The day I stop learning how to work wood is the day I hang up my saws for the last time. After more years than I care to admit, I’m still making mistakes and learning new things about wood, my tools and myself. This past weekend, I was preparing 1/2″ stock for the sides of … Read more
Tag Archives: Adam Cherubini
Arts & Mysteries: Boarded Furniture Essentials
You needn’t be a dovetail master to build handsome 18th-century furniture.
by Adam Cherubini
Pages 18-21
From the April 2012 issue, #196
In my last article, I discussed the history of boarded (nailed) furniture and tried to get you as excited about it as I am. In this article, I’ll explore one sort of boarded carcase. Though the finished project won’t look like a country hutch or cupboard, the construction will be close or identical. This sort of furniture is fun to build and can be easily completed in a weekend with nothing but a few hand tools. The skills you hone building this sort of furniture will directly translate to building finer pieces.
Blog: Read Adam’s Arts & Mysteries blog.
To buy: “Building a Philadelphia Chippendale Chair” – a PDF collection of Adam’s eight-part series on the topic.
In our store: “The Arts & Mysteries of Hand Tools” on CD. Read more
Arts & Mysteries: ‘Boarded’ Furniture
London’s clever carpenters found a way around the laws.
By Adam Cherubini
Pages: 22-24
From the February 2012 issue #195
Buy the issue now.
“Boarded” is an archaic English term that was used to describe a form of woodwork characterized by the use of fasteners as the principle means of attachment. The iconic six-board chest is probably the most familiar boarded furniture form.
In earliest times, the fasteners may have been wooden pegs. In the Middle Ages, nails were used, sometimes decoratively. Metal straps were also sometimes applied to the corners. The basic form of these chests remained unchanged for easily 1,000 years.
BLOG: Read Adam’s Arts & Mysteries blog.
TO BUY: “Building a Philadelphia Chippendale Chair” – a PDF collection of Adam’s eight-part
series on the topic.
IN OUR STORE: “The Arts & Mysteries of Hand Tools” on CD. Read more
Advice on Article Sought
I’m working on an article about making nailed (boarded) furniture. The new format at the magazine has restricted columns like mine to 2 pages and I’m having trouble getting the job done in 2. It could be that I’m naturally wordy. I’ve been teased for this in the past and I’m self conscious about it. … Read more
Arts & Mysteries: Chisels Through the Ancient Eye
Today’s tool choices pale in comparison.
By Adam Cherubini
Pages:24-25
From the December 2011 issue #194
Buy the issue now.
We’ve talked and written volumes about planes and plane irons, and how to sharpen and use them. But when one thinks about making things by hand, there are a whole host of tools required to complete a project. Some tools get more attention than others. I guess I feel as though chisels have been overlooked.
TO BUY: ”Smith’s Key,” reprinted in 1975, is often available through used book stores.
WEB SITE: Read more about “Smith’s Key.”
IN OUR STORE: Get “The Arts & Mysteries of Hand Tools” on CD.
Read more
Saving Woodworking, One Project at a Time
Thanks to Popular Woodworking Magazine, I was invited to panel discussion on saving woodworking at this years’ Woodworking In America conference in Northern Ky. As I suspected, my perspective on this issue was a bit different from the others’ on the panel and I suspect from my friends in the room (it was held at … Read more
There’s No Shame in Nails
Adam Cherubini, our Arts & Mysteries columnist and blogger, and a contributing editor to the magazine, generated quite a buzz at the Woodworking in America conference with his talk on nailed furniture. I’m sad to say that I wasn’t able to make Adam’s talk (maybe I was ranting about the nefarious Cult of the Perfect … Read more