Getting started in handwork doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult. For many years, woodworker Mike Siemsen has been teaching new woodworkers how to get up and running with a basic set of tools, sawbenches and a workbench that can be built in just two days.

We are huge fans of Mike and his no-bullpucky approach to the craft.

So this winter, John Hoffman and I traveled to Minnesota to film our first full-length DVD for Lost Art Press. It is, I think, unlike anything out there. Here are basics.

It starts with a 5-gallon bucket and roll of $20 bills. We took that bucket to a regional tool-swap meet of the Mid-West Tool Collectors Association and bought almost every tool you need to get started. I filmed Mike as he picked through the piles of tools and he discussed what he looks for when buying these key tools. I also filmed him haggling with the dealers – fun stuff.

Once we bought the tools and put them in the bucket, we drove to Mike’s shop and started making the tools usable. Mike demonstrated how to sharpen and tune the chisels, planes and saws with dirt-cheap equipment. And we also tuned up the braces, hand drills and layout tools so everything was nice.

The next morning, Mike built a sawbench using the tools, wood from the home center and two 5-gallon buckets that worked as proto-sawbenches. After lunch, Mike built a Nicholson-style workbench using home-center wood and five doses of cleverness. No machines. No difficult joinery. It’s a great bench, and it is designed to work without any metal vises.

The DVD documents the entire process, from sorting through rust piles of tools to boring the final holdfast holes in the bench and putting it to use.

What is most amazing about the project is how you can get started for little money. Mike kept careful track of every purchase of tools and wood and has documented them in a spreadsheet (which will be included with the DVD, as well as a detailed SketchUp model of the workbench). This spreadsheet shows how you can collect the necessary tools and build the sawbench and workbench for a little more than $571.

That number includes everything, including the glue, screws and bolts.

I am editing the digital video now and we expect this DVD to be released in July.

In the next few days, I’m going to turn over the discussion of this project to Mike, who will tell you a bit about the theory behind the workbench and discuss how to buy the user-grade hand tools you need.

Oh, and why is the DVD called “The Naked Woodworker?” Because it’s about how to get get started in woodworking if you have nothing (yup, a pair of pants is included in Mike’s spreadsheet).

There is no nudity on the DVD – thank goodness.

— Christopher Schwarz

Plate 12, Figure 12

Consists of a platform A B C D called the top, supported upon four legs, E, F, G, H. Near to the further or fore end A B is an upright rectangular prismatic pin a, made to slide stiffly in a mortise through the top. This pin is called the bench hook, which ought to be so tight as to be moved up or down only by a blow of a hammer or mallet. The use of the bench hook is to keep the stuff steady, while the joiner, in the act of planing, presses it forward against the bench hook.

a, the “bench hook”

D I a vertical board fixed to the legs, on the side of the bench next to the workman, and made flush with the legs: this is called the side board.

D I, the side board

At the farther end of the side board, and opposite to it, and to the bench hook, is a rectangular prismatic piece of wood b b (Editor’s note: this is likely an error as the plate is labeled d d), of which its two broad surfaces are parallel to the vertical face of the side board: this is made moveable in a horizontal straight surface, by a screw passing through an interior screw fixed to the inside of the side board, and is called the screw check (Editor’s note: sic. “Check” is correct). The screw and screw check are together called the bench screw; and for the sake of perspicuity, we shall denominate the two adjacent vertical surfaces of the screw check, and of the side board, the checks of the bench screw.

d d, the screw check

The use of the bench screw is to fasten boards between the checks, in order to plane their edges; but as it only holds up one end of a board, the leg H of the bench and the side board are pierced with holes, so as to admit of a pin for holding up the other end, at various heights, as occasion may require. The screw check has also a horizontal piece mortised and fixed fast to it, and made to slide through the side board, for preventing it turning round, and is therefore called the guide.

