Power tools are dangerous. This should not be a controversial statement, but somehow the observation always incites vigorous debate. In this podcast episode, Joshua and Mike discuss Mike’s article in Issue Twelve titled “Risk & Reward: Skill as a Safety Net,” in which he tackles this delicate issue. Rather than falling back on tired clichés, Mike seeks to reframe the discussion in a way that can deal honestly with the injury statistics and enable makers to make tooling choices personally catered to their objectives. If you are operating on the assumption that true woodworkers really ought to power up, you really ought to hear Mike out… before it’s too late. SHOW NOTES Issue Twelve Shop Class as Soulcraft, Matthew Crawford...
Every once in a while, a book is written that, while not explicitly focused on woodworking or furniture, manages to perfectly encapsulate the core essence of why we (as woodworkers) do what we do. The bestselling Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work is that kind of book. Its insights have been illuminating for us here at M&T, and we’re thrilled to now be stocking it in our store. Author Matthew Crawford has a unique perspective. He has a Ph.D. in political philosophy and runs his own motorcycle repair shop. Early on in his career, he landed every intellectual’s dream job as director of a Washington think tank. But he soon left that position, disillusioned by...
In this new video in our “Setting Up Shop” series, Joshua shows his shopmade wooden squares, straightedges, and winding sticks. These tools are always at hand when working wood by hand and Joshua tells us that it’s valuable to be able to make your own.
And how, it will be asked, are these products to be recognized, and this demand to be regulated? Easily: by the observance of three broad and simple rules: 1. Never encourage the manufacture of any article not absolutely necessary, in the production of which Invention has no share. 2. Never demand an exact finish for its own sake, but only for some practical or noble end. 3. Never encourage imitation or copying of any kind, except for the sake of preserving record of great works. I shall perhaps press this law farther elsewhere, but our immediate concern is chiefly with the second, namely, never to demand an exact finish, when it does not lead to a noble end. For observe,...
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of essays by master cooper Marshall Scheetz. We’ve recently been talking with Scheetz about fascinating new research he’s been doing relating to aspects of his trade he’s not yet explored in all his years at the block. We’ve published his writing before and loved it so much that we decided to give him our platform here to share his latest findings. I never imagined wooden buckets could keep me occupied, or rather, transfixed for so long. The simple purpose of a bucket or barrel belies the complex symmetry of such a mundane object. Coopering is the intuitive act of assembling carved wooden staves into a conical form, bound by hoops driven...
We’ve probably all heard this phrase before, but it’s admittedly becoming harder and harder to live by. For example, if you need to change the formatting of your laptop’s hard drive so you can update your MacOS to the latest version and you want it done right, do you do it yourself? (Some will say yes. I’ve been putting it off for months.) Our “somethings” used to be simpler. Vehicles, for example, had adjustable carburetors, few electronics, and most anything wrong with them could be fixed on a warm Saturday under a shady tree. My first car was a 1984 Dodge Caravan (the first minivan ever!) that my parents had purchased new, and I inherited it with 168,000 miles on...
Many woodworkers get into hand tools because they are drawn in by the joinery: dovetails, mortises and tenons, etc. As they continue building pieces in their shops, some begin to wonder if it’s possible to “cut the cord” even further. What would it be like to build from scratch without any machinery whatsoever? How would one start with rough boards and end with a beautiful drop-leaf table without ever firing up the dust collector? In this latest episode, Joshua and Mike discuss these questions in light of Joshua’s forthcoming book, Worked: A Bench Guide to Hand-Tool Efficiency. Joshua makes the argument that “engineer” woodworkers and “monastic” hand-tool-only woodworkers operate on the same strange assumption: that hand tools are supposed...
Your eye is the standard of tolerance. And over the years as your hand skills develop, so will your sense of visual discernment. Dovetails that you were happy with at the beginning of your journey will undoubtedly make you wince a few years into your growth as an artisan. That’s not only OK, it’s expected. It’s called maturation. But as you grow in the craft, don’t ever forget that it’s just woodworking, reader. Although the joinery of the past was intended to be as gap-free as possible, the tolerances of our furniture-making ancestors were much closer to those of house carpenters than those of space engineers. Efficient craftsmanship is caring deeply about everything that matters and being disciplined enough to...
Imagine woodworking with no boundaries.
Imagine having all the tools you need at your fingertips with a gesture.
Imagine being able to transcend the struggles of difficult grain, dull tools, sticky glue, and a deficient skillset.
Today we are announcing the next chapter in woodworking.
The future is going to be beyond anything that we can imagine.
-Mike
The Mortise & Tenon Apprenticeship Program's Spring Term is sailing along and just might finish before spring weather actually arrives. As we pass the halfway point, the Apprentices have mounted numerous personal successes, from free-hand sharpening of their plane irons and chisels to resuscitating antique hand planes to employing these tools of the trade to create traditional handmade joinery worthy of the finest pre-industrial furniture. They're gaining the proper experience in efficient workholding, marking, and layout, body positioning for optimal tool engagement, mindfulness in employing hand tools, reading stock, and resharpening when necessary. The group dynamic is lively and encouraging as everyone tackles and posts their weekly assignments and many get started on Journeyman Challenge projects. Already we've seen lots...
