Popular Woodworking Magazine » Kelly Mehler

When Will ‘Day 4’ Occur?

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 22:46:08 +0000

Ah, Thursday – day four of a woodworking class. This is the day that most students hit a wall. They take naps at their benches. They sneak off to their cars to lie down. They disappear in the middle of the day and don’t return until the next morning. All these things (and more – … Read more »

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On Gaps and Dovetails and Winterthur

Christopher Schwarz — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 02:17:22 +0000

Years ago when touring Winterthur, I saw a lot of wacky Pennsylvanian dovetails on old chests. These joints had been wedged through their pins – a feature I had not seen in person before. While the museum personnel wouldn’t let me take photos, I did make a few sketches. Whenever I cut dovetails, my mind … Read more »

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Kelly Mehler’s Land of Many Benches

Christopher Schwarz — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 23:03:15 +0000

If you ever want to try out a lot of different workbench designs before you settle on building one for your shop, you might want to take a class at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking. During the last five years, Kelly and his students have been building different style benches with all manner of vises … Read more »

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A Chip-resistant Drill Press Fence

Christopher Schwarz — Tue, 31 May 2011 12:48:45 +0000

File this one under: Tricks that everyone knows but me. Whenever I work against a fence on my drill press, I constantly huff and sweep the table clear of shavings. Why? If even one errant shaving gets between the fence and your work, you can spoil your hole. I’ve had enough spoiled holes in my … Read more »

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Flatten a Workbench’s Top in 5 Minutes

Christopher Schwarz — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:41:20 +0000

Woodworkers are always looking for a better way to flatten the top of their workbench after they finish building it, or when the top has gone out of truth for some reason. I like using a handplane to flatten benchtops, which takes about 45 minutes on average. Other people build a special router jig that … Read more »

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French Workbench Class – Day 6

Christopher Schwarz — Sun, 22 May 2011 19:03:27 +0000

It is unwise to rush when installing vises on a workbench. So I stopped whipping the maggots students during the last two days of the class and encouraged them to work at their own pace. Some slowed down, but some stayed at the fevered pitch established in the first four days of the class. In … Read more »

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French Workbench Class – Day 5

Christopher Schwarz — Sat, 21 May 2011 01:19:49 +0000

Installing vises in workbenches is always a finicky process – unless you go for a super-simple setup like the one I prefer: A quick-release vise for the end vise and a simple leg vise for the face vise. We have 10 benches being built in this class at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking, and no … Read more »

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French Workbench Class – Day 4

Christopher Schwarz — Fri, 20 May 2011 02:18:39 +0000

When I walked into the shop at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking this morning at 8:24 a.m., the place was a wreck. The students were fitting their joints among piles of shavings and sawdust and joking with one another. The radio was on (they have a radio?) and playing a Bob Marley tune. This, I … Read more »

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French Workbench Class – Day 3

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 19 May 2011 02:05:58 +0000

The problem with Wednesdays at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking is that Kelly and Teri are a bit too nice to the students and instructors. That’s the evening when the Mehlers shut down the school a little early to feed the students a light dinner, some wine and beer and bring in a masseuse. It’s … Read more »

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Building a French-style Workbench: Day 2

Christopher Schwarz — Wed, 18 May 2011 03:19:37 +0000

I usually keep a log that records all the time I work on a project in the shop. But few people believe me when I say that I spend about 40 hours building an ancient workbench. Their disbelief is understandable. I hear stories about people spending a year constructing a traditional European-style bench and sinking … Read more »

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