The following is excerpted from “The Joiner & Cabinet Maker,” by Anonymous, Christopher Schwarz and Joel Moskowitz. The original short, book released in 1839, tells the fictional tale of Thomas, a lad of 13 or 14 who is apprenticed to a rural shop that builds everything from built-ins to more elaborate veneered casework. The book…
Read moreOn Thursday, it was official: George Walker and Jim Tolpin handed over to Lost Art Press all the text and illustrations for their next book, “Euclid’s Door,” and I’ve just begun the initial edit. The book is about ancient layout tools, and what they can teach us…as George’s introduction below tells us. The book –…
Read moreThe following is excerpted from “With the Grain,” by Christian Becksvoort. It is, above all, succinct, easy to understand and perfectly suited for the furniture-maker. As important as what is in its 160 pages is what is not. It’s not a detailed analysis of cell growth. It is not a heap of tables and equations…
Read moreThe following is excerpted from “James Krenov: Leave Fingerprints,” by Brendan Bernhardt Gaffney. Krenov (1920-2009) was one of the most influential woodworking writers, instructors and designers of the 20th century. His best-selling books – starting with “A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook” – inspired tens of thousands of people to pick up the tools and build things to…
Read moreThe following is excerpted from “Honest Labour.” This column was first published in The Woodworker in 1949 – please excuse the gendered terms as a product of their time. Woodworkers deal in the very kindest of materials, the friendly, living wood. I think there can hardly have been a time when men were not tree…
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