This post is part of a blog series revealing the table of contents of upcoming Issue Eighteen. As is our custom, we’ll be discussing one article per weekday in order to give you a taste of what is to come.
The subscription window that includes Issue Eighteen is open now.
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If you aren’t sure about your subscription status, you can reach out to Grace at info@mortiseandtenonmag.com. Keep in mind though, if you are set to auto-renew, you never have to worry about getting the next issue of Mortise & Tenon. Issue Eighteen is coming your way soon!
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Issue Eighteen T.O.C. – Joshua A. Klein – “With Sleeves Rolled Up: Planing a House-worth of Floorboards”
Sometimes, you just have to get to work. One of the common arguments against the wholesale re-adoption of hand tools for everyday work is the sheer scale of physical labor for some projects. Sure, it’s fun to build a little box with just your planes, chisels, and saws. But you wouldn’t want to break down the stock for a table or bedstead by hand. What are you, a masochist?
In Issue Eighteen, author Joshua A. Klein tackles this mindset head-on. Faced with a hand-tool project of intimidating scale – hand-planing several thousand square feet of pine for the floors of his 1821 house – he makes a compelling case that taking up the “long road” offers a more rewarding course than letting machines do the work for you. Besides the fact that the craftsman gains so much more skill and embodied knowledge in engaging all these materials – every knot, every bit of diving grain contains a lesson – there is value in the exertion for the body and mind. And the results are simply better.
“One of the most common acclamations made by visitors at historic houses or museum collections is how much passion, skill, and dedication it must have taken to make such a work of art,” he writes. “We are in awe because we see a craftsman who poured himself into his work.” In his article, Klein offers the same invitation to his readers: Set aside excuses, roll up your sleeves, and get planing. The rewards of investing yourself in your work await.
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