Robert Wearing, at his drafting table. Acclaimed craftsman and woodworking instructor Robert Wearing was formally trained at Loughborough College (now University) in Leicestershire, England. It was there, during the late 1940s, that a physical education teacher said a sentence that Wearing has embraced throughout his long and fulfilling career: “For teacher and pupil, a lesson…
Coming up with a title for “Ingenious Mechanicks: Early Workbenches & Workholding” was a challenge. This new book started as an expansion of “Roman Workbenches,” a small letterpress edition we published last year. But the more research that Suzanne Ellison and I did, the more we realized that the “Roman” part wasn’t quite right. I…
In high school I played racquetball every day — sometimes for four or five hours a at a time. But the funny thing was, no matter how much I played, I never got any better unless I was matched against someone who could crush me. So I would always seek out friends and acquaintances who…
Trafalgar Square with some American tourists. (From left: The edge of Katherine’s jacket, Lucy, Maddy and Jason.) Apologies for the late start today. Chris and his family got home late last evening from England so he’s recovering from jet lag…and I slept in today and had a leisurely morning coffee for the first time since…
Our holdfasts are produced two at a time at the Erhart Foundry, which is in the old industrial quarter of Cincinnati – less than two miles from my workshop. It’s a family-run operation that has been in business since 1854; when you call them you still talk to an Erhart. Like most foundries I’ve visited, everything…
This is the final installment of the Anarchist’s Gift Guide 2023 – tomorrow, it’s back to our regular programming. Buffing Kit for WaxFrom the automotive world comes this incredibly useful buffing kit. I put the pads on my random-orbit sander to buff out wax on tabletops and the like, and the pads makes life so…
I like to think of our holdfasts as a “course correction” for this form of tool. During the last 25 years, holdfasts (when you could find them) became lighter, shorter and shrank in diameter. Other makers made them look quite nice, with crisp arrises and smooth pads. The Crucible holdfast is a thing from an…
The working cover for Andy Glenn’s book – If all goes well this week, it will go to press by Friday. The chair shown here is by Terry Ratliff, of Floyd County, Kentucky. The copy editing changes are done, the interior design is locked down and we’re almost done with the dust jacket (the front…
Full-size coffer from the book on which Chris is currently working, “The American Peasant.” He left town and left me in charge of painting. Thanks for the questions! Comments are now closed. I’m at the shop today, waiting for yesterday’s paint to dry (it’s linseed oil paint, so I’ll be waiting a few days beyond…
At the final station, the fully formed geomembrane is cut free from the feed line. This stage allows for additional processing and assembly of the geomembrane as per specific requirements.