Saturday, October 18th
9am-6pm
1045 N. Highland Ave. NE
Atlanta, GA 30306
Don't miss our Fall Sale! We'll have one-day specials throughout the store! There's plenty of shops and eateries in the area for the entire family to enjoy, so bring the whole clan and come on down!
The Curtis Buchanan class series sets the tone for another exciting catalog and season of fall woodworking. The catalog is full of new products and the great selection of woodworking tools, supplies and information you've come to rely on from us. You'll find the hot new portable steamer, Oneway's sit down lathe, our new line of John Jordan turning tools, Triton's new oscillating spindle sander and a whole host of other exceptional woodworking tools.
Education has always been one of most important products. Our legacy of presenting great American craftsmen to woodworkers continues with another special opportunity to learn from Master Chairmaker Curtis Buchanan in his Comb Back Windsor Chair series. Spend a day or a week with Curtis as he reveals the secrets of his high-back Windsor chair. Take an in depth look at traditional milk paint finishes, experience the fast paced one day comprehensive Comb Back demonstration or work the week away building your own treasured Comb Back Windsor Chair heirloom with Curtis. Regardless of the class you choose you're sure to enjoy this unique opportunity to experience the Windsor Chair World.
We are also very pleased to welcome back another talented chairmaker, Charles Brock. His group study of the Maloof chair not only gives unique insight to chair making but also covers a vast array of everyday woodworking skills and techniques a woodworker needs to master. Chuck's student base is growing fast so register early for Charles Brock's 2009 class series. Be sure to check out our complete schedule of classes and seminars online or in your catalog. If you do not currently receive our print catalog and would like to do so, please contact our Catalog Request Department or you may call our 24-Hour Toll-Free CATALOG REQUEST LINE: (888) 500-4466. Visit Highland Woodworking to shop online.
Saturday Mornings at Highland complement our woodworking class & seminar offerings. Join us at our store in Virginia-Highlands on Saturday mornings at 10am EST for FREE, live demonstrations featuring a wide variety of woodworking skills, tools & techniques. These 1 to 1-1/2 hour-long demonstrations feature our knowledgeable staff and instructors, local clubs & guilds, guest authors, and others. Upcoming events include woodturning, woodcarving, care & use of hand tools, joinery, book signings, an introduction to woodworking design software, and much, much more.
Saturday, July 5, at 10:00am—Longboarding provides countless hours of fun and cheap transportation! Building a longboard is not that difficult once you learn a few basic principles. Page Burch will talk about board design, materials, and history. He will discuss a variety of finishing techniques and provide examples of different finished boards.
All demonstrations take place in Highland Woodworking's retail store in Atlanta, Georgia and begin at 10:00am EST.
A special $20 Free Gift just in time for Father's Day.
Purchase a $150 (or greater) Highland Gift Certificate by June 15, 2008, and we will give you a FREE $20 Gift Certificate as a special bonus.
Visit Highland Woodworking to order your Gift Certificate today!
Saturday Mornings at Highland complement our woodworking class & seminar offerings. Join us at our store in Virginia-Highlands on Saturday mornings at 10am EST for FREE, live demonstrations featuring a wide variety of woodworking skills, tools & techniques. These 1 to 1-1/2 hour-long demonstrations feature our knowledgeable staff and instructors, local clubs & guilds, guest authors, and others. Upcoming events include woodturning, woodcarving, care & use of hand tools, joinery, book signings, an introduction to woodworking design software, and much, much more.
Saturday, June 14, at 10:00am—Most believe that the finest example of tradition in the world of fly-fishing is a finely crafted bamboo fly rod. It combines craft, time and tradition into something that you can literally hold in your hand. Doug Hall has been making bamboo rods as a passion for over a dozen years and also teaches rod making. He will demonstrate how raw Tonkin cane is split, planed and ultimately transformed into a stream ready bamboo fly rod. Through examples he will introduce you to the principles of handcrafting split-cane rods.
All demonstrations take place in Highland Woodworking's retail store in Atlanta, Georgia and begin at 10:00am EST.