H, the leg pierced with holes

Benches are of various heights, to accommodate the height of the workman, but the medium is about two feet eight inches. They are ten or twelve feet in length, and about two feet six inches in width. Sometimes the top boards upon the farther side are made only about ten feet long, and that next the workman twelve feet, projecting two feet at the hinder part. In order to keep the bench and work from tottering, the legs, not less than three inches and a half square, should be well braced, particularly the two legs on the working side. The top board next to the workman may be from one and a half to two inches thick: the thicker, the better for the work; the boards to the farther side may be about an inch, or an inch and a quarter thick. If the workman stands on the working side of the bench, and looks across the bench, then the end on his right hand is called the hind end, and that on his left hand the fore end. The bench hook is sometimes covered with an iron plate, the front edge of which is formed into sharp teeth for sticking fast into the end of the wood to be planed, in order to prevent it from slipping; or, instead of a plate, nails are driven obliquely through the edge, and filed into wedge-formed points. Each pair of end legs are generally coupled together by two rails dovetailed into the legs. Between each pair of coupled legs, the length of the bench is generally divided into three or four equal parts, and transverse bearers fixed at the divisions to the side boards, the upper sides being flush with those of the side boards, for the purpose of supporting the top firmly, and keeping it from bending. The screw is placed behind the two fore legs, the bench hook immediately before the bearers of the fore legs, and the guide at some distance before the bench hook. For the convenience of putting things out of the way, the rails at the ends are covered with boards; and for farther accommodation, there is in some benches a cavity, formed by boarding the under edges of the side boards before the hind legs, and closing the ends vertically, so that this cavity is contained between the top and the boarding under the side boards; the way to it is by an aperture made by sliding a part of the top board towards the hind end: this deposit is called a locker.

— Peter Nicholson, “The Mechanic’s Companion; or, the elements of and practice of carpentry, joinery, bricklaying, masonry, slating, plastering, painting, smithing and turning…” (1811). The image is from my 1845 edition, published by John Locken, Philadelphia. The entire book can be downloaded and read for free on Google Books via this link.

I like to read and discuss old texts and try to figure out what the authors are trying to tell us. When I read about using hand tools I prefer texts that were written before the use of electricity. Nicholson’s “The Mechanic’s Companion” was one such book. His brief description of a joiner’s bench and the accompanying plate piqued my interest. Why all the holes and how does it work? Only one way to find out: Build it.

Peter Nicholson, definitely not naked.

Because this bench is the results of hundreds of years of development, I tried to stay true to the text and plate and build the bench with a similar mindset as the original users. One task of a joiner was to finish the interiors of houses, so the joiner built a bench 10’ to 12’ long from common materials and made all of the doors windows and mouldings on site. My guess is that by the time the project was finished the bench was pretty much used up so he just unscrewed his vise and left the bench, building a new one at the next job.

So what did I learn as reached back into the past and shook the hand of Peter Nicholson?

One of the great features of the English Joiner’s bench is that it is made from common construction materials. There is no need to search far and wide to secure a thick piece of wood. You just go to the lumberyard and buy standard construction planks. There is no need for major glue ups or material preparation. A 10’-long workbench is no problem if you need one.

The construction is simple with basic hand tools – just a handsaw, brace, a few bits, hammer, framing square and a jointer plane. Because of the way the bench is built, the top is practically flat when you are done with assembly. And the bench is solid and stable.

Softwood from the lumberyard is grippier and doesn’t dent your project. This was a bit of an epiphany for me: The bench dents instead of my project because the bench is made from softer wood than the hardwoods I use in my furniture-making. The softwood top doesn’t polish up like a hardwood top, so the projects don’t slip around as much as I am working on them. Shiny and slippery are not your friends on a benchtop!

It’s cost- and time-effective: $100 and a weekend. If you want a low bench for planing and a taller one for assembly and close-up work build two benches! If you move, you can leave your old bench behind and build another when you get to your new place. All you have to do is toss your Dutch tool chest in the car and go!

It’s functional. While you might have to retrain yourself to work with the bench, its planing stops and holdfast holes, it doesn’t take long to get the hang of it. My first Nicholson had a vise, but after reading Joseph Moxon, I left off the vise and now use the double-screw vise he describes. So I have a bench with no vises – just a crochet, planing stops and holdfast holes to hold the work. Of course, you can also just drive nails into the benchtop to hold your work as well. The first Nicholson bench I built back in 2008 sported a split top that grew out of information from George Ellis’s writing on a Planing Board and spawned a split-top revolution that continues to this day. The bench in forthcoming “The Naked Woodworker” DVD is an outgrowth of the 15 or so English benches I have built with friends and students since the first one.

— Mike Siemsen, Mike Siemsen School of Woodworking

The first project I can remember making on my own was a small wall sconce or shelf I had seen in a magazine. I told my parents that I wanted to make it and, being enablers, they got me started. We had a coping saw frame and no blades (I am sure my brothers and I had broken them all at some point), so my dad took me down to Perrozzi’s Hardware in Lompoc, Calif., and we picked up some blades. On the way home, he swung the Rambler American behind the Safeway store and found a fruit crate with wood suitable for my project.

It is important to know that both my parents grew up in the Great Depression so we learned the practice of thrift, something that shows up in my forthcoming DVD, “The Naked Woodworker.” My 90-year-old mother still saves more plastic bags than she will ever use under her kitchen sink, along with foil and other things one might need in a pinch.

