Blog RSS

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

“The fire is the main comfort of the camp, whether in summer or winter, and is about as ample at one season as at another. It is as well for cheerfulness as for warmth and dryness.” – Henry David Thoreau, The Maine Woods (1864) My family hiked to a remote, backcountry lean-to in early October, at the peak of fall foliage. We spent a few days exploring, canoeing, talking to squirrels, and soaking in the solace of the wilderness – doing all of our cooking (and coffee making) over a wood fire. And keeping that fire going required some work. Baxter State Park allows the gathering of dead and downed wood to burn, so I brought along that quintessential tool...

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

This latest video in our “Getting to Work” series is all about the use of crosscut saws. Mike discusses the miter saw, backsaw, handsaw, frame saw, whip saw, and even some other specialty saws that get only occasional use in our shop. If you’re new to hand-tool woodworking, it’s important to get comfortable with crosscutting in various circumstances – you’re going to be doing a lot of it in your work.  

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

The spring-pole lathe operates on a very simple principle. A cord is tied to the tip of a sapling fastened overhead, which connects to a treadle on the floor after wrapping around the workpiece. As the treadle is depressed, the work rotates toward the turner to engage cutting, also pulling the sapling down into tension. When the treadle is released, the sapling snaps the treadle back up into position, ready for another cut. This back-and-forth pumping enables the turner to cut 50 percent of the time. Although it’s not as efficient as a continuous-motion lathe, I wouldn’t call this work slow. It’s hard to do any hot-dogging with foot power, but a steady rhythm does get the job done. One...

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

“Skill” has fallen on hard times lately. Instead of developing the dexterity to hold a tool properly and use it accurately, modern woodworkers tend to reach for some sort of clever device. There are tons of these jigs on the market: devices to hold your edge tool for sharpening, magnetic doohickies to guide your dovetail saw, and fences that perfectly square your edge planing. And then there are the shopmade variety: blocks used for square chisel chops, mitering devices, etc., etc. No one can deny that these gadgets are undoubtedly handy in production settings, but at the same time we must admit that they can also become a liability in a culture that is obsessed with devices. We are all...

From the M&T Daily Dispatch 

From the M&T Daily Dispatch