Saturday Mornings at Highland complement our woodworking class & seminar offerings. Join us at our store in Virginia-Highlands on Saturday mornings at 10am EST for FREE, live demonstrations featuring a wide variety of woodworking skills, tools & techniques. These 1 to 1-1/2 hour-long demonstrations feature our knowledgeable staff and instructors, local clubs & guilds, guest authors, and others. Upcoming events include woodturning, woodcarving, care & use of hand tools, joinery, book signings, an introduction to woodworking design software, and much, much more.
Saturday, May 31, at 10:00am we are pleased to have Hal Simmons in the house teaching the Natural Edged Bowl. When he's not busy at the American Red Cross, he's teaching wood turning. He has studied with Nick Cook, Willard Baxter, David Ellsworth, Johannes Rieber, Chris Scott, Soren Berger and Ray Key. He enjoys traditional spindle, bowl, and hollow form turning using both exotic and domestic woods. Hal is President of the Chattahoochee Woodturners and member of the Georgia Association of Woodturners.
Hal will demonstrate how to turn a natural edge bowl. He will talk about consistency in wall thickness, chucking and mounting the piece on the lathe.
All demonstrations take place in Highland Woodworking's retail store in Atlanta, Georgia and begin at 10:00am EST.
For the second year in a row, the readers of Atlanta's Sunday Paper have voted Highland Woodworking (also known as Highland Hardware) the metro area's best hardware store. Coming in as runner-up to Highland Woodworking was Home Depot with its 20 metro Atlanta big box locations. Guess that really goes to show that you don't necessarily have to be the biggest to be regarded as the best. Thanks to all our customers and fans who helped select Highland Woodworking over all the dozens of other worthy hardware stores in and around Atlanta! And congratulations to Home Depot for coming in second!
Quoting the Sunday Paper:
BEST HARDWARE STORE: HIGHLAND HARDWARE
THE LOWDOWN: Is it the tool tutorials? The woodworking classes? The down-to-earth, helpful staff? What is it about Highland Hardware that our readers always seem to love? Perhaps it's the fact that in the chi-chi district of the Highlands, where nothing seems very useful, a hardware store is a reminder of purpose, a monument to getting things done, a touch of the "real."
THE BASICS: 1045 North Highland Ave. NE MAP
800-241-6748 www.highlandwoodworking.com.
THE RUNNER-UP: Home Depot
East Petersburg, PA (PRWEB) April 21, 2008 -- Fox Chapel Publishing is proud to announce that two of its new woodworking books were recently selected as the top 2008 "Golden Hammer" Award Winners by the National Association of Home and Workshop Writers (NAHWW). First place in the Books Division went to Mark Duginske, author of New Complete Guide to the Bandsaw, and second place was awarded to Tom Hintz, author of New Woodworker Handbook.
The awards will be officially announced on May 7 in Las Vegas during the National Hardware Show, where winning recipients will receive a cash prize and a handsome plaque. Quality of writing was the chief criterion on which all books were judged. Judges included the best in the Do-It-Yourself field with most of the judges being previous "Golden Hammer" Award winners.
New Complete Guide to the Bandsaw is a comprehensive reference that provides basic and advanced techniques for using a bandsaw. Duginske is a fourth generation central Wisconsin woodworker, designer, inventor and writer, who contributes to magazines, such as Fine Woodworking and Architectural Digest, and whose work has been featured on This Old House. He has 8 patents on woodworking tools and has written 10 books. Duginske is considered "the bandsaw expert" in the field.
New Woodworker Handbook, by Hintz, is an easy-to-read guide to getting started in woodworking. The book is a culmination of the thousands of questions he received from beginners on his popular woodworking website. Known for his straight-forward style of writing, Hintz retired from his personal involvement in stock car racing to become a staff writer and webmaster for Stock Car Racing and Open Wheel Magazines and staff editor for Circle Track Magazine all the while enjoying his lifelong hobby - woodworking. Later he began SPEEDWORDS, a marketing firm offering web development, writing and photography services for the racing business community. His website draws more than 150,000 visitors each month. Tom says these woodworkers log onto NewWoodworker.com "because they know the most effective safety tool is a well-informed brain."
