Francis Nicholson is generally regarded as the most important figure in early American planemaking. He was the first documented planemaker in the Colonies, he was inventive and original, and he appears to have been highly prolific: An astonishingly large number of his planes survive. But I believe it’s time for a reconsideration of Chelor’s significance. An exhaustive survey by Ingraham found that over three quarters of the surviving planes with Francis’s mark were made after he moved to Wrentham. Further, the number of surviving planes with Chelor’s mark actually exceeds the number of Francis’s planes with the Wrentham stamp. Taken together, these facts suggest that Chelor may have been responsible for an explosion of productivity in Nicholson’s shop during the...
A genuine love of wood needs to be both practical and personal. It is necessary for the studio because of the kind of paint used to create the icons. Like so much of what is done here, the paint used is locally produced and looks to fulfill the land rather than extract from it. It is called egg tempera, a combination of pigments made from the rocks and plants around the studio and egg yolk from our little flock of chickens. When properly prepared and applied, it is a durable paint that does not yellow and gives luminosity to the color. However, once cured, it dries to an inflexible state that would quickly crack and flake off a flexible surface,...
The shaving horse remained prevalent throughout the Western world, especially in rural contexts, well into the 20th century. This is not to say it was never used in industrial production, however. It is, for example, depicted amongst coopers’ tools in Diderot and d’Alembert’s mid-late 18th-century scientific publication, Encyclopédie, which was “the cornerstone of the Enlightenment, representing the most important collection of scientific and technological knowledge at the time.” Even though the shaving horse had a place in early industrialism, it could rightly be considered a folk tool because it did not originate from the academic or economic elite. It’s always been the workholding technology of the commoner. Peter Follansbee has put it, “Shaving horses are a folk tool, like a...
The panel raiser was the first plane of Chelor’s that I chose to copy, and it departs the least from the English tradition. Still, there are two differences worth noting. First, English panel raisers nearly always have adjustable, rather than fixed, depth stops and fences. The early American planes, on the other hand, sacrifice adjustability in favor of simplicity and ease of use. Remember, we have miles of pine to plane! A more subtle difference is the design of the escapement. Normally, the abutments – the surfaces that the wedge bears against – are a consistent width until the bottom half inch, where they taper into the side of the plane. But on the Chelor/Nicholson panel raisers, the left abutment...
This is the last call to subscribe for Issue Nine!!! Tomorrow, Friday, August 28th, is the final day to order. After that, the subscription window for Issue Nine closes. If you’re not already subscribed, click here to subscribe to order your copy. (Please email us at info@mortiseandtenonmag.com if you'd like to inquire about you subscription status.)
If you haven’t seen our Table of Contents blog posts, you can see the full series here.
As always, our families thank you for your support of independent publishing!
- Joshua
Mortise & Tenon Magazine · 20 – Working Wood Outside We recorded Episode 20 of the Mortise & Tenon Podcast last week and it is now launched! The summer has been about working outside for both of us, so we thought we’d talk about ways we’ve enjoyed doing just that. We have a deep passion to encourage folks to engage the natural world, and working wood is a powerful way to do just that. Whether you are growing veggies in the garden or walking in the woods, you know the power of being outside. Join us in this episode as we recount our experiences in the woods. How can you enjoy this big, beautiful world Items Mentioned in this...
The name of John Hemmings should be held in esteem with the most skillful American makers of the early 19th century. Author Canlin Frost, period furniture maker and restoration craftsman at Poplar Forest (Thomas Jefferson’s private retreat), sheds new light on the life of this remarkably talented artisan.
Every once in a while, a book is written that, while not explicitly focused on woodworking or furniture, manages to perfectly encapsulate the core essence of why we (as woodworkers) do what we do. In her book recommendation for Issue Nine, author and cabinetmaker Nancy Hiller unwraps just such a book.
Trees capture and store a remarkable amount of information as they grow. From seasonal variations in rainfall to larger climatic trends, growth rings reflect the many variables that influence a tree’s steady climb skyward. Chop that tree down, mill it into boards or hew it square, and use it to raise a barn or build a table, but that information remains – safely stored away, until someone fluent in the language of trees can read it.
“You can never have too many clamps,” the old adage goes. And it seems that this universal truth dates back well over a thousand years. Norse Vikings were a dominant force on both land and sea, and the majestic lines of their hand-hewn ships still inspire awe today. The construction of these vessels required great skill and mastery of tools (especially the axe) and raw materials, but it also necessitated the invention of a “third hand” to secure planks to the hull for riveting. The simple, elegant design of the Viking clamp was the result.
