Years ago, when I was woodworking as a full-time occupation, I remember a couple jobs in particular that required me to set up a drill press to drill a sequence of holes where accuracy was a must. One job was producing prototype cabinets for JBL, the company that makes speakers. The cabinets were intended to [...]
About 30 years ago, I had this idea that there ought to be a book of measured drawings of Arts & Crafts period furniture, focusing on the designs of Gustav Stickley. Gus called his work “Craftsman” furniture, and I think that term is far more appropriate than “Mission” furniture. “Mission” was a term coined by [...]
After a week of work (and a lot of fun) assisting Christopher Schwarz with his “Anarchist’s Tool Chest” class at The Woodwright’s School, it was nice to slow down and spend some time with blacksmith/whitesmith Peter Ross before I made the 8.5-hour drive back to Cincinnati. Roy and Jane Underhill kindly offered me a room [...]
A friend of mine used to claim that his favorite tool was his own spit. I’d never claim such a thing publicly, but I do admit to using some rather unorthodox tools at times: I’ve sharpened paint-can keys to scrape off glue squeeze-out, and ground threaded rod into various shapes for stamping wood. In this [...]
Can we not agree that I am not of sound mind and body? Yup? OK, read on. Last year I commissioned blacksmith Peter Ross to make a holdfast for me that was made as close as possible to Andre Roubo’s instructions. Ross is quite familiar with Roubo, but I sent him a translation of the [...]
I finished yesterday fitting the three bottom drawers to the Campaign Secretary I’m building and I started in on building the gallery – it’s all dovetailed now. I’d be quite happy with my progress if I weren’t about to get into a car. For the next 10 days I’ll be on the road, taping a [...]
When you think of the work of Greene & Greene, you usually think of Pasadena, Calif. Pasadena is home to the Gamble, Blacker and Robinson houses, and there is a fantastic collection of the Greene’s furniture at the Huntington Museum a few miles away. But one of the “ultimate bungalows,” the Thorsen house, is a [...]
Learning a new skill is a lot easier if you think of it as a hobby. Though I wasn’t one of the earliest adapters, I started using SketchUp, a drafting program you can download for free, a few years back. (A pro version can be purchased as well, but the free version does most anything [...]
I’ve seen a lot of vintage tool chests in my travels, and most of them have been made of pine. What kind of pine? Hard to say. Most pines look the same when they are covered in paint, dirt, grease and what looks like monkey dung. But pine is not the only wood appropriate for [...]
I examined lots of tool chests when researching “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” and found that their designs fell into two broad categories: 1. The plain and simple pine boxes with trays. 2. The pre-industrial monster truck chest with scantily clad tarts, parquetry, secret compartments and a bottle opener. You don’t see a lot of chests [...]