Duginske and Hintz join the growing list of authors with award-winning titles published by Fox Chapel Publishing. In 2006, Charles Self won a first-place Golden Hammer award for The Woodworker's Pocket Reference.
Fox Chapel Publishing is a leading publisher of woodworking reference and project books, as well as the publisher of Woodcarving Illustrated and Scroll Saw Woodworking Crafts magazines.
Visit Highland Woodworking for more information on these and many other woodworking titles.
To commemorate our 30 years of service to woodworkers we are giving away to a single winner a Festool Kapex KS120 Compound Miter Saw Set with MFT 3 Multi Function Table & Festool CT22 Mobile Dust Extractor!
Festool's Kapex KS120 saw, scheduled for release Fall 2008, provides unmatched accuracy & features, including a precision dual-line laser so you can cut exactly on your mark from both sides of the saw. Included, the MFT 3 Multi-function Table- 1 table with a 1000 possibilities, versatility, portability and durability the MFT 3 stands alone as the ideal work surface. As you cut, the Festool CT22 Dust Extractor will help keep your shop dust free & is the perfect shop vac for all your hand power tools with its' triggered switch & shut off delay function. Total approximate value of the Festool giveaway package is $2700!
Visit our complete collection of Festool Power Tools & Accessories!
Official rules and guidelines are available here.
No purchase necessary. Offer void where prohibited. Participants are entered into the drawing upon completion of the online registration accessible beginning Wednesday, March 12th from Highland Woodworking. Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 31, 2008. Multiple entries are permitted.
The Georgia Association of Woodturner's meets in our Seminar Room tonight at 6:30pm. They are open to visitors, so come by and check it out. Alan Leland will be demonstrating.
Alan grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut, then attended East Carolina University. After budget cuts prevented him from pursuing corrections as a career, he worked in carpentry. During his carpentry career, he developed and interest in fine woodworking and a passion for woodturning. He served as the Vice President of The Triangle Woodturners of North Carolina.(They have a new name now.) You can even see his profile on their website here.
In 1995, he started Sliding Dovetail Woodworks, now Leland Studios. These days, he focuses on teaching woodturning.
Our store is open until 8:00pm on Thursdays so you can do some shopping, too.
Blair
The Georgia Association of Woodturner's meets in our Seminar Room tonight at 6:30pm. They are open to visitors, so come by and check it out. Alan Batty will be demonstrating.
Alan has a lifetime of turning experience, both as a teacher and a production turner steeped in the traditions of the English woodturning trade.
Our store is open until 8:00pm on Thursdays so you can do some shopping, too.
Blair
The Georgia Association of Woodturner's meets in our Seminar Room tonight at 6:30pm. They are open to visitors, so come by and check it out. Stuart Mortimer will be demonstrating.
Stuart Mortimer has been turning since 1969. He is an award winning, internationally known woodturner with a wide knowledge in many aspects of turning. His demonstrating and teaching skills are recognized world wide.
Our store is open until 8:00pm on Thursdays so you can do some shopping, too.
Blair
John Ratzenberger of Cheer's fame now hosts a show featuring American manufacturers on The Travel Channel. You can see John Ratzenberger's Made in America on The Travel Channel Tuesdays at 9:00PM & 9:30PM (ET/PT).
In an upcoming episode, John's show is featuring one of our favorite companies - L.S. Starrett. It should be pretty interesting. Starrett makes the best measuring tools around. You can check out their press release about it here. The original air date is next Tuesday - September 12th. The Starrett press release lists some of the others.
Also check out the About the Show section of the John Ratzenberger's Made in America website, John Ratzenberger aspires to build wooden boats - good man.
Blair
The Georgia Association of Woodturner's meets in our Seminar Room tonight at 6:30pm. They are open to visitors, so come by and check it out. Dick Sing will be demonstrating. Click here for a list of Dick Sing's books available at Highland Woodworking.
