Undeniably, the natural effects of the centuries on surfaces, finishes, and structure play into that first impression, at least to some degree. Entropy has a way of softening edges, moderating pigments, and altering the appearance of wood in a way that is difficult to replicate artificially. One exception, likely the most famous example of artificially produced patination, is the Brewster Chair made by Armand LaMontagne in 1969. After handcrafting a near-replica of the famous chair of William Brewster, a signer of the Mayflower Compact of 1620, LaMontagne spent months aging the chair. He scratched the wood in typical wear areas, burned parts with an acetylene torch and scraped away the carbon, then stained, smoked, bleached, and adhered centuries worth of...
Head’s up… I posted a free video tutorial this afternoon on the Daily Dispatch in which I walk through the grinding and freehand honing of a cambered plane iron. You do not need to be a Dispatch subscriber to view the video – this one’s gratis. As Mike and I discussed on our last podcast episode, we believe freehand honing is an important skill for every woodworker to develop. Watching our Apprenticeship students work to develop the feel of this technique, I’ve realized afresh how important practice is. By the end of that sharpening week, many of them described experiencing a “eureka” moment. To learn a new hand skill, you’ve got to watch someone do it and then do it...
This Christmas, I decided to make a small three-legged stool for each of my boys. Through-tenoned construction (now known as “staked”construction) is an essential skill to learn for Windsor chairmaking. I’ve made a pile of benches over the years using this method but never a three-legged seat. Three legs instead of four are great for three (of course) reasons: The chair will never wobble, no matter what floor it’s sitting on. The mortise layout is dead simple. There is one less leg to make. If you’ve been intimidated by Windsor chairmaking but wanted to dip your toes in, I recommend you start here. Here’s how it works. First, I laid out the circular seat perimeter using a compass. Then,...
It’s Christmas Eve – the traditional day of cramming to finish those last steps on gifts for friends and family (if you’re a procrastinator), or of sipping a hot cup of coffee or cocoa and settling back to enjoy the magic of the season. (As Joshua and I are of the former variety, we have some work to do today.) It’s a truly unique time when folks on farms in the mountains and folks in city apartments cut down fragrant evergreens, drag them inside, and decorate them with lights and ornaments (green woodworking!). When we gather together by candlelight to sing centuries-old songs whose words should be more deeply contemplated nowadays. When little kids in footie pajamas can’t sleep for...
It’s Christmas crunch time now. Every year, I inevitably I find myself sweating away in the shop until the Christmas eve wee hours. So far, I’m doing a little better than previous years, but everything takes longer than expected. So, who knows. This week, my boys have been taking turns up in the woodshop making gifts for each other. Not to spoil the surprise, but it’s all wooden knives and rifles. Which is, of course, ironic to my friends seeing these boys are homeschooled by near-pacifist parents. But hunting is the constant play around here and developing the ability to make your own equipment is an important part of skill acquisition. My article in Issue Ten, “Ready Hands,” was written...
I recently made this pipe box as a Christmas gift for Grace and Mike Cox. This thing definitely falls squarely in the so-called “primitives” category – it’s pine fore planed, nailed together, and painted. I’ve made a handful of these over the years and they’re always… fun. The right word is “fun.” Folk furniture like this is has a special place in my heart because I love the contrast of the coarse tool marks with the decorative painting – a raw texture underneath a humble intentionality. It’s as if these pieces say, “It’s just plain old me, but I will put on my nice shirt for you.” And this kind of furniture goes together pretty quick. Pine, nails, and paint....
The shortest day of the year seems designed to invite thoughtful reflection. Maybe it’s the long evening hours of darkness, or the cold outside that draws everyone closer to the blazing woodstove. Maybe it’s the dwindling pages remaining on the year's calendar, falling away like autumn leaves (there’s a mixed seasonal metaphor for you). Maybe it’s the cookies in the oven. Yeah, definitely, the cookies have something to do with it. Here at M&T, we have a lot to reflect on and be thankful for. Every passing year brings new and interesting work for us, new ideas, new acquaintances and friendships, and new (often old) tools to mess around with. This year has been especially unique, with the launch of...
In this episode, Joshua and Mike dive into that spirited and controversial arena known and feared by all hand-tool woodworkers… Sharpening. Looking at historic references and new practices alike, they make their case for developing the skill of freehand honing – the method they teach their students in the M&T Apprenticeship Program. This method frees you from a reliance on expensive jigs and stones, and allows for fast, repeatable, and reliable results.
SHOW NOTES:
Roy Underhill, The Woodwright’s Companion
Joseph Moxon, The Art of Joinery, Revised Edition
King Basic Stone Set, Lee Valley Tools
As I’ve been putting the finishing touches on my article for Issue Twelve, I found myself struggling to put certain details into words. So today, I set up my computer at the workbench to put myself next to the work I was trying to describe. It’s amazing how much standing at the bench snaps so much into clarity. Writing in the abstract is a tricky thing because we can be off in our own little worlds in our heads, and we’re never brought to ask whether our ideas comport with reality. A lot of weird stuff comes out of that kind of exploration, but most woodworkers I know can smell that airy-fairy bunk a mile away. If it doesn’t work,...
“To those who say that machinery and the apparatus of living are merely instruments and devices which are without moral nature in themselves, but which can be used for either good or evil, I would point out that we are all influenced by the tools and means which we use. Again and again in the lives of individuals and of nations we see that when certain means are used vigorously, thoroughly and for a long time, those means assume the character and influence of an end in themselves. We become obsessed by our tools.”
– Richard B. Gregg, “The Value of Voluntary Simplicity”
