves building rocking chairs and life in general. His wife is undoubtedly very fond of his efforts. He kept all of us in stitches during the January class. There is no doubt he deserves the 2010 Rock'N Chairman Picture of the Year!

What a couple and what a couple of rockers!

Seven Days - Five Rockers - Five Dreams

August 3-9, I taught another group of five hopeful craftsman the art of building a Maloof Inspired Rocker. It is so exciting to see their initial enthusiasm and to see them start to believe that this project that they have wanted to do for so long is coming alive through the diligence of their hands, work and effort. As each student sees first that they can sculpt the 7 spindles and cooper a seat into an inviting "smile" they blossom into becoming the chairmaker that registering for the class promised. Each will take their rocker to their home shop and finish sculpting, sanding and finishing. Of course I am always on call to help. Click here to see their slide show.

Wood working is about wood, tools, design, methods and sometimes making a living, but it is really about people and their dreams. The picture of five guys and five rockers at the end of their seventh day doesn't tell the whole story. Everyone brought something different to the class. One man traveled 3000 miles to build a rocker for their daughter who is having their first grandchild in October. He was a shop teacher and retired educator who just drank up the opportunity. A very bright financial planner of 30 was preparing a rocker for their first child in December. Can you imagine gaining these skills at such a young age. I hate to quote the late sports announcer Curt Gowdy who would laughably say, "Well his future is ahead of him!" An electrical engineer listened intently and worked flawlessly without an awful lot of experience. A contractor from South Carolina always wanted to build a rocker like that and worked at each task in the hope they would somehow come together. Another engineer was just into all things woodworking and absorbed every detail. When the seats, joinery, legs, arms, spindles, headrest and laminated skids came together on the last day I could see and hear their pride of accomplishment.

In the process they experienced a lot of woodworking. Some learned rudimentary best practices like how to mark out and how to use a jointer. All searched for and found out how to sculpt a line as a transition between two adjacent surfaces, fit joints in curved parts and find square reference points with which to work. I knew that they would no longer approach their woodworking the same.

I love to work with each student and to help them see their dream coming together. Long after my name disappears from the conversation each of them will be a hero to their family, friends and community because they built this great rocker.

Helping them achieve their dream is what mine is all about! It doesn't get much better than this!

A Minimal Tool List

A delimma is a problem offering at least two solutions or possibilities, of which none is practically acceptable.

What tools are necessary to build a Maloof inspired rocker? It poses an interesting question and everyone that has built one has a different set of answers. This question reminds me of National Lampoons "Christmas Vacation." Sparky Grizwold and family hiked through a forrest to find the perfect huge Christmas Tree, only to realize that they didn't have a shovel, axe or anything else with which to remove it from the earth. So they dug it up with their bare hands.

You can't build my rocker with your bare hands but what would be the minimal tool list? The maximum? Why do I pose this delimma?

Some woodworker's want to know the exact tools I use for every step in the process. Some want to see what is involved in every step, then they modify everything in order to use what they have in their shop. In other words they recognize the work-arounds and modifications as they go.

I use a pretty well rounded shop for each of my chairs but then I add a few specialty tools that would not be found in a general woodworking shop. An example would be a small router plane for fitting the Maloof type leg to seat joints. Can anything else be used? Is it a necessity? I started out using a small shoulder plane which is rarely used now since I discovered the best way to clean and true the bottom of the dados was with the router plane. The shoulder plane worked but the router plane gives more consistent results. You could also use a flat rasp or file. So what do you put on the list - the best tool or the least that will work?

Size, so it's been said, matters! Some projects require a six inch jointer while others require an eight. Can you do it with a six? Yes, It's much harder. Of course the 7 inch board can be face jointed by hand.

Let me know what you think about the tool list. Should it be minimalist or the maximum? I want to give you the information you need.

rocknchairman@gmail.com

As Iron Sharpens Iron, So One Man Sharpens Another

The title of this post is from Proverbs 27:17. I was reminded of this verse by a wonderful friend. He is one of those people who makes everyone who is around him a better person. I reached the end of a journey this June that has blessed me many times over and seems to have been a mutual blessing to others.

This week we had pictures taken of five rockers in a group with their owners. It was the first time I had seen all five of the rockers together. They were crafted from slabs of a huge English walnut tree full of figure and curl purchased on a wood safari through Pennsylvania at Talarico Hardwoods. The first rocker was for his wife and then one for my fellow craftsman followed by one each for three grown daughters. Seeing the chairs together with three girls who love their father and exude a love and respect for what he had produced for them was just remarkable.