Dick is a professional wood turner with a long list of accomplishments and an international reputation. Dick has demonstrated and taught across the United States and also in Australia and England. Dick has an extensive knowledge of woodturning, which he is always willing to share.He has published 7 books on woodturning and has also written articles for Wood Magazine and The American Woodturner. Dick is now going to be a regular here in the Woodworking at Home Magazine.
Our store is open until 8:00pm on Thursdays so you can do some shopping, too.
Blair
A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS) fair in Las Vegas. It was a great show with lots of new products that you'll be seeing soon at Highland Woodworking.
The highlight of the weekend were the belt sander races on Friday afternoon.
People have been racing belt sanders for many years (you can find dozens of belt sander racing videos on YouTube.) The oldest racing organization is the New England Belt Sander Racing Association (NEBSRA.)
Now, Accuride is sponsoring the Belt Sander Racing Association (BSRA.)
I took some video at the races, but it turns out I'm not a very good cameraman and I was a bit too far away. You can see some of the better shots I got at the bottom, but I found this first video on YouTube. It is much better quality than my video and covers the most amazing run of the afternoon from a great perspective.
There was an enormous crowd on hand for the racing. So many people, in fact, that one of the exhibitors re-scheduled their press conference because everyone was at the belt sander races.
Here's my video.
Blair
Hi everybody! I've just been to the AWFS fair in Las Vegas. I waiting board my plane - which is late. I'll be posting some updates from the show next week.
Blair
The Georgia Association of Woodturner's meets in our Seminar Room tonight at 6:30pm. They are open to visitors, so come by and check it out. Don Geiger will be demonstrating.
Don Geiger was born in Gainesville, Florida in 1953 and currently resides on ten acres near Newberry, Florida. He has been woodworking most of his life and started woodturning in 1999. He openly admits that woodturning is now his passion.
Don usually turns wood that is obtained locally and doesn't have to pay for it. He and fellow woodturning buddies help each other harvest wood from trees that are already down and would otherwise be burned or put into a land fill. He and his buddies are frequently asked: "What type of wood did you turn that piece out of?" The reply is usually, "Free!" He has turned numerous natural edge bowls, smooth edge bowls, lidded vessels, hollow forms, and Ikebana vases.
Our store is open until 8:00pm on Thursdays so you can do some shopping, too.
Blair
Saturday, July 21st
9am-4pm
1045 N. Highland Ave. NE
Atlanta, GA 30306
Don’t miss our Summer Sale! We’ll have one-day specials throughout the store! There’s plenty of shops and eateries in the area for the entire family to enjoy, so bring the whole clan and come on down!
Happy Fourth of July!!
We are closed for the holiday, and we hope that all of you enjoy your holiday! We'll be enjoying bbq and fireworks, too!
Happy Birthday USA!
While we're all celebrating our national anniversary, check out our Red Hot Specials for the Fourth!
The prices are great, but the quantities are limited. Don't miss the great deals on All-in-One Clamps.
Look for great deals on Leigh jigs and a great vintage give-away in the next few days!!!!
Blair
Leigh Industries - the leader in precision, high quality woodworking jigs, has announced new lower prices for their most capable, most popular jigs!!
These are the best prices we've seen for a long time. Check our website for the new prices on the D4R Dovetail Jig and the FMT Frame, Mortise & Tenon jig.
What a great deal for Independence Day (even though they are Canadian)!!!!!
Check out the new Super Jigs for great deals! They are incredible jigs - not as versatile as the D4R , but they are close and much cheaper!
Check out Wood News for our Leigh Jig promotion next week.
Blair
The Georgia Association of Woodturner's meets in our Seminar Room tonight at 6:30pm. They are open to visitors, so come by and check it out. Jimmy Clewes will be demonstrating.
Jimmy is not your ordinary woodturner. Upon a first meeting one would think of him as a renegade, a free thinker and not within the stereotypical image of a woodturner. His charming British style, unending wit, creative mind and magnetic personality are only some of the attributes that make him popular in the woodturning demonstration circuit.
Our store is open until 8:00pm on Thursdays so you can do some shopping, too.
Blair
This weekend the Virgina-Highland Civic Association will be hosting Summerfest right here in our neighborhood. When you come in for woodworking supplies, take some extra time to check out the festival. For more information, click on the logo.