The quality of pine in fruit crates back in the day was pretty good, so I had some decent material to work with. I sawed and nailed my shelf together and smeared on some mahogany-colored stain and varnish mix that was in the garage. I don’t know what happened to that shelf, but I am pretty sure that it was “lost” in one of our moves.

It is hard to believe that was more than 50 years ago. Since then I have built houses and cabinets, clock cases and coffins, even a wooden car. I still look forward to the next project with some of the same anticipation I felt as we searched through the fruit crates behind the grocery store for the proper shelf material so many years ago.

No matter your age or ability woodworking is great fun, so grab your coping saw and jump in! You’ll meet some great people along the way and you might even end up with a shelf, or a car!

— Mike Siemsen, Mike Siemsen School of Woodworking

Helpful people are starting to point out the senior discounts to me, and the AARP cards coming in the mail are reminding me of the first time I was a senior back at Venice High School. Go Gondos! This was back when there were still woodshops in high schools. We actually had two woodshops, you heard me, two woodshops! We had a great shop teacher, Mr. Francis. He was knowledgeable and a nice guy with a good sense of humor. He understood that not everyone wanted to be in school; some students had drug businesses to run, while others, lacking the entrepreneurial spirit, were just waiting to be old enough so they would not be forced by the state to attend. Mr. Francis graded on a points system; do your clean-up everyday and you could get a “D” in the class, pick up a couple of shop jobs and you had a “C.” This meant you didn’t have to interrupt your domino game to do woodworking and left the rest of the shop open to those of us who did.

The powers that be had decided it was time to replace all of the benchtops at the school with new ones. This left a pile of old planks waiting to be used for something, and Mr. Francis, Johnny on the spot, decided that an all-woodshop sawing contest was in order. The offending pieces of wood were clamped firmly in a vise and the students began sawing them up into smaller pieces and timing their efforts. (Do you see the beginnings of a Hand Tool Olympics here?). By the time my fourth-period shop class rolled around the pile of planks was considerably smaller and the pile of scraps considerably larger. The saws in the tool cabinet all now resembled corkscrews or twisty mountain roads, but it was time to step up! I had been sawing wood with handsaws for some time before this great event and had some knowledge of how it was done. Most of the students held the belief that saws with great big teeth would surely cut faster so the ripsaws were in rough shape, the crosscut saws with their smaller teeth would obviously be less effective, and so a couple of them had been largely left alone and were more or less usable. I straightened one out over the corner of a bench, found a block of paraffin and lubed the blade and prepared to make my mark on the world of high school sporting events by cutting the previous best time, and the plank, in half. By the end of the day, all of the saws were in rough shape, all of the planks were scraps and I was mockingly called Paul Bunyan due to my Minnesota heritage.

It has been a downhill slide since my glory days of high school. I am still straightening saws, but now I also have to clean off the rust and sharpen them.

Good night Mr. Francis wherever you are!

— Mike Siemsen, Mike Siemsen School of Woodworking

Editor’s note: Mike’s forthcoming DVD, “The Naked Woodworker,” is edited and is with Ben Strano to clean up some audio hums and pops. Look for it in July.

If you want to get more tools into your Dutch tool chest, check this out.

Mike Siemsen, host of the forthcoming “The Naked Woodworker” DVD, built a Dutch tool chest with (at least) two interesting twists.

1. He added an extra tool rack to the fall-front of the chest to hold small tools. Many students have threatened to transform their fall-fronts into something useful, such as a shooting board or bench hook. But I have yet to see any who succeeded. Mike’s idea definitely works. (So far, the only other successful adaptation has been to use the fall-front as a cheese board.)

2. Mike transformed his two sliding locks into winding sticks. Actually, they always were winding sticks. But he painted one stick black to make them easier to use.

Caleb James, a planemaker, chairmaker and (I hope) soon-to-be-author, made a nice Dutch chest that he brought along to the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event in Charleston, S.C., this spring. (He also brought along a knock-down Nicholson workbench that I didn’t get to photograph. Curses.)

Caleb did something very cool with his sliding locks. He made them into notched battens that he could use with holdfasts on his workbench. You can see one of the sliding locks on his workbench in the photo above, but the notched section is covered by a handplane.

If you cannot visualize a notch there, check out this entry that explains things.

— Christopher Schwarz

I hate hearing someone say: “I would get in to woodworking but I can’t afford the equipment.”

Woodworking does not have to be an expensive hobby. It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. A simple workbench can be built in a day with hand tools for about $100. Many tools can be picked up at garage sales and at tool meets. Online auctions or classified sections of woodworking lists such as WoodNet are another great source, as are Craigslist and e-bay.

