● Hand Tool Events and Other Gatherings

Attendance at woodworking classes and conventions is important for a number of reasons.

From the moment I make up my mind to go anywhere, the learning begins. I plan the trip and develop my own syllabus. If I drive, I take out the maps (I love paper maps) and trace out the route. I learn about the place and research to see if there are museums, antique shops, or historical markers along the way.

I believe that you should learn about any place you visit. It helps fill in the gaps remaining after time served in the educational system. And sometimes, if I can find a well-known eatery, I will stop and eat there.

I’ve backpacked on Greyhound and Amtrak, then walked or taken public transportation to get where I was going.

I look at it as a ramp-up to the actual event.

It’s just an opportunity to learn more about myself. I feel like Hannibal Smith, just loving it when a plan comes together!

I finally reach my destination

And remember that I came:

• to learn proper skills
• in search for hard to find and NOS (new old stock) tools
• to try a tool before I buy
• to practice the art of negotiation
• to meet people
• for another tale from Roy Underhill ; })

I’ll scout out the new “flavor of the month” tool up close. I’m often curious to see what the fuss is about. I may come away impressed. Or, I’ll walk away thinking that this wheel was reinvented just one too many times!

On site at a manufacturer’s booth, those same tools can be ordered for delivery to your shop after the event. If luck is in it, a limited number of products will be available for sale.

If you arrive early enough and are into instant gratification, you might be able to buy something and take it home.

I appreciate that the makers of these tools set up booths to showcase, market, and demonstrate their products to anyone who is interested. Attendees can see the tools up close, hold and use them, too.

The Studley Chest

A few years ago, the legendary Studley chest was taken on the road and put on display. It was presented by Don Williams at the Masonic Temple in Cedar Rapids, Iowa as part of Handworks 2015.

Woodworkers from everywhere came to see this phenomenon. I was lucky to be in that small group and considered it a once in a lifetime, up-close opportunity to see the chest.

Seeing the Studley chest was a rare chance to study up close and appreciate a piece of woodworking art from the early 1900s. It made me appreciate my own tools and workshop.

Witnessing the celebrated beauty of that chest with more than 200 tools in it left an impression on me. It strengthened my resolve to stay the course and keep my tool kit as small and efficient as possible!

H. O. Studley put together this phenomenon while working for a piano manufacturer. He had access to the finest materials and tools available at the time. High end instruments made with high end tools.

He used these tools to work on piano actions, the meticulous final tuning and finishing of the innards of the piano. The tools were maintained to the highest level and treated as an extension of his hands, maybe even his mind.

I’m sure there were not many people doing this kind of work. Obviously, he was given the space and time to work on the pianos and in doing so perfected his craft.

So far as I know, no specific piano worked on by Studley has been identified. This iconic tool chest, however, made Henry O. Studley, albeit posthumously, famous.

Replica workbenches outfitted with vises were part of the presentation. These items helped put the working conditions as they existed for Studley in perspective.

A few woodworkers have made their own version of the chest. This, despite the fact that many of the original materials – mahogany, rosewood, ebony, ivory, mother of pearl – are expensive, endangered, or otherwise difficult to source.

Many once in a lifetimes

I have attended many of these events and enjoy the professionalism shown. Since I run a mostly all hand tool shop, I usually go to events that focus on that aspect of the field. Always, my goal is to learn something new.

Staying informed is key in any field. Information is always available for the asking. So, I ask.

Yes, there are giveaways, raffles, calendars, and ephemera for collectors. The best part is meeting someone you admire in the woodworking world. I have met a few.

You realize you are in the room with your fellow creators.

It is not hard to miss that I am the only black woman at many of these events.

I do look around the venue for black women attendees. Even one, a lone wolf-ette, will do. Whenever, I see a sister at anything, my soul sings.

It is disappointing to attend these gatherings for a whole day or a whole week and not see one black attendee. Not one.

Why do I go?

I go to claim my space at the workbench.

Maybe being in the military has a lot to do with it. I’ve made a few woodworking friends at classes and events all over the country. Of course, I run into some acquaintances again and again.

A special trek for me is the, aforementioned, biennial get-together at Handworks in Amana, Iowa.

Manufacturers and dealers converge in this spot in a few barns to sell hand tools. They come from all over the U.S., Europe and Australia. I can handle and use those tools, ask questions, add to my wish list and, of course, buy.

It is an opportunity to see many old, vintage, and modern tools in one place.

There are presentations and demonstrations of traditional woodworking methods by innovators and leaders in the field.

For me it is a “must attend” event. I haven’t missed one.

I always look here for NOS files and other hard to find accessory tools.

A few years ago, I attended a saw sharpening seminar in LaCross, Wisconsin. One early evening, I visited an antique shop on the Mississippi River to prowl for old tools to take back and refurbish at home. I went on the excursion with a couple guys from the class who were from Washington State and Texas. We looked for tools but got to know a tiny bit about each other.

I like to learn how people got into this field. Their philosophies on making a living and maintaining their interest motivates me to grow.

It’s nice to attend a lecture on woodworking design and thought. I’m always adding to my knowledge, but I am happy to say I have a lot to contribute to the conversation, too. It’s fun, both inspirational and aspirational, and creates a bond, however short, among us.

The lesson is reinforced that we are all interested in the same things as woodworkers and humans.

Don’t wait too long on that dream

A common theme is the planning and hoarding of tools to build and stock that dream woodshop-to-be after retirement.

I wonder how many really get built?

Sadly, I find that a number do not. Sometimes, people who spent a lifetime waiting to realize their dream don’t make it.

Word gets around that someone has to sell their tools or break down their shop due to illness, financial setbacks, or other life events. That has to be one of the hardest things to do.

We are not immune. Death claims its share of woodworkers’ dreams, too.

Don’t wait.

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Addendum:

That’s how I ended this post, but here’s a little more –

Many conventions, workshops, seminars, and even Handworks 2020 were cancelled this year due to the historic pandemic. For a while, I did not even think about going to the wood shop because of the devastation and disruption the world is experiencing right now.

As I write this, my hope is not that I can get back to full speed in my shop, but that all individual and collective suffering is not in vain. There is no coincidence that the sleeping giants have awakened, demanding justice, seeking equality and kindness, and causing good trouble.

My personal wish is that I emerge from this transcendent time:

• more of a critical thinker
• more compassionate to myself and others
• better educated about this planet
• living a fuller life.

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-Shirley J

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