Francis Nicholson is generally regarded as the most important figure in early American planemaking. He was the first documented planemaker in the Colonies, he was inventive and original, and he appears to have been highly prolific: An astonishingly large number of his planes survive. But I believe it’s time for a reconsideration of Chelor’s significance. An exhaustive survey by Ingraham found that over three quarters of the surviving planes with Francis’s mark were made after he moved to Wrentham. Further, the number of surviving planes with Chelor’s mark actually exceeds the number of Francis’s planes with the Wrentham stamp. Taken together, these facts suggest that Chelor may have been responsible for an explosion of productivity in Nicholson’s shop during the...
You’re all fired up with a brilliant argument bursting from your brain. You have your sources arranged on the table, a rough outline composed, and a fully charged laptop glowing before you with a fresh document opened and ready. The world can’t help but await the inevitable gathering of words, phrases, and paragraphs into a cohesive, breathtaking whole: A Great Literary Work. Or a half-decent blog post about woodworking. Whatever. Your fingertips descend into position, finding those satisfying indicator nibs on F and J, and await the transfer of thought to the blurred kinetic motion of typing. Concept into reality. Only, there is a pause. A long pause. Your hands go slack. You’re stuck. Writer’s block. Every good writer...
Clear distinctions reveal new things about the world. And in a handcraft context, thinking clearly about what exactly a “tool” is or a “machine” or a “jig” enables woodworkers to maximize their shop satisfaction and efficiency. Some folks seem to think that theory and practice are intrinsically antithetical to each other, but Joshua and Mike have found clear-headedness to be tremendously helpful in the workshop. Think along with the guys as they tackle some thorny questions.
SHOW NOTES:
Coupon Code (good through Saturday, Dec 10th): MTXMAS2022
Skills Over Jigs: Vital Exercises for Hand-tool Woodworkers
David Pye’s The Nature and Art of Workmanship
Tim Ingold, The Perception of the Environment
For many of the folks working on this timber-frame project, the axe was and is the physical embodiment and symbol of these alternative possibilities that are available to us. The simple act of taking up tools is a trailhead to the path toward independence. With them, we wield the means to build the world we want to see. It is a small thing to learn to use an axe. But a life comprised of many such down-to-earth and constructive decisions is the framework for a new way of seeing the world – one rooted in empowerment, compassion, and freedom. As one of the CSF carpenters, Florian Carpentier, put it, “[The axe is] one of the most basic tools since humanity...