Do you really need stationary equipment for your hobby? Machines can be expensive – moving them, getting your shop wired, dust collection and etc. will add up quick. Many times it is quicker to do something by hand than to set up a machine or design jigs for machines to do the job.

I find that machines pay off when making multiples. It is the skills that are hard to come by. Lack of skill is what really costs us time and money. The $5 handsaw is rusty and dull, so you need to know how to clean and sharpen it. Find someone to show you how or take a class; learn to do it properly and well. You may have $100 invested in that first saw when you are done, but you also will have a new skill. While your next rusty saw will be $5 plus your time to clean it up, you will also know if it is any good before you buy it.

Learn how to saw. Many of the tools we buy are created to replace a skill, to make a task so easy a child could do it. They very seldom live up to their hype. How many of you have purchased a tool to improve your dovetails or to enable you to saw better?

The chisel needs to be used and understood before you move on to the saw and plane. You probably don’t need a new chisel; you need to learn how to efficiently sharpen the one you have.

You need to know the properties of wood before you can work it properly, including how to read grain direction and plan for wood movement. Knowledge is the thrifty woodworker’s friend. Knowledge will ensure your materials are stored properly, tools and equipment are maintained, the shop is clean and organized and layouts are done efficiently for both time and materials.

Knowledge of power tools, if you choose to use them, can save you time, money and pain; know how to safely use them. Using a power jointer and planer can save a lot of preparation time if you don’t get your hand in there. Power tools are also efficient at spoiling material if you don’t really know what you are doing. “Knowing” that you need a tool to be more efficient at your work is better than “hoping” that a new shiny gee-gaw will make you a better woodworker. Don’t buy a tool that you can’t maintain unless you plan to pay to have someone else do the maintenance. You cannot buy your way in.

Say you buy a shop full of tools and equipment and a pile of wood, now what? Buy some plans? Hire somebody to come in and do the work?

—Mike Siemsen, Mike Siemsen School of Woodworking

Editor’s note: We are in the final stages of Mike’s new DVD “The Naked Woodworker.” It will be a two-DVD set. More details in the coming week.

In this segment, we visit The Naked Woodworker, the oracle of east-central Minnesota, to ask his advice on the following important questions.

1. Oh Naked Woodworker, tell us the truth about safety advice. It’s mostly legal, cover-one’s-behind stuff, no?

The Naked Woodworker speaks: Avoid injury! There is no greater loss to a woodworker than an injury; while most injuries are small cuts that are fairly easily taped over, you still get blood on your work and have an annoying sore spot to take care of until it heals. The bigger wounds might require stitching, which involves time away from your shop to get sewn up, time lost to heal if the wound is in a bad place, and money out of pocket to pay the doctor. We won’t talk about more severe wounds, which have more severe repercussions, such as the loss of the ability to count to 10 or pick your nose. Be careful, read instructions, follow them, wear safety glasses and dust masks, listen to your “gut” if the voice in your head says, ”Don’t do that.”

2. Oh Naked Woodworker, where will I find tools and wood to make things? For we are naked and have no such objects.

The Naked Woodworker speaks: You will need tools, wood and a place to work and store your tools and materials. Be creative. Perhaps you’ll have to work outside and store everything in a garden shed; if you don’t have a shed, that could be a good project. Figure out how you want to work; both hand tools and power tools can be found on Craigslist. Be patient and watch for a good deal.

It is a good idea to have a small trailer for getting materials and machines. Small trailers can be found on Craigslist as well. If all you have is the back seat of a Miata or a bicycle, you will be severely limited in your ability to jump on deals when they arise. Though I have been able to pick things up via motorcycle as well. Many items will easily fit in the trunk of a car, but lumber can be tricky. Roof racks are good but be sure to tie things down well; be creative.

Keep it simple at first. Build a sawhorse and a workbench of the type that suits you and your method of work. I find the English joiner’s bench to be inexpensive, very functional and easy to make. Workmates and sheets of plywood on sawhorses work as well.

3. Oh Naked Woodworker, what is the most important tool in the shop?

The Naked Woodworker speaks: Without knowledge of your tools and material, you will be lost. Learn the basics, put down a solid foundation of how tools work and how wood behaves, or misbehaves. Learn to sharpen and maintain your tools and equipment quickly and efficiently. Your brain is your true power tool, make sure it is turned on before you enter the shop. You don’t want to say, “I knew better” or, “I just wasn’t thinking.” Your mind is where you keep your most important tools, make sure it is full and well maintained.

