“The Jointer … is the largest sort of Plains by them used, it is perfectly straight from end to end; its office is to follow the Fore-Plain…” Image Courtesy of the British Library This is an excerpt from “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” by Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee. There are several sources …
The Historic Evidence for Tool Selection and Use – 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 »
Several readers have asked what a Roorkhee chair would look like with canvas seat covers. This week we finished up a pair of these chairs for a customer who wanted us to strive for the most authentic look from the early chairs in the late 1800s. Finding canvas is one thing. Finding canvas of the …
One of John Porritt’s chairs. Inspired by Welsh and other vernacular chairs. Touching a surface that had been gently used for hundreds of years is something that cannot be easily replicated. And so, for the most part, I’ve never attempted it. Why? I’ve seen hundreds of new pieces of furniture that have been “aged” through …
Our printer has informed us that our new book “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker” will ship to us on Oct. 29 or 30, which means we should start shipping all the pre-orders to customers next week. If you filled out a pre-order form, you will receive an e-mail from us next week where we will …
Countdown to 'The Joiner and Cabinet Maker' – Read More »
I read most of Nancy R. Hiller’s “Making Things Work: Tales From a Cabinetmaker’s Life” in the laundromat. Our washing machine was broken, parts strewn all over our basement floor while we tried to figure out the problem. Forgive me, as I realize what I’m about to say next is very much a first-world problem, …
The first edition, which is being closed out. We are awaiting a revised edition of “The Stick Chair Book,” which should arrive in early September. So we are closing out the remaining copies of the first edition of this book for $24 each (it was $51). The forthcoming revised edition is about 10 percent smaller. …
My father-in-law was by trade a sawyer, and a good workman; in fact, Thomas Leaf had the reputation of being the best veneer-sawyer in that part of the country. I, being destitute of employment, and no prospect of obtaining any, except by leaving England, which I was unwilling to do, Mr. Leaf undertook to teach …
I’m in Charleston, S.C., this week to inventory my father’s belongings and start figuring out what to do with his possessions and his house. I also have one important personal task: retrieve a workbench I loaned him many years ago so I can restore it. I made the bench in 2002 or 2003 for Popular …
