Tom Fidgen - The Unplugged Woodshop Hand-Crafted Projects for the Home & Workshop

Text 2013 by Tom Fidgen
Photographs 2013 by The Taunton Press, Inc.
Illustrations 2013 by The Taunton Press, Inc.

All rights reserved.

To Darrell, artist, inventor, prospector,
and friend. I wish youd stayed around
to see this one through brother.

Rest in peace.

Darrell Darnell, 19672011

The Taunton Press, Inc., 63 South Main Street, PO Box 5506, Newtown, CT 06470-5506
e-mail:

Editor: Peter Chapman
Copy editor: Candace B. Levy
Indexer: Jay Kreider
Jacket/Cover design: Stacy Wakefield Forte
Interior design: Stacy Wakefield Forte
Layout: Stacy Wakefield Forte
Illustrator: Melanie Powell
Photographer: Tom Fidgen

The following names/manufacturers appearing in The Unplugged Woodshop are trademarks:

Bad Axe Tool Works, Brusso, Dumpster, Forstner, Irwin, Lee Valley Tools, Lie-Nielson, SketchUp, Stanley, Tried & True, Veritas, Woodcraft

ISBN 978-1-62710-353-4

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About Your Safety: Working wood is inherently dangerous. Using hand or power tools improperly or ignoring safety practices can lead to permanent injury or even death. Dont try to perform operations you learn about here (or elsewhere) unless youre certain they are safe for you. If something about an operation doesnt feel right, dont do it. Look for another way. We want you to enjoy the craft, so please keep safety foremost in your mind whenever youre in the shop.

FOR CAROLYN, my beautiful partner through life, and our two amazing children, Piper and Nelson. Without the three of you by my side, this would not have been possible.

For Peter, my editor, the other side of these pages and one of the unsung heroes of the book.

For Robin, who at the eleventh hour on my path to self-publishing suggested I contact The Taunton Press. Good call!

For Anatole, for the warm welcome and introductions.

For Mark, a master saw maker. Thanks for the sawblades and the friendship.

For Josh, the best designer a guy could be related to! Many thanks for the logo.

For Sandy, my Web developer, my friend, and oftentimes my psychiatrist.

For everyone else through the rest of this book-making process: the artwork, production, printing, packaging, marketing, publicizing basically, all of the work that happens after I write this! Without all of you, books never happen. Many thanks!

For you the reader, either here or online, its for you these pages are made.

The Unplugged Woodshop started as a simple blog to share my thoughts and ideas about hand tools and furniture making. It has evolved organically into a friendly, global community that I feel privileged to be part of. A quiet revolution, when working together, a million hands crafting, this is when positive changes occur. Enjoy the time you spend working wood no matter what tools you use to work it with, every detail and every step of the way. Work makes life sweet. www.theunpluggedwoodshop.com

The Unplugged Woodshop is proud to be in partnership with 1% for the Planet. Members of 1% for the Planet contribute 1% of annual sales directly to nonprofit environmental organizations. The 1% for the Planet network brings together like-minded leaders who share a belief that business can be a vital catalyst for positive environmental change.

What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.

Aristotle

WELCOME TO the Unplugged Woodshop, where things are made by hand.

The pages of this book represent a year inside my woodshop, my unplugged woodshop, where I use only hand tools to craft objects from wood. So, why unplugged? Without sounding too clichd, for me the journey is truly the destination. I enjoy the process of designing and building furniture by hand, from the initial sketches in my note-books to visiting local mills and backyard woodcutters. I enjoy bringing home rough cut planks of local hardwood and having them acclimatize to my shop space. I delight in discovering their grain patterns and the unique characteristics present in every piece of wood. Yes, even the arduous and physical demands of ripping, crosscutting, and resawing timber after the furniture parts have been carefully laid out are things I truly enjoy. Dimensioning the roughsawn lumber until the boards glisten under a handplaned surface. Laying out and executing fine joinery until the pieces come to life and final finishes are applied. Each step is as important and rewarding as the next.

From my small, 12-ft. by 12-ft. basement space in down-town Toronto, youll be witness to a real-life documentation of handcraft in modern times. From the initial spark when inspiration ignites to the final finishes, hand-rubbed and ready to be delivered, the book will demonstrate what it means to work in and, perhaps more important, to imagine and create in a custom woodshop.

On some occasions that may mean building your own hand tools, and on other days we may be inventing new ones. The fact that I dont have a need to use any power tools in my work may inspire some woodworkers, but it is my hope that the designs will appeal to both the power-tool wood-workers, the blended woodshops, and those who have chosen to go unplugged as I have.