The following is excerpted from Derek Jones’ new book “Cricket Tables.” Simplicity, necessity and ingenuity are the three key principles for making cricket tables. This traditional three-legged table exists in a variety of forms and woods – no two are the same. So making them follows an organic process – your tools and materials dictate…
Read moreThis is an excerpt from “Euclid’s Door” by Geo. R Walker and Jim Toplin. The book teaches how to make the tools from “By Hand and Eye.” At this point in chapter 7, a meter square that has a 15-degree tip is being constructed. This fragile corner of the tool has to be taken into…
Read moreThis is an excerpt from “Shop Tails: The Animals Who Help Us Make Things Work” by Nancy R. Hiller. Nancy Hiller’s “Shop Tails,” a companion book of essays to “Making Things Work.” “Shop Tails” is different from “Making Things Work” in that it is structured around the animals that came in and out of Nancy’s…
Read moreThe following is excerpted from “The Handcrafted Life of Dick Proenneke,” by Monroe Robinson. Millions of PBS viewers first met Dick Proenneke through the program “Alone in the Wilderness,” which documents Dick’s 30-year adventure in the Alaskan wilderness. On the shores of Twin Lakes, Dick built his cabin and nearly all of the household objects…
Read moreThe following is excerpted from “Good Work: The Chairmaking Life of John Brown,” by Christopher Williams. It’s the first biography of one of the most influential chairmakers and writers of the 20th century: Welshman John Brown. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ John Brown by his own admission wasn’t a fan of finishing. (See Good Woodworking issue 63.) “American chairs are…
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