Upcoming Articles

I’ve agreed to write four articles for Popular Woodworking over the coming months, in addition to continuing work on my manuscript for The Period Finisher’s Manual for LAP which is targeted for some time in 2018.  It’s probably just me but I think each of the four articles are work-life-changing; they certainly were for me.

First out of the gate will be a short article about making and using some terrific clamps for holding components of workpieces in place, especially useful in my restoration work.  We haven’t even figured out a good title for these clamps just yet.

Second will be an article that I am perhaps more excited about than any I have written thus far, Faux Urushi.  In it I will be chronicling my path to and my current practices for replicating this pinnacle of the finishing art, with lots of step-by-step instructions and illustrations.

Then comes my mea culpa to the jig-makers of the woodworking world (in the past I have often just rolled my eyes as wood machinists wax ecstatic about this or that jig that allows them to use their power machines to make what could be done much more simply by hand; I was wrong to do so, and I apologize for being a churl) as I address the creation of three of Roubo’s parquetry patterns.  It’s all about precisely made sawing and planing jigs.

Finally this writing season will wrap up next Spring with a profile of Studley 2.0 and the remarkably accomplished artist who created it.

I’ve warned Megan that I’ve got a lot more ideas for articles and blog posts, but for now I’m going up the hill to execute the final reassembly of the lute maker’s hands.