moucon


member


Recent comments


Re: Behold, the Speed Tenon

PS - I'm surprised at some of the silly comments.

You're in business to show woodworking techniques. Your readers are not preschoolers - they're adults. It's not your job to protect them from themselves. Withholding what you know to be a legitimate way that pro woodworkers work is just foolishness. Show the necessary disclaimers Taunton legal dept. suggests and call it a day.

posted: 11:54 am on November 5th  

Re: Router Injury Sparks Reflection on Safety

I had a small Makita router(that I'd used for 20 years) catch a piece that was on router mat (one of those quasi-sticky rubber mats that supposedly make it possible to safely rout things w/o clamping them) and send it sailing across the shop and through a 9-lite door 15 feet away. The piece was no mini- it was plenty large enough to rout in that way - I don't know what I did wrong, other than I must have let up on it at just he right time or something. Nobody got hurt but between the workpiece, the router, and the glass flying in every direction it's a miracle. Now EVERYTHING gets a clamp or a jig to make sure it stays put. Accidents happen in a micro-second - you don't even have time to react.

posted: 2:24 pm on May 21st  

Re: Dovetailed drawers are overrated

IMO - a vertical sliding dovetail for the front drawer joints is the strongest at resisting pulling force... but it's pretty much hidden and therefore not "sexy" at all.

Machine-cut dovetails are a dime a dozen, but they do make a good strong drawer. They're fast for applications like kitchen/bath cabinets and other utility pieces.

I think the the holy grail in free-standing furniture making are hand-cut, hand-spaced dovetails with creative twists in the angle of the pins/tails, creative decorative spacing, etc. This is true joinery that puts the practitioner's skill and creativity on display at the highest level. But they're not right for every style or every piece. The pinned dado also looks good, can be done very creatively, and is well-suited for 'moderne' and art deco type pieces.

Understanding the right mix of aethetics and form/funcion is what separates the masters from the hobbyists. It takes a mix of creativity and "thinking outside the box" with good historical roots and knowledge of classic forms. There's no shortcuts.

-Moo

posted: 1:13 pm on November 25th