Summerfest celebrates the beginning of summer with diverse arts, great food, live musical performances and much more. The festival takes place along Virginia Avenue, in the heart of historic Virginia-Highland.Voted the "Best Neighborhood Festival" in Creative Loafing and consistently revered by art professionals as one of the best artists' markets in the southeast, Summerfest is a great event for the entire family. Make sure you stick around and explore the unique shopping and eclectic dining throughout the Virginia-Highland neighborhood.
If you are coming in early to shop or take a class, be advised that there will be a 5K Fun Run in the neighborhood. Some streets will be blocked off from about 7:45am until about 9:00am. Click here for a map of the race route.
Blair
The Sunday Paper, an Atlanta alternative weekly newspaper which focuses on news, culture, entertainment and local events and issues, recently voted Highland Hardware (now known as Highland Woodworking) as the "Best Hardware Store"! In their May 13-19 issue, The Sunday Paper published the results of their 2007 Reader's Choice Awards, an annual compilation of local favorites, as voted upon by readers. The listing reads:
"A spot of Zen on an otherwise bustling street, Highland Hardware is a respite for burgeoning and expert woodworkers alike. Hardware staples are available, but it's the staff's know-how that transforms a trip to pick up a bandsaw into what feels like a homey chat with community crafts-people. The store also offers a variety of woodworking classes."
Although Highland Hardware started out 28 years ago as a local hardware and woodworking retailer, over the years we have grown to become exclusively an international purveyor of fine woodworking tools. In late 2006 we changed our name to Highland Woodworking to reflect our departure from a traditional hardware store inventory to a selection of specialized woodworking and finishing supplies, tools and educational programs. Our new name is a truer reflection of the nature of our offering and our position in the woodworking industry.
Directions to Highland Woodworking.
It is a rare privilege and a real delight to welcome Toshio Odate back to Highland Woodworking. We're honored to offer this rare opportunity to spend a aweekend learning and practicing with this eminent master.
It was just after giving his first class here in Nov. 1981 that Toshio began work on his first book, Japanese Woodworking Tools: Their Tradition, Spirit and Use, which has become an enduring classic both here and in Japan. Decades later, we welcome him as a renowned author, craftsman and sculptor.
These classes offer a unique opportunity to experience a wonderfully different culture and practice of woodworking, even as you learn about specific tools and practical techniques.
* BONUS! Receive a complimentary $15 Highland Woodworking Gift Certificate, good on any non-power tool purchase, when you enroll in either class! †
Continue reading "Highland Woodworking Welcomes Back Toshio Odate" »
Saturday, May 5th
9am - 4pm
Bring in your used & extra tools to donate to the community & receive a tax deduction!
The Atlanta Community ToolBank will be at our retail store during our Spring One Day Sale accepting tool donations for their Tool Library, the country's largest tool lending program. The ToolBank provides tools to Atlanta's nonprofit organizations for use in volunteer service projects. Don't miss this opportunity to clean out your shop & put your old tools to work for Atlanta!
Hard as it may be to believe, it was once possible to buy an automobile whose body was made substantially out of wood. Yes, those old cars were known as Woodies, and today surviving specimens are both rare and priceless.
Sean Headrick, an Atlanta-area woodworker, is currently restoring the wooden bodywork on a dilapidated old 1948 Chevy Woody station wagon. On Saturday, June 16, he will demonstrate some of the special techniques he's using to reproduce the wooden components on this old automobile while explaining the many challenges involved in such a difficult undertaking.
This free event will begin at 10am at Highland Woodworking at 1045 N. Highland Avenue, NE in Atlanta. The June 16 demo is part of the store's outstanding Saturday Mornings at Highland series, a weekly experience that is free, fun and educational for anyone interested in woodworking. Topics will vary from week to week, ranging from refinishing furniture to sharpening tools to woodturning and carving and many other creative opportunities.
Visit Highland Woodworking for more information about the Saturday Mornings at Highland educational series.
For project photos, see Sean's blog at : http://rebuildingchevywoody.blogspot.com
Read our Wood News Online interview with Sean and see a gallery of his work.
