Roman workbenches belong to a class of furniture that historian Victor Chinnery called “staked” or “with stake feet.” Essentially it is a platform of thick wood with legs driven into the plank, like tent stakes. The staked feet make construction a cinch (bore holes, drive in the legs and wedge them). But what is more interesting to a workbench nerd such as myself is the benchtop itself. First off, it’s low. The benchtop is right below your kneecap. There are no vises, but there is a series of holes bored into it. The pattern of holes seems random at first, but after working with these benches for several months the holes began to make sense. Some of the holes restrained...
In many respects the “conservation ideal” is contained in the Code of Ethics for the American Institute for Conservation, an organization formed to promote the knowledge and practices of the profession. Quoting from the code: “Conservation of historic and artistic works is a pursuit requiring extensive training and special aptitudes. It places in the hands of the conservator cultural holdings which are of great value and historical significance. To be worthy of this special trust requires a high sense of moral responsibility. Whether in private practice or on the staff of an institution or regional center, the conservator has obligations not only to the historic and artistic works with which he is entrusted, but also to their owners or custodians,...
Would you say hand tools are slower than power tools? That is totally dependent upon the “programming” of the operator. A person using hand tools can produce a piece of furniture just as fast, if not faster, than a person using power tools provided that the wielder of the hand tools thinks the appropriate way. There is virtually no need to four-square boards for the hand-tool woodworker; we just make a reference edge and face before making the other side look “good enough.” We don’t have to make test cut after test cut to set up a router table; we grab a molding plane with the shape coded in and go to town. If your try plane is appropriately sharp...
For those of you who have been dying to dig into Mortise & Tenon Issues One, Two, or Three but have been unable to secure a copy of from the original printing, today’s your day. As I discussed on Monday, we have decided to republish all of these articles in a one-volume hardbound book we’re calling, The First Three Issues. The pre-order window is now open. We had Issue One in stock until early 2019, and when we announced our inventory was running low, the remaining supply depleted rapidly. Then Issue Two sold out later that year. Since then, we’ve had no option for folks to get either of these issues. Being a print-only publication has its disadvantages: massive printing...
We’ve waited a while to make this announcement, but now that Issue Three is completely sold out of our store, we’re letting you know about our upcoming book release: a hardbound republication of Issues 1-3. We will include every single page of those three issues in the book, but this is not a simple reprint. This book – titled The First Three Issues – includes behind-the-scenes photographs and stories as well as additional essays from M&T editors Michael Updegraff, Jim McConnell, and me about M&T’s distinctive vision and role in the woodworking community. On top of that, Christopher Schwarz of Lost Art Press (does he even need an introduction?) has written a wonderful foreword. Chris was the first person I consulted...
