This summer’s workshop is an experience money can’t buy. Let me explain the three factors behind this: First, although Mike and I have long harbored enthusiasm to one day host our own classes, we knew ourselves well enough to foresee that it would be hard to juggle another thing on our plate. We still have a number of shop construction projects to do (windows, final doors, wood shed, back porch, outhouse, etc.) that represent a lot of hours. On top of that, every week we have people ask us when the next “Apprenticeship” video (which has been under snail-paced production) is coming out. And it goes without saying that producing our magazine does not happen overnight but consumes the majority...
Some woodworking classes are project-based while others focus on building skills. Though we do plan to send each student home with a completed item, the emphasis in our 2019 summer workshop will be development of broad competence. Our goal is to deepen understanding of pre-industrial woodworking through hands-on experimentation in the shop. This could be compared to language immersion. Immersion in a foreign country teaches you practical, on-the-ground linguistic skills in a way that technical book learning never can. This is because a large percentage of communication is nonverbal and culture-specific (facial expressions, gestures, postures, tone of voice, etc.), and developing this kind of tacit knowledge is essential for full comprehension. Contrast this with the awkward, rigid speech from many...
As we start to share more information about our upcoming summer workshop, Joshua and I are struggling to contain our enthusiasm. We’ve discussed this idea over many cups of coffee during the last year-and-a-half, and are excited to see it’s finally coming together. But some might be wondering why we are beginning to host workshops at all. Wouldn’t we be better off spending all our waking hours breaking up arguments over David Pye or double-iron planes? The way we see it, teaching workshops perfectly fits our philosophy of empowering individuals with handcraft skills in today’s increasingly complex technological society. But we’re not the first ones to attempt to find a better way. The Industrial Revolution incited several movements pushing back...
On Friday, March 8th (one week from now), we will be opening registration for our summer workshop, which will be taking place June 17-21 at our shop in Sedgwick, Maine. But don’t worry. This won’t be a “feeding frenzy” first-come-first-serve, refresh-the-browser-as-panic-ensues kind of release. Stay tuned throughout the next week for details about the workshop registration, topic, and format. In the meantime, here’s a little about our vision: As Mike and I sought to develop a unique workshop format, one of the things that came up time and again was that we wanted this week to be an expression of the distinctive philosophy driving M&T. As you know, Mortise & Tenonis much more than a “how-to” magazine – In each...
One of the things I love about building vernacular furniture is that when everything is assembled and joinery planed flush, the job is only half done – a clear expanse of white pine has always been seen as an inviting canvas for artistic whimsy. Yesterday, my two older boys and I made a small hanging knife box for my wife, Julia. Besides the angled sides and scallop details, this build is nothing more than a few pieces of white pine nailed together. (This design was inspired by object #125 in Russell Kettle’s The Pine Furniture of Early New England, by the way.) This morning, after consulting with my wife about her decorative preferences, my oldest and I tackled the paint. We began...
During a quick inventory of M&T back issues in our storage unit, I recently discovered that we’re about to hit a significant milestone in the life of this magazine – one that had me reflecting a bit about “the old days.” Issue One is where it all began. In February 2016, Joshua, his wife and kids, a few of their friends, and I were shipping the inaugural issue of M&T out of their living room. We’d set up a big plank on sawhorses in the center of the room, and the dining room table added a few precious square feet of workspace. The kitchen counter was fully occupied, too. For several days, a rotating crew of volunteers wrapped the magazine...
We are excited to announce Issue Six is now available for pre-order in our store! (There is free domestic shipping on all pre-orders and subscriptions.)
If you don’t already have a subscription, you can sign up here.
or
If you want to pre-order only this issue, you can do so here.
This pre-order window will close after Tuesday, March 26th. After that date, the shipping charge will be applied and there will be no brown paper and wax-sealed wrapping.
Plans are afoot to build a woodworker’s shop at Old Sturbridge Village. A commitment to craft has long been central to the museum’s mission to recreate a New England community of the early 1800s. Today visitors can see a potter, printer, tinsmith, blacksmith, shoemaker, and cooper in action, and during the early years of the Village, which opened in 1946, cabinet- and chairmakers demonstrated there as well. However, in the mid-1980s, financial pressures and retirements of key craftsmen brought an end to the interpretation of the furniture trades. Now thirty years later, new research on the prominence of cabinetmaking in the Sturbridge area has revived interest in representing the craft to the public.
We are announcing one Issue Six article each weekday until pre-orders open on February 1st. If you don’t already have a subscription and just wanted to order a copy of Issue Six by itself, you may do so on February 1st. If you signed up for an auto-renewing yearly subscription, your card will be automatically charged exactly 365 days from your original purchase date. Any questions about your subscription status can be directed to info@mortiseandtenonmag.com. For our Issue Six book recommendation, we contacted Arsenios Hill, a carver and toolmaker living in the desert of the American Southwest. He recently found himself captivated by Soetsu Yanagi’s rich and reflective work, The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty. Yanagi was the founder of Japan’s...
Double-iron planes. Few tools in the woodworker’s repertoire have inspired as many debates among pundits, armchair craftsmen, and makers. Some argue that the best way of dealing with difficult and figured grain is to use a single iron, steep bed angle, and tight mouth. Others disagree, singing the praises of this “new” 18th-century plane technology.