Although men have historically dominated the craft of woodworking, half of all new woodworking hobbyists are women, according to recently published reports.
Highland Woodworking, formerly known as Highland Hardware, has taught woodworking classes in Atlanta for the past 30 years. Popularity among women has increased to the extent that it now offers classes specifically for budding female woodworkers.
Marilyn MacEwen, author of Woodworking 101 for Women: How to Speak the Language, Buy the Tools & Build Fabulous Furniture from Start to Finish, will appear at Highland Woodworking’s retail store on Saturday, April 14, 2007, to speak about this growing phenomenon, as well as to demonstrate some of the key hand tool techniques she recommends for women, including cutting dovetails, basic use of hand saws and planes, and using marking and measuring tools.
A professional woodworker since 1980, MacEwen builds furniture and home accessories at her studio in Fairview, North Carolina, where she draws upon her love of the forests, mountains, rivers and wildlife surrounding her home to inspire her unique furniture designs. Her customer base extends throughout the country and abroad.
The event on April 14 is part of an ongoing series of free demonstrations known as "Saturday Mornings at Highland". At 10 AM each Saturday of the year, the Virginia-Highland store offers a free, live, 90-minute demonstration of woodworking skills, tools and techniques presented by instructors from its knowledgeable staff, local woodworking clubs and guilds, manufacturer's representatives, guest authors, and others.
A schedule describing other upcoming Saturday Mornings at Highland is available online, or you may call the store at 404-872-4466 for information about the current week’s event. Each demonstration is free of charge, and no registration is necessary. Anyone interested in expanding skills and exploring new woodworking techniques is invited to drop in the store at 1045 N. Highland Avenue, NE in Atlanta any Saturday at 10 AM.
The national Home & Design Show, an event featuring remodeling, home improvement and decorating products and services, has invited Highland Woodworking to share our knowledge and passion about woodworking and fine furniture in their "Designs in Wood" booth.
There will be an interesting blend of work on display by Highland Woodworking employees, customers and friends, including Curtis Buchanan, Michael Gilmartin, Sean Headrick, Ken Mattie, Sabiha Mujtaba and Marion Smith. The eclectic mix of creations ranges from a reproduction of a late Colonial American table to pieces of contemporary "art furniture".
If you plan to be in the Atlanta area this weekend, come by the Cobb Galleria and enjoy the show. We’ll have our new spring catalog on hand featuring new products as well as upcoming classes and seminars. Be sure to check out future home and design events in other key markets near you such as Boston, San Diego, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Orlando, Vancouver and Toronto.
Atlanta Home & Design Show
Cobb Galleria
March 30 – April 1, 2007
www.atlhomeanddesignshow.com
Don't miss the new Highland Woodworking Red Hot Special! Our popular Deluxe Router Bit Storage Box is featured at an unbeliveable price, but quantities are limited, so you'll have to act fast! Visit Highland Woodworking to order yours!
If you don't see the Red Hot Special icon on our homepage, that means we've sold out, so check back soon for our next item!
What a treat. At the Georgia Association of Woodturners March meeting here at the store, Chris Ramsay turned a cowboy hat out of sugar maple. Chris has been turning hats for years and “THE” George Bush has one of Chris’ hat. There was standing room only for Chris Ramsay's demonstration. Chris started with a 20” piece of sugar maple. He rounded it and started to cut it back so he could get a mirror frame, regular hat and a mini hat out of the same piece of wood. I took a lot of pictures so you could get an idea of how he turns it.
He uses a faceplate and a chuck and at first reverses several times before he starts to profile the outside of the hat. Once the brim is cut to less than 1/8" the crown is shaped. He leaves the top most attached to the faceplate and then reverses the hollow the inside so he can put it on a special chuck to finish the outside crown. The pictures don’t do justice to what the members got to see. Hope you enjoy the pictures and if you are ever in Atlanta on the third Thursday of the month, please drop by Highland Woodworking and join us for the woodturner's meeting. We always have a great demo. The meetings start at 6:30 PM, but you're welcome to come earlier to shop in our store.
