What I learned at the Design Build Show

After spending a week at the Design Build Show in Boston with some of the region’s most talented furniture makers, it is safe to say I learned a few things… Here are the top 10, in no particular order.

1) Yes, Phil Lowe really is that good. Enough said.

2) Tommy MacDonald is even funnier in person than he is on his show. And he’s one heck of a nice guy to boot.

3) Mike’s Pastry makes the most delicious cannolis on the planet. Well worth waiting in line to get. I especially liked the peanut butter version.

4) The Krenov tradition is alive and well with the younger generation. More than half the furniture makers at the show were my age or younger (I’m 29), and most of the pieces showed the hand of Old Jim.

5) Faneuil rhymes with channel, not manual.

6) The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has some of the most incredible furniture you will ever see, including a whole collection of John Townsend pieces. You can get within inches of the pieces. Just don’t touch them or drool on them; the docents frown on that (don’t ask me how I know this).

7) You probably shouldn’t say anything about baseball unless you are totally devoted to the Red Sox. This doesn’t just apply to Yankees fans. My fellow Tigers fans take heed.

8) Glen Guarino’s wife, Marie, is one of the most talented PR people I’ve ever met. And, having spent a fair number of years working in politics, I’ve met a lot of PR people.

9) If you enjoy adult beverages and superb pub food, The Whiskey Priest should be your new favorite place – more than 75 different whiskeys available. And it’s right next to the Seaport Center where the Design Build Show is held. Need I say more?

And now, the final thing I learned:

10) If you have any interest in fine furniture, either as a connoisseur or as a maker, make sure to attend the Design Build Show next year in February. You will not regret the decision. This show and its organizers deserve our support.

— Zachary Dillinger, contributor
Zach will teach you how to build his William & Mary Spice Chest (featured at the 2013 Design Build Show) in the August 2013 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine.

• Looking for instruction on hand-tool approaches to woodworking? Check out “Hand Tool Essentials,” a collection of articles from Popular Woodworking – available now in PDF format for your computer or PDF-enabled eReader, and also available in print (paperback book). And don’t miss Christopher Schwarz’s 2-DVD set, “Mastering Hand Tools,” with video instruction on using the tools every craftsperson should know.

Editor’s note: We’re inviting our contributing editors and authors to write blog entries for us on all things woodworking – particularly related to articles they’re writing for the magazine. The post above is from Zachary Dillinger, a talented woodworker who works only with hand tools as he makes bespoke furniture in his Michigan shop. You can find out more about his work (and read his blog) at Eaton County Joinery.