Take a class and try other people’s tools. Learn how to sharpen and tune any tool you own, power or hand tool. Buying tools will not give you skills! Skills come with training and practice; they are earned! Many machines are very dangerous; learn how to operate them safely by reading the manuals that come with them. Know what makes a tool or machine “good.” Price is not always an indicator of quality. Buy the best tools and machines you can afford.

The broom is the second-most most important tool in the shop. Keep your shop clean, and when you drop a tiny screw or break a chip off of a dovetail you might be able to find it. When you hit a tough spot in a project and don’t know how to progress, or you had an upsetting phone call and are stressed out, sweep the shop to music. Put things away and tidy up. Soon you feel better and can get back to work. You may even come up with a solution to your tough project. You will get far more work done and have fewer tools fall off the bench and break in a tidy shop. If you can’t find a tool in the shop, start putting things away until it turns up. Don’t simply search for it. When you go into your shop, always put 10 things away.

4. But Naked Woodworker, we did not ask about the second-most important tool, for we are slovenly. But where can we purchase such knowledge and skills?

The Naked Woodworker speaks: Take classes to gain skills. Create or join a group of like-minded people, SAPFM, M-WTCA, PATINA, or local guilds and learn together. Bring in a teacher and create your own class. Knowledge is your best tool for saving money. Learn, practice, learn some more and improve by practicing. Do not practice poor technique.

The Naked Woodworker has spoken.

— Mike Siemsen, Mike Siemsen School of Woodworking

“The Naked Woodworker” DVD is off to the pressing plant in Virginia, and I am uploading the massive movie files to our store’s servers as I type. So here are details on the project, when it will be available and pricing.

“The Naked Woodworker” is unlike any woodworking product I’ve worked on. It started last May when Mike Siemsen and I were talking at Handworks in Amana, Iowa. While examining his workbench there, we began throwing ideas back and forth about how to capture his bootstrapping methods and bring them to a wide audience.

The core principle: Buy a few good vintage tools, fix them up, build a sawbench and a workbench. Do it fast, well and with no machinery or woodworking power tools.

In February, John Hoffman and I drove up to Siemsen’s shop in Minnesota to film the DVD, the first for Lost Art Press. On Saturday morning we hit the Mid-West Tool Collectors Association’s regional meeting where we filmed Mike sifting through, evaluating, haggling and buying the tools we’d need. (Personal note: If you like handwork, join MWTCA. It’s inexpensive to join, and the rewards are extraordinary.)

After lunch with some of Mike’s buddies, we drove to his shop and began fixing up the tools we bought. Mike rehabbed the planes, sharpened the saws and fixed up the braces – all on camera.

On the second day, Mike built a sawbench and a fully functional workbench using home-center materials. Both the sawbench and workbench are amazingly clever. You don’t need a single machine or power tool to make them. And they work incredibly well.

Mike finished up work on the bench just as his friends were showing up for his birthday party (hence the beers in the background during the final shots of the DVD). Everyone ate chili (at least, that’s what they were calling it) while sitting on the new bench and playing with the tools.

This spring, I edited the footage down to two short DVDs. One on buying and fixing tools. The other on building the sawbench and workbench. We also commissioned a very nice SketchUp drawing of the bench. And, most telling, we made a spreadsheet that details every tool, screw and stick of lumber we bought for the project. Both the SketchUp drawing and spreadsheet come with the DVDs.

We spent $571.40 for everything. Then Mike sat down and figured out what the prices would be if you paid for your tools more on the high side of things. That price: $769.40.

We hope this project will inspire new woodworkers to just dive into handwork and get started. I talked to too many people who are hesitant about where to begin, how to begin or think they have to buy every tool in the catalogs to begin. You don’t.

We also think “The Naked Woodworker” will be a great thing for experienced woodworkers who need a quick workbench and some sawbenches.

“The Naked Woodworker” will be available in August in two forms: A DVD set for $22, or a download for $20. The download will be available for international customers. We don’t know if any of our retailers will carry this product as of yet. If they pick it up for their catalogs, we’ll let you know.

Next month I’ll post some video samples from “The Naked Woodworker” so you can get a taste of the project.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. There is no nudity in “The Naked Woodworker.” Thank goodness.

Last night I processed image files until the wee hours as I waited for word that Mike Siemsen’s new DVD “The Naked Woodworker” was ready in our warehouse. We’re still working out a few little bugs, but it will go up for sale in the store no later than Monday.

Meanwhile, I woke up this morning with crossed eyes – I couldn’t bear to look at a computer screen. So I got a jump on the knockdown Nicholson I’m building this weekend. It’s based loosely on Mike’s design in “The Naked Woodworker,” but it incorporates some knockdown bolts that are both super-easy to install and robust.

