Tag Archives: mortise and tenon

Breadboard Ends on a Stove Cover

Posted on July 19, 2022 by literaryworkshop

When a friend asks me to make her a stove cover, I decide it’s a great time to learn a whole new woodworking technique. Continue reading →

Posted in Build-Alongs, Wood and Woodwork | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

How to Do Woodworking on 24 Hours a Day

Posted on August 13, 2021 by literaryworkshop

There is ample historical evidence that at the beginning of the 20th century, many people felt that their lives were so rushed that they never had enough time to do the things that they really wanted to do. Back then, … Continue reading →

Posted in Musings | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

One Last Bedstead

Posted on June 21, 2019 by literaryworkshop

When my youngest child–my only son, R.–finally outgrew our old toddler bed (which I had originally built for his older sister, and which had then been passed down through the siblings to him, and which I eventually gave away to … Continue reading →

Posted in Build-Alongs, Kids, Wood and Woodwork | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Building A Frame-and-Panel Interior Door

Posted on March 20, 2019 by literaryworkshop

If I had a backup career in woodworking, it would be making doors and windows for historic homes.  It’s not that I especially enjoy making such objects more than others.  (I’ve never even made a window sash.)  It’s that it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Build-Alongs, Home Improvement, Kids, Wood and Woodwork | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Building a Dining Table, Part 2: Clamps and Pegs

Posted on August 5, 2016 by literaryworkshop

The majority of my time on this project was spent surfacing the boards for the top.  I hand-planed all the boards from the rough-sawn stock, and I must have carried out four or five garbage bags of wood shavings in … Continue reading →

Posted in Build-Alongs, Furniture, Wood and Woodwork | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A New Door, a New Bed, a New Daughter

Posted on December 14, 2015 by literaryworkshop

My summer ended with big woodworking plans for the coming year.  (Most people’s year begins on January first, but being a professor, I think as much in school years as in calendar years, so my year effectively begins in mid-August.)  … Continue reading →

Posted in Furniture, Home Improvement, Kids, Wood and Woodwork | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

On Failure

Posted on July 9, 2015 by literaryworkshop

Every time a new woodworking magazine shows up in my mailbox, I am dazzled by a wide array of projects and techniques that promise to take my woodworking skills to the next level.  Yet there’s something missing in the usual … Continue reading →

Posted in Musings | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Window into Fifteenth-Century Woodworking

Posted on January 24, 2014 by literaryworkshop

You can learn a lot about period woodworking at the art museum.  Robert Campin’s Merode Alterpiece, a triptych painting of the Annunciation, is well-known in the art world, but it ought to be better know to woodworkers, especially those interested … Continue reading →

Posted in Woodworking Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Confessions of a Clamp Minimalist

Posted on December 31, 2013 by literaryworkshop

Whenever somebody on a forum asks, “how many clamps do you need?” the usual answer is, “just a few more than you have.” I have a confession to make: I have almost never felt that way. I am a clamp … Continue reading →

Posted in Musings, Wood and Woodwork | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Timber Framed Bunk Beds, part 5: A Ladder

Posted on July 25, 2013 by literaryworkshop

A good bunk bed needs a good ladder. I’ve never made a proper ladder, but I’ve read up on wooden ladder construction.  Many traditional wooden ladders had threaded rod under top and bottom rungs to make sure everything didn’t come … Continue reading →

Posted in Build-Alongs, Furniture, Kids | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments