Folk cultures around the world (including in Appalachia) have been built primarily around oral, rather than written, tradition. In song, story, and lore, truths and values were conveyed to the next generation and maintained over centuries. But to us rationalist moderns, this ancient way of recordkeeping seems imprecise and vague. Folklore scholar Richard M. Dorson describes our rather haughty perspective: “To the layman, and to the academic man too, folklore suggests falsity, wrongness, fantasy, and distortion. Or it may conjure up pictures of granny women spinning traditional tales in mountain cabins or gaily costumed peasants performing seasonal dances.” Dorson, a defender of the value of folklore, invokes in these words the unconscious bias that many today harbor toward indigenous, poor,...
It’s been said that woodworking is little more than marking lines in the right places and cutting carefully to those lines. While simplistic, there’s something refreshing about the aphorism. It is true that knowing where and being able to cut wood is the heart of most woodworking operations. At the same time, in the shop, we are nothing without our tools. And our tools are nothing without a way to secure the stock being shaped. Having a firm grasp on workholding methods is an essential component to artisanal development. Beginners struggle to find a way to hold their stock for comfortable work, and this struggle greatly hinders the cutting action of their tools. But anyone who’s been around for any...
In celebration Pye Day, we are sharing this excerpt from an article about the replication and use of David Pye’s idiosyncratic “fluting engine.” … Using the tool is an exercise in combined precision and randomness. With every different intended design, there are variables that change the use of the machine and its setup in some way or other. And once everything is working the way it is supposed to, every rotation of the turntable feels risky. Will each of the supposedly controlled strokes do what you want? Will the wood cooperate (as some grain patterns in the wood deflect the cutter a little and other areas are prone to tearing out)? Will the pattern you’ve established on the previous rotation...
I have a love/hate relationship with sandpaper. Before M&T, I spent better than a decade working on boats – mostly small, wooden sailboats, with the occasional lobster yacht or Nordic tug thrown into the mix. There was a beautiful Herreshoff Rozinante, built as finely as a violin, or that 1937 International One Design racing sailboat from Norway that had sunk three different times – each time, she was raised and repaired. I primarily did paint and varnish work, which meant that I spent winters sanding. A lot of sanding. At the end of each season, all the removable brightwork– tillers, wheels, seats, dropboards, hatches – I pulled off the boat, cataloging and shelving it all in my heated varnish room. The...
Yesterday on the Dispatch I posted a video preview of my new book Worked: A Bench Guide to Hand-Tool Efficiency and spent some time discussing the logic of the design. I realize it needs a little explanation. It’s common for publishers to limit the number of photographs to a minimum and prioritize the written text. Ironically though, I’ve found over the years that I’ve learned more from the books and articles which feature lots of large photographs than the ones leaning heavily on the writing. I think this is because woodworking is a material and tactile thing and even the most verbose descriptions do not do justice to what an artisan actually sees while working. In this new title (just as...
Traditional icons are the culmination of many different arts. The hands in the studio are engaged as woodworkers, gilders, painters, and finishers, and our eyes see as historians, theologians, and artists. The interplay of these disciplines means that it is the joy of the studio to work with many different people in our tasks (for instance, the list of people I need to call back as I write this includes a sawyer, a priest, and a professor). It also means that what’s done here can offer a unique perspective on the purpose and consideration of the materials and methods it employs. The making of each icon begins with wood. A panel is its foundation, and like any home, the icon...
I’ve become convinced that if we are going to successfully revive pre-industrial tools and techniques, we are going to have to understand and come to grips with pre-industrial tolerances. We need to know how square our “square” ought to be and exactly how smooth is “smooth.” When a machinist’s square is placed on the surfaces of period furniture, one is hard pressed to find anything we moderns would call “flat.” Even discounting instances of warpage from the ravages of time, the surfaces of rails, the flats of tapered legs, drawer faces, and even tabletops display a refreshingly human workmanship. It no longer surprises me to find that the undulations on a “flat” drawer face allow even my thickest feeler gauge...
Schumacher uses an exercise in basic math to show that technology has allowed us to reduce the time spent on actual production of goods to such a tiny amount that it becomes insignificant. The prestige of being a producer, as a consequence, has greatly diminished. If we can rethink efficiency, says Schumacher, and increase the hours and workers involved in production, we could have enough time to “make a really good job of it, to enjoy oneself, to produce real quality, even to make things beautiful.” For a young craftsman seeking encouragement in following a different path, these were powerful words. Schumacher’s aim was to help developing nations by providing aid that employed the greatest number of people. For example,...
Today’s installment of the “Setting Up Shop” video series is utterly, completely, 100%, boring. And after watching it, we think you will agree.
Since time immemorial, woodworkers have been seeking the best way to make a round hole in a piece of wood. From the use of friction, to Roman-era spoon bits, to modern auger and twist bits, Mike talks us through an introduction to the boring technology available to hand-tool woodworkers today. You know the drill – check it out, and leave any comments below.
Wood is weird. Sometimes it seems like it has a mind of its own and surprises you with its behavior. There is mystique about particular species and their unique qualities, unparalleled by any other. What accounts for these peculiarities? Why is wood the way it is? I stumbled across a pile of excellent wood science videos the other day and thought they were worth sharing here. Dr. Callum Hill makes helpful use of a light board to put into plain English the nature of wood. Anyone who calls themselves a woodworker should understand at least some of this information. There are a ton of videos on their YouTube channel, but check out a few here: As they’ve put it, “The...
