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From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

Recently, dozens of coopered vessels from three museums in Austria were analyzed for their growth-ring secrets. Wooden vessels, ubiquitous items a century ago, were often fashioned from staves rived from a single tree. Even though each individual stave might be small, featuring just a few growth rings, researchers found that they could visualize a model of the original chunk of wood by virtually plotting out the growth rings – kind of like putting together a complex puzzle. About half of the vessels studied were successfully dated (ranging from 1612-1940), but even more information was gathered on the methods of early coopers. Especially notable was the lack of wasted material when the craftsman split out staves – even after shaping with...

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

Issue Fourteen is in the House!

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

Public post from the M&T Daily Dispatch 

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

OK… that’s an ambiguous title. But, be assured that the guys recorded this episode to make it all come clear. In this next installment, Joshua and Mike expound Chapter 9 of David Pye’s The Nature and Art of Workmanship. This chapter is the culmination of his argument about why surface qualities are so important. Get ready to dive into the weeds – no aspect of craftwork is too small to consider carefully. SHOW NOTES  Order your copy of the book here: The Nature and Art of Workmanship Joshua Klein’s article in Issue Seven: ”A Fresh & Unexpected Beauty: Understanding David Pye’s ‘Workmanship of Risk’”

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

M&T: You’ve long talked about this idea of “subversive woodworking.” What does it mean? RU: Subversive woodworking is about getting people to question their dependence on the glow of the power company. It is partly a Thoreauvian idea of trying to help folks gain personal self-reliance. My ideal image of a woodworking school envisioned an old downtown location with a big glass window in the front. Passers-by could look in and see what was going on, see work done at workbenches with handsaws and planes. The students inside are already converted, but the people outside have maybe never thought of this way of working before. They’re looking in the window, thinking, “What the heck is that?” and then they’ll start...