Still hand-tools 99.9% of the time

April 18, 2026 pfollansbee Uncategorized

The past two days this blog got an average of 164 views -then today it got 1,585 views. Must be Chris – yup Chris Schwarz included a link in his post today – to something I wrote almost 14 years ago! About using hand tools, why I do it, etc. I’ll add some up-to-date thoughts on that subject in a minute. But first, thanks for the nod, Chris. If you are one of the 1,500 people who came here today, welcome. These days this blog mostly serves as an archive of my work. I started it in 2008 – and still post something here once in a while, but mostly I’ve been writing on my “new” blog at Substack – https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/ – I started there in 2023 – after seeing Schwarz’s substack blog. That blog has changed my life – the support I get there is a great benefit for which I am very grateful. When I first left museum work, I spent a lot of time on the road, teaching classes in Maine, Connecticut, North Carolina, Minnesota and some further-flung places too. All that travel got pretty draining and made shop work very choppy. Now I’ve reduced my teaching to just a few times each year and instead I put a lot of effort into the blog – trying to make sure that the readers there get their money’s worth. I try to post at least twice a week and aim to make the posts worth the time & money that the readers spend on them…

One thing I talked about in that 14-year old post is how the work I did for 20 years at the living history museum was a perfect situation for me – my living was derived from working with/for the museum visitors – not selling the handmade things I created. I got so much practice there that wouldn’t have been possible in the “real” world – it was quite an education. A quote from that post is “I often maintain that if I had to sell my furniture to make my living, it would not work the way I do it.”

Well – less than 2 years after I wrote that post, I quit that job and struck out on my own. And I’m still plugging away 12 years after that. And it’s partially true – if my whole income was dependent on selling my handmade items, I’d be hard-pressed. But now my income is split among a few branches of this woodworking I do – teaching a few classes each year at Pete Galbert’s in Berwick, Maine https://www.petergalbert.com/schedule , making stuff to sell – that’s mostly furniture, but also includes some instructional videos I’ve created here in my shop and some plans/drawings I developed with Jeff Lefkowitz – there’s links to those things on my little-used website – https://www.peterfollansbee-joiner.com/ The furniture I usually post on the substack blog – sometimes I put it on the website, then write a blog post pointing to it. And the books through Lost Art Press https://lostartpress.com/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage&options%5Bprefix%5D=last&q=Follansbee&filter.p.product_type= with more to come there.

So – do I still work exclusively with hand tools, now that I’m out on my own and getting older (68 going on 69) every day? Almost 100% yes. I work with green hardwoods – splitting the boards from logs. Mostly oak. Big logs. I split them at the yard where I buy them, then move the large sections here to my yard. So I gladly accept help of friends with a chainsaw to cut those large logs.

For decades now I’ve had the benefit of Rick McKee’s help when I’m log-shopping. He’s deft enough with that saw – and I’m nowhere near competent with them, so lucky to have his help. Plus it’s better to split those big ones with company too – even if it’s just to provide the rest-breaks that come with conversation. Here at my yard, when I need to saw some of the split bolts to length, I use a corded electric chainsaw. Always starts, no gas, etc. From there, all the woodwork is my usual assortment of hand tools. The lathe is still a pole lathe, powered by foot & caloric intake.

I did have some help recently from another long-time collaborator – Pret Woodburn, who helped me build the shop – did some tablesaw work for me. I made this large box from some quartersawn white oak boards – but the boards had wide sections of sapwood that needed to be gone.

If it had been riven stock, I could have split & hewn the sapwood off – but it didn’t look or feel reliable enough to split. And hewing dry stock is not all that pleasant. I can use a ripsaw, but when I marked out all the cuts, it just made more sense to get them machined. From there, I did all the planing and cutting – more than enough of it. And it was a pleasure. (same gig for a walnut box that I started about the same time.) But now it’s back to green wood that responds well to the froe, axe and plane.

