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From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

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...

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

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...

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

What do you do with your waste pieces of wood? I’m not talking about obvious keepers. To me, achieving the rank of “keeper” (and thus, be returned to long-term storage for a future project), an offcut piece of lumber must be greater than 12" in length, 3-1/2" or greater in width, and must retain parallel edges. These guidelines are loosened for some species (I’m likely to keep quite small pieces of tiger maple or cherry, for example). I don’t use a ruler to establish these measurements, mind you, but this is the ballpark for pass/fail. Maybe you have similar standards in your shop. But what about the lesser bits, those little offcuts, the odd, tapered pieces that often find their...