We’ve waited a while to make this announcement, but now that Issue Three is completely sold out of our store, we’re letting you know about our upcoming book release: a hardbound republication of Issues 1-3. We will include every single page of those three issues in the book, but this is not a simple reprint. This book – titled The First Three Issues – includes behind-the-scenes photographs and stories as well as additional essays from M&T editors Michael Updegraff, Jim McConnell, and me about M&T’s distinctive vision and role in the woodworking community. On top of that, Christopher Schwarz of Lost Art Press (does he even need an introduction?) has written a wonderful foreword. Chris was the first person I consulted...
Big news, folks... this is the last call to order a copy of Issue Two! We now only have a couple hundred left in stock, and once they’re gone, they’re gone for good. We get emails all the time from folks begging to order a copy of Issue One even though they know it’s now out of stock. We expect the same will happen with Issue Two. So if you’ve delayed to pick up a copy, we recommend doing so now right here: https://www.mortiseandtenonmag.com/collections/magazine/products/issue-two It’s a great issue with a ton of amazing authors including George and David Sawyer, George Walker, Chris Schwarz, Don Williams, Timothy Garland, Zachary Dillinger, Skip Brack, and Peter Follansbee. It’s also the issue...
Beginning with Issue Three, we will only be doing the brown paper and wax-sealed trade cards for subscriptions and pre-orders. After this issue’s pre-order window has closed, the magazine will be mailed naked in a rigid mailer. If this special wrapping is important to you, please know that the only way to get this is to purchase a yearly subscription or pre-order the issue. Although I never would have anticipated this, these trade cards have become collectibles. Many readers have emailed us pictures of the cards proudly displayed in their shops. Since every new issue will feature a new trade card designed just for that issue, I can picture folks 10 years from now boasting that they have every single...
Inspired by Chris Schwarz’s article in Issue Two “Decoding the Roman Workbench”, Mike and I have decided to build our own Roman (i.e. staked) benches. I’ve been doubly curious about this form because Jonathan Fisher’s bench of this type survives in his house (now a museum) and I’ve really wanted to get some time working at one before finishing off my book on him this winter. The week of February 20th, Mike and I will each be building a bench. I will be basing mine largely on Fisher’s bench, which is a 12.5” wide by 7’ long rough-sawn board with four riven and hatcheted legs. His is a little less than 2” thick but the plank I have set...
It has been a delight to see social media filled with snapshots of readers’ wrapped copies of M&T Issue Two. Although I thought this extra effort would be appreciated by at least a few of our readers, I didn’t expect to see this much enthusiasm for the wrapping alone. The trade cards attached to the wrapping are based off of 18th and 19th century cards tradesmen used for advertising to their communities. They usually featured drawings of furniture or tools and had verbose descriptions of the superiority of their wares or services. The text we use on our M&T cards is pulled straight out of these advertisements and cards. We’ve borrowed their sentences and applied them to our publication (complete with...
This past Friday and Saturday, Mike and I had the big Issue Two packing party. We are still so stunned at how incredible it turned out. Readers came up to help from all around Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, and even Maryland. We had just shy of 20 people wrapping a few thousand copies in brown paper and string and attach the wax-sealed tradecards. Every copy was shipped in a rigid mailer with a few pine shavings for an extra touch. Check out the full video for the event above! I would definitely say it was a success. All the pre-orders are in the mail and we have a pile ready for future fulfillment. Everyone worked so hard and really seemed...
As we’re only days away from the packing party to ship out Issue Two, I can’t help but reflect on the year (11 months actually) since Issue One was released. 2016 has been a wild ride for me. Before M&T launched, I spent my work week alone in my studio regluing chairs and refinishing dining tables. I ran a little blog documenting some of it but, for the most part, I was pretty much in my own little world. This leap-in-the-dark magazine idea was simply the culmination of my many thoughts and observations working on period furniture. I never knew if it would resonate with anyone else. Mortise & Tenon has completely flipped my life upside down. The interest...
In this video, we talked with Chris Schwarz about the fascinating article he has written a titled “Decoding the Roman Workbench” for Issue Two. His article, which looks at the practical usage of the bench, has been informed by meticulous research in ancient texts, surviving European artifacts, and in-the-shop exploration. As it turns out, this experimental archaeology approach has yielded some compelling discoveries about pre-industrial woodworking.
You can order your copy of Issue Two here.
We just got done loading Issue Two off the delivery truck and into storage! They will be heading out from our packing party on January 6th and 7th! Coming soon to a mailbox near you!
Order your copy here!
We just got a small box of Issue Two copies shipped to us from our printer! This new video on our YouTube channel is the first look into this new issue of our traditional hand-tool woodworking magazine! We are so excited about how it turned out... It’s even better than we could have hoped for! We can confidently say that if you enjoyed Issue One, you will love Issue Two. The freight delivery is in route now! We should be seeing those boxes soon!
