Hand-tool woodworkers recognize the virtues of the different species they utilize: the workability of pine, the beauty of walnut, the resilience of maple. But some types of trees demonstrate attributes so unique that they make an entirely different way of working wood possible. One such is the ash, revered and sought for millennia for its ability to separate along growth rings after pounding, creating beautifully uniform splints that can be woven into baskets, containers, and chair seats. This sort of craft is rarely seen in the woodshop today, seeming more akin to weaving or fiber arts. But it is most definitely woodworking. And it deserves another look.
This post is part of a blog series revealing the table of contents of upcoming Issue Twelve. As is our custom, we’ll be discussing one article per weekday in order to give you a taste of what is come. The subscription window which includes Issue Twelve is open now. To get Issue Twelve when it ships early April, you can sign up for a subscription here. If you aren’t sure about your subscription status, you can reach out to Grace at info@mortiseandtenonmag.com. Keep in mind though, if you are set to auto-renew, you never have to worry about getting the next issue of Mortise & Tenon. Issue Twelve is coming your way soon! ___________________________________ Dennis Carter – “The Dalarna Corner Notch” The practice of building...
In this episode, Joshua and Mike don their proverbial tool belts and discuss a restoration project that will occupy the bulk of their focus in 2022 – reconstructing an 1810 New England Cape house. Starting at the beginning, before Mortise & Tenon Magazine even existed, they recount the perilous task of deconstructing the building, raccoon droppings and all. They lay out a plan for restoring and modifying the old frame to meet the needs of a modern family, while maintaining the integrity and history so palpable in this old house.
SHOW NOTES
The M&T Daily Dispatch
The M&T Apprenticeship Program
Whoa. Term Two of the M&T Apprenticeship Program has really flown by. Let me first congratulate the apprentices on all they’ve accomplished over the past eight weeks and welcome them to alumni status. The first term alumni anxiously await their participation as we build a community comprised of woodworkers from all over the U.S. and beyond. Image Courtesy: Matt Mathews Even before this term had begun, it was apparent that folks had been lining up – ready with wooden planes and vintage saws to restore and use. It’s so inspiring to watch women and men from all walks of life sharing their interest and desire to learn hand-tool woodworking as it was done a couple hundred years ago (and...
If you take only one thing away from this article, it should be this: Hand tools rely on reference faces. When you use a square or marking gauge to thickness stock or lay out joinery, it is essential that you be consistent about which surface you use for reference. This is important because of human error but also because it frees you from having to perfectly and consistently thickness and square all sides of a board. With this system, all you need is one flat and smooth face and one square edge. That’s it. The rest can be hatchet marks for all we care (and sometimes is) because all your layout is referencing off the one good face. This system...
This week, Mike and I began working out the repair strategies for my 200-year-old timber-framed home. There will be a number of interesting scenarios to figure out, all of which we’ll be talking about on the Daily Dispatch as they come up. But before we could even get there, we realized that the design of the frame was so unusual to our eyes that we didn’t know what the proper terminology for the members should be. We’ve got a pile of books in our library, many of which I’ve been reading here and there over the years, but there are some designs that just don’t fit the standard models depicted. I’ve never professed to be a timber frame expert, but every...
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” John Muir I made this little shaving the other day in a piece of ash. It got me thinking about connection – more specifically, “interconnectedness,” which is a word I trip over every time I pronounce it. I was fresh from a conversation about the emerald ash borer and how that little bug is likely to turn most of our beautiful ash trees into memories within my lifetime, in the same way that chestnut blight and Dutch elm disease wreaked havoc in the 20th century. But here I am, in a moment in time when ash lumber is plentiful and Maine’s...
I used to think of most areas of my life in terms of “efficiency.” Don’t “waste” time on sluggish methods. Always seek to expedite the task at hand. This bled into my woodworking too, and I may not be the only one. Whether you’re a hand tool nut or a power tool devotee (or something in between), we all can be tempted to think this way. One of our worst criticisms of an operation is that it is slow. Have you ever heard anyone complain about a technique because it is too easy or too fast? I haven’t. If it’s faster, it’s better by definition. But what if woodworking wasn’t about getting it over with as soon as possible? What...
Over the years, the most offensive thing I’ve ever done (so I’m told) is to make a sticker that said, “Kill Your Tablesaw.” It was conceived of as an absurd self-caricature – a spoof of the classic Luddite bumper sticker that said, “Kill Your Television.” (Wait… do Luddites drive cars?) Anyway, it’s clear by now that M&T has a reputation for the hand-tool “thing,” and we make no apologies for it. We’ve decided not to use “power tools” in our furniture making for several reasons, but none are about pretension or ego. We just do not enjoy machinery. And we really love hand tools. That said, in the woodworking world, the elephant in the room is the fact that...
“Take the meanest rusty handplane, clean it up, grind the blade and sharpen it like a razor. Tune the plane, set it very fine and run it over a scrap of oak. Hear the sound it makes and feel the finish. If you share that thrill, set yourself a project to make entirely by hand. By doing so, I once, years ago, renewed my love affair with wood. I have owned some machines myself, but I examined what I was doing and decided to go organic. I haven’t regretted it once.” –John Brown, from Good Work Thank you, Lost Art Press, for publishing this excellent book by Christopher Williams. As longtime fans of Brown’s writing, we heartily commend it....
