Joshua’s new book, Joined: A Bench Guide to Furniture Joinery, is packed full of useful insight – the kind that you usually get in a one-on-one conversation with an instructor. It’s those little hints or bits of guidance that can make all the difference in pulling off a woodworking operation: “Turn the chisel over and pare with the bevel up,” or “Stay off the line when ripping – a few passes with the plane will finish the job.” While editing through the rough draft of the manuscript, I came across this gem describing the process of fitting rail tenons into mortises: “This back-and-forth test fitting and marking can get tedious, but it’s important to never work blindly. It’s always worth...
An excerpt from Joshua Klein’s forthcoming book, Joined: A Bench Guide to Furniture Joinery: “Now to join the two boards. Place the square-end board in the vise a touch higher than a support block and place the rabbeted board into place on top, just as you did with the dovetails. Make sure there are no unsightly gaps and make any necessary adjustments now. Get yourself some legit handmade nails from a blacksmith. If you don’t know a local smith, a quick internet search will pull up some options. Many smiths don’t feel like making nails because most customers balk at the somewhat expensive cost per piece, so if you find a kind soul who will set you up with nails, treat...
“When you’re confident everything is perfectly lined up, scribe the angles with your knife. Several gentle and progressively deeper lines are better than one deep line. Do all the right sides first, then come back for the left sides, as you did with the sawing of the tails.
An excerpt from Joshua Klein’s forthcoming book, Joined: A Bench Guide to Furniture Joinery: “Here is one reason I prefer to have my workbench against a wall: avoiding the use of clamps in paring operations. To pare chamfers onto the tenon for ease of assembly, I butt the rail against the wall. This is so much faster than messing with clamps or a vise and allows me to instantly adjust the workpiece. A related technique is pinning the work with my hip into a fixed point on the bench. Depending on the stock’s length, sometimes it’s the metal-toothed bench hook (planing stop) or in this case the wooden side rest. I’m sure some would think this is silly and...
I’ve long had this project on the backburner, waiting for just the right time to do it. My new book, Joined: A Bench Guide to Furniture Joinery, is designed to be an at-the-bench step-by-step guide through the fundamental furniture joints. I’ve not covered this material anywhere else in this kind of depth before, and we hear from our readers that they’d like more hands-on help. The format is photography-rich, and the commentary explains all the details. This book is intended to literally lay on the workbench next to you as you saw, pare, and join these joints. We’ve intentionally given generous margins on each page so that you can make notes and comments as you work through the projects....
In our most recent podcast episode, we decided to do things a little different: we recorded the entire thing while working. As we reglazed historic window sashes, we talked all about why we decided to use these windows instead of buying brand-new double-panes, and discussed a few of the tips that helped us along our window-saving journey.
Items Mentioned in this Episode:John Leeke’s “Save America’s Windows” Webpage
You’d be hard-pressed to find a work more influential in inspiring M&T’s values and philosophy than A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity, written by Bill Coperthwaite. And now, we’re delighted to announce we are offering this book in our store. Originally published in 2002 by Chelsea Green (White River Junction, VT), A Handmade Life brings its readers on a meandering path of exploration. Coperthwaite spent his life honing a habit of simplicity, learning new skills and gleaning what he could from the many cultures he experienced in his travels. He ventured around the world to teach yurt construction, and never failed to bring home some new insight or handmade object to contemplate. Coperthwaite was always asking questions: Why do we do things this...
“It has become clear to me that perfection is not a product, it’s a process. Our journey toward perfection begins with a hint of an idea that will not let us go – perhaps a graceful curve that we saw once on an armoire or a chair that surprised us with its strength and perfect lines. Maybe it is a need for a place to put books or something upon which to write stories. Our creative spirits hover over that sort of chaos waiting for a spark, and when that spark comes we get to work on creating something new. Sometimes with great effort and a little luck, the results will bear faithful witness to our intentions, but even...
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...
