Blog — Issue Two RSS

Starting tomorrow morning, orders for Issue Two will have the regular $5.00 shipping cost added in at the cart. If you want that free shipping, now's the time, folks! Order here!  

I guess I have a weird sense of humor but about a year ago I was delighted to hear of someone filling in the “Special Notes” sections of online order forms with off-the-wall requests for drawings on the box. The one that made me chuckle the most was “Please draw Godzilla on the box.” Making that kind of peculiar request to everything from pizza places to Etsy stores was just the kind of unusual habit I like to pick up. Over the past year or so I’ve been filling the comment box with precisely this request. I was curious to see which of my suppliers would indulge such inanity.  Turns out seminary bookstores don’t. Nor does Amazon.com. Neither do conservation...

Issue Two of Mortise & Tenon Magazine is on the presses as we speak! As you may have picked up by now, we don’t like to do anything half-hearted. Every individual magazine we ship out is wrapped in kraft paper and string with a wax-sealed 18th-century-inspired tradecard adhered to it. Last year, we had a crew of nine of us working for three days to get them all out the door. We set up long tables in my living room, turned on the music, and mused together about handcraft, the local food movement, cottage industry businesses, homesteading, etc. while we wrapped the magazines. It was the highlight of our year, deepening our friendships forever. This year, we’re doing it again....

In two weeks, I will be looking for that freight truck to show up with the magazines. That means that, if you want free shipping for Issue Two, you’ve got two weeks to put in your order.  After that, it costs $5.00 to ship it anywhere in the USA (these things are heavy).  I am getting very excited about getting this issue into your hands, readers. We are getting close! Also, I am finalizing all the details for the pre-order packing/shipping party and it looks like it’s going to be a blast. Stay tuned for the official announcement for that... It should be in the next few days. Don’t forget to put in your order of Issue Two!  

In anticipation of Issue Two being only weeks away from arrival, we added Issue Two cover posters to our offerings. This detail shot of the banister-back chair featured in in this upcoming issue is important in my mind because it shows up close the tolerances found in period work. It’s a fascinating juncture between the turned elements, split banisters, and planed lower back rail. This photo was shot before I finished this piece and so it highlights the irregularities and textures inherent in the handcraft process. These posters are same size and cost as last time ($15) and are definitely a “while supplies last” kind of thing. (We still have some the half-off Issue One posters left if you want one of...

  I can now say with tremendous relief that Issue Two is officially in the hands of the printer. The past few weeks I’ve been slaving at the computer screen making sure every detail was exactly how we wanted it to be. There was (as always) a lot of back and forth with the contributors and interviewees. Although this slows the process down, we feel strongly that we don’t want to move forward on publishing something without the blessing of everyone involved. I am so delighted with how this issue has turned out. Although Mike and I have been riding the Issue One excitement for a year now, our enthusiasm for this second issue has dominated our attention. If you...

One of the most exciting aspects of working with old handmade objects is deciphering the stories told by tool marks. An undercut here, some traversing there - these can give great insight into the thought process of the craftsman who first handled these pieces of wood centuries ago. But the language written by old bits of tool steel can be mysterious and inexact - our familiar rules of grammar don't apply.  How do you ask, "Did you use a template?" in Old Dovetail? Or, "What's with that drawer bottom?" in Rough Hatchet? It can be a great exercise in forensics trying to solve these very, very cold cases. Occasionally, a piece will contain a much clearer form of communication from...

The Issue Two promo video is up at our Vimeo page! Check it out!  

Wow. Thank you, readers. So many of you have clearly been excited about this next installment of M&T. Some of you were even crazy enough to stay up late or set your alarm to put in your order at midnight - the moment Issue Two came up for sale! What dedication! Thank you for your enthusiasm. Then, all day as I’ve been finishing up my last day teaching the SAPFM group in Atlanta, orders have been pouring in. There truly is a growing desire for understanding better and celebrating woodworking handcraft. I will be getting on a plane tomorrow morning to head out of Atlanta to kiss my wife and boys and sit down to dinner with them. The trip...

  I’ve just opened pre-orders for Issue Two! Get free shipping by putting your order in here:  http://mortiseandtenonmag.com/collections/magazine/products/issue-two     Check out the Table of Contents here.