The only other concession that I have is a grinder – I’ve just replaced my old Tormek with a CBN wheel on a slow-speed-that-seems-fast-to-me grinder. It’s so new I have little to report, other than good so far.

I feel like I’ve been to confession. My plan is to keep using the tools and methods I’ve used all these years til my body gives out. I’ve planed thousands of feet of riven oak boards and I never tire OF it – I get tired from it, but then after a night’s rest, I’m ready to go again. So until you hear otherwise, I’ll keep slashing away; froe, hatchet, planes, saws, chisels & gouges and more. I’m sure I’ll slow down, but I hope to get quite a few more years in. I have stuff I still want to make. And we still gotta eat.

If you didn’t see Chris’s post – here it is, with the link to my old post at the bottom https://christopherschwarz.substack.com/p/earlywood-if-theyd-had-a-biscuit

a link to the woodworking stuff, otherwise birds

February 16, 2026 pfollansbee Uncategorized

I’ve been carving stuff in the shop, some panels and the beginnings of two more strapwork boxes, one white oak, one walnut. All sawn stock, my riven oak is just beginning to poke out from under the snow. Today’s post on the substack blog is free-to-all subscribers (paid & free) – there I talk about some period carvings and post a couple of carved panels for sale…
https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/p/more-about-carved-panels-plus-video

But I’ve been wanting to work some recent bird photos into my everyday blog, just haven’t had much room. I have too much to say about the woodwork. The winter weather has brought some of the raptors in closer, some of them have a hard time finding food in the snow, so the bird feeders bring possible prey into view for them. That’s how I read it anyway. I know it’s true of the cooper’s hawk (Astur cooperii) – this one snatched somebody from around the bird feeders, then fed up in the top of the apple tree.

While I photographed this bird from the open back door, I saw a larger raptor swing by – just turned the camera quickly, thinking “I’ll get this red-tail…” – turned out to be a bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) –

we don’t often see them here, but the river was open water – most of the ponds around here are frozen over. He was gone in an instant.

Another day another raptor. Thought I saw two more red-tail hawks flying over the house…they too were gone in an instant. Then half-hour later, saw two hawks perched in the sycamore tree next door – but they were red-shouldered hawks, not red-tailed hawks. (Buteo lineatus) – I couldn’t get them both in the same shot – this one posed more cooperatively than the other.

Down in the river one day saw these buffleheads – the smallest duck. (Bucephala albeola) –

these are females and for a little while I worked myself into a state of confusion by mis-reading Sibley’s book about the bufflehead. What I thought I read was that the male doesn’t show his breeding plumage in the winter…which is not the case. Doubly-so. Not what the book said, not what the duck does. I know I’ve seen many breeding-plumage male buffleheads over the years – but they breed far north & west of here. Far. Below is a shot from the same river, same backyard, almost exactly a year ago – one male, two females. These birds are pretty skittish, I can never get close to them.

My birding mentor Marie helped sort me out. Momentary collapse of reading comprehension. It happens.

The red-tail hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) are around regularly – this one, a juvenile – tried to snatch someone from the feeder-crowd. Missed, then perched in the catalpa tree right outside the shop. Often you can get near juvys for good shots –

Every snowy winter we try to get a good photo of the northern cardinal male in the holly tree. I didn’t get it just right this year, but got a consolation nice shot of the female – (Cardinalis cardinalis)

In the winter, there’s often 10-12 cardinals here at once, but I can’t seem to get a group shot that’s worth a damn…so here’s a male portrait from quite a few years ago – next to the holly tree…

Some shop doings

December 9, 2025 pfollansbee Uncategorized birch bark, carved oak, fiber arts, Follansbee, green woodworking, Jennie Alexander, ladderback chair, seventeenth-century reproductions

Every winter there’s a few days it’s too cold to bother trying to heat the shop with my small woodstove. It works out, there’s always some other stuff to do. Today, which started at about 10 degrees F/-12C provides an excellent chance to take a moment to post to this blog. Since the middle of 2023 I’ve mostly concentrated my writing on my substack blog – https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/ which I still think of it as the “new” blog. Here’s some of what’s been going on in my shop lately.

