Taking the time or finding the resources to be able to pursue craft knowledge can be hard when you’re a fixed-income retiree, a strapped grad student, or the breadwinner of a young and growing family. We’ve established the Mortise & Tenon Craft Research Grant to help folks from all walks of life to make these opportunities possible. If you’ve been intending to apply but haven’t yet sent the application out in the mail, we recommend you do so ASAP, because the deadline is only two weeks away: June 1st. Mike and I already have a stack to read through and we’ve heard from others hoping to apply. We’ll be selecting the first two grant recipients in the first...
Design in its best sense means analyzing a problem and seeking the best solution. In order for more people to share in the joy of shaping the things they use, designs need simplifying in all fields. There is greater beauty in simpler forms and greater efficiency in saving materials, time, and energy. The important role of design in education has so often been ignored. Likewise, for too long the crafts have had an aura of the unattainable. This appears to function as a sort of psychological protective tariff for the members of an exclusive club. Frequently, emphasis is put on the most difficult designs rather than the simplest. This is another example of a wasteful approach to life, preserving an...
We just published a new video in our “Setting Up Shop” video series. This time, I introduce you to my spring-pole lathe. Besides an overview of the basic function and a few design considerations, I discuss a few additional features I’ve added since my article about the construction in Issue Three.
Having been trained to do benchwork, I never envisioned having a lathe in my shop until a few years ago. I’ve had one kicking around outside for several years, but now that I have this guy settled in as a part of the workflow, I can’t imagine my shop without it.
– Joshua
Philosophy is a hard sell. Pondering questions about the nature of knowledge, reason, existence, etc. is something that most folks have a hard time connecting to. At the level of ordinary, daily experience, we go to work and feel affection for our loved ones. In our downtime, we may ponder why it is that we gravitate toward certain perspectives or why things are the way they are, but few are able to devote their lives to mulling these things over. I know I have so much on my plate – family, business, farm, church, etc. – that I can only give so much to other things. But anytime I get to learn from those who have done all the mental...
It’s easy to bewail the current norm of “disposable furniture.” A flat-pack desk or shelf is purchased and lasts just a couple of years in a dorm room or office, only to be dragged to the curb when the back pops out or the drawer bottoms sag. In the past, this kind of wastefulness was unheard of. Objects were repaired and kept in use, often for centuries. It’s great fun to discover clever and unique repair solutions in old furniture. Take the example of this ladderback rocker. My guess is that the lower rear rung was a weak point and must have come loose periodically, so an ingenious (and mostly hidden) application of twisted wire under that rung was tightened...
The video I posted the other day showing the Shaper Origin handheld CNC machine generated a number of thoughtful responses. The narrator made a few interesting assertions, but the one the was most peculiar was the first: “Making things should be easy.” This seemed to function as a premise for the sales pitch for a machine that, although pushed by a person’s hands, would “continuously fine-tune the spindle’s position” and in case the user wanders off course, “the blade automatically retracts.” This tells me that the express goal of the Shaper Origin is to ensure that “making things [is] easy.” It can’t be denied that technological developments such as this machine facilitate the repetition and speed required of large-scale...
Editor’s note: This post is the first from our friend Cameron Turner, an accomplished woodworker based in Englewood, Colorado. We met Cameron at our 2019 summer workshop, after which he wrote an article for us about reproducing Henry David Thoreau’s desk. Mike and I have had many fruitful conversations with him over the past couple years, and we decided that we wanted our readers to benefit from his insights into woodworking, the natural world, and teaching young people. So, we invited Cameron to begin blogging alongside us. You’re in for a treat. John Cranch, Plasterer (1807) I’m not one of those perverse souls who actually enjoys hanging drywall, taping, and mudding. I do, however, deeply respect the people who do. The...
Charles Hammond manufactured tools in Philadelphia from 1869-1914. Sometime in that period, before his operation moved to Ogontz, PA in 1914, this hammer head was produced. I haven’t weighed it, but “hefty” is a good technical description. The neck of the hammer puts the face nearly 2-1/4” from the handle, giving plenty of clearance for the hand. I really like this tool. The old handle snapped just below the head while prying up a stubborn nail with the claws last year. Never a good feeling, but it happens. I drove the remaining handle stub out of the head and put it up on a shelf above my bench until I found or made a suitable replacement handle. I wanted to...
Mortise & Tenon Magazine · 27 – A Tour of the M&T Headquarters Take a walk with Mike and Joshua around the M&T headquarters and the rest of Joshua’s property. They provide a tour of many features: the blacksmith shop, the woodshed, the outhouse, and oak logs for another workbench. Then they make their way around the pond and drop by the chickens, goats, and pigs. Joshua’s kids ran amok, and the guys drop in on Joshua’s wife who was busy milking the goats. They complete the tour with a discussion of the upcoming Klein family 1810 cape house restoration project. MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST: The First Three Issues Hardbound Book Blacksmith shop project: The Another Work is Possible book...
