My blog at Popular Woodworking- Medieval Method Can Improve a Modern DesignI recently finished building an Enzo Mari table from the 1970s as part of an article for Popular Woodworking Magazine, and I have only one worry about the project. It looks great. It feels stout. But I’m worried that the joinery might not last forever. The joinery? Lots of properly installed wood screws, with diagonal bracing to reduce or eliminate racking. […]
- Don’t Sand – Burn off your Machine Marks InsteadShou sugi ban – the Japanese finishing process that chars the outside of wood – is an ideal surface finish for some furniture pieces. One of the unsung advantages of burning the wood is that you can reduce (or even eliminate) sanding or planing your boards before finishing them. There are limits to this, of course. If your jointer, thickness planer or saw le […]
- An Enzo Mari Table – and a Puzzle“Mari is right, everyone should have a project: after all it is the best way to avoid being designed yourself.” — G.C. Argan, L’Espresso, 1974 In 1974, Italian designer Enzo Mari published a series of furniture designs that were free to the public. People were encouraged to use his drawings to produce tables, chairs, beds and bookshelves. What’s more, Mari d […]
- John Brown for the 16th TimeEvery time I read John Brown’s book “Welsh Stick Chairs,” I latch onto something different. When I read the book for the first time in the mid-1990s, I became obsessed with the Welsh stick chair’s form (and I remain so to this day). After a few more readings, I became obsessed with the history of Windsor chairs and wondered if JB was right that the origin of […]
- Medieval Method Can Improve a Modern Design
Author Archives: fitz
Registration Now Open for 7 New Classes
You can now register for seven new classes at the Lost Art Press storefront via the links below. Note: Registering for the class or the waiting list is free – no credit card needed to register. After the dust settles, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
8 Comments
New Classes at the LAP Storefront
A handful of new woodworking class sessions from Daniel Clay, Brendan Gaffney and me will go on sale Wednesday, May 9, 2018 at 9 a.m. EDT on Eventbrite. Classes are limited to six students – the number of benches (plus … Continue reading
Posted in Woodworking Classes
10 Comments
‘Slöjd in Wood’ Ship Date (& Peg Board Project)
Jögge Sundqvist’s “Slöjd in Wood” ships from the printer on Thursday, and will soon thereafter mail to the many of you who’ve already ordered (thank you!). Here’s a palate-tickler of a PDF excerpt for download and enjoyment while you wait: … Continue reading
Posted in Sloyd in Wood, Uncategorized
16 Comments
Got Time for a Quickie Next Weekend?
Update: Sold out. (But if you’re interested, sign up for the waitlist for the June 23-24 class at LAP, or join me at Lie-Nielsen Toolworks in Warren, Maine, Sept. 8-9 for a class on a slightly different version of a … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
14 Comments
‘The Sawhorse That Saved Thanksgiving’
“This has been Uncle Sam’s Woodshop of the Air, transcribed in Washington, D.C., and I’m Calvin Cobb wishing that, as you slide down the banister of life — that all the splinters are going in your direction! So long!” Download … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
2 Comments
Hand Tool Immersion 101
A few years back, Christopher Schwarz taught a handful of what he affectionately calls “the baby anarchist’s tool chest class.” The premise was to help build the woodworking community by offering to young would-be hand-tool woodworkers a low-cost class to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
8 Comments
‘Slöjd in Wood’ Printer Proofs
I’ve been approving printer proofs for more than two decades, yet I find myself inordinately excited (and not a little bit anxious) about the proofs for Jögge Sundqvist’s “Slöjd in Wood,” which arrived this morning. I suspect it’s because this … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
3 Comments