First – a detour related to the cold and the time of year. My wife Maureen and daughter Rose have been knitting & crocheting away and have updated their Etsy site –https://www.etsy.com/shop/MaureensFiberArts

All right, on to the woodworking. A customer ordered a copy-as-close-as-I-can-get of a box at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York – and that included a lock with hasp. My friend Mark Atchison finished the lock recently and two days ago I spent time cautiously chopping into the carved box front to house the lock. Whenever I do this, I first cut a practice housing in some scrap.

that gave me enough to go on – and I set out with the carved box front, starting with some depth holes bored with a spoon bit. Most of the modern bits I have include a lead screw that would poke through the board.

From there – chisel work.

I did all the practice, then the real thing, then tested the fit of the lock, turned the key this way & that many times to make sure all was right. Then bored some small pilot holes and clinch-nailed the lock in place.

Boy did that feel good. Every stroke perfect. Centered, tight. Too bad it didn’t work! The test-fits had just enough slop in the fit that the key threw the bolt easily enough. Once it was so tight onto the box front, it was pinched against the housing and there wasn’t enough space to throw the bolt. The key wouldn’t turn. I had to pry those nails out – and today was going to be the necessary trouble-shooting and re-fitting. Now I know what I’m doing tomorrow.

The box itself is a bit different for me – no till for one thing. That makes things easier. No rabbets at the corners – just four boards butted up to each other & nailed. I know many boxes were done that way in 17th century England.

Most New England examples are rabbeted. I think rabbets help line things up.

This was the first time I’ve done one without rabbets. It was like first riding a bike without training wheels – a bit nerve-wracking.

There’s some ladderback chairs underway, also to fill orders. I finished one of the hickory bark seats last week and have one more to finish off later.

And I took a couple of days out to make some birch-bark containers, something I’ve dabbled in now & then. Anissa Kapsales was here to shoot the process for an article coming up in Fine Woodworking – or is it Fine Bark-working? I don’t know how “fine” my work was, but it was fun…amazing material.

Carved boxes for sale, October 2025

October 12, 2025December 6, 2025 pfollansbee Uncategorized carved oak, Follansbee, green woodworking, oak furniture, seventeenth-century reproductions

I’ve made several carved boxes in the past couple of months – and now they’re ready to wend their way out of here. This first one is an old-standby.

Carved oak box, pine lid & bottom – SOLD

It’s one I’ve carved often – from the first group of joined furniture I ever studied – the works of the Savell family in Braintree, Massachusetts between 1640-1700.

Interior till – wooden cleat/pintle hinges – this is one place where mine deviate from the originals – I adopted the wooden hinge from an unrelated box.

H: 7 1/4” W: 22” D: 14”

The price is $1,500 plus shipping in US. If we use paypal, I’ll add their fee to the price for a total of $1,555. Otherwise, a check in the mail. If you have questions or would like to purchase the box, email me at [email protected]

Often people are surprised at the mixture of oak & pine, especially on the brand-new box. I remind them that use, light, polishing and handling will quickly darken the pine top & bottom. Here’s a photo I’ve used many times to show a new box on the left and a 15-year-old box on the right. We used it a lot, dusted & polished it a few times a year and let the light from the windows do the rest:

both boxes are oak with pine tops & bottoms

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Box with a drawer, oak, sycamore & pine – SOLD

Every now and then I like to tackle something a bit more complex – this box-with-a-drawer is one I’ve tried a couple of times before. I changed one or two things this time but it’s a pretty close copy of one by Thomas Dennis in Ipswich, Massachusetts between 1660-1706.

PF box w drawer, Sept 2025; red oak, pine, sycamore & maple

It’s big – it pretty much has to be with the drawer added. H: 14” W: 23 1/2” D: 18”.

