It's What's Between You and the Wood - Quality from Your Hand to Heirloom
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Greetings!
It’s likely you already know of my involvement with The Krenov Foundation. I talk about it a lot. I recently stepped down as president and am now treasurer. Being involved with TKF continues to be a very satisfying experience for me. I’m part of a team that supports woodworkers, and woodworking, with scholarships and grants, along with making thousands of images of JK’s work available online through TKF’s growing archive of Krenov’s furniture, writings and lectures. If you have already donated, let me thank you for your generosity. You’ve helped The Krenov Foundation continue its important work on behalf of the craft of woodworking.
I’ll get off my soapbox now and let you enjoy the newsletter.
Along with a plug for spokeshaves in this newsletter, Linda interviewed Bryan Koppert, an amazing woodshop teacher. In a world where computers do our thinking and making for us, Bryan stands for keeping minds and hands working together to make useful objects that can last a lifetime and beyond. I certainly resonated with his detailed answers to Linda’s questions. I think you might, too!
Of course, if there’s anything you need from Hock Tools, please let me know.
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Ron Hock
Hock Tools
(888) 282-5233
(707) 964-2782
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Bryan Koppert:
Defender of the Endangered High School Woodshop
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“I enjoy helping students learn lifelong skills through hands-on applications.”
That's the answer you will
read to my question about what keeps Bryan Koppert teaching Industrial Technology.
When I read that answer in an email from Bryan, it was clear that he is on a mission, not only for
his students, but also as a defender of the endangered high school woodshop.
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Back in April 2018,
Bryan Koppert, Industrial Technology
instructor at Triway High in Wooster, Ohio asked Ron about our blade & breaker sets for the Stanley #4, what we call a
Hock Tools #BAS200
. Ron told Bryan that we had some seconds that needed just a bit of work to get them to retail quality, and that if Bryan wanted to do such work, he would be welcome to them.
That’s when it all began. On May 24th I got the pleasure of finding out what Bryan Koppert did with those
#BAS200
sets. He and I began emailing about his Woods 1 and Advanced Woods classes. Through our emails, I got the pleasure of learning about this extraordinary instructor, who believes in the life-long benefits of learning to make things with your hands – and learning such things before you graduate from high school.
I was a member of our local school board for 12 years, elected less than a decade after our high school’s machine shop was eliminated and our woodshop downsized—an answer to graduates here facing elimination of employment in what was once a lively timber industry, and an attempt to get them better prepared for college and the employment possibilities being tech-ready would open. Life here in our once timber industry-based world shifted completely when the mills began to downsize, then to close, which meant closing the doors to employment upon graduation from high school. So, I was eager to hear how Bryan Koppert managed similar changes occurring around the country to traditional high school industrial arts programs. As Bryan shared photos of projects completed by his Woods 1 and Advanced Woods students, I asked questions, and our emails became an interview. -
Linda at Hock Tools
Please, read on!
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For the Love of a Spokeshave
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In our last issue of
Sharp & to the Point
, interviewed woodworker Lucinda Daly mentioned that her favorite tool is a spokeshave. You may already know that Hock Tools offers wooden
spokeshave kits
, as well as replacement blades for adjustable-throat models and #151-style spokeshaves in both high carbon 01 and cryogenically treated A2 tool steels.
Nowadays the Internet provides a seemingly endless number of YouTube tutorials and other venues for learning how-to use woodworking tools. We are fortunate at Hock Tools to share insights we believe helpful with the small but mighty spokeshave.
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Using the spokeshave in Windsor Chairmaking
by Mike Dunbar of
The Windsor Institute
. Mike explains and demonstrates the versatility, as well as the subtle and not-so-subtle uses of the spokeshave so important to the making of the iconic Windsor chair. Make sure you watch how Mike sets his blade, which is just a bit different. And, Mike explains why.
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"
I’ve had this
@hocktools
marking knife for a few years now, and finally got around to making a handle for it out of maple leftover from some of my latest project. I love it. For marking inlay like these butterflies, it’s crucial to have a flat backed knife, and dual sides even better, for getting those tight markups before I start chiseling out the hole these around going into. I’m going to leave it rough, because it makes it easier to hold, and I left just enough setback that I can get this marking knife about anywhere. Plus, it’s so sharp it cuts me if I look at it."
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Andrew Brant
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T h a n k Y o u
f o r
C h o o s i n g
H o c k T o o l s !
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3 7 Y e a r s
o f
E x c e l l e n c e
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L e t 's G e t S o c i a l
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Ron Hock is President
Continuing the Legacy
of James Krenov
with Awards & Scholarships for Woodworkers.
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