GET THE MAGAZINE & MORE

From the Bench: Tools from My Father

April 8, 2019

One son’s reflection on cleaning out his father’s woodshop.
From the Bench: The Family Violin

February 25, 2019

My personal story is about endings and beginnings, father, son, and daughters, completing one circle and starting another. My father, Henry Finck, was a professor of anatomy at the University…
George Nakashima–A Tree in the Chair Shop

December 6, 2018

George enjoyed that there was some intellectual activity along with the handwork.
Portrait of a woodworker

September 27, 2018

If you build things in wood, I know who you are
From The Bench: The Story of a Chair

July 26, 2018

This chair deserved to be made of figured wood, an obvious statement that my version was a modern replica
From the Bench: Our house of stories

June 4, 2018

My name is Megan, and I am 11 years old. People love our house and say it is unique, warm, and inviting. It definitely isn’t your run-of-the-mill house. Dad has…
German-style hand tools: Try them!

April 12, 2018

If you pick up a Primus plane and give it the run of your bench for a while, you’ll soon be compelled to discover what else you’ve been missing
Inheritance

March 6, 2018

When I got home and unpacked the tools at my workshop I discovered that some of them were marked “JFC”—my grandfather’s initials—while others carried a lone “C” on the casting
Even when we’re finished, we’re not

November 30, 2017

When a piece finds its purpose, it is home