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Video: How to Use Chisels

Just posted a new video in our “Getting to Work” series. This time, I tackle the various uses of chisels. Do notbe deceived. This is no easy tool to use successfully. In fact, its simplicity demands skillful application. -Joshua  

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Perfect for the Preservation of Wooden Artifacts

The main structure of Hay’s cabinet shop was built in the 1740s at the bottom of a ravine on a Williamsburg back street. A later extension, appended to the west wall of the original structure, spanned a small stream that snaked its way through the ravine. Never made to power early machinery, the stream, combined with the gully and locale, likely made for cheap real estate. The potential savings were offset over time by the stream’s slowly destructive interaction with the building’s foundations. Anthony Hay and successors – Benjamin Bucktrout and Edmund Dickinson – were kept busy by the stream’s constant encroachments. While the business thrived until Dickinson’s 1776 enlistment in the First Virginia Regiment, the building slowly fell into...

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Give the Gift of Craftsmanship

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,...

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