The Naked Apprentice
To understand, you must do. Working by hand is a viable way for hobbyists to create beautiful furniture, yet it is often seen as slow, odd and antiquated. I choose to work by hand because I enjoy [...]
Furniture – It’s Meant to be Used
In some contemporary households, 17th-century style storage prevails. I once sold a chair to a woman who later told me how much she loved it. “I never let anyone sit in it!” she exclaimed, [...]
The Wedged Mortise & Tenon
This time-tested joint is perfect for knockdown furniture. This bedstead I’m building is a perfect place to use a joint that I rarely cut: the wedged, through-mortise and tenon. I need to be able [...]
Advanced Chisel Techniques
When you know what you’re doing, chisels can be wonderfully helpful tools. If all you want to do with your chisels is adjust machine-cut joints or slice glue drips, any technique or tool will [...]
The Striking Knife
Discover a nearly extinct tool that can help you work faster and more accurately. As preposterous as the notion seems, the historical record suggests cabinetmakers working in dim shops with hand [...]
Small-shop Efficiencies
Simplification and organization are the keys to success. I’ve worked in a small workshop for many years now. Many, if not most woodworkers, would classify my 7′ x 13′ space more as a [...]
Period Sharpening
An experiment uncovers cutting edges of the past. “How did they sharpen their tools back then?” I’ve asked this question myself and I have been asked the question, and I’ve never felt comfortable [...]
Logs to Lumber
With sweat equity and a few simple tools, you can split strong, stable stock. Though sawn lumber was available to 17th- and 18th-century European woodworkers in Colonial America, many American [...]
Hickory Can’t Wait
This hardwood is best harvested for its bark and wood soon after cutting. Green woodworking has a different set of criteria when it comes to stockpiling material. Unlike those who work with [...]
Wallington, The Unhappy Turner
Trade dangers revealed in 17th-century journals. I thought of Nehemiah Wallington (1598-1658) when I set up my lathe in my nearly finished workshop. A few times a year he pops up in my mind. He [...]
Tallow Tales & the Black Handplanes of Britain
Puzzling lubrication. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the August 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine I ran out of mutton tallow this morning! I searched my tool [...]
The Indispensable Mortise & Tenon
Drawbore it for a joint that will last centuries. I once had a visitor to my shop remark that he’d like to see a book about all the types of joints that I use. I told him it’d be a …