The audiobook is read by author Nancy R. Hiller and is unabridged. It clocks in at 11 hours and 50 minutes. The audiobook also includes a bonus chapter not found in the print edition titled “Coda: Not in Kansas Anymore.” The audiobook is $24 and will play on almost any digital device (the files are in mp3 format).
The audiobook represents weeks of sometimes-grueling work by Nancy (and her supporters) plus Jacob Belser at Primary Sound Studios.
Nancy insisted that she do the recording, even though the process was made difficult by her fight with pancreatic cancer. After listening to the audiobook, I’m so pleased that Nancy made that call. She is one of those authors where I can hear her voice as I’m reading her words. So “Shop Tails” really comes to life with her at the microphone.
You can hear this for yourself by downloading and listening to the chapter: Shadow the Turkey Vulture.
Shadow the Turkey Vulture read by Nancy Hiller
If you love Nancy’s “Making Things Work,” we’re sure you’ll enjoy this David Sedaris-like audiobook version of “Shop Tails.”
We’ve had Derek Jones in the shop this week teaching six students to build cricket tables. And, he just turned in manuscript for his forthcoming book on the subject. So while Derek and the students are sawing, planing and mortising in the background, I’m giving his manuscript a first read. Below is an amuse-bouche. We expect the book to be available in early 2023.
– Fitz
On paper it might not feel like a big leap, but building with anything other than 90° represents something of a challenge for a lot of woodworkers. It shouldn’t – after all, 90 is just a number like 30 or 60. Although it takes a little adjusting to at first, the moment you set your mind to accept that these are just numbers it becomes less taxing and, with a little practice, soon feels quite natural. If this is breaking new ground for you or you are in any way put off by the idea, here’s a little incentive you probably weren’t expecting. Working with other angles will significantly improve your 90° game as well.
When everything around us in the workshop is calibrated to 90° and flat, it’s no wonder we default to this when designing furniture to build. With the introduction of machines and the need to produce everything – from homes to all the stuff that goes inside them – more efficiently, we’ve lost the desire and ability to think in any ways other than 90°, level and flat. Before we were quite so obsessed with these qualities there was a time when we could build things with other angles and not feel like we’d failed if it came out slightly irregular. Surround yourself with straight walls with doors and windows to match, then set about designing anything to fill that space, and the chances are you’ll arrive at something similar. Behavioural psychologists and neurologists have a word for this: priming. The truth is we’re not as free-thinking and independent of thought as we think we are.
I use a passive form of priming in my teaching of young adults, a majority of whom have little or no experience of making things, let alone woodworking. In short bursts over a period of weeks I introduce them to a broad range of styles and working methods that include the Shakers, Campaign Furniture, George Nakashima, Windsor and stick chairs, Wendell Castle and James Krenov. Strictly speaking, none of these styles are part of the curriculum and in my opinion it’s worse off for that, but there’s a point to it. When I’m happy they’ve received sufficient priming I set them a task to design something that none of these makers have designed or made: a coat hanger. That’s the brief: Design and make a coat hanger from wood. At no point in their exposure to woodworking do I emphasise dovetails, mortise-and-tenon joinery, steam bending or laminating, but these are the methods they seek out and eventually use to fulfil the brief. On a personal level, I feel I’ve done my bit to introduce these genres and their related methods to a new generation of designers. On a broader scale, I’ve encouraged them to look at processes without any sense of hierarchy, and I’m always impressed at how comfortable they are dealing with curves and angles other than 90°. Familiarity, as they say, breeds contempt – and I’m well aware my opinion of these styles is skewed because of it, but I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to reconnect with them every year through the opinions of a fresh pair of eyes.
A student’s coat hanger,
There’s a lot we can do by way of priming to steer us away from a default setting of flat, square and straight. Try taking a walk in a natural environment for example, somewhere where the ground is uneven and the path isn’t straight. Then spend a similar amount of time in the mall where all the irregular shapes have been removed. As far as your senses are concerned it’s a completely different experience. When you’re out amongst nature your body has to think a little harder about navigating its way through the environment. The path winds and is sometimes loose under foot and even slippery, so your brain is working hard behind the scenes to make sure you don’t fall over. In simple terms, your brain is exercising the neurological pathways that deal with irregular forms. By the way, the same can be said of the time you spend in the mall, but if this is your usual habitat the workout is less productive. Repetition, while good for honing our skills, can limit growth in other areas.
