Psst. Hey, man. Wanna have some fun? What kind of fun? Hayraking. [Radio silence.] Building a hayrake table. Killer joinery (exposed tenons with trapped, scribed shoulders; bridle joints; cool geometry), carving lambs’ tongues, decorative gouging and inlaid butterfly keys—all at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking. Laying out a lamb’s tongue Cutting one exposed tenon with…
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During my travels, I’ve met lots of vegetarian woodworkers. And their No. 1 complaint about the woodworking industry is how sheep must be slaughtered to lubricate hand woodworking tools. Yes, the mighty paraffin/home canning industry has tried to provide an ethical substitute called Gulf Wax – the tofurky of the tool-lubrication world. But nothing compares…
WAIT, FROM THE LUMBERYARD?You can build a stick chair with almost any wood. Yes, you can rive it from green wood. But you can also buy it at the lumberyard and get parts that are plenty strong enough. Editor’s note: What follows is a short excerpt from “The Stick Chair Book,” which is scheduled to…
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No matter how much we write about a new book, there are always additional questions we didn’t think of at first. Here are some of the common questions I am fielding about “l’Art du menuisier: The Book of Plates.” Question: If I buy all the deluxe editions of the André-Jacob Roubo translations, will I then…
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Beyond the great Atlantick flood There is a region vast, A country where no English foot In former ages past: A waste and howling wilderness, Where none inhabited But hellish fiends, and brutish men That Devils worshiped. This region was in darkness plac’t Far off from heavens light, Amidst the shaddows of grim death And…
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Unless tools are well and keenly sharpened, satisfactory work is impossible. Much of the difference between professional and amateur work arises from the bluntness of the tools of the latter. No mortised and tenoned joint can be made to fit closely if the work is not cleanly cut by a sharp chisel; and planed surfaces,…