I used plywood for my “Machinist’s Tool Test” project (in the October 2012 issue, and continued in February 2013 issue). In the past, I regarded plywood as being unworkable by hand. But I found a couple tricks to working it by hand: • Plywood can be sawn using fine-toothed handsaws. I think crosscut saws work … Read more
Just got home from the Woodworking in America Midwest, the second of two conferences held this fall. Just want to say thanks to all of you who attended and supported these conferences. I really enjoyed meeting folks and appreciated the opportunity I was given to do so. Thanks also to F&W pubs and Popular Woodworking … Read more
Design your tool storage from the inside out.
By Adam Cherubini
Pages 54-56
I currently store my woodworking tools in a traditional cabinetmaker’s/joiner’s tool chest. In building that chest, I leaned heavily on surviving period chests as well as images dating from the period. Over the years I’ve been an advocate for these sorts of chests. But I’m not convinced of their popularity with modern woodworkers.
This year at the “Woodworking in the 18th Century” conference in Colonial Williamsburg, North Bennet Street School (NBSS) instructor Dan Faia showed images of chests made by the school’s cabinetmaking students. NBSS focuses on traditional cabinetry and many students and graduates build reproduction furniture. So I was a bit surprised to see no chests resembling mine. The students’ chests were more similar to Gerstner’s machinist’s chests than to 18th- or 19th-century-style cabinetmakers’ chests. I pondered how such chests could hold any cabinetmaker’s tools. Where would one store a half set of hollows and rounds? A ripsaw? A try plane? What are these students being taught?
It took me a minute to arrive at an answer: Most woodworkers don’t have or use any of the tools I consider absolute necessities. These boxes probably held some tools familiar to me (such as chisels and dovetail saws), but they likely also contained hex keys, screwdrivers, dial indicators, combination squares, rulers and other things either I don’t use or don’t associate with woodworking.
Blog: Read Adam’s Arts & Mysteries blog.
Video: Watch our video visit to Gerstner & Sons, in Dayton, Ohio, makers of machinist’s tool boxes.
In Our Store: “The Arts & Mysteries of Hand Tools” on CD. Read more
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
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
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
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
