Auction for the Wood Whisperer: ‘With Hammer in Hand’

When it comes to landmark books in the woodworking craft, it is hard to beat Charles Hummel’s “With Hammer in Hand.” This pioneering book chronicles the lives, tools and projects of the Dominy family from East Hampton, N.Y.

The Dominys were renowned clock makers, but they produced furniture of all kinds using a set of tools that is well documented in “With Hammer in Hand.” And what makes the Dominy collection even more notable is that the shop and many artifacts and finished furniture pieces are preserved at Winterthur.

There you can see all the shop’s patterns hanging on the wall and the resulting pieces below them. It is simply astonishing and a great field trip for any woodworker.

Hummel’s very important book about the Dominy family, their shop and their tools is a delight to read. It documents their work, their tools and the things they built – connecting the dots of a pre-Industrial workshop like no other work I know.

It is inspiring and humbling – the Dominys built amazing stuff using very simple (yet refined) tools and an impressive amount of skill.

“With Hammer in Hand” is long out of print and is becoming harder and harder to find. I bought my copy more than a decade ago for $50. Now the book goes for $120 to $200, easy.

To assist TheWoodWhisperer.com in his fight against a DDoS attack, one of our readers has generously offered up her extra copy of this book to benefit the Wood Whisperer.

Here are the terms: Bidding starts at $20. Place your bid by stating it in the comments below. The auction ends at midnight Friday, March 16 (EST). The highest bid wins the book. I’ll ship this book anywhere in the world – 100 percent of the proceeds go to benefit Marc and Nicole Spagnuolo.

— Christopher Schwarz