Judging from the comments on an earlier post about this bench, there is some confusion about how these work. They aren’t like threaded inserts. I’ll have more details tomorrow or Sunday when I get to that part of the project. I think you’ll see why these tee-nuts are superior to other solutions out there.

I’m not doing everything like Mike does on his DVD, as you can see in the photo above. Mike assembles the legs with screws so you don’t have to have clamps. I have clamps, so I put those to use this afternoon.

So I’m not fully naked. To the great relief of my neighbors.

More tomorrow.

— Christopher Schwarz

The only thing difficult about building this workbench in two days is not building the whole thing in only one day.

I had only about four or five hours of shop time today because we’re packing up our oldest daughter to head off to college on Monday. Despite this, and going to three record stores and a pizza dinner (A Tavola, my favorite), I had to restrain myself from just building the whole workbench start to finish today.

This morning I broke down all the stock with a circular saw, jointed all the boards’ edges with a jointer plane and glued up the top. Then I ate a jelly doughnut.

I clipped the corners of the front and back aprons with a handsaw and then glued a 1×10 spacer to the inside of each apron. This spacer, which is an idea I swiped directly from “The Naked Woodworker,” is one of Mike Siemsen’s moments of pure genius on the DVD. The spacers add rigidity and set the location of the legs.

Then I removed the machine marks from the legs and drilled all the holes for the knockdown hardware. The surface-mounted tee-nuts are a snap to install. They press into a 31/64” pilot hole; prongs stop them from rotating. Then No. 6 x 1-1/4” screws make sure the tee-nuts never fall out when the wood shrinks. I was impressed by how easy these metal bits were to install.

And when I cinched up the legs to the aprons with 3/8” x 3” hex-head bolts and 3/8” x 1” washers, the assemblies were rock solid.

Note that the order of assembly here doesn’t appear logical at first. But I have a good reason for it. More on that tomorrow.

— Christopher Schwarz

I had only 90 minutes in the shop today as we spent most of our daylight getting my daughter packed for college and taking her out for a rib dinner.

But during those 90 minutes I assembled the ends and added the stretchers. Everything went swimmingly until I fit the final stretcher. I planed the stretcher’s edge a stroke too many and so that one lap joint isn’t museum-quality.

The end assembly right before the final fitting of the stretcher. It is a little long here.

However, the joint is at the back of the bench and by the floor, so I guess I have more luck than brains today.

Tomorrow it’s off to college, and I’ll brood about that joint’s gap all the way home.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. “The Naked Woodworker” will be live in the store tomorrow evening.

“The Naked Woodworker” DVD and downloadable video are now available in the Lost Art Press store.

The video, hosted by Mike Siemsen, is an introduction to the world of hand-tool woodworking that begins with a tool kit comprised of only a 5-gallon bucket. It ends with completing a workbench that will allow you to start building serious furniture.

While that might sound like a long journey, it’s not. Siemsen, a life-long professional woodworker, has distilled the process of purchasing, setting up and using a basic set of hand tools down its most important essence. And he doesn’t waste a second of time or a penny of money in the process.

Here’s an overview of the 174-minute video:

1. Buy the tools. We followed Siemsen to a regional meeting of the Mid-West Tool Collectors Association where we picked through piles of tools all morning to separate the good user tools from the stuff that should be left to rust. Armed with a wad of $200 in small bills, Siemsen negotiated with the dealers to assemble a useable set of tools, everything from the saws and planes, to the files and saw vise needed to sharpen them up.

These principles can be used to buy tools online or at an antique mall.

2. Fix the tools. If you buy the right tools, they don’t require too much repair. But every old tool needs a little setting up. Using home-center equipment (a grinder, belt-sander paper and carpet tape), Mike fixed up and sharpened all the tools. He set up the planes. He sharpened the saws (and repaired their totes). And he got all the Auger bits in good order.

3. Build a sawbench. Before you can build a bench, you need a pair of sawbenches. So Siemens shows how to build a sawbench using nothing more than the basic tools, construction lumber and a couple of buckets.

4. Build a workbench. With the sawbenches complete, Siemsen builds a full-size Nicholson-style workbench using more construction lumber and the same set of tools. You don’t a single machine to make this bench, just Siemsen’s clever ideas and the tools you’ve fixed up.

The bench is designed to do all the tasks required in modern workshop, and it doesn’t take a month of Sundays to build. Siemsen built the entire bench – start to finish – in a single day. It might take you a few weekends.

The biggest surprise of the entire “Naked Woodworker” project is how affordable everything is. Siemsen spent a little more than $571 for everything, from the tools to the wood to the glue and screws. But he’s a good negotiator. We estimate almost anyone could do the same thing for no more than $760.

