These bookcases are similar to a set I built for the June 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine, which has the complete plans with step photos and instruction. You can download a free SketchUp model of the bookcase here. The Story Behind the Shelves I’m allowed to quote myself, right? Here, then, is the backstory …
QC of our vests today at our Willard Street location. We have received our yearly shipment of moleskin vests from Sew Valley, and we have put them up for sale here in our online store. Because of dramatic price increases in materials and labor, this is likely our last batch of these vests. We’ve had …
2023 Moleskin Vests Now Available (These Might be the Last Ones) – Read More »
“Circus” “This Is Not A Chair,” a sculpture exhibit by Drew Langsner, will be display September 30-October 2 at the studio/workshop of Jim Dillon, in Avodale Estates Georgia (just east of Atlanta). “The 1999 Project” Before becoming renowned for his country woodcraft, chairmaking and teaching, Langsner (author of “Country Woodcraft: Then & Now,” among other …
‘This Is Not a Chair’ – a Drew Langsner Sculpture Exhibit – Read More »
The morning that I first proposed building a Roubo-style workbench to my co-workers, I was running on about four hours of sleep and five cups of Italian roast coffee. Earlier that week, I had proposed a cover project for the Autumn 2005 issue of Woodworking Magazine that was not working out. It was a set …
The Northern European square from Melencolia looks a lot like a tool that shows up in several early English and French texts on woodworking. But the drawings of this tool – the miter bevel – have always bothered me. It’s really a problem of perspective (or lack of perspective). But the miter bevel, when drawn, …
Melencolia Square, Part 2: An Angular English Friend – Read More »
In 1839, an English publisher issued a small book on woodworking that has – until now – escaped detection by scholars, historians and woodworkers. Titled “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker,” this short book was written by an anonymous tradesman and tells the fictional tale of Thomas, a lad of 13 or 14 who is apprenticed …
Coming this Fall: 'The Joiner and Cabinet Maker' – Read More »
Handworks 2017 was a blur of faces, handshakes and hugs with people I haven’t seen in ages. It also was a chance to meet a new crop of hard-core woodworkers, people in their 20s who are determined and talented – it was unlike anything I’ve seen before at a woodworking show. In the cacophony of …
To build an English-style tool chest, you don’t need a chest full of hand tools. Here is what I consider the minimum tool kit necessary to build this chest during a class or in your shop (as soon as you have your stock dimensioned). Handplanes Block plane: for smoothing surfaces and trimming joints flush Jack …
After reading Charles H. Hayward’s writings during his tenure as editor of The Woodworker, I think he was of two minds about furniture. While the magazine was filled with plans for up-to-date pieces that would look at home on the set of “Mad Men,” Hayward also took pains to educate readers about old work. One …
Furniture Styles: From Gothic to the 20th Century – Read More »
FIG… 1. EXPLODED VIEW OF THE BOARDIf well made this board should give many years of reliable use The following is excerpted from the fourth book in our series “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years,” which covers three different topics. 1) The Workshop, including the design and construction of workbenches, tool chests and wall …