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Kris uses the John Brown/Chris Williams method for shaving a round tenon. Today’s class: Staked High Stool.Sharp fixes everything. Even the saddle of a curly oak seat. Still thankful to the guy who showed me how to sharpen card scrapers 23 years ago.December of 1802 was Fisher’s first foray into chairmaking. After making a “rack for chair backs,” he constructed a “shaving jack” on which he “shaved chair backs.” The term “shaving jack” appears to be unique to Fisher but the immediate context of beginning to shave chair parts after its completion suggests the tool is what is today commonly known as a “shaving horse.” The use of the word “jack” to describe a workshop appliance has its etymological roots in the fact that “Jack” was a name for “‘any common fellow,’ and [was] thereafter extended to various appliances which do the work of common servants” such as holding things for the master craftsman. Readers may be familiar this kind of usage in the term “board jack” – a tool used to hold up the end of a large board for edge planing. Because Fisher does not record making any other shaving horse, it is assumed this is the one he refers to. The design is suited to chairmaking because of its dumbhead design – large enough for that kind of work but not much more. The head is mortised off-center to maximize the clamping area on the proper left side. The head’s grip on the stock was enhanced by the addition of leather strips nailed on only that side. It is obvious that the far end of the horse was used as a chopping block for quite some time because of a dished area almost a foot wide and several inches deep made by an axe. Evidently, Fisher was not precious about his tools. This pre-industrial irreverence toward workbenches was rooted in the craftsman’s pragmatism. — from “Hands Employed Aright: The Furniture Making of Jonathan Fisher (1768-1847)” by Joshua A. Klein #Hands_Employed_Aright@RudeMechanic on Twitter
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Category Archives: Charles H. Hayward at The Woodworker
The Ideal Tool Cabinet
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume IV” published by Lost Art Press. A sense of orderliness in woodworking is an important factor contributing to good work. For instance, the bench should be clear of … Continue reading
Working a Moulding Around a Curved Edge
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume II” published by Lost Art Press The majority of woodworking operations are fairly obvious and, given practice, present no special difficulties. For example, to plane an edge straight, … Continue reading
Making the Twist Leg Without a Lathe
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume I” published by Lost Art Press. It may interest readers to know that the best twist-turned legs are still a combination of turning and carving, and that when they were … Continue reading
Door Construction: Five-Panelled Door
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume II” published by Lost Art Press. Although the five-panelled door described in this article may interest only a small section of our readers, the construction is applicable to … Continue reading
Special Dovetails
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume III” published by Lost Art Press. The through dovetail is straightforward enough to cut, but sometimes there is a slight complication owing to there being a rebate at … Continue reading
Does This Happen When You Chop Dovetails?
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume III” published by Lost Art Press. This is a common fault even amongst experienced men who should know better. The wood between the dovetails is torn out, leaving … Continue reading
What Happens Inside a Mortise and Tenon Joint?
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume III” published by Lost Art Press. Readers will recall that in January WOODWORKER we gave on page 8 an article “Wedging Mortise and Tenon Joints.” The following letter … Continue reading
