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 PeterFollansbee7@gmail.com

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

………………………….

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.

……………….

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 PeterFollansbee7@gmail.com 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/

……………….

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 PeterFollansbee7@gmail.com if you’d like to discuss it. Here’s a gallery of the rest of the recent photos.

………………………..

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 PeterFollansbee7@gmail.com 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 Peterfollansbee7@gmail.com

a gallery of images

…………………

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 PeterFollansbee7@gmail.com 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 PeterFollansbee7@gmail.com

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 – PeterFollansbee@gmail.com

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…

Openings in a Carved Box class

January 23, 2025 pfollansbee Uncategorized carved box, carved oak, Follansbee, green woodworking, workshop

May at Galbert’s shop, Berwick ME

I posted this yesterday on Substack, here it is for those who might only see my posts here…

here’s your notice – there’s some openings in my 2nd carved box class at Pete Galbert’s shop in Berwick, ME. May 25-30, 2025.

We won’t get to painting, but that box is the sort of thing we produce in the class. They’re about 7” high, 14” x 24”. Each student chooses their own pattern(s) after a couple of days of practice. The wood is quartersawn red oak for the box parts – white pine lids & bottoms. Handmade iron nails secure the bottom and the lid’s cleats that form the hinge.

Each time I teach this, I’m astounded at the students’ work. It’ll be a blast. This is the link, disregard that its title is about making a chair…

https://www.petergalbert.com/schedule/2020/7/13/make-a-chair-from-a-tree-with-peter-follansbee-8brcj-7b62n-xafjp-mglkm-lrd5m-swyzh-zr7nn

Small class size, lots of details…and this time we’ll be in Pete’s new shop – can’t wait. See you there?

Ladderback chair for sale

January 16, 2025 pfollansbee Uncategorized Follansbee, green woodworking, Jennie Alexander, ladderback chair

If you see my substack blog, you can skip this one – it’s the same chair that I posted there the other day…

I have the last chair from 2024 for sale now. I made it in the fall, then it sat around before I put the seat in it. Then sat again before trimming the feet & photographing it…but now it’s done.

This is my standard Jennie Alexander-style chair. It has red oak posts and slats and a mixture of oak, ash and hickory rungs. The bark seat is inner bark of hickory that’s been split in half to reveal the smoothest inner bark.

The middle front rung gave me some trouble the day I assembled the chair – and I replaced it right away. So there’s one through-mortise on the front post. It’s as sound as new – that joint is tight, glued & wedged. So it’s a chair with a story. They all are at some point.

Dimensions are about 33 1/2” high, width across the front c. 17” and depth of the seat about12”. Seat height around 17 1/4”. The price is $1,500 plus shipping in US, about $250 depending on distance from southeastern Massachusetts. If we use paypal, I’ll add their fee to the price. Otherwise, a check in the mail. If you’d like the chair, or would like to order one – email me or leave a comment. Email is PeterFollansbee7@gmail.com

PETER FOLLANSBEE: JOINER’S NOTES

seventeenth-century joined furniture; green wood, hand tools