Woodworking in Denmark and our visits with the Mad Rhykenologist

One of the great pleasures in traveling is the opportunity to engage in interests with more intensity and from a different perspective than in our everyday environment. Thus, take lots of photos, eat different foods, experience different approaches to shelter and cram in as many museums as time allows. Our side trip to Wetzlar was decidedly photo-centric in general and Leica-centric in particular and we expected the trip to be bike-centric given that we signed up for a bike tour along with Copenhagen’s well known cycling culture (Berlin was not far behind in that department to our very pleasant surprise).
What I did not anticipate was how relevant Denmark would be to my interest in carpentry and woodworking, even as we were looking forward to meeting Mads F in person having already formed an on-line friendship through Lumberjocks.
The first exposure to Danish woodworking came with our visit to Middelaldercentret. DW had been predicting how much fun I would have there; I figured it would make for some good photo-ops. How much of the living history museum featured wood and metal crafting in retrospect should have been expected given how important seafaring and predation were to the middle age Danes/Vikings. Not only was the technology way interesting but how it was presented was entertaining and photogenic as well.

The actors were in effect trained craftsmen in the technology of the era.

The place was also near heaven for those with a Wabi-Sabi sensibility- simple, well-worn and crafted.

Finally, Tormek has nothing on this set-up.

Christiania is well known for it's libertarian mindset, although in pursuit of mind altering substances rather than the Koch bros version. Another aspect of this spirit is a strong DIY/maker culture. There is a large shop area there, not as photogenic as Middeladercentret but sufficiently engaging that I lost contact with my group while exploring the area. Dimensioned lumber, sheet goods and moldings along with power tools demonstrates the communities intention to have control over the means of production (one thing Marx was right about).

My introduction to Mads came while researching Moxon vises on Lumberjocks. He had posted a Milkman's Workbench renovation which caught my eye as it could potentially be used as a Moxon  vise. I commented to that effect with a prompt response that that indeed was his intention. While I went in a different direction in my project, his craftsmanship both as a woodworker and a technical writer/photographer were impressive (not to mention that he's writing in a second language) and marked him as someone to follow. Upon meeting in person, we found him to be an entertaining and amiable polymath. We were fortunate to be able to spend a good part of two of our four days in Copenhagen hanging out with him. His workshop/studio was only a couple of miles away from our hotel in a very lively and eclectic part of Copenhagen.
While my projects arise more from necessity (furniture for the house, picture frames for photos, DW honey-do stuff, stuff for the shop), Mads projects (and he's been prolific) are non-commerical (see the sign on his front door) and run the gamut from the practical to the near-whimsical. https://www.lumberjocks.com/mafe/projects

                                                                                              

The sign on the door- "This is not a store!"

The sign on the window kindly request bicyclists from leaving their bikes there as just about any wall fronting a street is an invitation to a local needing somewhere to lean a bike up against.

As a souvenir, Mads gave me one of his chisel engraved with his trademark.

 I initially protested with the lame excuse that it could pose a problem boarding our flight. DW noted that could be solved by checking my bag instead of carry-on. Once home, it sharpened up nicely, held it's edge and took its alongside the rest of my arsenal of chisels

The best source for things to do when visiting come from locals, thus part of our chats were recommendations for places to check out.  We had already been to the Design Museum. That had been an easy choice with minimal research needed to given our interests as makers and predilection for museums being one of the more worthwhile things to do. Sure enough, both DW and I found much that was relevant to us. This image would have saved me some time as it contains much of the information I had to forage through on-line when learning about seating and workdesk heights. In addition, it’s an art-piece in its own right.

It seems that anyone who’s shopped for furniture has come across Danish chairs. The exhibit featuring the variations on the generic Danish chair was so comprehensive that there had to be a tongue in cheek spirit in its presention.

Courtesy of Danish Design Review

This sense of playfulness was “on exhibit” elsewhere. Being a longtime PNW resident, bicycle “woodies" is old hat, though

Roorkee chairs had been on my mind’s list of future projects thanks to Chris Schwarz’s writings. He has a book on campaign furniture which includes plans for one. The museum had a nice version on display- always a plus to be actually able to see the actual chair.

Our bicycling tour-mates had gone to the Roskilde Viking Museum earlier in the week and had recommended it even though it involved a train ride. We were thinking we had already seen one living museum and there was still much to see in Copenhagen, thus were inclined to pass on it. Mads persuaded us otherwise. Thus we added another sorta wood-centric experience. Ship building demands a particularly high level of woodworking craftsmanship which make it interesting even if one is a landlubber. We were not able to see the woodworking demo's but just seeing the shop area was plenty gratifying. Their workshop area was the bitchin-est I've ever seen.

And I wonder what would have been the price and shipping charge if this guy had been for sale?

Thus Denmark turned out to be kinda busman's holiday- and DW very much enjoyed it also. Really!

Berlin to Copenhagen: Copenhagen

Berlin to Copenhagen Bikeway Finish: Copenhagen.

While the Freewheeling tour had ended, we continued to hang out with each other while pursuing our agendas as most of the group had booked added days at Hotel SP34.  We avoid guided city or museum tours in general and DW does not like urban bicycling but Jesse persuasive person that she is, talked her into it. She sold the concept as a great way of getting a more bird’s eye view of the lay of a city as one covers much more ground than walking and is more engaged with one's surroundings and able to stop when desired compared to using public transportation. Pretty much the same reasons why we like bicycling vacations. Thus the day following our arrival in Copenhagen, our Freewheeling group (minus two who had left town earlier) went on a guided city bike tour.

Our guide was personable, experienced and patient.

 We were able to take in many of the tourist-y attractions in Central Copenhagen.

and were able to spend some time in Christiania.

I briefly lost track of the group while wandering around the craft area of the enclave. As mentioned earlier, we had many experiences in Denmark that were relevant to my interest in woodworking- in the spirit of if you’re a hammer the world looks like a nail; enough to merit a separate post. Our guide took the Cristiana group photo.

I had become online friends through LumberJocks, a woodworking site, with a fellow hobbyist who as it turns out, keeps a workshop space within walking distance from our hotel. Our visits with him were a wonderful memory and evidence that us humans tend to treasure experiences with other humans over places and things we have seen and done.

Not only was Mads great company, he provided us with one of my favorite photos of DW and I and the cover for our cat-centric holiday card.

In our walkabouts, DW noted  the abundance of hotdog stands. 

Being a foodie, she had been looking forward to elegant dining while in town. But she knows that hotdogs are one of my favorite, if infrequent, indulgences.  Reading up on it, it turned out that Copenhagen can make the claim to being the Hot Dog Capital of the World. Thus, after some research as we wanted beer along with our hotdog as well as a sit down setting, we went off to the meatpacking district to have dinner at Johns Hotdogs.

My all time favorite hotdog remains the chilidogs we ate regularly at House of Burger in Watts. A childhood memory, my sister and I still wax nostalgic about that place 50-some years later.

John’s however made it to my top three and takes first place for breath of selection.

Tivoli Gardens was DW’s top priority destination having been advised having been advised as a must see attraction by more than one of her friends. Arriving in late afternoon, it felt sorta Disneyland/Universal City.  However we lucked out with our timing as it became magical at night and indeed was a memorable experience.