One of the daunting tasks Michele, Philippe, and I face in bringing “To Make As Perfectly As Possible” – the furniture-making sections of Jacob Andre Roubo’s “L’Art du Menuisier” – to an Anglophone audience is probably similar to the problem of a modern Francophone reading it now in the original language – Roubo frequently (always?) …
Early visitors to the new western cities of America were willing to travel by coach, wagon, horseback, boats and on foot to see and report on the westward growth of their new and independent country. They kept detailed diaries and turned their experiences into published travelogues. A minister would include the social aspects of the …
A Visit to Pittsburgh in the First Quarter of the 19th Century – Read More »
For the map enthusiasts: Coblentz-Würzburg-Fulda. Share this: Print Email Facebook Tumblr Pinterest Twitter Like this: Like Loading…
Cross shakes. A piece of sapele with transverse shakes. These may be the result of improper drying resulting in honeycombing, but they might also be the result of natural cross shakes. In this case, I wasn’t able to come to a definite decision when the fault revealed itself during normal wood machining. Whatever the cause, …
Before the translation for “Slöjd in Wood” became available last year, English speakers had limited opportunities to hear Jögge Sundqvist describe his craft in his own voice. Jögge is a generous teacher and artist. His Instagram account is full of design inspiration and glimpses of works in progress. Here are some short videos of techniques …
El hogar de Nazaret’ by Isabel de Santiago (1660?-1714). Museo Jijon Caamano, Quito. Share this: Print Email Facebook Tumblr Pinterest Twitter Like this: Like Loading…
Noted woodworker, teacher and author Robert Wearing (1921-2020) died peacefully on April 27 at age 99, according to his son, Dave Wearing. Wearing was “interested in wood to the end,” Dave wrote in an email. Wearing was the author of many important books on woodworking, including “The Resourceful Woodworker,” “Making Woodwork Aids & Devices” and …
The video we’ve recently released, “Roubo Workbench: By Hand & Power Video,” is intended to be a brain dump from me and Will Myers on building slab workbenches. Not only do we show the techniques we’ve developed to make it doable for the home woodworker, we also seek to dispel a lot of the myths …
Stretchers on Your Workbench are Optional – Read More »
When we released “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” in 2012, I was still teaching a lot, traveling to tool shows and talking at places such as Woodworking in America. So I heard a lot of comments from readers about Jennie’s transition from being John Alexander to Jennie Alexander. Most of the comments were …
The core “Virtuoso” team is currently returning to a normal orbit after the fourth (and ostensibly last) pilgrimage to the Studley tool chest. As Chris has described elsewhere, after this visit I can finally check off a nagging item on my “Virtuoso” to-do list: getting the tool chest off the wall. Writing up a list of …