When it comes to designing from scratch, I find the pursuit of perfection to be a little sterile at times. I’m averse to using formulae to determine an outcome as it seems like a paint-by-numbers kind of approach to me. I think formulae are a great tool to compare what you’ve already done or to trace where things might be going wrong with a design, but otherwise my worry is they’re numbing my senses.
I made my first cricket table with no idea about how the angle of the legs would affect the appearance. I was more concerned with performance related issues such as footprint and stability. After my second or third attempt I started to notice a few things: for a joined-style table, a greater splay angle generally resulted in a smaller area on which to rest the top, especially if you want to keep the footprint within the confines of the top itself. Already it seemed the form had limits to some aspects of the design. Even though I wasn’t trying to reinvent the table it felt like a breakthrough. Soon after that I made a scale model with detachable legs that allowed me to experiment with different angles and the position of the legs in relation to the edge of the top. I played around with it for a while until the irony of the situation smacked me in the face: I had, in fact, created my own paint-by-numbers cricket table formula. And just like when you have to explain a joke to someone it ceases to be funny, I wasn’t amused.
Scale model.
Scale model underside.
When I build a table now I use a completely different set of rules, one that’s less reliant on numbers and statistics and more in tune with my senses. Don’t worry – I’m not going all feng shui on you (although I believe there is much to be said for the peace and harmony that comes from a well-curated space). Instead I employ a small amount of geometry and what I now know causes a positive spike on my aesthetic radar.
Crucible Holdfasts – made from ductile iron in a century-old Illinois family foundry – are now back in stock. These beefy, 1″-diameter holdfasts are based on an old French design salvaged from a barn. They work consistently in benches from 2″ to 8″ thick for three reasons: a tight fit between the shaft and hole, a rough surface finish and the fact that its shaft isn’t tapered. And because of these qualities, it also will clamp objects as much as 8″ off the benchtop.
And in case you missed it, another tool that’s been long-awaited is also now available – the Crucible Card Scraper.
Learning to carve the acanthus leaf is – for carvers – like a pianist learning a Chopin étude, a young oil painter studying the genius of Rembrandt or an aspiring furniture maker learning to cut dovetails by hand.
For carvers, especially those who focus on Classical Western ornament, there comes a time they will inevitably encounter the acanthus leaf, learn it, master it and finally incorporate it into their own designs.
“Carving the Acanthus Leaf” is a deep exploration into this iconic leaf, which has been a cornerstone of Western ornamentation for thousands of years. May, a professional carver and instructor, starts her book at the beginning. She covers carving tools and sharpening with the efficiency of someone who has taught for years. Then she plunges the reader directly into the work. Below is chapter 7, which teaches you step by step how to carve an acanthus leaf in a rosette.
Various styles of rosettes have been used since the Roman Empire as decorative accents and are often used as appliqués (applied to a surface) to adorn furniture and architectural features.
FIG. 7.2 Cast metal rosette, Aiken-Rhett House Museum, Charleston, S.C.
Here are some of the design elements for rosettes:
• They are symmetrical and can be circular, oval, square or rectangular. • There is a small bead in the center that is either plain or carved. • In oval or rectangular designs, this center bead is also oval. • Square or round rosettes that are symmetrical can be turned on a lathe before carving to establish the basic profile. • There are typically four primary leaves evenly positioned around the rosette. • The leaves start at the center bead and flow outward toward the edge, with the tips of the leaves defining the outer edges. • For square or rectangular rosettes, the tips of the leaves end at each corner. • The midribs or center stems get narrower as they reach the ends of the leaves. • They often have small, secondary leaves that are between and appear to be positioned under each primary leaf. This example does not contain these secondary leaves.
FIG. 7.3 Deeply carved rosette in cherry on a antique wardrobe, George Davis Antiques & Interiors, Savannah, Ga.
FIG. 7.4 Painted wood detail on a fireplace surround, Humphrey Sommers house, 128 Tradd St., Charleston, S.C., 1769-70. Photo by permission of Dr. Telfair and Hope Parker.
FIG. 7.5 Corner of antique table, carved in wood and gilt, Arthur Smith Antiques, Savannah, Ga.
HOW TO DRAW THE LEAF This design has similar structural elements to other leaves, but some details, such as positioning the eyes, will need to be visually located without guidelines.
FIG. 7.6
STEP 1: Draw a square. This example has slightly curved edges. Draw the center circle and the mid-rib (center stem) of each leaf ending just before each corner. Notice for this design that the midrib connects from one leaf to the next. This is often done to create a continuous flow between the leaves.
