Earlier this week I was interviewed for the Fine Woodworking podcast by Ben Strano, which was a hoot. (I’ll post links to it next week when it’s released.) Ben and I are always a bit goofy when we’re together, and I said a lot of things I shouldn’t have (including the title to my next …
I spent today at the research center of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) on a scouting trip for my upcoming book “The Furniture of Necessity.” MESDA’s research center in Winston Salem, N.C., is an irresistible magnet for this book because of the museum’s “object database.” This database has 20,000 objects of furniture, …
We began production of our Type 2 Dividers this week, and we hope to begin selling them in June or July. As long-time customers know, we struggled to produce the first version of these dividers. They were beautiful. They functioned very well. But they were difficult to manufacture in great volume. While we were charging …
Crucible ‘Type 2 Dividers’ Begin Production – Read More »
Part 4 of a British Introduction to Japanese Planes What we in the West do not realise is that a plane comes to a maker as a kit of parts. He would buy the blade and maybe the back iron from the blacksmith but they may have been made by two smiths. The body would …
When I design a new piece of furniture, I start on paper, but I almost always mock things up before committing my ideas to joinery and glue. And a big part of mocking things up involves arranging parts temporarily then physically stepping back from the mock-up to give it a gander. For this step of …
The ancient “geometers” believed that geometry was the key to comprehending the incomprehensible; that an understanding of its inherent truths was the key to unlocking the mystery of how the “Gods” created order from chaos. The development of geometric constructions (the truths rather than proofs) became the foundational tool of the artisans to create a …
Fig. 2-7. Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) 60′ – 100′ (18-30 m) tall This is an excerpt from “With the Grain: A Craftsman’s Guide to Understanding Wood” by Christian Becksvoort. The walnut family also includes butternut and the hickories. Juglans means nut of Jupiter, nigra, or black, refers to the dark wood. Its natural range is …
For your viewing pleasure: Steve Schafer sent along this photo of a joint stool that he built after asking himself the following question: “What would Ruhlmann do had he lived during the American Federal Period?” The stool is made from curly cherry, holly and Texas ebony. The checkerboard inlay design was inserted using a technique …
Here’s a page from a forthcoming pamphlet I’m working on about the geometric truths that underlie – and led to the development of – all our layout tools, including (and ending up at) the sector. If you have kids around the house, you might find it interesting (maybe even enlightening) to put the sector into …
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