Why You Should Visit Midwest Woodworking Co.
In this business, there are a few things you don’t share: Finishing secrets, wood sources and saliva. This post breaks one of those three cardinal rules – revealing excellent wood sources. Last [...]
Hardware Review: Ansaldi & Sons Campaign Hardware
While Horton Brasses has agreed to produce some custom pieces of campaign hardware for the chest/secretary I’m building for Popular Woodworking Magazine, that doesn’t squelch my desire to see [...]
A Little More on the Fork
After posting this story about the campaign-style fork and knife, I got an e-mail from woodworking researcher extraordinaire Jeff Burks. Burks, a trade carpenter, is a voracious collector of [...]
Things Woodworkers Don’t Say
When I hang out with other woodworkers, the conversation almost always turns to what we are building now and what we are building next. Recently I said something I didn’t think I’d ever say: “I [...]
The Black Knife
In 19th-century English workshops you could be sacked (fired) for wearing eyeglasses. There are even accounts of how a shop might have a certain phrase that was spoken when the master was about [...]
Dovetails: The Strong, Silent & Shy Type
Campaign chests had to take a beating. They traveled all over the British Empire during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. And yet they bore their burden without complaint or explanation. [...]
Campaign Furniture Hardware from Horton Brasses
I’ve made the following statement at least a dozen times in strategy meetings, classrooms and beer halls: Someone should review furniture hardware. After all, if the hardware stinks, I think the [...]
Let the Campaign Begin
A knock at the door at 8:01 a.m. today marked the beginning of my campaign chest project. Sure, I’ve been sketching, studying and digging up details on campaign chests for weeks now, but for me [...]
How Not to Rive Oak
This week I’m cutting a bunch of half-blind dovetails in oak – oak on the pin board and oak on the tail board. This is somewhat trickier than dovetailing softer woods, or when dovetailing a soft [...]
Super-simple Support for the Moxon Double-screw
When I built a Moxon double-screw vise last year for sawing and other chores, I tried to keep it as simple and close to the 17th-century original as I could. After building two prototypes, I made [...]
New Episodes from ‘The Woodwright’s Shop’
The shows from the latest season of Roy Underhill’s “The Woodwright’s Shop” can now be viewed online for free through this link. What, you are still here and reading my crap? Click the link and [...]
New Traditional Hammers from Tools for Working Wood
The difference between a good hammer and a great hammer is significant. Most hammers at the hardware store are but one step above a rock tied to a stick. As a result, I’ve always bought vintage [...]
