Fine Furniture and Woodworking

StrathamWood

To contact us:

E-mail: strathamwood@comcast.net

For Woodworkers

Producing quality work does not require a large shop or a workshop equipped with all the latest power tools or gadgets.  It does however have to be well suited to the type of woodworking you are seeking to produce and it must be a comfortable working environment.

As much of the work I produce is fashioned extensively with hand tools, the most important tool in my workshop is the workbench.  It must provide a flat reference surface and be massive enough to be solid while planning lumber.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth century a great deal of excellent work was produced in less than ideal shop conditions.  This includes lighting, as the majority of the work was only produced during daylight hours using natural light.  As much of my work is produced long after the sun has set, high quality artificial lighting is key.  My shop is well lit with a combination of high quality fluorescent fixtures and tubes (T-8) and halogen task lighting.  This provides the necessary light levels with the halogen lighting balancing the color and providing the raking light needed, especially for carving and hand tool work.  The primary bench is located in front of the windows to take advantage of the best available natural light,

Tool Storage

I like to have as much flexibility in tool storage as possible, so the walls of the shop have parallel rows of “French Cleats” running the length of the wall.  Tool racks can then be hung from these cleats and moved as needs change over time.

Carving chisels are stored in traditional tool chests, arranged by sweep.

Wooden molding planes are stored in purpose built racks handy to the bench

At the bench

Topics of interest to other woodworkers

The Workshop

Never enough clamps

Classic tools, for collecting and using