Replies

1. 
   ASK | Jun 22, 2007 12:58am | #1

   Joe,

   I was just in Helsinki a few weeks ago. I can't help you with woodturning or carving but if you have any interest in Aalto furniture check the the store on the esplanade.

   ASK

1. 
   dovetailjoe | Jun 22, 2007 05:13am | #4

   ASK-
   thanks - we'll go visit it - the web site looks interesting.
   peace
   joe

2. 
   questtools | Jun 22, 2007 03:01am | #2

   Hey Joe,

   When are you going over to Russia? Will you be able to disembark from the boat cruise to actually see any interesting woodworking sites?

   My wife is back visiting her relatives just outside of Moscow. If you can wait a few days, I can ask her to Google in Russian, any interesting woodworking related places. She is used to me disappearing anytime we are traveling and I see anything wood related! :):)

   Last time I was over to Moscow I was hunting for unique and high quality wood working tools. While there are some fantastic skilled Russian wood artisans, the commercially available wood working tools are pretty depressing compared to what we can get purchase in Western Europe and North America.

   Any particular aspect of wood working you are interested in?

   Bob in Calgary

1. 
   dovetailjoe | Jun 22, 2007 05:09am | #3

   thank you so much Bob - we don't leave until the end of August. I have done a fair amount of turning, built some good high end furniture pieces and am going to go to the John C Campbell school and learn about carving a Nativity set. So it's all of interest to me and any places your good wife recommends will get visited if we can find them. Thanks again. I do appreciate it.
   peace
   joe

3. 
   dchyatt | Jun 23, 2007 07:49am | #5

   Hi Joe:

   I lived and worked in Moscow and Siberia during the '90s. The woodworking related highlights of my time there were: checking out the Art Noveau furniture in the antique stores on the Old Arbat Street in Moscow (unbelievable!), visting the Museum of Folk Art located on the Garden Ring Road in Moscow (lots of furniture and carvings there), buying carved wooden toys in just about any souvenir store, and buying handcrafted gifts at the Ismailova Market in Moscow ( I think this operates only on weekends).  I bought a few hand tools while in Russia - the prices where very low but the quality was also quite low.

    

1. 
   dovetailjoe | Jun 23, 2007 03:54pm | #6

   that was very helpful - i'll have those places in hand when we're in Moscow. Thank you.

4. 
   Moksha | Jun 24, 2007 11:26pm | #7

   Dovetailjoe

   In the autumn of 1997 I traveled by road from Warsaw to Moscow, and then to St. Petersberg and finally Helsinki. Although we did not have much time in any particular place, I did find some very high quality small knives in Helsinki and bought them. The Fins have a long tradition of making quality knives and these have been excellent. One sees a lot of hand carved toys and objects in the tourist shops in Russia; but I never did see any tools. The museums in Russia had some outstanding furniture pieces in them.

   Moksha

1. 
   dovetailjoe | Jun 25, 2007 05:06am | #8

   Moksha -
   thanks so much - do you remember where in Helsinki you got the knives and which museums in Russia you visited? thanks for any help
   peace
   joe

1. 
   Moksha | Jun 25, 2007 03:20pm | #9

   In Helsinki there is a large Lutheran church which overlooks the harbor and it is a major landmark. As I remember there were a great number of steps leading up to the church. Down on the harbor front in front of that church and a bit north is a store that sold marine goods for small boats. They had a good selection of tools to work on wooden boats. It was there that I bought the knives. In St. Petersburg we saw some very fine furniture in the Hermitage; however, I must say that museum was quite a disappointment. The condition of the building was so bad that the artwork stored inside seemed in danger of being destroyed by to much humidity, light, and excessive heat. There were some nice pieces of furniture in the summer palace outside of St. Petersburg as well. In Moscow the best museum that I saw was in the Kremlin, this has a few pieces of furniture; but it has quite a bit of jewelry and small items of outstanding craft work. There were a couple of tourist stores near Red Square that had many small carved toys. We bought many small carved toys and figures in our travels in Russia; many of excellent quality. In one village we found hand carved Christmas ornaments of exceptional beauty, selling for very small amounts of money. In Russia you have Moscow the most expensive city in the world for a foreigner to stay in... and in the peasant villages some of the worst poverty... and low prices. So, if possible buy your carved items in the small villages, not Moscow. You might get to tour Tchaikovsky's home in Klin.. there was one place I purchased carvings. You will come down the canal and Volga river from St. Petersburg and will most likely stop in Novgorod where the oldest church in Russia is located. We stayed there overnight and I purchased some religious carvings near the Kremlin in that city, the only ones I saw in Russia.
   Good luck and safe journey,
   Moksha

1. 
   dovetailjoe | Jun 25, 2007 07:41pm | #11

   that information is simply wonderful - thank you so much!
   peace
   joe

5. 
   Jimma | Jun 25, 2007 06:38pm | #10

   My wife and I visited the Saarinen house when we were there a few years ago. We found it to be very worthwhile as there were Frank Lloyd Wright furniture pieces there (he was a friend of Saarinen) as well as the house being a terrific example of design. Lots of wood. It is now open to the public.

1. 
   dovetailjoe | Jun 25, 2007 07:42pm | #12

   thank you so much - we'll put it on the list of things to visit. It is not something which we had heard about before.
   peace
   joe

6. 
   questtools | Aug 01, 2007 05:29am | #13

   Hi Joe,

   Sorry this took so long but my wife had trouble finding anything regarding woodworking - even though she knows about my passion for woodworking.  I think the problem is in the translation of "woodworking", which is not an actual Russian phrase.

   Here is what she found so far:

   Hello My Dear Husband, It was a pleasure to talk to you today. I will try to help you. Here is some information about woodworking and shopping in Russia. 1.http://www.toolland.ru/catalog.asp?type=325814 ADDRESS: Moscow, Himky, Leningradskaya Str., H.1 PHONE: (495) 739-0330 This is a shopping center for woodworking tools. Please, look at website http://www.toolland.ru. You can find saws, tools for cutting wood, knives for wood, glue, different accesories for woodworking, "diamond tools" etc. 2. http://www.dvt-tools.ru This is a Russian Woodworking Internet Shop. Please. take a look. Maybe you can find something interesting for you. 3. http://www.vdnh.ru This is Woodworking Internet Show

   Checked by AVG Free Edition.

   Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.22/922 - Release Date: 27/07/2007 6:08 AM

   Good Luck.

   Bob

1. 
   geir | Aug 01, 2007 02:29pm | #14

   I suppose what's beeing refered to as the Saarinen house is the Villa Hvitträsk. I was there in January and it is outstanding. Look here:

    http://www.cupola.com/html/bldgstru/artscrft/slide/hvitt03e.htm

   http://www.nba.fi/en/hvittrask_en

   I took a taxi and it was maybe 30 minutes and about 60 USD. There is also a bus to the door. As it is quite rural be sure to check the bus return times on arrival.

   As for tools the Nordic countries are not a good place to shop, simply because there are no fine tools and very little fine woodworking beeing done. Carving knives may be an exception. 

   I do all my tools shopping by mail order from the US and some in the UK and Germany. Even with higher postage cost the US is cheaper.

   Have a nice time,

   Geir

   Norway