Blog
Euclid wearing work boots
Jim Tolpin and I both entered into this "Language of the Artisans" through different side doors. We each wandered about in amazement before we even realized the enormity…
Affirmation
Making a Rudder for a Ship of War, by W. H. Pyne 1803 By the look on their faces, the folks at Braxton Brewery were not prepared to…
Be There AND Be Square!
The following sequence of steps show how to use simple geometry to create a right angle along the edge of a board--demonstrating that you don't need a square…
Let’s Get This Straight
Here’s how I go about selecting and conditioning wood for a wooden straight edge that will best maintain its accuracy over a period of time: To begin with…
A Hatchet Job
Straight edge hatchet job from Jim Tolpin on Vimeo. Working without a bandsaw (or any other power tool) I've been forced to get up to speed with my…
That Snappy Sector Redux
A while back I noticed that a number of architect/builder’s sectors shown in manuscripts from the Renaissance era had the segmentation laid out along a diagonal line rather…
What makes a right angle right?
In the last post, we saw how the triplet works its magic to allow three segmented line lengths to come together to form a right angle. When the…
Welcome to the Topsy-Turvy Woodshop
Normally I can reach for my jackplane or favorite tenon saw with my eyes shut. Most of my tools have a well worn patina, but each is sharp…
The Tricky Triplet
If you think back to your days in what used to be called “Grammar School”, you may remember old Mr. Hammersmacker (or was it Miss Hellena Handbasket?) droning…
Sector Secrets
The theory and construction of a sector is covered in both our books, though in the softcover “By Hound and Eye”…