FIG. 7.7
STEP 2: Draw the eyes close to the center circle. These eyes represent where two leaves overlap.
FIG. 7.8
STEP 3: Draw eight circles as shown that intersect and slightly overlap at the pointed end of the eye. These locate the edges of the overlapping lobes.
FIG. 7.9
STEP 4: Erase the parts of the circles that are no longer needed. The remaining lines should extend from the pointed end of the eyes. The dotted lines represent the edges of the lobes underneath.
FIG. 7.10
STEP 5: Erase the dotted lines. Draw the two eyes on each leaf about a third of the way up the leaf at a slight distance from the midrib.
FIG. 7.11
STEP 6: Draw circles as shown that represent the overlapping secondary lobes. The edges of these lobes should extend from the eyes drawn in STEP 5. The dotted lines represent the parts of the lobe that are underneath. Sometimes drawing the edges of the lobes first can help locate the eyes, so steps 5 and 6 can be reversed.
FIG. 7.12
STEP 7: Erase the dotted lines. Draw the pipes that start from the eyes drawn in STEP 5 and curve and flow them alongside the midrib.
FIG. 7.13
STEP 8: Draw the lines that locate the serrations as shown. These are typically positioned perpendicular to the center veins on each lobe, but in this design there are no center veins on the side lobes. Draw these lines at an angle located approximately halfway between the eyes and the tip of each lobe. Note that the center lobe has two of these guidelines that are perpendicular to the midrib. After learning how to position the serrations in the next few steps, these lines are usu-ally no longer necessary as guides.
FIG. 7.14
STEP 9: Take a deep breath. It really isn’t as complicated as it looks. Draw small circles that locate the serrations along the edges of the leaf. These lines should start at the edge of the leaf and curve down to meet the guidelines drawn FIG. 7.14 in STEP 8. The dotted lines show the correct direction of the curve. These circles are simply used to show the curvature of the serrations. Erase the parts of the circles that are not necessary. This process of drawing the circles is often not necessary after learning to understand the shape and position of these serrations.
FIG. 7.15
STEP 10: Erase all lines that are no longer needed. Complete the edges of the leaf by connecting the serration lines as shown and also complete the tips of the leaves.
FIG. 7.16
STEP 11: Erase any unnecessary lines.
FIG. 7.17
STEP 12: Draw lines starting from the inside corners of the serrations that flow down each lobe. These lines represent a high edge (or high corner) in the leaf.
FIG. 7.18 This is the finished drawing with all details.
HOW TO CARVE THE LEAF
STEP 1: Prepare the Wood. Study Chapter 2 to learn about different methods to transfer templates to wood. I used carbon paper. Transfer all the lines from the template at the beginning of this chapter and cut out the outline of the design on a band saw or scrollsaw. This will be an appliqué.
FIG. 19
STEP 2: Carve the Center Bead. With a 6mm V-chisel, make a 1/16″-deep cut along the outside edge of the center circle. Define the edge of the bead by making vertical cuts directly on the line with a #5, 8mm. With the same #5, 8mm, round over the bead to a half-sphere. Use the #5, 8mm to lower the leaf to the edge of the bead, starting 1/2″ from the edge of the bead.
FIG. 7.24
FIGS. 7.25 & 7.25
STEP 3: Round the Leaves. With a #3, 18mm, round over the tips of each leaf starting 1″ from the tip and carving down 1/4″ at the tip (to make the rosette more shaped, this can be rounded deeper). Re-draw any lines that were carved away. NOTE: STEP 1 and STEP 2 can also be done on a lathe.
FIG. 7.27
FIGS. 7.28 & 7.29
STEP 4: Carve the Midribs. With a 4mm V-chisel, make deep cuts that define the edge of the mid-ribs. These should be 1/16″ deep toward the center and fade off just before they reach the leaf tips. With a #7, 10mm, carve a slight hollow in the midrib as it comes toward the center bead.
FIG. 7.30
FIG. 7.31
STEP 5: Round the Leaf Next to the Vein. With a #4, 14mm, round over the surface of the leaf down to the edge of the midrib.
FIG. 7.32
FIG. 7.33
STEP 6: Define the Overlapping Lobes. With a 3mm V-chisel, start in the middle of the eye and make a 1/16″-deep cut along the edge of all overlapping lobes.
