Woodworking
The workshop
MY WORKSHOP is a 12'x18' shed that we also use for garden tools and storage. One of these days I would like to build a larger workshop that I won't have to share, but for now, this will do. Instead of one large workbench that would be hard to move, I have a small bench designed to be knocked down and two Black and Decker WorkMates.
I use only hand tools whenever possible or practical, including for all
of the joinery in the furniture I build. Mortises, tenons, dovetails,
panels, and so on are all done with hand saws, chisels, and planes. There
is more craft and skill to using hand tools; with power tools, the challenge
is all in the design and in setting up the machines. And machines are
more efficient than hand tools only when you are making many identical
pieces. For one-of-a-kind furniture, it usually takes longer to set up
a table saw or router table than I could save by avoiding the hand work.
I want to enjoy and value the process as
much as the product. If I made all my furniture with power tools and big
machines, I'm not sure I would see or feel the difference between what's
in my living room and what I could buy from a store. And there is an incredible
satisfaction to cutting dovetails by hand and having them fit on the first
try, a satisfaction I have never in my life felt from using a machine.
I'll also say that collecting hand tools
is considerably more fun than collecting power tools. I understand all
the parts of my hand planes, what each part does and how they're put together.
Ten years ago it was hard to find good hand tools except as antiques,
but now there are several companies making tools that may be the best
ever made. Lie-Nielson, in Maine, makes planes and saws that are an absolute
joy to use and are also beautiful.
I do make a few exceptions. I will use power
tools when the work I am avoiding is not particularly skilled or enjoyable.
I usually have wood surface-planed at the lumberyard, because I don't
have space for a surface planer and don't think it's worth the time to
plane wood to thickness by hand (although I have done it on occasion,
mainly with table legs). If I have a lot of ripping to do, I use a hand-held
circular saw. I sometimes use a small random-orbit sander, although not
for finish sanding. I own a router, but I hate the thing, and the only
thing I use it for is making "keyholes" for hanging things on
the wall.
Enough about the process. Here are some of the products.
- I built this set of cherry shaker tables, two side tables and a coffee table, in the winter and spring of 2000 after I defended my dissertation.
- The arts-and-crafts bookcase, made of walnut, came soon after, in the fall of 2000.
- Two freestanding cabinets for the kitchen and pantry are custom-designed for our needs.
- The stereo table is designed to suit other needs as well.
- I have built a few pieces of outdoor furniture, including a pair of Adirondack chairs and a picnic table.
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