Handworks ‘23

I got back home from the long drive to the Amana Colonies in central Iowa and the whilwind that is Handworks about one week ago. If you’re unfamiliar, Handworks is a hand tool woodworking festival that celebrates all things around the craft. Most of the “vendors” were small business, many that make hand tools. Others were booths sharing educational opportunities, publishers, woodworking non-profits, and used tool vendors. The event was hosted by Benchcrafted, a workbench & work holding company that is owned and opperated by the Abraham family (this was the fourth or fifth Handworks that FJ and Jameel have put on). Benchcrafted is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, about 20 minutes from Amana. The Abrahams invited the woodworking community into their neighborhood and handled the monumental task of organizing 80 vendors and a festival for a few thousand people.

I shared a booth space with Matt Bickford of Connecticut, maker of beautiful molding planes. We were an odd couple - molding planes and green wood chairmaking - but we complimented each others’ work well. At times, during the height of the show, Matt had a dozen people watching him demonstrate how to properly use the planes. It was a joy to see him work - demonstrating the tools, putting them in interested people’s hands, and sharing his craft. That was the spirit of the show - to share the craft with everyone in attendance. Along with sharing the craft, this was a place for me to shake hands and thank people I’d worked with, and admired, through the internet but had not connected with before beyond a screen. The weekend was designed to connect people, in a beautiful place, with woodworking and tool making as the commonality.

I haven’t taken part in a festival like this before and am already excited for the next one. Thank you, FJ and Jameel, for making it happen.

Picture taken and shared by Handworks volunteer Matt Swiderki. Matt graciously covered my booth, and answered questions about chairmaking, at points when I needed to step away.