Arts & Mysteries

For me, part of the fun of building furniture by hand is working with the tools, materials, and hardware. This hardware, from Londonderry brasses, really has the feel of the...

Writing for PW is really cool. People I tell about it often ask whether I feel great about seeing my name in print or the validation of being published. I...

In my latest article, I discussed the construction of the guts of my standing desk and attempted to relate those innards to formal desks from mid (18th) century Philadelphia. Fortunately,...

This is a tiny drawer from a Philadelphia secretary, circa 1760. Notice the shimmed dovetail. Make you feel better?

When we think of drawers, we invariably think of drawers like those found in our kitchens. You yank on the pull, they slide out effortlessly, then a bump from the...

I began woodworking in my thirties with the specific intention of making period reproductions. But I initially intended to “power up” my shop. When I started, I hadn’t made the...

On Sunday, July 22, my friend Paul Dzioba and I will be demonstrating the execution of mid century joinery in one of the finest houses in North America. Mount Pleasant...

I thought you would like to see what a messy hand tool shop looks like! When was the last time someone commented on how nice your shop smelled? It really...

I can think of only a few 18th c furniture forms where carcass dovetails can be seen at all. As I recall, none can be seen from the front. Dovetails...

Double entÃ?©ndres (if that’s the right term for it) continue in this series and on this blog. The post below is really about some of the often-overlooked benefits of hand-tool...

If you’ve tried to add a comment and failed or if your comment has disappeared, it’s our fault. We’ve had some problems with our servers. Everything is now back up...

I’m not exactly Norm, but I do have specialty tools that make the job go faster. These tools are solely for mortise and tenon work and are typical of those...