Posts by Anna Shoub
The Story of My Workbench
A workbench with a couple of vices is an essential tool when practicing traditional joinery. A workbench can be a simple plank bracketed to a wall, a serious piece of furniture, or anything in between.
I started building my bench about the time my son was born, 22 years ago. It’s close to completion.
It’s made of South American pattern grade Mahogany with quarter sawn white oak drawer sides and ebony drawer pulls.
I’ve always liked a bench with drawers. Not only are my tools easily accessible to use, but they’re just as easy to put away, which helps keep my bench top free of clutter.
The bench top is the business end of any workbench. It wants to be solid and flat. With the Oliver pattern makers’ vice at one end and the Benchcrafter vice at the other end, I can securely hold all sizes and shapes up to seven feet in length.
The base has four components, one back, two ends and the front rail which is a single 2″x8″ Mahogany plank, on which the tool box sits. Traditional joinery is used exclusively throughout this build. It features mortise and tenon joints with floating panels set in grooves for the base, as well as hand cut dovetails for the drawers. The back and the front rails have short “stub” tenons that fit into mortises cut into the ends. These four components, making up the base, are held tight with bolts.
This brings me to my favourite design element…these old style, black iron, square headed bolts. I found these in the basement of a hundred year old hardware store in Upstate New York. The bolts tighten against nuts, let into slots, cut into the inside surfaces (seen in next photo). Not only is this a very strong joint, but it allows me to disassemble the bench.
Wood is unstable dimensionally. It expands and contracts due to changes in the relative humidity in the air. In order to guarantee that my work surface stays flat I designed it with the following elements. The top is quarter sawn Mahogany, 2 7/8″ thick. Quarter sawn lumber is very stable due to the grain orientation. The 3 1/4″ perpendicular end cap acts as a stiffener.
The front edge of the top is dovetailed and glued to the end caps for the first two inches only.
The remaining bench top is held tight to the end caps with two iron bolts that can slide on the double tongue and grooves. This allows the top to expand or contract with changes in the relative humidity. The bench top is as flat today as the the day it was built.
Finally, I made these pulls out of Ebony. They graduate from small to large as the drawers get wider.
I want to finish off by thanking a few good friend who gifted me the the exceptional materials that became my workbench. JohnLibby gave me my Oliver Pattern Maker’s Vice way back in the 1970s. I schlepped that heavy chunk of cast ironbound for decades.
In 2003, Anna, myself and the Oliver vice moved from Marblehead, MA to the Hudson Valley, NY. There, I had the pleasure of working for Dave Morton of Big tree Woodworks. Dave gave me the Mahogany and it was in his shop, working nights and weekends, than I built my bench.
In 2008, Anna, 4 year old Dustin, the workbench, the Oliver’s vice, and myself settled in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. After working for a few years as a boat carpenter, I established the Lunenburg Furniture Co. in 2013, my bench had no drawers, just a shelf piled with off cuts. My friend, Chris Norman, master flute player/maker and founder of the Boxwood Festival gave me a box of ebony and boxwood offcuts. The ebony inspired the drawer pulls and the drawer pulls inspired me to design and build the tool box……which makes the bench, almost finished.
I hope you enjoyed my story. I work at the bench daily. It might be my finest work.
The Very Afternoon I Became a Woodworker
In 1963 I was eight years old, in the second grade, and had a new friend named, Billy McManus. In those days, you played outside in an area defined by how far you wanted to walk, or ride your bike….no fear, no parental guidance. Most of our days were passed in this way, but on one rainy day when we were stuck in his house, I received a cosmic gift that truly changed my life. Somehow, we wound up in his basement where I beheld, to my utter amazement, a simple work bench, under a peg board wall, covered with tools, and in the corner, a pile of boards. Luckily, there were no pesky parents around to stop us from using these razor sharp tools to ruin this valuable lumber, misplace everything, and make a colossal mess.With an eight year old’s unlimited imagination and confidence I decided to make a guitar that very afternoon. The Beatles had just made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show and every one I knew wanted to grow their hair long and play the guitar. I selected a piece of clear pine, grabbed a draw knife and started in. I’ll never forget the joy of making those wood shavings. Billy was in big trouble when his dad got home. I never did finish that guitar, but I never stopped building. The true gift I received that day was the gift of starting.
My mission, when teaching people with little to no experience, is to pass along the gift of beginning. I meet so many people who tell me they wish they had had the opportunity to learn woodworking. It’s never too late (or early) to get started.
Looking forward to working with you,
Tony
Upcoming Woodworking Classes Galore
My dream (future) retirement of teaching woodworking and building only what I want to build is well underway. This past year has been filled with many wonderful workshops. I suspected I would enjoy passing on my 50 plus years of woodworking knowledge, but my expectations have been surpassed. Each class has been rewarding. My students’ commitment, curiosity and talent have inspired me as much as I hope I have inspired them. I have a new slate of woodworking classes coming up. I limit each class to 3 students, so that I can give everyone plenty of attention. If you are interested in learning with me at The Lunenburg Furniture Co. just click on the photos to sign up, or learn more. You will see the dates of these courses once you click on the photos.
