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I spoke to James by phone when he was at California at College of The Redwoods. I had just read A Cabinet Makers Notebook and needed his advice. I had tracked him down in the days before computers. We communicated by cassett tapes afterwards.

Thank you so much for making available this video, and actually hearing James Krenov in person. He is one of the few makers who had a deep insight and real philosophy in woodwork. He must have been a great mentor and guide to many a woodworker. He speaks like a poet and a sage, and there are so few of his ilk anywhere around. His work alone spoke chapters. A true inspiration.

I lived in Fort Bragg, back in 2019, and , like Hunter said, I had no idea that this school existed. Sad, because I love woodworking, and would have loved to visit this place. I now live on Clear Lake, so I'm not too far away. I hope to visit there, sometime after the weather gets better :)

James sent me a couple of hand planes over the years and almost every time I would talk to him on the phone he would mention sending me another plane. I didn't want him spending time on planes for me, but I appreciate the ones I have. He came by my workbench one day and gave me his set of sharpening stones. I am not sure why he did that either, but I appreciated that and use them to this day. My favorite thing that he gave me was his little homemade hammer used to adjust the iron on small planes. that little hammer was unique because he just left all of the knife marks on it. We had a lot of good conversations before school started. Fortunately for me people didn't like to get to class early. Except Larry Hinkle. Most of the time it was just James, Larry and me talking about woodworking and our projects before class. I learned a lot from James.

What a dream it would be to have this privilege . I admire how humble these new students are during this wonderful time in there lives . To study here would be nothing short of a miracle for me . Hand tools have been an integral part of my life for years now and currently I'm trying my hand a creating my own Cabinet on a stand with Sapele . I'll be living vicariously through these wonderful people as the season progresses . Blessings to you all .

Is there such a thing as being too eccentric for Krenov?😊

Sings a fine tune.

❤

Thank you

Yup. This is good

From a reliable source at the time of the events.... Their words not mine. Krenov was asked to leave Malmsten. He was known to be unpleasant. Krenov got the job in Mendocino due to the efforts of a Stanford professor, Krenov never thanked him. Items in his first book were not made by Krenov. Stories about wood in England were actually from another student (who, unlike Krenov, actually graduated) in Malsten. who relocated to Calif pre Krenov. I have Krenov's first Swedish bench custom made for him.. As he was short, I added runners to increase the height. If interested, for sale at $5K firm.

Bonnie's idea of having the middle tails in her drawers begin at an elevated position and gradually step down, caught my eye. In daily use, it's likely to go unnoticed. I'm glad it was highlighted here.

Hi Paul, I have only known you in passing. You are doing a great job with these interviews.

Craftsmanship is a series of mistakes.

Seems that Greg makes an impression on everyone :)

What a fantastic cabinet. The pear inside is such a nice.. pairing, sry, to the kwila. I love that it's odd-sided and simple. Beautiful piece.

This is a very nice cabinet with clean lines. The transition from straight to curved, from top to bottom, really catches the eye. I love Madrone; it's such a treat getting to work with it, especially considering most folks don't even know it's used.

Another beautiful nod to the Krenov cabinet. I love the grain on display. The gentle tones of the wood work wonderfully together. I hear ya on obsessing over a single piece, knowing it will define the work. Great job.

Those dovetails... This piece is a wonderful nod to the classic Krenov cabinet. Long, delicate curves and beautiful joinery!

Beautiful long compound curves. I love the twisting design of it all.

Love the walnut! The chair and desk are beautiful; I really wanna know how the 2 long doors/drawers open. I love the visible brass tacks in your cabinet, such a nice detail.

I wanna sit in that chair, I can't really imaghine how it feels due to such a neat and unusual design. But yoiur cabinet... quirky in absolutely the best way. It took me a moment to notice that the internal drawer pull was the pokey bit up front! Your inclusion of the burled or branch base grain is a wonderful nod to Krenov's habit of embracing the wood's natural beauty.

That birdseye is such a treat, well done!

My god both of those pieces are gorgeous! The continuation of the spalting is brilliant and the curves at the top of the second piece really draw the eyes. They're beautiful.

Absolutely love these interviews. Keep them coming!

Incrível ! ❤

Ammiro la tecnica del Maestro! Ma la scacchiera è posizionata male.....

I wish I met him. What a lovely video, thanks!

Can we see the bak

Back in the 70s when FWW, Van Nostrand Reinhold, and Kodansha, introduced us to the likes of Krenov, Carpenter, Nakashima, and Maloof, who would have guessed there would be so few to come forward afterwards to play similar roles.

Today this man would run a huge youttube channel. He is Born 30 years to early....

If you lose the value of 2 hours of this wisdom because of the amateur level of the recording, you dont even deserve to be here. This was a wonderful talk.

A real gem. Hearing Krenov in full flow, addressing practical issues with a passionate attention to detail is a joy. Thank you.

Thank you, David ! .... omar.

Very enjoyable video; every avid woodworker sooner or later learns of James Krenov his work and philosophy can spot his influence.

This is good info, too bad everyone in the class has chronic emphysema.

I am so thankful of this video, thank you so much

This man has been my mentor for about thirty years of woodworking. If my work looks less beginner and amateurish, it's because of reading his many books on the subject. Between having a career in engineering, I managed to gather some knowledge of woodworking. I own many tools that replace what I lack in talent with hand tools. -Curt Kuhns

I was there at the school when he was finishing this. I remember the carved pulls and especially the pattern alignment along the veneer seams.

What a treat to get a detailed guided tour of such a large Krenov piece. Great video. Thank you!

Bravo David and Joe! Great work.

Thank you David for making the Pagoda Cabinet come to life. I so enjoyed the tour.

Thank you David, that was a really nice walk through on a sweet little piece of history.

Thanks much for getting this out there, One more step to world domination

I can relate to what he says at 9:10 about how he didn't flip a coin and or do something knowing it would be better. Sometimes I think if I do something over and over and over and fail and then I finally get it right, was it just by chance or was it because I tried it one more time? In photography you can shoot a subject 100 times and get only one picture that you like. Does that mean you failed 99 times? Or did it just take that many times to get what you wanted?

Just found this, thanks for putting it out!

Thanks so much for posting these.

Fantastic. Thanks for posting these videos.

really a treasure!

21:00. the close up on the white block innthe middle of the screen...Inthought he said he could always getnthe spacers out? lol...camera guys a smartass ;) Looks like one he couldnt get out and ...what choice do you have? trash the whole thing or make do?