JonBinzen

Jon Binzen, New Milford, CT, US
senior editor

Jonathan Binzen is a former senior editor at Fine Woodworking and continues to contribute to the magazine as an author, identifying and interviewing most of the woodworkers whose work appears on the back cover. In the 1980s he taught woodworking at a school for refugees in Philadelphia and later spent several years in Malaysia writing, working in a refugee camp, and making furniture in a Malay shop. These days he lives in New Milford, Connecticut. Between loads of laundry and trips to the elementary school with his daughters, he writes about furniture and interiors.

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Contributions

John Cameron's Massachusetts Ming

Mar 29, 2013
5 comments

John Cameron's new white oak chairs blend Ming Dynasty elegance with contemporary Western practicality. In this audio slide show he gives a guided tour of the new chairs and describes the process of designing and building them.

Aled Lewis: Woodworking Odyssey

Feb 7, 2013
10 comments

Center for Furniture Craftsmanship teacher Aled Lewis left behind a commercial shop, lured by the yearning to build one-of-a-kind pieces of handcrafted furniture.

Robert Erickson's Chairs: Angle of Repose

Nov 29, 2012
5 comments

Working in the off-the-grid shop he built forty years ago near Nevada City, California, self-taught woodworker Robert Erickson has earned a national reputation for his chairs.

Peter Galbert's House of Windsor

Oct 23, 2012
3 comments

Peter Galbert makes Windsor chairs in a house whose origins go back 210 years to its first owner—another Windsor chairmaker. Explore his new shop in the old house and catch a glimpse of his stunning chairs.

Silas Kopf: Majoring in Marquetry

Sep 26, 2012
7 comments

Silas Kopf is the most prominent American master of marquetry on furniture. This audio slide show presents a wide array of his accomplished work.

Peter Sandback Nails His Designs

Jul 26, 2012
9 comments

Peter Sandback creates beautiful inlay with nails. Find out how he does it in a Masters of the Craft audio slideshow.

Liam Flynn: Virtuoso Vessel Maker

May 31, 2012
6 comments

Using straightforward turning and carving techniques, Irish woodworker Liam Flynn turns extraordinary vessels from green wood and enriches their refined forms with freehand fluting. This slideshow presents an array of his work and methods.

John Reed Fox: The Uncompromising Craftsman

Apr 5, 2012
6 comments

John Reed Fox builds furniture that is both simple and striking. Combining influences from James Krenov, George Nakashima, and Japanese craft, Fox has created a style that is distinctly his own.

Brian Boggs Branches Out

Feb 10, 2012
7 comments

Chairmaker Brian Boggs, well-known for his furniture, is trying to realize a long-held dream: to bring a group of craftsmen together in a collective venture. This video shows Boggs and others describing his furniture and the Boggs Collective.

Jere Osgood: Modesty and Mastery

Feb 9, 2012
9 comments

In this audio slideshow, furniture maker Jere Osgood discusses his distinctive furniture, his life as a craftsman, and his experiences as a teacher.

Ulrike Scriba's Marquetry: Risk and Reward

Dec 8, 2011

Marquetry has a long history, and Ulrike Scriba was inspired by some of the fine work of the past three centuries in her native Germany. But her work strikes out in a new direction, blending an experimental approach to making patterns with an exacting grasp of the craft.

Adrian McCurdy: Furniture Riven from the Log

Oct 28, 2011
9 comments

Adrian McCurdy makes furniture from riven wood--he cleaves boards from large oak logs and builds pieces that reflect the character of the wood. This slideshow illuminates McCurdy's background and presents a range of his extraordinary work.

Geoffrey Warner: Assembling a Life

Sep 30, 2011
5 comments

In his shop on the coast of Maine Geoffrey Warner builds one-of-a-kind furniture but is involved in much else as well--from giving workshops to piloting his vintage sailboat on day cruises. This slideshow presents the remarkable breadth of his interests.

Peter Shepard Turns the Page

Jul 28, 2011
18 comments

Peter Shepard made a career switch at 40 from publishing to furnituremaking. It's clear in this slideshow that he hasn't missed a beat.

Steven Kennard: Turning Blackwood Boxes

Jun 1, 2011
1 comment

Nova Scotia turner and photographer Steven Kennard makes a dazzling array of sculptural boxes, primarily in blackwood. This slide show mixes dozens of his turnings, all of them beautifully presented in his own photographs, with a handful of shots of turnings in progress.

