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
Category Archives: Charles H. Hayward at The Woodworker
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
Could You Tackle These Mouldings?
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume II” published by Lost Art Press. Of course, you realize that the feature that makes this work awkward is the fact that the moulding which forms the pediment … Continue reading
Dovetailed Housings
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume III” published by Lost Art Press. This type of dovetail sometimes creates a difficulty because of the length of the joint. It is, of course, essential that it … Continue reading
The Secrets of the Back Iron
This is an excerpt from “The Wordworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume I” published by Lost Art Press. The back iron of the plane is of the utmost importance. It will often happen that, because it has not been given proper attention, … Continue reading
Wedging Mortise and Tenon Joints
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume III” published by Lost Art Press. “We’ll glue those wedges and tenons!” How often is this explanation heard when gluing up framed work. A usual response being to dip the … Continue reading
How to Cut Wide Tenons
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume III” published by Lost Art Press. A reader has been making a piece of work which has involved the use of a tenoned rail some 12 ins. wide, … Continue reading
