Blog RSS

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

We at Mortise & Tenon are passionate about inspiring and teaching people to work with their hands. If you know someone who wants to learn woodworking who is more interested in using handsaws than standing at a table saw and planing boards instead of sanding them, you’ve come to the right spot. We are a small, independent company in Midcoast Maine that publishes a twice-per-year hefty “magazine” (more like a “journal”), instructional books, online courses, apparel, and woodworking merchandise.  “[M&T is] a wonderful publication that succeeds so beautifully in documenting traditional furniture building and making it feel simultaneously timeless and meaningful in our modern day.” – George Sawyer, chairmaker   Not sure what to gift your loved one this year? Our growing catalog can feel overwhelming to navigate,...

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

Hayward’s writing is suffused with a poignant awareness that the 20th century was a time of inexorable decline in the use and manufacture of hand tools. All sorts of skills and techniques that were taken for granted in previous centuries disappeared, and the use of the double iron wasn’t immune from this trend. By the end of the 20th century it was common, as I noted earlier, to hear the claim that cap irons didn’t really stop tear-out. Some writers speculated that the real purpose of the cap iron was to stabilize or add heft to the cutting iron. One prominent author wrote that cap irons “do more harm than good in a handplane” – a statement that would have...

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

I found this nice Disston carcase saw in a secondhand shop a few years ago, and it’s been living untouched in my tool chest since. Yes, I paid $5 for it – there are still bargains to be had if you look hard enough! The tote was solid but covered in dark grime, and the plate and teeth were straight but needed cleaning and sharpening. One evening last week, I finally pulled it out and gave it some TLC. My first step was dealing with the dark coating on the tote. My best guess is that it is some kind of highly oxidized (and very hard) oil coating – linseed, perhaps? I tried multiple solvents – alcohol, xylene, and even wiped-on...