Popular Woodworking Magazine » Gustav Stickley

The Other Arts & Crafts

Christopher Schwarz — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 19:46:25 +0000

It’s difficult to have a serious conversation about the American Arts & Crafts movement without using the “S” word – Stickley, of course. The iconic, rectilinear and medieval forms of Gustav(e) Stickley, his brothers and the other designers he employed are the nouns and verbs of the Arts & Crafts language – oak, leather, quartersawn, mortise-and-tenon. … Read more »

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Stickley Bookcase Sketchup Model

Robert W. Lang — Sun, 15 May 2011 14:06:52 +0000

This is a model of the "I Can Do That" project from the November 2009 issue of Popular Woodworking magazine. Read more »

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History of the Morris Chair

Robert W. Lang — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:20:59 +0000

In the mid-1860s a carpenter in Sussex, England named Ephraim Colman had a brilliant idea, to make a chair with an adjustable back. The idea was sketched by Warrington Taylor, and adapted by Phillip Webb for a chair to be produced by William Morris and Company. Chairs have had a slow evolution, and the best … Read more »

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Sorry Grandma, But I’m Proud of That

Robert W. Lang — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:13:13 +0000

I read a column about “professional blogging” the other day that mentioned a blog is the one place in journalism where it’s accepted practice to start with an anecdote about your grandmother. So here goes. I was raised that it was wrong, wrong, wrong to ever brag, boast or call undue attention to yourself. Grandma … Read more »

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Amazing Device for Laying out Complex Joints

Robert W. Lang — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:35:14 +0000

It’s easy to talk yourself out of doing something that’s out of the ordinary. Woodworkers tend to worry and analyze things so much that they often settle for less, when doing things right isn’t that much of a stretch. A case in point is the curved rails on the back of a Morris chair. How … Read more »

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Match Mortise Size Without Measuring

Robert W. Lang — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 22:22:14 +0000

Whenever I teach a class, at least one student will say to me “you really don’t like measuring, do you?” I don’t dislike measuring, but I try to avoid it whenever I can. When I’m trying to get one part to fit another, the numbers become irrelevant and measuring often becomes an opportunity to make … Read more »

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April Comes Between Thanksgiving and New Years

Robert W. Lang — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:26:53 +0000

Working on a magazine has some elements of science fiction, particularly in relation to the space/time continuum. Even though it’s late November, I’ve been working on a project for the April 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Here is a “sausage factory tour” of how we select, design and build projects that appear in the … Read more »

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Reinforcing the Indestructible

Robert W. Lang — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:27:38 +0000

Pegging through-mortise-and-tenon joints is an excellent way to reinforce the already strong joint. Good dowels can be hard (if not impossible) to find, so when I need the right size and the right species, I make my own. It doesn’t take long, and the work is a nice relief from fussing with other details. I … Read more »

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When Arts and Crafts Joinery Becomes Decoration

Robert W. Lang — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:59:11 +0000

A large part of the appeal of Arts and Crafts style furniture is the apparent lack of decoration. This project, a reproduction of a Gustav Stickley No. 70 music cabinet and a detail I’ve borrowed from similar pieces is the reason for using the word “apparent”. I’ve always liked this little cabinet, it’s just under … Read more »

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