Comments on: Medieval Stock Preparation

By: AL

AL — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 20:35:13 +0000

Great Post Adam. Using a chisel & saw for the rough work followed by using a handplane to fine tune sounds like a good two step technique.

Merry Christmas
AL
http://www.woodworkingwithajo.com

By: Adam Cherubini

Adam Cherubini — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 02:06:45 +0000

I’m no carpenter. And I guess I don’t know what everybody else does. I can’t go to the lumber store and buy a black walnut 4×4. I guess other guys glue stuff up? For me this is really a simple mater of practicality. I do this sort of thing fairly often. I don’t see a choice. What does everyone else do?

By: eric.erb

eric.erb — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:06:09 +0000

thank you for this post, i’m quite interested in medieval woodworking.

is not a plane merely a holder for a chisel? sufficient skill with a chisel should approach the results with a plane (idealogically, anyway. *I* certainly don’t have that level of skill)

As to carpentry vs cabinetmaking, i understand. Though I think the distinction depends on the level of the craft in a given area. If you are getting your stock from a mill, the sizing is already somewhat close. If you are getting your stock from a tree, you’ve got to do the entire process…

By: J. Pierce

J. Pierce — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 04:14:56 +0000

It takes a little time to learn to ride the bevel as it were, but my wider chisels are often my smoothing plane for those little bits of tearout that happen sometimes. A plane is just a chisel in a jig – sometimes it’s easier to deal without the jig. I don’t profess to be a master, but it’s satisfying to know with a little finesse, a knife or a chisel can get you a really nice surface, particularly on curved work. I had to make a replacement arm for my bowsaw (poor choice of wood last time) and I don’t think I did all the work with chisels, knives and a cross cut saw.

By: Adam Cherubini

Adam Cherubini — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:01:02 +0000

Carvers do something similar with “break” or “stop” cuts. It’s also a typical medieval hewing technique. As applied to furniture, it can be an effective method.

In my mind it feels like carpentry tho, not cabinetmaking. My guess is, if we had the opportunity to view activities in an 18th c cabinetshop, we’d see a lot more stuff like this. The few shops I have any detailed information about did tend to take on a wide variety of projects, some seemingly more house joinery than cabinetry.

By: Brentpmed

Brentpmed — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 03:30:12 +0000

Adam,
Great tip. The stopping cuts should have been a no-brainer for me, but I don’t think I would have thought of it before running a chisel too deep, you just saved me a future mistake!

Great to see a new blog entry from you, I look forward to your tips and techniques on hand work. If you had time for several of these a month we would all eat them up.