As I was writing this, I looked for photos of my dad woodworking. I couldn’t find any. That was frustrating at first, but then I realized that it just underlines the story I’m about to tell. However I would like you to meet him, so here’s a recent photo of him eating breakfast. Ruby (right) …
Feeler gauges are an inexpensive way of finding out what is or isn’t flat in the workshop. The following is excerpted from Derek Jones’s forthcoming book, “Cricket Tables.” Simplicity, necessity and ingenuity are the three key principles for making cricket tables. This traditional three-legged table exists in a variety of forms and woods – no …
When I need to mentally travel from Point A to Point B, I sit down and think hard. I’ll draw it out on paper like this: 1. Steal the underpants. 2. Convert them to face masks. 3. Profit. When I need to go from Point I’ll Never Have Another Good Idea to Point It’s 4 …
Making Book Part 2: The Moon & Antarctica – Read More »
We make sliding bevels here at Crucible Tool, and we love them. But you don’t need them for making chairs. Once when I couldn’t find my sliding bevel, I made some blocks of wood with fixed angles sawn on the ends. These guided my drill bit while making mortises. A few years later, I saw …
Chairmaking on the Cheap(er) Part 4: Stationary Bevels – Read More »
Yoav Liberman first came to my attention at Woodworking in America in the fall of 2016. We met in the trade show hall and quickly fell into a discussion about reality versus fantasy when it comes to making furniture for a living. Impressed by his openness and intelligence, I made a point of attending his …
Book report: Working Reclaimed Wood, by Yoav Liberman – Read More »
Fig. 15.1 Some sample Windsor baluster turnings. This is an excerpt from “Chairmaker’s Notebook” written and illustrated by Peter Galbert. The association between lathe turning and Windsors runs deep. When describing a Windsor chair to someone, the “ornately turned legs” often pinpoints the style in their mind. Turning is an ancient method for shaping wood …
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I suspect that I learned more about math, civics and language from “Schoolhouse Rock!” than I did from school itself. The magic of “Schoolhouse Rock!” is the magic of all good education. That is: It is so engrossing that you don’t realize you are learning heavy and important lessons. Practical geometry is one of those …
The following is excerpted from “Doormaking and Window-Making.” As the Industrial Revolution mechanized the jobs of the joiner – building doors and windows by hand – one anonymous joiner watched the traditional skills disappear and decided to do something about it. That joiner wrote two short illustrated booklets (combined here into one volume) that explained …