Curve It Like KÃ¶nig

Apr 7, 2011
9 comments

Enrico König's furniture often incorporates dramatic curves. Some are coopered, but most are bent laminations clothed in stunning veneer. This slideshow presents a range of his pieces and a peek into the Vancouver shop where he makes them.

Steve Brown Takes the Measure of a Chair

Feb 10, 2011
5 comments

Steve Brown, of the Cabinet and Furniture Making Department at Boston's North Bennet Street School, takes the viewer on a guided tour of an 18th-century Queen Anne side chair. Brown shares his techniques for recording the critical measurements and construction details required to make an accurate reproduction.

Partners in Craft: Harold Wood and John O'Brien

Dec 13, 2010
9 comments

An English artist/designer and an American cabinetmaker join forces in Texas and create an array of very impressive furniture.

Tool Chest with an Arts & Crafts Legacy

Nov 4, 2010
28 comments

Trevor Hadden's tool chest was the culminating project of a two-year apprenticeship that provided him with an impressive set of woodworking skills along with a direct link to the furniture makers of the English Arts & Crafts movement.

David Haig: Bending Timber

Oct 6, 2010
14 comments

New Zealand furnituremaker David Haig tells the story of developing his classic rocker in this audio slide show. He also shows a range of pieces he makes using a technique that combines kerf-bending and steam bending.

Howard Werner: Artist with a Chainsaw

Jul 29, 2010
6 comments

Howard Werner is a master craftsman whose primary tool is the chainsaw. This slideshow is rich with the results of Werner's thirty-five year career spent carving hefty logs into furniture and sculpture.

North Bennet Street School Turns 125

Jun 21, 2010
5 comments

This slide show is rich with photos of furniture by graduates of Boston's North Bennet Street School, the preeminent training ground for furniture makers with a period focus.

Seth Rolland: Slicing Maestro

Jun 3, 2010
14 comments

Seth Rolland's sliced furniture is a thrilling piece of technical innovation that also happens to be quite beautiful. This slide show follows the building of one table and presents many other pieces made using the same technique.

Adrian Potter: Thinking Furniture

Apr 8, 2010
5 comments

This audio slide show presents an array of pieces by Australian furniture maker and sculptor Adrian Potter. Potter's furniture is functional, yet full of innovations in shaping, joinery and materials. It also explores new ground with its use of movement and music, among other things, to convey a message.

Adrian Potter's Little Ship on Wooden Waves

Apr 8, 2010
2 comments

Adrian Potter's cabinet on the back cover of the magazine includes a miniature ship that rides up and down on wooden waves when you turn a crank. This video shows the ship in action.

Hank Gilpin: Exploring the American Forest

Feb 10, 2010
20 comments

Hank Gilpin’s career has been a ceaseless quest to discover enticing American woods for furniture making.

Pro Portfolio: Doug Mooberry and Kinloch Woodworking

Dec 16, 2009
19 comments

In this audio slide show Doug Mooberry describes some of the exquisite pieces of period furniture his company, Kinloch Woodworking, has built over the past three decades.

Brad Smith: Story of a Stool

Nov 3, 2009
16 comments

Brad Smith has been making his line of farm-inspired furniture for 25 years, and along the way he's developed a shop full of clever jigs for making the pieces quickly and efficiently. This audio slide show highlights many of them as it follows Smith building a stool.

Pro Portfolio: Michael Hurwitz: Planks into Poetry

Oct 1, 2009
10 comments

Philadelphia Furnituremaker Michael Hurwitz is one of the most talented designer/makers currently working. In this slide show he discusses a selection of pieces he's made over the past thirty years.

James Krenov: Virtuoso in Words and Wood

Sep 22, 2009
11 comments

An audio slideshow tribute to James Krenov (1920-2009).

Pro Portfolio: Hank Holzer and Judith Ames: Labor of Love

Jul 29, 2009
6 comments

Hank Holzer and Judith Ames are shopmates in Seattle. They are also husband and wife. Both have been making furniture since the early 1980s and have developed distinctive styles and loyal followings. This audio slide show presents a selection of furniture by each of them along with their commentary.

Sam Maloof: Reflections on a Master Maker

Jul 29, 2009
5 comments

Listen to this audio slide show with prominent woodworkers reflecting on the life and career of master furnituremaker Sam Maloof, who died in May at 93.

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JonBinzen

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