Category: Personal Favorites

Before Charles F. Hummel published “With Hammer in Hand” in 1968, he was obviously spending a lot of time researching the Dominy family and their tools.

In 1965, he published a great 19-page article in the “Winterthur Portfolio” about the Dominy’s tools that were made in England. This piece is in the same pattern as “With Hammer in Hand” – very interesting narrative followed cool photos of the Dominy’s tools and a discussion of each one.

The “Winterthur Portfolio” is a hardbound book that was published annually by Winterthur Museum. Hummel’s article appears in this second annual edition, which also includes articles about the portraiture of John Singleton Copley, and two articles by Nancy A. Goyne (a familiar name!) on a desk and the metal called “Britannia.” Plus much, much more content that I am too lazy to type here.

If you are a book nerd, an old tool nerd or a double nerd like myself, you will enjoy reading Hummel’s article on the Dominys and will want it to sit next to your copy of “With Hammer in Hand.” It’s like having a copy of the movie “The Searchers” next to “Star Wars.”

All proceeds from this auction go to benefit The Wood Whisperer to defend against a nasty and expensive DDoS attack. We will ship this book anywhere. To participate, simply state your bid in a comment below. The bidding starts at $10. The highest bid as of midnight Sunday, March 18, wins the book.

Thanks to everyone who has been helping out this last week. You are making a difference.

— Christopher Schwarz

When it comes to landmark books in the woodworking craft, it is hard to beat Charles Hummel’s “With Hammer in Hand.” This pioneering book chronicles the lives, tools and projects of the Dominy family from East Hampton, N.Y.

The Dominys were renowned clock makers, but they produced furniture of all kinds using a set of tools that is well documented in “With Hammer in Hand.” And what makes the Dominy collection even more notable is that the shop and many artifacts and finished furniture pieces are preserved at Winterthur.

There you can see all the shop’s patterns hanging on the wall and the resulting pieces below them. It is simply astonishing and a great field trip for any woodworker.

Hummel’s very important book about the Dominy family, their shop and their tools is a delight to read. It documents their work, their tools and the things they built – connecting the dots of a pre-Industrial workshop like no other work I know.

It is inspiring and humbling – the Dominys built amazing stuff using very simple (yet refined) tools and an impressive amount of skill.

“With Hammer in Hand” is long out of print and is becoming harder and harder to find. I bought my copy more than a decade ago for $50. Now the book goes for $120 to $200, easy.

To assist TheWoodWhisperer.com in his fight against a DDoS attack, one of our readers has generously offered up her extra copy of this book to benefit the Wood Whisperer.

Here are the terms: Bidding starts at $20. Place your bid by stating it in the comments below. The auction ends at midnight Friday, March 16 (EST). The highest bid wins the book. I’ll ship this book anywhere in the world – 100 percent of the proceeds go to benefit Marc and Nicole Spagnuolo.

— Christopher Schwarz

If it weren’t for my wife, Lucy, I’d probably live and work alone – without a phone and with as little direct human contact as possible.

Yup, Lucy had to ask me out on our first date. And yes, she had to ask for my hand in marriage.

During the last 20 years, I’ve tried to pretend to be more social. Why? Because it has helped my woodworking immensely.

As I’ve mentioned before, all of my ideas for books were the result of talking to other woodworkers about their tools, their workbenches and they way they work. And all the best things I have learned about the craft have come from watching other woodworkers build things – not a DVD, not on a computer screen but in their shop and in real time.

I was reminded of this last night while installing hardware on this Campaign Secretary. I’d dusted off my plunge router to waste away a bunch of wood for a piece of brass in a prominent place on the secretary. Everything was going great until my hand slipped and the bit flew into a place it wasn’t supposed to. In about a second, I had made a dime-sized major error on one of the most visible surfaces of this piece.

I unplugged the router, carefully wrapped the cord around it and returned it to the bottom of a drawer for another two-year shunning. Dang I hate those spinny tools.

Now, how to fix the error? The answer was easy, thanks to my friendship with Carl Bilderback. Carl is a semi-retired carpenter, tool collector, woodworker and all-around generous fellow. We first met when he called to give me some grief about an error in one of my tool reviews. Despite the fact that he was ripping me a new one, he was gentle about it. And he became an excellent resource for me on hand work and an occasional author for Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Carl had written a piece on how to make a “dutchman” – a patch used to disguise an error such as this. Patching other people’s mistakes was one of his specialties as a carpenter. The article, “Perfect Patching,” is in the February 2008 issue on page 76 if you’d like to read it. I took the photos for the article and was his editor.

It’s a brilliant article, and Carl’s knowledge and willingness to share it really saved my butt. In about 15 minutes I had glued in a patch. Then I went to dinner with a fellow woodworker where I confessed my crimes (“Forgive me Norm, for I have sinned”). When I came home I leveled the patch and went back to work – this time removing waste with a firmer gouge instead of a router. Thanks Carl.

So where exactly is the repair? I’m not telling. It’s my job to hide it. It’s your job to find it.

— Christopher Schwarz

To help The Wood Whisperer defend his site against an ongoing DDoS attack, we are auctioning off copies of Lost Art Press’s first book, “The Art of Joinery,” which is out of print and is priced at $500 (ridiculously) on Amazon.

There are three uncirculated, mint copies in this auction. The top three bidders each win one copy. The bidding starts at $17, the original retail price of the book. To bid, leave a comment stating your bid. The auction ends at midnight Sunday, March 11, 2012.

We will ship these books anywhere, and 100 percent of your bid goes to Marc and Nicole Spagnuolo at The Wood Whisperer site – Lost Art Press will pick up the tab for shipping.

— Christopher Schwarz

Note: Tomorrow we auction off a copy of Charles Hummel’s “With Hammer in Hand,” the fantastic hard-to-find book about the Dominy workshop. The book on auction was donated by a reader of this blog.