Chris and I are both working on projects in the shop today – but we’ve reserved time in between chairmaking and dovetails (and both – Chris’s current chair features battens secured in sliding dovetails) to answer your burning Open Wire questions. You know the drill: Post your woodworking queries below in the comments, and we…
Read moreBelow is a short excerpt (a sidebar) from “By Hand & Eye,” the first artisan geometry book by George Walker and Jim Tolpin. In “By Hand & Eye,” the authors show how much of the world is governed by simple proportions, noting how ratios such as 1:2; 3:5 and 4:5 were ubiquitous in the designs…
Read moreThe following is excerpted from “The Anarchist’s Design Book,” by Christopher Schwarz. The new, expanded edition of “The Anarchist’s Design Book” is an exploration of furniture forms that have persisted outside of the high styles that dominate every museum exhibit, scholarly text and woodworking magazine of the last 200 years. There are historic furniture forms…
Read moreNote: This video is being offered at the special introductory offer of $35 until Aug. 25. After that, the video will be $69. We’ve long been fascinated with the Swedish tool chest form. Roy Underhill had one at The Woodwright’s Shop, and Chris got a close look at one in Sweden that belongs to Johan…
Read moreThe following is excerpted from “The Anarchist’s Workbench,” by Christopher Schwarz. The book is – on the one hand – a detailed plan for a simple workbench that can be built using construction lumber and basic woodworking tools. But it’s also the story of Schwarz’s 20-year journey researching, building and refining historical workbenches until there…
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