In addition to the two videos, “The Naked Woodworker” includes a detailed SketchUp drawing of the bench and a spreadsheet that details every tool, screw and stick of lumber purchased for the project.

This product is available in two formats: A two-DVD set that ships from our warehouse in Indiana for $22, or in digital format for $20. Customers who purchase the DVD will be able to download SketchUp drawing of the bench, a pdf of all the tools and materials used in the video after checkout.

Customers who purchase the digital product will download three documents: a SketchUp drawing of the bench, a pdf of all the tools and materials used in the video and login credentials to be able to watch the video on any device and download it onto any device – all in HD.

You can order “The Naked Woodworker” in our store.

— Christopher Schwarz

With the finish drying on my knockdown Nicholson workbench, I began working on a removable shelf to go below the bench. (Forgive me. I am so stuck in the 18th century when it comes to wanting a shelf below my bench.)

Then our postal carrier made an unscheduled stop at our front door. In his hands was a box filled with hardware bits I had resolved to try at the recommendations of readers.

Most of the bits were no better than the steel tee-nuts I had installed on the bench. But one of the bags in the box was heavy. Real heavy. This bag of 14 malleable iron mounting plates (McMaster-Carr 11445T1) was impressive. The plates were sand-cast, thick and heavy.

So I put aside the planks for the shelf and began removing all the tee-nuts to install the iron mounting plates.

I could be wrong, but I think I’m now done.

I tried to destroy the threads of one of these mounting plates and I failed. The wood between the plate and the bolt’s washer just popped and crushed instead. I’m sure I could ruin the mounting plate, but the bolt and wood would also be ruined in the process.

So I installed all the mounting plates and reassembled the bench. I was going to shoot a video of the assembly process, but that will have to be tomorrow. I’ve got 63 pending e-mails to deal with tonight.

— Christopher Schwarz

Finally dragged in about 8 p.m. this evening. The choice: shoot a video of how the bench knocks apart or complete the shelf.

The photo above is the answer.

After I spend all the money I’ve made this year on wood (at Midwest Woodworking) tomorrow morning, I’ll shoot a video. Promise.

— Christopher Schwarz

Veteran woodworker Jeff Branch has reviewed our new DVD, “The Naked Woodworker” with Mike Siemsen. Jeff has 30 years of woodworking experience but is just entering the world of handwork – so he’s not a babe in the woods.

Be sure to check out the review so you know what to do when your spouse walks in on you watching “The Naked Woodworker.” All I can say is that it’s a good thing we used an Americana soundtrack for the DVD and not smooth wife-swapping jazz.

If you don’t have time to read the review, here’s the conclusion in a nutshell: “A friend once asked me about woodworking: ‘How do I get started; what do I do first?’ I am going to tell him to buy this video.”

“The Naked Woodworker” is available in a two-DVD set or for immediate download in our store.

— Christopher Schwarz

Mike Siemsen’s “The Naked Woodworker” DVDs have been well-received by Lost Art Press customers – we’ve had trouble keeping them in stock during the last month. And the downloaded version has been watched almost 700 times on our streaming site.

If those facts aren’t enough to convince you that “The Naked Woodworker” is an excellent bootstrapping introduction to becoming a hand-tool woodworker, perhaps you’ll listen to what other bloggers have been saying about the videos during the last couple weeks.

Bob Rozaieski of The Logan Cabinet Shoppe wrote up a full-length review of the DVDs on his site this week – check out the full write-up here.

Bob is not a beginning woodworker – far from it. He purchased the DVDs so he could donate them to his local woodworking club.

Here’s the gist of his review: “…let me just say, that if you are the new woodworker I just described, you need this DVD. It will be the best $20 and the most valuable 4½ hours you can spend before you start woodworking.”

Other recent reviews:

The Slightly Confused Woodworker weighs in on the DVDs.

The Accidental Woodworker covers the second DVD in detail.

And here’s a blog I didn’t know: The Wood Nerd. He discusses the DVDs as his jumping-off point to get into the craft and the results. Good stuff – this guy even gets into his failures. That’s helpful stuff.

“The Naked Woodworker” is available in our store for $22 for the two-DVD set or $20 for the download. Stay tuned for more nudity – Mike Siemsen is working on a video that we will post for free here that shows you how to use the workholding on his bench.

— Christopher Schwarz

Thanks to a solid month of volunteer work, there are now complete transcripts of “The Naked Woodworker” available for Lost Art Press customers.

These transcripts are ideal for woodworkers with impaired hearing or who simply want to check the dimensions from the videos before they make a cut. The transcripts are in three documents: Two documents for the video on tools. And one document for the video on building a sawbench and workbench.

