This post is part of a series revealing the table of contents of upcoming Issue Twenty-One. As is our custom, we’ll be discussing one article per weekday in order to give you a taste of what is to come.
The subscription window that includes Issue Twenty-One is open now.
To get Issue Twenty-One when it ships in early September, you can sign up for a subscription here.
If you aren’t sure about your subscription status, you can reach out to Grace at info@mortiseandtenonmag.com. Keep in mind though, if you are set to auto-renew, you never have to worry about getting the next issue of Mortise & Tenon. Issue Twenty-One is coming your way soon!
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Jay Smith – “In the Throes of Construction: The Adventure of Building a Viking Ship”
Some projects are so big, so unusual that a person only gets one shot at it. For a general contractor it might be a high-end mansion that brings together the best-of-the-best tradesmen, for a furniture maker it would be one of those extraordinary commissions that uses exotic woods on a bottomless budget, and for many boatbuilders it would be the recreation of a 56' Viking ship.
For Issue Twenty-One, Boatbuilder Jay Smith has written about his experience recreating just such a ship. Smith learned these ancient techniques of boat construction when he studied in Norway and the Faroe Islands. After building a 21' færing (double-ender) for the History Channel, Smith was contacted by another client to construct another ship on a much larger scale.
This build was not only an exercise in replicating a 1,000-year old process, but also in sourcing a host of unique and precious trees for this worthy undertaking: massive planks of dead-clear Alaska yellow cedar, a mast made from a 65' Douglas fir log, and hundreds of oak branch crooks to be used for framing members. The construction took place over the course of a decade and it is one of Smith’s brightest moments in his career. Reading this story, it’s hard to come to any other conclusion other than Smith is an outstanding craftsman. And yet, if you ask him, he feels the same about those in whose steps he follows. Having experienced the immensity and complexity of building a 56' Viking ship, Smith reflects, “I will forever be in awe of our forefathers and will always hold them in highest esteem.”
Subscribe now to reserve your copy of Issue Twenty-One.