June 2015 #218
Design without compromise: An exercise in high-end handwork By Geremy Coy pages 24-31 Sometimes a cup of tea is more than a cup of tea. Its surface may be still, its color translucent and its container unadorned. But in a single sip of hot water, you can taste the time of year the...
Wired for Beauty
A rotary tool, hammer and a few shop-made tools are all it takes. by Don Williams pages 32-36 I recently had the opportunity to explore a concept that has been rattling around the dark recesses of my cranium for almost three decades. It was inspired first by a spectacular pair of curly...
Compound Angles; No Math
Once you understand ‘resultant’ angles, sawbenches (and chairs) are easy. by Christopher Schwarz pages 37-41 Most first-time chairmakers are intimidated by the compound joinery used to fasten all the legs, stretchers, spindles and arms. The truth is, it can be quite complicated if you try to figure out everything using trigonometry....
Floating Table
This handsome piece is simple to build and easily adapted to fit your stock. by Brian A. Hubel pages 42-48 A friend asked me to design and build a table using a special piece of walnut. I was given approximate measurements, but everything else was up to me. I love the freedom...
Gravity by Design
Small changes to details make a big difference. by Darrell Peart pages 49-54 Several years ago, I took a different approach to design – one that relies less upon ratios and mathematical formulas and more upon intuition and observation. I have written about this previously and have referred to it as...
Arts & Mysteries: Plain Matted Chairs
This humble form has a long legacy and modern descendants. by Peter Follansbee pages 58-61 In a recent column, I made reference to my initial foray into woodworking as a chairmaker. Post-and-rung, ladderback, slat-back – these chairs have lots of names in various places and in different periods. I learned how...
Design Matters: Secrets of the Cyma Curve
We might admire a graceful curve in nature without understanding what lends it a sense of spring and vitality. Small details can often make the difference between a curve that sings and one that just seems to plod along. If you’re like me, you may have reached for a coffee cup...
Earlex Steam Generator for Steam-bending
Steam-bending has always required a certain amount of jury-rigging to make the steam: adapting a propane burner, retrofitting a kettle or tweaking a wallpaper steamer. Now Earlex has made steam-bending a little easier by offering a steam generator that is simple to hook up to any steam box via a 1⁄2″-diameter...
Arbortech Contour Random Sander
I I’ve been building a stacked-lamination piece with plenty of concave and convex curves that require a good deal of sanding. Arbortech’s new Contour Random Sander has helped. Out of the bag, the sander includes everything you need – a metal stem containing two independently rotating shafts that produce the “random”...