Ever since Peter Follansbee wrote about the Chinese firewood carrier that Daniel O’Hagan adapted from Rudolf Hommel’s China at Work (great book), I’ve been itching to make one for myself. With the heating season now full on and my nine-year-old hauling firewood into the house most days, I decided it was time to finally knock one of these together. The Original from Hommel's Book Long time readers here might have picked up that some of my favorite historic artifacts are rural utilitarian objects made with function as a top priority. Although these items are often coarsely made, they always bear the evidence of many generations of use which testifies to the integrity of their design and construction. And, I must admit,...
We just spent two weeks sorting and hauling a mountain of gorgeous lumber. Mike and I were painstakingly relocating the lifetime lumber collection of Thomas Hinchcliffe (a recently-deceased local furniture maker and antique dealer) to my property. Thomas had a number of large outbuildings, all of which he filled with antique furniture and special lumber over the years so it took a long time to sort through it all. (Refer to this earlier blog post for the crazy story about how I came into this collection.) We organized the material I purchased in three categories: long and wide lumber on a low-bed trailer, small boards and furniture parts in my van, and a collection of beautiful 18th-/19th-century doors, which also...
This Saturday, my family processed our year’s supply of chickens. We have been raising our own broilers since we moved to Maine as a way to reconnect to our food by closing the gap between producer and consumer. But I used to be a vegetarian. Over a decade ago, I swore off all meat consumption in response to animal rights literature that focused on the inhumaneness of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. It was a life changing moment for me. Even though after some time I reluctantly began eating meat again, it was only later through reading the writings of responsible, considerate omnivores (particularly Joel Salatin) that my conscience was fully cleared. I then saw that the God of righteousness, justice,...
Yesterday afternoon I got a phone call from a mutual friend. “Can you meet me at 6:30 tomorrow morning? We haven’t got much time… They’re coming at 9:00.” It was an opportunity I couldn’t resist. This morning before the sun came up, I grabbed my flashlight and drove over to the house and shop of a recently-deceased furniture making friend to make an offer on whatever tools and lumber I wanted before a dealer showed up to bid the entire estate. Turns out our two and a half hours barely scratched the surface of the buildings full of lumber and tools. I tried to remain level-headed as I processed what I was looking at. Long story short, I bought a...
I’ve been reading a lot lately and, as a result, have been mulling over some fascinating material. My path started with Ivan Illich’s Tools for Conviviality and E.F. Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful. Digesting these two books brought me right back to where I started many years ago with William Coperthwaite’s A Handmade Life. These three books (and a few others I’m reading) overlap in several important ways – they all lay out their vision for a society that is designed around the growth and health of people as opposed to industrial development (that leads to unhealthy consumerism) and state development (that leads to the suppression of individuals, families, and communities). In their writings, these three men also labor to correct the...
Our newest podcast episode titled “Barriers to Woodworking” is now live and can be listened to above. In this episode, Mike and Joshua talk with content editor, Jim McConnell, about common barriers to hand-tool woodworking. We discuss things like accessibility to tools (new and old), workable workshop space, decent lumber, wading through the sea of woodworking knowledge available, and scarcity of time to get any time in the shop. This was a rich conversation. Let us know what you think. What barriers have you come up against in your journey into hand-tool woodworking?
Items Mentioned in this Episode:
Brendan Gaffney’s Lumberyard Map
The Tool Barn
The past few days, Mike and I have seen on social media that M&T Issue Five has begun arriving at customers’ mailboxes. It is always rewarding to see our readers excited to get the new issue and dive in right away. As many of you know, the fancy brown wrapping and trade card with wax seal is the effort of many enthusiastic readers and friends. Without the 20 or so people that block out their weekend to help, it would probably take Mike and me two weeks of work to wrap the thousands of copies that need to go out. This work party tradition came about from a vision to take something necessary and potentially uninspiring (wrapping and shipping magazines) and...
If you are looking to pre-order Issue Five (with wrapping, trade card, and free shipping), today (Tuesday 18th) is your last opportunity. Starting Wednesday, Issue Five will be sold without the wrapping and free shipping.
To get your order in on time, there are two ways to do it:
1. Subscribe for a year (2 issues)
2. Order Issue Five individually
We will begin shipping Issue Five this weekend and expect that you will see your copy in your mailbox during the first week of October.
- Joshua
Yesterday I decided to install the leg vise on one of our 12′ Nicholson benches and was faced with boring a 2-1/2″ hole through the 4″ leg for the large wooden screw. A 2-1/2″ t-handled auger would make quick work of that but the problem is that I don’t have one that exact size. Rather than make a run to the hardware store to buy a hole saw for an electric driver, I went after it with meat-power. I started boring with a freshly-sharpened expansion bit, which breezed through the white pine side board. But once the bit hit the spruce leg, everything came to a screeching halt. The dang wood was more than I could muscle. After straining and...
If you are looking to pre-order Issue Five (with wrapping, trade card, and free shipping), you only have through next Tuesday to do it. After September 18th, Issue Five will be sold without the wrapping and free shipping. To get your order in on time, there are two ways to do it: 1. Subscribe for a year (2 issues) 2. Order Issue Five individually This issue’s got a fascinating combination of traditional coopering, Norse Sea Chest construction, Chester Cornett, Japanese woodworking, Eric Sloane, and more. Check out the full table of contents here. We are so excited about this new issue and can’t wait to get it into your hands! The packing party to ship this issue out will be...
