Two comb-backs in red elm on my workbench this morning. I’m back in Covington after a two-week trip to Scandinavia. So after a couple weeks of guest hosts at the Open Wire (thanks, Monroe and Joel), I’m here today to answer your questions about woodworking or stuff that is going on at Lost Art Press. …
The following is from “Hands Employed Aright: The Furniture Making of Jonathan Fisher (1768-1847),” by Joshua Klein. Fisher was the first settled minister of the frontier town of Blue Hill, Maine. Harvard-educated and handy with an axe, Fisher spent his adult life building furniture for his community. Fortunately for us, Fisher recorded every aspect of …
Fresh-mixed shellac is an excellent film finish, and we go through a lot of it in our shop. Here is how I mix it up for general use as a furniture finish (i.e. not as a barrier for urine, smoke or sap). We use Tiger Flakes from Tools for Working Wood. There are lots of …
Traditional Shop in Miniature. This workbench scene, owned by tool collector John Sindelar, shows a complete, functioning shop. But what if you don’t own a bench? The following is excerpted from “The Anarchist’s Workbench,” by Christopher Schwarz. The book is – on the one hand – a detailed plan for a simple workbench that can …
Detail from Albrecht Durer’s “Melencolia 1,” 1514, There are a number of geometric constructions that allow us to create regular (i.e equal-angle and equal-facet length) polygons. Most of those for squares, rectangles and triangles are quite straightforward, requiring but a few steps. However, those dealing with five or more sided polygons get quite tedious involving …
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Detail of Fisher’s 1817 clock face. Excerpted from “Hands Employed Aright: The Furniture Making of Jonathan Fisher (1768-1847),” by Joshua A. Klein. Fisher’s high valuation of hard work emanated from his constant recognition of the fleeting nature of time and, throughout his life, Fisher lived under a sense of Divine calling. Every moment mattered. He …
Redeeming the Time, from ‘Hands Employed Aright’ – Read More »
Fig. 6.8 Here is the pin, snaking its way through the offset holes. This joint is a testament to the great strength of oak – that a thin piece of hardwood like this can hold these joints together for centuries. It pulls the tenon into the mortise and never lets it go. When people ask …
One of the reasons I first became consumed by woodworking was the American Art & Crafts movement. Though I rarely build Arts & Crafts pieces anymore, I fell in love with the joinery and the oak about 1990 when a neighbor let me sit in his Morris chair. I started collecting pieces, but there was …