All the oak is riven, quartered – in the usual period manner. The lid is quartersawn American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) – the original used sycamore, but flatsawn- it has a large split down the middle. I glued up two quartersawn boards to get my lid.

The figure on it is wild & subtle at the same time. The sort of thing that catches your eye now & then when the light hits it right, then other times you barely notice it.

The drawer is all riven oak – the sides meet the drawer front with a sliding dovetail. Bottom boards are thin, edges meet with a small tongue & groove. No drawer pull, you open the drawer using those “glyphs” attached at the ends of the drawer front.

Inside the box is a lidded till – and the box lid hinged with iron gimmals/snipebills.

It’s available – $3,000 plus shipping. Email me if you have questions or would like to order this special box – it’ll be a long time before I do one like it again.

Finish is a couple of coats of thinned linseed oil. More photos in the gallery below.

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Carved box, carved lid. Dovetailed….etc SOLD

One more. This one a bit different – dovetailed for one thing. No oak showing for another. Spanish cedar & some sort of mahogany. New for me…

PF carved box, Spanish cedar & mahogany 2025

I thought I was making this box from leftover pieces of Spanish cedar (cedrela odorata) – but once I had the box made, I had to buy some more wood for the lid and base. And then I realized my leftover board wasn’t just some “dark” cedar, it’s some type of mahogany.

Cedrela is related to mahogany – they’re both in the family, Meliaceae. I’ve now told you almost all I know about cedrela and absolutely ALL I know about mahogany. I do know I’ve never knowingly bought any mahogany. I don’t know where I got the wood the box-body is made from.

But except for the two-tone look, I’m very happy with the box. It’s based on one I’ve only seen in photographs – a dovetailed box with a strapwork pattern on the front, sides & lid. The top edges of the dovetails are mitered – the first time I’ve done that detail.

I made a base molding to wrap around the bottom edges of the box. The snipe/gimmal hinges are blacksmith-made, from Horton Brasses. Lidded till inside. Finished with linseed oil.

Here’s the specs:

H: 7” W: 22 1/8” D: 14 3/4”
price is $2,600 including shipping in US.

Email me at [email protected] if you’d like to purchase this box…you’ll have to dust the lid…

carved chest with drawers for sale and more

August 29, 2025 pfollansbee Uncategorized carved oak, chest w drawers, Follansbee, green woodworking, Lost Art Press, mortise and tenon joinery, Peter Follansbee, seventeenth-century reproductions

A post about a carved chest and box for sale. But first, a detour to Elia Bizarri’s site – he’s put his pandemic videos he made with a bunch of us on sale for the weekend. Half-price. Dave Fisher, Curtis Buchanan, Jane Mickelborough and me. Get ’em here https://handtoolwoodworking.com/spoon-carving-videos/

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The other day my son Daniel & I emptied much of the shop:

it was so we could photograph the chest with drawers I made…

The chest is one I’ve mentioned over on the substack site- made 2017/18, delivered and never used, never even displayed. Sat in storage until I bought it back this spring/summer.

PF chest w/2 drawers. Oak, pine, walnut, Atlantic white cedar 2018

It’s featured in my book with Lost Art Press – Joiner’s Work. The chapter about making drawers and the section showing how I fit a lock to a piece like this. https://lostartpress.com/collections/joinery/products/joiners-work

It’s based on one I saw at Historic Deerfield years ago. The original was made either in Windsor or Wethersfield, Connecticut in the 2nd half of the 17th century. Mine follows the original pretty closely – my triangular corner plaques are walnut, I think the originals were oak. I don’t remember off the top of my head what the original moldings were, mine are Atlantic white cedar.

There’s a lock & escutcheon with two keys, made by Peter Ross, a favorite blacksmith.

The chest is not small – H: 40″ W: 47 1/4″ D: 22″. It’s available for purchase. Email me at [email protected] if you’d like to discuss it. Here’s a gallery of the rest of the recent photos.

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The other piece is a recent carved box w/carved lid.

