HarveyWildes
Member
- Joined
- May 3, 2016
- Messages
- 984
I've been to Maine three times in the last ten years and have not been able to make it to Lie Nielsen once - either it was a weekend, or we were in a rush, or we were too far away. Well this week I am in Boston on business and decided to take an extra day in Maine. After visiting LL Bean on the way to a scenic, comfortable hotel in Rockport, I visited Lie Nielsen the next morning and the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in the early afternoon.
The day started out with bright sunshine on back Maine roads in the peak of the fall colors. I can still picture a small pond (~50-100 acres) with the sun shining on the trees on the far bank, greens and oranges and reds, with a perfect reflection on the pond. It was like a portent of the rest of the day.
Lie Nielsen exceeded my expectations. It wasn't busy on a Monday morning in October, and I was able to talk over tool choices with the salesperson in detail, asked a lot questions, got good answers. I ended up trying out the floats, was impressed, and got two for me and two for my son, as well as a T-Shirt to go with my Festool and This Old House shirts. We'll see how I feel when it comes time to sharpen them
. I also got a few other items.
As I was checking out, another couple walked in. I thought the guy looked a little familiar. As it turned out, they were also from Colorado, and he had also taken a few classes at Red Rocks Community College around the same time I did. It's a small world.
After checking out, I asked if they ever gave tours. The salesperson said yes, transformed into a tour guide, and gave a tour for three. Aside from casting plane bodies, Lie Nielsen does all of their manufacturing on site. The tour took about forty minutes and I enjoyed every minute of it. They use an eclectic variety of machines, from the latest CNC mills to last generation machines that look they would survive ground zero. One machine for filing saw teeth still had a handle attached for manual use, although it had been converted to motorized use. A surprising number of machining steps were still done by hand, giving the tools an added element of craftsmanship. The emphasis on quality was very high, as you would expect from Lie Nielsen. The tour was gigantically awesome!
After the tour, I left Lie Nielsen and headed over to the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. The grounds and buildings are awesome. Peter Korn started the school, and is still actively involved. I met him shortly after I walked in and spent about ten minutes talking to him - very welcoming. The campus is an open campus, so I was able to walk through the rooms (except for the machine rooms where safety glasses are required) and watch folks at work. They had a couple of workshops going, as well as the 9-month intensive. One building has several folks working on fellowship, and I was able to enjoy talking to them as well. One of the instructors and several of the women fellows let me take their pictures for my nine year old granddaughter who enjoys woodworking.
To top off the day, I drove to Belfast and completed the day with a two lobster dinner at Young's Lobster Pound.
All in all, a great woodworking pilgrimage and memory.
The day started out with bright sunshine on back Maine roads in the peak of the fall colors. I can still picture a small pond (~50-100 acres) with the sun shining on the trees on the far bank, greens and oranges and reds, with a perfect reflection on the pond. It was like a portent of the rest of the day.
Lie Nielsen exceeded my expectations. It wasn't busy on a Monday morning in October, and I was able to talk over tool choices with the salesperson in detail, asked a lot questions, got good answers. I ended up trying out the floats, was impressed, and got two for me and two for my son, as well as a T-Shirt to go with my Festool and This Old House shirts. We'll see how I feel when it comes time to sharpen them
. I also got a few other items.As I was checking out, another couple walked in. I thought the guy looked a little familiar. As it turned out, they were also from Colorado, and he had also taken a few classes at Red Rocks Community College around the same time I did. It's a small world.
After checking out, I asked if they ever gave tours. The salesperson said yes, transformed into a tour guide, and gave a tour for three. Aside from casting plane bodies, Lie Nielsen does all of their manufacturing on site. The tour took about forty minutes and I enjoyed every minute of it. They use an eclectic variety of machines, from the latest CNC mills to last generation machines that look they would survive ground zero. One machine for filing saw teeth still had a handle attached for manual use, although it had been converted to motorized use. A surprising number of machining steps were still done by hand, giving the tools an added element of craftsmanship. The emphasis on quality was very high, as you would expect from Lie Nielsen. The tour was gigantically awesome!
After the tour, I left Lie Nielsen and headed over to the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. The grounds and buildings are awesome. Peter Korn started the school, and is still actively involved. I met him shortly after I walked in and spent about ten minutes talking to him - very welcoming. The campus is an open campus, so I was able to walk through the rooms (except for the machine rooms where safety glasses are required) and watch folks at work. They had a couple of workshops going, as well as the 9-month intensive. One building has several folks working on fellowship, and I was able to enjoy talking to them as well. One of the instructors and several of the women fellows let me take their pictures for my nine year old granddaughter who enjoys woodworking.
To top off the day, I drove to Belfast and completed the day with a two lobster dinner at Young's Lobster Pound.
All in all, a great woodworking pilgrimage and memory.
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