Today we inched our way through the process of documenting the tools in the H.O. Studley chest with high-resolution, for-publication photographs. It is grueling work that’s done in the dark, punctuated by blinding flashes and always coated in the fear of dropping one of the tools to the floor below. All told, there are more … Read more
It takes a long time – months, really – to recover your senses after spending time with the tool chest of H.O. Studley. During our first visit with the chest in 2011, we spent about an hour taking random shots of the thing, as if it might just disappear from the wall at any second. … Read more
Good news, fellow knuckle-draggers. Roy Underhill’s television show, “The Woodwright’s Shop,” has been renewed for two more seasons – State Farm Insurance has agreed to fund seasons 33 and 34 of the show. Personal note: I have my home insurance through State Farm for this reason alone. My wife thinks I’m nuts for this. And … Read more
One of my favorite tools is the “English Layout Square” I built for the December 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Heck, I like it so much I put it on the cover of my book “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” built one on “The Woodwright’s Shop” and even had its shape engraved on the sidewall … Read more
The first lesson of handwork is this: Most things that you think are important are not important. Most surfaces do not need to be true. Most edges do not need to be square. Most boards do not need to be four-squared (or even free of bark). Most dimensions – length, thickness, width – will only … Read more
I’m in Charleston, S.C., this week to fatten myself up on grits and explore some of the antique shops for campaign furniture examples to study. First the bad news: Antiques of the Indies, the awesome King Street shop I visited last fall, recently closed. However I found that the owner had taken a booth at … Read more
Now that I’m no longer on the staff of Woodworking in America, I get to do three things: 1) Actually attend some of the really great seminars from people like chairmaker Curtis Buchanan, carver Mary May, Yeung Chan and David Marks. 2) Present my own seminars on topics that are a bit on the nutty … Read more