These rockers were born of a relationship between myself and a woodworker who had a dream of building rockers for his entire primary family. He asked me if I would help him with make the five rockers a reality. He is one those people whose association makes you a better person. Every Tuesday night for five years we got together in my shop and worked for an hour or two on the rockers one chair at a time. We usually began each session with a prayer of thanks. The woodworking sessions and prayer have reaped many blessings. The relationship helped us get through the passing of family, illnesses and struggles with life. We celebrated new grand children and other achievements.

The picture of the first finished rocker spawned the out of the blue request for me to begin teaching "Maloof Inspired" rocker classes at Highland Woodworking. We celebrated that event together as he assisted me in the weekend seminar. From the teaching at Highland grew my instructional bundle publishing business that has helped fine woodworkers all over the world build their Maloof inspired rocker.

Sculpting Chairs Part 2 Start with the Hard Lines and a Rasp

Part 1 - "Lines, Shadows and Curves, Oh My!" contained some exercises to help train and improve your sculptor's eye. Let's put the rasp to wood in Part 2 and see what flows from the event.

I see chair sculpting in four phases:

• Construction
• Hard Lines
• Soft Lines
• Transitions

During the construction phase you make the chair's parts and join them using the band saw, table saw, lathe and other tools. Many of the hard lines are formed by this construction phase which ends with parts joined to each other. But most of these hard lines need to be transformed or sculpted so they form a flow from one part to the other. That is the topic for this article.

Where do I begin. Pick up a tool and see what happens. We are back to the fear problem unless we just jump in

and take a chance. Is everybody going to be good at it? No! There isn't a to risk in comparison to many things we endeavor to do, but a lot to gain by trying.

First find a model for comparison. In my newest "Build A Maloof Inspired" Instructional bundle I do a video segment comparing and contrasting the Maloof Inspired Low Back Dining Chair roughed out, assembled and ready to sculpt and a finished chair. In the comparison I draw what I refer to as topographical lines on the chair to show the way surfaces transition in various radii

to join other surfaces forming hard and soft lines. I used a white pencil on walnut to show these contours. For your own project a mental compare and contrast with a picture of the object you are sculpting would be of great benefit.

When I am unsure of finding my chair's shape in the roughed out parts, I prefer to sculpt my prototypes with a rasp. I use Auriou rasps and the number system I will talk about relates to them. The lower the number the more coarse the higher the number the finer. The Auriou's are hand stitched meaning their teeth are set by hand making that are totally random void of a pattern. The result is that they leave a much smoother cut which will not be furrow or tear-out if the rasp is used correctly. They also have teeth right up to and along the edge,allowing the sculptor to get into corners and crevices. They are a much harder cut on your wallet in that they average $100+ for each rasp. A set of 3 rasps I recommend will take care of a great many of your needs and is available at Highland Woodworking. There are other choices. Sam Maloof used Nicholson's patternmaker's rasp. They are the best of those not hand stitched.

The first rasps I grab are the combi flat #5 on one side #9 on the other and a big #10 cabinetmakers rasp that is curved on one side and flat on the other and comes to a point. cabinetmakers rasp. Work with how they cut on some long scrap. Use big muscles and make long sweeps focusing on holding the rasp at 45 degrees to the length of the piece of wood while pushing the rasp along the length . Do not saw with the rasp. When the cut is cleanest you have found its best working angle. Look at the rasp's teeth and push the teeth in that direction.

While making long sweeps you will be establishing a flat. When I round over a surface with a rasp, I mentally divide the surface into a series of contiguous flats and then join them with flats until they appxoximate a radius that pleases me.

Start with an arm. How do you want the outside line of the arm to flow? Is it going to provide lift is it going to have a sweep and in what direction? A way to answer this question is by deciding whether the flow for the chair from any point of view is going to be generally up and back (uplifting) or down and back, etc.

Are there lines that will flow from the front leg through the arm. Is there a line which will continue into the back leg?

Start with the big rasps, using sweeping, big muscle strokes. Work on it until it smiles at you!

Remember the best tools in your kit are patience, persistence and attitude!

Part 3 will explore the use of a grinder to transform and establish the hard lines when you know where they are and you want to get there in a hurry!