adzes, shave horses & other news

Hello! Welcome to 2018,
and to this, our sixth email newsletter from
the Maine Coast Craft School.

Some (not great) news regarding the Hans Karlsson tool shipment

Our last correspondence with the Karlssons still did not provide us with an updated date of delivery for the tools which we ordered in July.
The last estimate was for late winter or early spring, but I would suggest that expectations for that be tempered.
The Karlssons told us (just before Christmas) that they had started working on an order received in May, so we are in line.

Unfortunately, they gave us the news that they are not able to produce the amount of tools that we requested in the July order, and therefore they cut our order by about two thirds. A few tools will also no longer be available,
such as the large Windsor adze and the mini spoon gouges.

This explains why we have chosen to remove the tool request form from our tool sales webpage, for the time being. Sadly, it’s not possible for us to promise tools so far into the future when we are currently so back ordered.

We WILL continue to chip away at it and order what we can from the Karlssons and the Djärvs - I’ll continue to offer what news I have through this newsletter.

Krenov Foundation grant

The Krenov Foundation in northern California asked us if we’d be willing to get the word out about their new Professional Development Award.

The $2,500 award is intended for an emerging fine woodworking professional (with at least 4 years experience) to assist them to be an artist-in-residence or visiting scholar at a nationally recognized woodworking school or craft center.

Here’s a link to their website.
And also a link to the PDA application.

The deadline is in April.

- Good luck!

Building a shave horse -

Our very inspiring friend and mentor, Bill Coperthwaite, often said
that an important, even requisite project for any maker was to build themselves a shave horse. They are simple devices, yet so utilitarian and helpful, it could be said that the shave horse is an indispensable item in the work shop.

A shave horse is basically a quick release vise and bench combination.
An item being carved or worked on can be clamped in the vise using
a foot lever. This keeps both hands free to work.
The vise is almost effortlessly released and re-engaged, so work that needs to be held securely but also often shifted or turned is made a much easier and safer endeavor through the use of a shave horse.

Shave horses have been around a long time, they were originally found in Europe and migrated to the Eastern United States, where they were used by farmers and rural craftspeople like the Appalachian ladder back chair makers. Shave horses can now be found all over the world, built with a myriad of customizations and used for a remarkable variety of hand crafts.

There are many different styles; a Swedish coopering horse, there's one specific to bowl carving and other heavy work, there’s the English dumb head configuration, there’s one designed for wooden shoe/clog making, and a lighter-weight shave horse attributed to English bodgers, who worked in the woods roughing out parts for the booming chair industry during the 18th century.

Our shave horse workshop, happening from October 8th to 13th, 2018,
will guide students through the process of building their own custom fit dumb head shave horse, the style which Kenneth finds to be the most versatile and useful. It’s open to beginning woodworkers as well as to those with some experience. We have classified it as a level 2, meaning that it will require a medium amount of vigor and physicality.
(The level classification is not about skill or experience, instead it is an indication of how much physical/hand strength and stamina one needs and ought to expect during the class.)

Both square and round mortises will be hand cut and drilled, tapered legs will be shaped by hand, wedged and scribed. Chisel and plane work will
be involved, there are stop chamfers to cut as well as some work with the hardware needed for this particular shave horse.
There are choices to make about the fit of the horse relating to each person’s leg length and arm height, several aspects can be custom fit for this extremely functional project.

Students will learn about the history of shave horses, plus we have examples of different styles for people to see and use here at the school. Kenneth will give hands-on lessons on how to get the most out of your shave horse. If time allows there may be opportunities for more customization, such as upholstering the seat or decoration of the
finished horse.

- Here's a link to our workshops webpage with more information.

- And here's a link to our registration form.

Introducing our 2018 interns -

We feel very fortunate to have made a connection to both of the young men who will be our 2018 interns.

     Patrick Weldon will be joining us from early March until late May
to help with the continuing work of building our school and the process
of getting ready for this year's workshops.
     With an anthropological background in human/animal relationships and conservationism, Patrick maintains a strong relationship with the natural world as a forager and wildcrafter, traditional hand poked tattoo artist and as an avid rewilder.
     He has traveled extensively through North America over land and has recently returned from working with sled dogs in Laplad (northern Sweden.) Patrick has a deep appreciation for all things handmade and a strong desire to learn and preserve traditional skills and knowledge.
     Currently he lives off the grid on the windy shores of Nova Scotia,
where he has been working on a diversity of food preservation projects, animal hide processing and off grid building.

     Eric McIntyre will be our second intern, living and working with us from early June until late October.
      Eric is a wilderness and place-based science educator here on the
coast of Maine, he has a growing passion for both woodworking and craft education. He is eager to build new skills and to learn about teaching hand crafts while he's a student in our summer and fall workshops.
     He's especially keen to explore ways that teaching fundamental woodworking skills to adolescents inspires confidence and self-reliance.
     The ripple effect that Eric's work may have in introducing young people to handcrafts is something that Kenneth and I are really enjoying thinking about.

     We could not hope to accomplish all of the work that needs to be done here at the Maine Coast Craft School without the help of these two new interns. We're grateful we can offer them some learning in exchange,
it's a very important part of our vision for our school.
(Some of you may know that Kenneth was able to find several exceptionally meaningful apprenticeship opportunities at a time in his life when he was not able to afford the cost of (m)any workshops!)

     And as it was last year, this year's interns will be supported in part through the generosity of Erika, Fred and Heidi Musser, family of
our dear friend Fritz, who was a truly inspired and bold student of this beautiful world. His memory continues to energize and encourage us.

- So that's it for now.
all the best to all of you,
Angela & Kenneth Kortemeier

the Maine Coast Craft School, LLC