“Ingenious Mechanicks” is my worst-selling book. Since it was released in 2016, we’ve sold about 4,000 copies. But I don’t care. That book changed my workshop life more than any other project I’ve been involved in. Roman workbenches are insanely useful creatures. The only operations I don’t use them much for are dovetailing large casework…
Read moreFurniture maker Phil Lowe once showed me two 55-gallon barrels filled with clear stuff that looked like sand. He got the barrels from a factory that made gummy bears (I think he said the factory went out of business). Anyway, he used the stuff in the barrels – gelatin – to make his hide glue. Since…
Read moreWhenever Megan Fitzpatrick and I pass through West Virginia, we make a stop at Tamarack Marketplace in West Virginia for gas and a look at the furniture and crafts. Some years we are wowed by… how do I put this?…. what people will pay good money for. Other years there is a balance of beauty…
Read moreJack planes are the most-used tool in my hands. Hands down, hands forward and hands back. I’m on my third jack plane iron since 1996. I’ve never even come close to wearing out a plane iron for a smoothing or jointer plane. (I have eaten through some block plane blades, though I blame that on…
Read moreBarely in time for Christmas, we have a batch of our Special Edition Engraved Lump Hammers in the store and ready to ship. This will likely be the last batch before the end of the year. The engraving was designed by Jenny Bower and translated into really fluid toolpaths by machinist Craig Jackson – a…
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