Made with a Spanish cedar lid and base molding with what I thought was a Spanish cedar body – but is probably a type of mahogany. Iron hinges. Mitered dovetailed corners, based on an English box from Exeter, Devon. Lidded till inside.

another gallery:

H: 7” W: 22 1/8” D: 14 3/4”
price is $2,600 including shipping in US.

Email me at [email protected] if you’d like to purchase this box…you’ll have to dust the lid…

Carved boxes available for sale

July 15, 2025 pfollansbee Uncategorized carved box, Follansbee, green woodworking, oak furniture, seventeenth-century reproductions

If you follow my substack blog then you’ve already seen these two boxes. But I post frequently there, which bumps the post with the boxes off the top of the order. So I’ll put them here for a while.

Small carved oak box

It’s based on some Thomas Dennis boxes, one of which I’ve seen, the others I only know from photographs. It’s made just the same as a period box – in this case, riven red oak with a millsawn pine board for the bottom. It’s small – 6 1/8” high, 9 1/4” x 13 3/4”. But it’s made just the same as my other full-sized boxes – all the oak riven and planed by hand, corner joints fastened with glue and wooden pins. This time it has iron hinges – these small-scale examples from Horton Brasses (although the hinges are iron.) A lidded till inside.

It’s available for sale – $1,000 – including shipping in the US. If you’re interested, email me and we can sort out the details. These days I add Paypal’s fee onto the price if paying that way. A check, though old-school, avoids the fee. My email is here [email protected]

a gallery of images

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Carved oak box with lock

carved oak box, pine lid & bottom. Lock by Peter Ross

There’s a story to this one – I made it several years ago – and a customer bought it and two other pieces. The story I heard is that someone didn’t like them, so they went into storage. I bought them back this summer – in the exact same condition they were in when they left here. This one’s not a copy of an existing box, but it’s typical in most of its features. Red oak box with white pine for the lid & bottom. The carvings are based on the works associated with Thomas Dennis of Ipswich, Massachusetts. The scrolls on the front appear in dozens of pieces from his shop. This box is nailed at the rabbeted corners – with what we often now call “T-heads” – wrought nails whose heads are flatted to form a narrow, wide head that buries nicely in the oak.

detail showing T-head nails, escutcheon, etc

A till inside, oak lid with pine bottom & sides. In this view, you can also see the iron “gimmal” hinges- better known today as snipes/snipebill hinges.

These are the most common hinges on carved boxes in the 17th century. I only use them once in a while – I more often make a wooden hinge. These are simple and quick. But setting them just right takes a deft hand.

H: 7 1/8” W: 21 3/4” D: 13 3/4”
linseed oil finish
$2,000

Email me at [email protected] if you’re interested in purchasing this box (or ordering any of my oak furniture…)

some carved work and more

May 21, 2025 pfollansbee Uncategorized carved oak, Follansbee, green woodworking, mortise and tenon joinery, oak furniture, seventeenth-century reproductions

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted on this blog – many of you know, but some might not – that most of my writing goes to a blog on substack. A subscription blog, but free subscribers there see truncated versions of the posts – and occasional full posts. https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/ (usually the posts include about 10-12 photos; the truncated versions about half of those…and thus half the text…)

Spring has been off & on here in southeastern Massachusetts, warm enough one day, cool the next. I spent as much time birding as I could this month – it had its moments, but even a poor outing birding is still a nice long walk in the early morning woods. Here’s two ovenbirds I saw one morning

In the shop I’ve been breaking down a few logs, making stock for this summer’s work. Red oak, white oak and a little walnut. And carving, first boxes like this:

And this –

Both of those are for sale – the carved lid box is $2,400 and the other $1,600. If interested, email me at [email protected]

I’ve also been carving panels like this – and have a waiting list for these. If you’d like to get on that list, same email. Prices range from $450-600.

