The first writing class I took at Northwestern’s journalism school – “B-01 Basic Writing” – was intended to weed out about one-third of the students. You had to make a “B” in the course or you were thrown out. The class was intentionally boot camp-ish. And there were a variety of infractions that would result…
Read moreThis seven-stick comb-back chair is built from a 2,000-year-old oak tree that was preserved in a Polish bog and recently harvested. The wood, which is remarkable and difficult to photograph, varies from charcoal black to a beautiful olive to a warm chestnut brown. This chair is one of my newer designs; it uses a four-piece…
Read moreI use colored waxes quite a lot in my finishing, especially the darker colors. I’m partial to Liberon’s Black Bison Paste Wax, but that’s because it is the only brand I’ve ever used. Colored waxes are a secret weapon when it comes to muting a particularly loud or brash color. They also add a depth…
Read moreRivierre nails from France are a staple in our workshop. They hold better than any other manufactured nail we’ve used, and they look good, to boot. We order them almost every other month – Megan uses tons of them in her tool chest classes. But lately the supply has been drying up. Several readers have…
Read moreThis summer we decided to redesign our bench square to make it more useful, and this is the result. The original was modeled after the square shown in “l’Art du menuisier” by A.J. Roubo. This new one is modeled on an even older European tool that marks and measures 30°, 45°, 60° and 90°. Unlike…
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