FIGS. 7.34, 7.35 & 7.36
FIG. 7.37
STEP 7: Carve the Eyes: Study Chapter 3 to learn more about carving eyes. With a #11, 3mm veiner, make a 45° cut at the base of each eye. With a #5, 5mm, continue this cut on either side of the eye to create a teardrop shape that has a sharp, inside corner.
FIG. 7.38
FIGS. 7.39-7.40
STEP 8: Define the Overlapping Lobes. With gouges that fit the edge of the overlapping lobes (#5, 5mm and #7, 10mm), define the edges with vertical cuts directly on the line.
FIG. 7.41 & 7.42
FIG. 7.43
STEP 9: Lower the Underlying Lobes. With a #5, 8mm, lower the parts of the leaf that appear to go under the overlapping lobes and create a slight hollow cut. Make sure that the sharp edges created by this cut flow in the correct direction.
FIGS. 7.44 & 7.45
FIG. 7.46
STEP 10: Carve the Pipes. Study Chapter 3 to learn more about carving pipes. Re-draw pipes that have been carved away. With a #11, 3mm, make long, sweeping cuts along each side of the pipe, starting on either side of the eye.
FIG. 7.47
FIGS. 7.48 & 7.49
STEP 11: Round the Leaf. With a #3, 6mm, soften any sharp edges in the leaf surface that were cre-ated by carving the pipes. NOTE: Often pipes are rounded over also, but because these are so small, it would cause them to lose definition.
FIGS. 7.50, 7.51, 7.52 & 7.53
STEP 12: Hollow the Secondary Lobes. With a #7, 10mm and #7, 8mm, hollow the three secondary lobes in each overlapping lobe.
FIG. 7.54
FIGS. 7.55 & 7.56
STEP 13: Hollow the Remaining Secondary Lobes. With a #7, 8mm, hollow all remaining secondary lobes.
FIG. 7.57
FIGS. 7.58 & 7.59
STEP 14: Carve the Serration Notch Cuts. Study Chapter 3 to learn more about these defining cuts. With a #5, 8mm, make one cut defining the serration edge and a second cut at a slight angle creating a small triangular notch cut.
FIG. 7.60
STEP 15: Clean the Edges. With a #3, 6mm, make a 45° chamfer along all edges. This will create a clean, well-defined edge and will remove remaining template or pencil lines.
Where shall we put these? How about as decorative details on the upper corners of door frames? Small rosettes can be added to the corners of kitchen cabinets or accents on dressers or headboards. Then there is that wonderful architectural feature that just begs for carved details – the fireplace mantel. Be creative and either make the rosette a central design feature, or a secondary detail for a simple accent. How about custom coasters and leave a large flat area in the center for wine glasses to fit? I’ll have to think about that one over a glass of wine.
I’m glad to find that contemporary woodworking editors are merely upholding an at least century-old tradition of cutlists/parts lists containing errors. (And – dare I say – readers haven’t changed much either!) The Woodworker and Art Metal Woodworker, June 15, 1905 (again, thanks to Buz Buzkirk for the old compilations!).
— Fitz
A Tool Cupboard in the April 1902 issue.
Dear Sir, – I send herewith [a] photo of [the] tool cupboard made from the design published in The Woodworker, April 1902. This style of cupboard suits my requirements very well indeed, with a few alterations. I have made mine 30 ins. wide, not having room for a wider one. By placing the saws on the left-hand door, the upright division can come more forward, thereby increasing the width of the shelf, and the straight narrow division between the planes allows a little more shelf space in front, as per Fig. 1. By this arrangement the tool racks come above and below the shelf, so that it is only necessary to allow 1-1/8 ins. instead of 2 ins. for the room taken up by the hammer handle and saw handles. In fixing the saws by a turn-button which fits close down on the handle, it does away with the lower part across the blade; also the tool racks on brackets make a strong neat job, although entailing more work. As you will see I have put the nosing round the bottom as well as the top. Is there any reason why this has been omitted? It seems to me rather an advantage, as it allows the doors to swing clear of any obstruction.
A Compact Tool Cupboard, by G. E. Evans.
In the list of wood required, given at the end of the article in [the] April, 1902, issue, the three drawer bottoms and one door panel have not been counted, making in all about 7 ft. more of wood required.
Referring again to the photo, just above the top drawer is a specimen of the puzzle dovetail joint given in The Woodworker, May, 1902, made in birch and black walnut.