carved panel, red oak, with iron oxide paint

Over the years, many of you have been supportive of my wife Maureen’s fiber arts – and we both appreciate it very much. She’s just started a (free) substack blog – you might like to have a look at it, or know someone who might like it. Her recent post is about work she does with our daughter Rose – https://maureenerichard.substack.com/p/something-to-do

After a couple of months of making mostly parts, next month I’ll start in connecting them into furniture. Should be fun…

New carving video series

March 16, 2025 pfollansbee Uncategorized carved oak, Follansbee, green woodworking, oak furniture, seventeenth-century reproductions

My newest carving video – “Carving 17th-century Strapwork Patterns” is now available on vimeo-on-demand. “Strapwork” is a name given to designs that include narrow vertical and horizontal bands or “straps” connecting different elements of the design – round “rosettes”, fleur-de-lis, leafy clusters, etc. The particular strapwork patterns presented in this series stem from the Ipswich, Massachusetts shop of Thomas Dennis and from Devon in England, specifically around the city of Exeter. The time period spans the whole 17th century.

Its running time is just over 3 hours, broken into six videos – after discussing the layout and the tools, the videos show how I carved 3 different versions of this pattern. All related, but each distinct. Between the three box fronts, you’ll see a full range of the vocabulary of strapwork patterns.

Introduction & a look at the gouges used
Incising the layout
Background removal & details (those two videos contain the first full pattern, a box front from Thomas Dennis’s shop)
A second Ipswich/Thomas Dennis box front
A version of strapwork from Exeter, Devon
A slideshow about the historic examples and the research (starting in 1892!) concerning this group of furniture, specifically this pattern.

Here’s a bit of a trailer –

The price for the series is $65.00 – the link is here https://vimeo.com/ondemand/follansbeestrapwork

If you are a paid subscriber to my substack blog you can get a 20% discount – there’s a promo code in a post sent to them… the link to that blog is here https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/

First boxes of the year

February 14, 2025 pfollansbee Uncategorized

(And a pretty old one…)

Today I was starting to assemble the first box of the year, a day after finishing the 2nd box of the year.

This one is a custom piece, including initials and a lock. Today I was planing the pine boards for the top and bottom. It’s a pretty faithful copy of a 17th century box made in Dedham Massachusetts. Like most period boxes, it’s nailed at the corner rabbets instead of glued & pegged – (which is what mine usually are…)

The second box has one of the strapwork patterns on its front, related carvings on its ends. I wrote about it & an old, used box yesterday on my other blog. There’s more photos there –

H: 8” W: 25 1/4” D: 14 3/4”
$1,600 plus shipping in US. Email me or leave a comment if you’d like this box. Check or paypal (with added fee).

Chip-carved box – this one’s different from my usual thing.

I made it maybe 12 years ago, used it for a while, but it’s been sitting in my loft, empty, for several years. It has some bumps and bruises, but functions just as it did when it was new. Decided to sell it – but there’s no price. I’ll take the best offer I get by Sunday Feb 16, 8pm eastern time.

H: 5” L/W: 18” D (side-to-side): 8”

More photos and details on those two boxes over at the substack blog – https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/p/two-boxes-for-sale

If you’re interested in either of them, leave me a comment or send me an email – [email protected]

The chip-carved box:

Barley mail

February 6, 2025 pfollansbee Uncategorized

I got something in the US mail today that wasn’t a bill, wasn’t junk mail. It’s from Dave Fisher – wrapped up to a fare-thee-well, I dug this out of the cobbed-together envelope. took me a while to sort it out – I thought Dave was trying to turn me on to barley-mush…

Then I happened to flip it over – seems Dave liked the chair I finished lately – so much so that he wanted to draw it…

It’s just so sad that in his retirement, he can’t afford an actual sketch book or any real paper…he’s reduced to tearing up cereal packets, etc for his sketches. Well, maybe it’ll be worth money some day…

Here’s the photo he worked from – I was planning on painting it, but it’s too cold in the shop these days. Maybe I’ll just leave it oiled til spring then see how I like it…