A good week begins with finely tuned and sharp tools. In this one day class we will learn how to achieve razor sharp cutting edges for hand planes, chisels and card scrapers.
Basic woodworking for beginners is my gateway class into the world of woodworking. This is a class for complete beginners…people who have always wanted to build something out of wood, but never had the opportunity. I also have an identical class for women only that I will reschedule at a later date. It goes without saying that all my classes are open to everyone, but I did have some women who felt more comfortable working in an all female environment. Anam, in the photo above, was a complete joy to work with and took the time to send me this thoughtful testimonial…
After trying to cram a lesson on dovetails into my Traditional Joinery Class, I realized that this joint is deserving of its own workshop. This 2 day course will arm you with the skills to build traditional drawers, case pieces and chests.
Speaking of my Fundamentals of Hand Tools and Traditional Joinery class, it’s back again. For this class you will need to have basic woodworking skills, which, if you don’t have, you can gain by first taking my Basic woodworking class. We will explore the use of hand tools, chisels, saws and layout tools, in order to cut traditional woodworking joints. An excellent workshop to up the game of any woodworking contractor, or hobby woodworker.
I also have 2 exciting options for anyone who either can’t fit a workshop into their schedule, or has a very specific project/ learning journey in mind. A private lesson is a full day of my undivided attention. You will have access to my tools and machinery , though I will be making executive decisions connecting your experience to your safety. In one session I can help you master a specific skill. In several sessions I can help you build a piece of furniture. Choose your own adventure.
The second option is coaching. This option is available to experienced woodworkers who would like to work alongside me for the day, with complete access to my tools, machinery and expertise. I will be available to help you out with any challenges, or with learning a new skill, but I will also be simultaneously working on my own projects. Like private lessons, this can be a short term, or long term option.
There will always be a special place in my heart for busted and broke aspiring woodworkers. If that’s you and you would like to take one of my classes, please get in touch (or pass this along to the busted and broke aspiring woodworker in your life) . Scholarships are a 50% discount off my workshops. Once I hear from you, I will put you on a list and reach out when a spot becomes available.
I would love to hear from you. My class sizes are always limited to 3 people, so if you have 2 friends I am more than happy to schedule a special class for you. Got a talented crew of woodworkers in your company? Why not up their skill level with a workshop? Planning a trip to Lunenburg? Spend the day with me taking a private lesson.
Sharing is caring. It would be a huge help to me if you shared this post via email or social media. Thanks!
Well, that’s all for now. Hope to see you in one of my classes. Tony
The Lunenburg Furniture co. Actually Makes Furniture
Back in 2013 when I first established The Lunenburg Furniture Co. I had every intention of actually building furniture, but the gods of business had other plans for me. I was commissioned to build one door, which led to another and another and before I knew it the Lunenburg Furniture Company became The Lunenburg door company. I considered changing my company name to better reflect what I was actually doing, but furniture building is my first love and I decided to keep that identity. Although most of my work is still architectural millwork, I have had the opportunity to build furniture for some wonderful customers and I am finding that lately more is coming my way.
These four Greene and Greene style chairs and expanding table were built for a customer in Halifax.
My wife, Anna, aka The Hat Junkie has been the recipient of many pieces. I made her this sewing table in hopes of helping her decrease her clutter.
As you can see, I was only mildly successful.
I was commissioned to build four swivel chairs and a table by Sandrine Lejeune Design Inc., in Vancouver. The customer lives in New Brunswick and wanted to support a local craftsperson. Built from White Oak using traditional joinery.
If you have a porch, you should really have a porch swing. This arts and crafts style swing lives on a beautiful porch in Mahone Bay. It’s built from white oak. Frozen Daiquiris not included.
If you need inspiration to sit down and work, this desk should do the trick. It lives in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and I’m currently building a chair to go with it.
Technically, this is a bathroom vanity and not furniture, but it’s worthy of being furniture. I built this for Fran Underwood, an interior designer in Chester, NS. I’m afraid I don’t know the name of the painter, but whoever they are they did a beautiful job.
This simple mid century modern table lives in Mahone Bay, NS.
I built this daybed for Anna….and then a few years later I built her this table to go with it. The style is Country Victorian, a more folksy interpretation of classic Victorian furniture.
The zig zag chair and desk are a well known design by Gerrit Rietveld. I built these from South American Mahogany back in 2013.
I’ll leave you with one of my early pieces. It was drawn by my talented friend, Dan Hafferman. It was built soon after I had graduated from The North Bennet Street School. It’s a Queen Anne style chair. After over 40 years of furniture making, a beautiful, traditionally joined chair is still one of my favourite pieces of furniture to build.
Thanks for tuning in. If you have a special project in mind please send me an email or give me a call. Tony