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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: Mouldings in Practice
The Dark Side
This is an excerpt from “Mouldings in Practice” by Matthew Sheldon Bickford. I have spoken to scores of people regarding the methods of making profiles with hollows and rounds that I have covered thus far. While most new users find the techniques … Continue reading
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Why You Don’t Need a Half Set
This is an excerpt from “Mouldings in Practice” by Matthew Sheldon Bickford. When I first became aware of hollows and rounds I read about the heralded “half set.” A half set of hollows and rounds is 18 planes, nine pairs, that … Continue reading
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Meet the Author: Matt Bickford
I imagine a lot of people had Matt Bickford figured out. Born in the Binghamton, N.Y., area (specifically Endwell) Matt lived there through the 8th grade, along with his parents, and his older brother and older sister. When the IBM … Continue reading
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Chippendale Apple Secretary
This is an excerpt from “Mouldings in Practice” by Matthew Sheldon Bickford. A Chippendale apple secretary desk and bookcase featuring triple-cusp scrolled returns. Colchester School, possibly Hebron or Lebanon, Conn., 1785-1805. Dimensions: height: 76-5/8″, width of lower case: 42-1/8″, depth … Continue reading
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The Sticking Board
This is an excerpt from “Mouldings in Practice” by Matthew Sheldon Bickford. A table saw has a fence, a powered jointer has a table, your bench has dogs or a stop. Like any other task in our craft, bracing a … Continue reading
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Make a Moulding Plane this Weekend
From Matt Bickford’s blog (Matt is the author of “Mouldings in Practice“) This weekend I will be teaching a class at The Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. The students attending this two day class will build a round and leave … Continue reading
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Get Your Books Signed in Iowa
Several Lost Art Press authors will be available at Handworks to sign your books. If you want to get Don Williams and Narayan Nayar to sign “Virtuoso: The Tool Cabinet and Workbench of Henry O. Studley,” they have set up … Continue reading
