Joshua Klein and company are working hard on the second issue of Mortise & Tenon magazine, and from all accounts it looks like it’s going to be another fine issue.
They’ll start taking pre-publication orders on Nov. 1 here, which is also where you can read about the articles that are planned for the issue.
Joshua had asked me to write an article for the issue, and had I proposed a piece on Kentucky-style furniture, a backwoods style that I’ve admired for many years and is on display at the Speed Museum in Louisville, Ky. (If you’d like a woodworker’s view of the museum, check out Mark Firley’s photo collection here and here.)
My summer went to crap, however, and so I wasn’t able to do the research and interviews that would make my article worth publishing. Luckily, Joshua was also interested in my Roman workbenches and let me write up an article on the interesting workholding on the low one that I built from Pompeii.
My understanding of the bench has increased greatly since Woodworking in America, and after working on it every day this fall. You might not think that it’s easy to work while sitting down, but you might give it another thought after you read the article. Roy Underhill helped me decode a couple of the important details for the article, and I hope to have a short book on the bench (and a 1505 workbench with a Roman undercarriage) ready for the printer by the end of the year.
— Christopher Schwarz
Chris, I can’t tell you how much your historical and academic approach and study of woodworking has inspired me. What a rich backdrop to learning techniques and new forms. Thank you for all you do and share!
Still can’t bring yourself to call it a monograph eh? Good.
Perhaps when I switch to wearing a monocle and top hat….
Da iawn hen foi
Diolch
Sorry to say I didn’t read issue #1, but now seeing the contents for issue #2, I think I might have to order both issues and give them a read!
I noticed that you seem quite at ease using that bench. Did it take you long to figure out the ergonomics, or was it quite natural.
It has been a mixed bag. Planing (edges and faces) and using handsaws has been a breeze – it’s actually a very nice experience to work on this bench.
Chopping mortises, sawing dados and crosscutting joinery (tenon shoulders) was a small but easy adjustment.
Sawing tenon cheeks and dovetails has been an adjustment. But I get better every time.