If you already purchased the DVD or video from Lost Art Press, you were sent an e-mail this morning notifying you that the product has been updated and that you can download the new version (so check your e-mail). The new version contains a folder with the transcripts.

And all new customers will automatically receive the transcripts with every order.

If you purchased “The Naked Woodworker” from one of our retailers, send us a note and we will send you the transcripts via e-mail.

Transcribing a technical video takes a lot of time. So please thank Suzanne Ellison for creating the transcription and Mike Siemsen for proofing it. This was weeks of 100-percent volunteer work to assist one reader. And every customer will benefit as a result.

— Christopher Schwarz

Editor’s note: Mike Siemsen, the host of “The Naked Woodworker” DVD has built a cool little knockdown bench designed for traveling and apartments. Check it out – and we promise that more copies of “The Naked Woodworker” are on the way to our warehouse! Thanks for your patience.

I decided to try my hand at a knockdown bench for transport to shows and demonstrations. Such a bench could also be used by people with limited space.

It is 5’ long so it fits in the trunk of my Honda Civic with its back seats folded down. With the bench’s aprons folded down, it is 6-3/4” thick. If you pull the hinge pins and remove the aprons it is only 4-1/2” thick. It is 22-3/4” wide and stands 32” tall when assembled. The leg sections do not break down. If you leave the aprons attached there is no loose hardware. As to workholding, the crochet is removable for easier transport; there are no vises, only holdfasts and planing stops.

Above is the bench when it is knocked up.

Here it is knocked down. The aprons are hinged to fold flat, or you can knock out the pins and remove the aprons. The leg sections do not disassemble. The legs slide into the large dados in the aprons and pins lock the aprons to the legs.

This is the hardware I made for the leg-to-apron joint. A bolt through the apron and into the leg would work just as well, but I was going for a tool-less knockdown.

The mortise for the crochet before the top goes on.

I made the crochet just a 1″-square stick that slides in a mortise so it can be removed for easier packing and hauling. Chris thinks this is an emasculator, but it is too late for that!

I made a simple planing stop. A 3/4” dowel with a 1/4” x 1” x 1” square of steel screwed to the top. I sharpened the leading edge and cut in some notches. I still need to recess it into the top. I also made a “doe’s foot” and there is a stick that goes in the slot in the center of the bench for use as a planing stop as well for traversing.

Just another shot with one set of legs removed. It is very solid and a bit heavy. I can move it by myself, though.

Here is the hardware for the pins. It is just 1-1/2” x 1/4” steel bar cut to the width of the leg and drilled for a 1/4” x 4 steel pin. Drill them in pairs so the 1/4” holes match up so the pins slide in after assembly. I drilled the apron plate that receives the pin 1/64” bigger in diameter (that’s 9/64”) for clearance and I ground a chamfer on the ends of the pins. The pin is offset because I wanted the holdfast holes in the legs to be in the center.

I used 4” x 4” hinges for the aprons, three on each apron. When you mortise for the hinges make sure there is no gap between the apron and the benchtop.

I used bigger screws than the ones that came with the hinges.

I clamped the legs to the aprons when I bored the holdfast holes through the apron and into the top of the leg. I drew the location of all the hardware and screws on the face of the apron and top of the bench so I wouldn’t hit them when boring holes. You can see that the holes at the bottom of the leg are offset to avoid the screws that attach the stretcher to the leg.

I used the drill press to bore a 3/4” hole through a thick block of wood for a guide for the brace and 3/4” bit. I clamped it for the first hole and then used a holdfast in that hole to clamp it for the next one.

This is a very solid little bench that I plan to bring to Handworks in May 2015.

— Mike Siemsen, Mike Siemsen School of Woodworking

Mike Siemsen, the host of “The Naked Woodworker” DVD, has a new video that is being streamed through the Craftsy.com site on building benches and boxes with basic hand tools.

The seven-part high-definition video takes a bootstrap approach to getting started with hand tools and (amazingly) employs even fewer tools than “The Naked Woodworker.” As always, Mike comes up with ingenious low-tech solutions to common workshop problems, such as laying out dovetails with the help of an index card.

The videos show you how to build a simple boot bench using dados and a second bench using through-dovetails. Then you build a dovetailed box.

The videos are normally $49.99 for lifetime access, but if you use the following link, the price is $39.99. (Also, if you use the above link, Mike gets a slightly bigger cut.)

We’re huge fans of Mike and his enthusiasm for teaching beginners. So if you know someone who wants to get started in the craft (or that someone is you), it’s definitely worth checking out.

— Christopher Schwarz