Phil Colson
Watch Chris turn a hat in the video slideshow below!
Hydrocote products have been Highland Woodworking’s primary water-based finish for many years. Professionals and enthusiasts have come to rely on Hydrocote’s overall quality, durability and broad choice of supporting products. They make a polyurethane for floors and tables, a lacquer for general cabinet work and an exterior urethane for outdoor projects.
In Fine Woodworking’s Dec. 2006 issue (#187), Chris Minick wrote an excellent article on water-based finishes. A lot has changed with these finishes over the years, and they’ve done nothing but get better. In the article, the author applied all the test products with a brush and concluded that Hydrocote’s Resisthane was the best value. We’ve always said Resisthane makes a good choice for professionals because it’s inexpensive, extremely durable, dries very fast and doesn’t require a large investment in spray booth equipment.
The controversy began with a letter to the editor of Fine Woodworking in the April 2007 issue (#190). In the letter, a customer came to our store to purchase some Hydrocote Resisthane based on the review in the article in issue #187. On the can of Resisthane the customer read a warning not to apply the product with a brush because of the fast drying time. Chris Minick then replied that one could certainly brush waterborne finishes as long as you didn’t overwork the wet finish and allow it to flow out. We certainly agree with this assessment. The reason Hydrocote and Highland recommend spraying Resisthane is that it does dry fast. We have found over the years of taking technical calls and talking to end users that most folks who are new to water-based finishes don’t follow the instructions completely and tend to overwork the finish. Perhaps they are used to slower drying oil based finishes that require a bit of tipping off with the brush. Thus, they get poor results with water-based finishes. Consequently, we now carry a line of water-based finishes by Ceramithane that doesn’t dry as fast and flows out better when brushed on. Can you brush Resisthane? Of course, you can, but if you’re the type of person that likes to mess around with the finish after it’s on, then consider the slower drying Ceramithane.
Chris Black
Almost all of us who work here, including myself, are avid woodworkers. Needless to say, we love our tools. We take an active interest in making sure the stuff we sell works. If it’s expensive, we want the best. If it sells for less, we make sure it’s a good value. The bottom line is we want our friends, our customers, to be happy and enjoy our tools. So, we have things like a tech line and a fairly liberal return policy to make sure you get what you want. Another thing we do is we test our products. Product testing has been a tradition at Highland since day one. You’ve read our ad that says, “Our catalog gives you more than just manufacturer’s specs…” We really do take this stuff home, give it a go in our own shops and try to be as honest as possible with the copy in our catalog/web site.
A while ago, Irwin bought Marples, the maker of the famous Blue Chip Chisel. The Blue Chip has been a favorite at Highland for as long as anyone can remember. I still have my original set I bought as a carpenter’s apprentice. Blue Chips have always been what we consider a good value, fairly inexpensive tools for better than average quality. I have never broken a handle, though I’ll admit to occasionally bashing one with a framing hammer. There, no one saw. Irwin recently moved manufacture of the Blue Chips from Sheffield, England to China. Our current catalog went to print before we found out, so it still says "Made in Sheffield". We actually found out today (March 20, 2007), when a new batch arrived on our loading dock. As a result, I’ll take a set home, and once again give ’em a go. I just finished sharpening the set, and so far they still take a fine edge. Over the next week or so, I’ll see how they hold up and let you know. Thanks.
Chris Black
On February 17, 2007, we began our Saturday Mornings at Highland educational program, a series of free woodworking demonstrations every Saturday morning here in our retail store. So far the response has been tremendous.
Our first Saturday featured our own Phil Colson turning toy tops. The crowd quickly overflowed to the second floor with folks watching over the balcony. Phil engaged the crowd with his easygoing manner, answering questions and then going back to the lathe. After teaching turning techniques, Phil switched over to decorating the tops with various pens, inks and finishes. A bunch of kids, young and old, left with some sample tops and having had a great time.
Visit Highland Woodworking for the full article.
Peek in on Curtis Buchanan's week-long "Build a Windsor Chair" class held at Highland Woodworking in April 2006!