This 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…
Read moreIn 1978, Drew Langsner released his book “Country Woodcraft” to the world, and it sparked a movement – still expanding today – of hand-tool woodworkers who make things with mostly green wood. The 304 pages of “Country Woodcraft” showed you how to split wood from the forest and shape into anything you might need, from…
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