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michaellangford
Category Archives: woodworking
Lost Art, Found Artifact
The 28th Annual Groundhog Day Tool Meet was yesterday, sponsored by the Southwest Tool Collectors Association. A couple of dozen dealers present. Looking over the hundred or so attendees, Evan was one of a very few not likely to qualify … Continue reading
Posted in woodworking
2 Comments
$20k house redux
I don’t believe it’s fair to criticize unless you can offer a better idea. If these four guys can actually build a complete house in three weeks, they are carpenters, not mere laborers. This crew is going to spend the next … Continue reading
Posted in agrarian reform, architecture, carpentry, woodworking
Tagged $20khouse, Architecture, Capitalism
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Reinbarnation
“Any jackass can kick down a barn. It takes a good carpenter to build one.” Sam Rayburn Last week, I had a disappointment. The previous Friday, Alice and I had driven to Mountainburg (about 50 miles) and bought some … Continue reading
The Nature of Gothic
When Sir Isaac Newton observed that we …stand on the shoulders of giants… did he mean that we should be aware that we are privileged, or that we have somehow conquered the giant? I’m inclined to believe that it was the … Continue reading
Posted in woodworking
1 Comment
$20k House Myth
I have been following (and believing in) Auburn University’s Rural Studio program since I saw Sam Mockbee speak here at the University of Arkansas School of Architecture in ’99 or 2000, shortly before he died. Later, the filmmakers who produced Citizen … Continue reading
Dublin Green
Some years ago…a friend of mine took up long-distance running. After training for a summer, he and a group of fellow runners entered the Dublin Marathon. During most of that time we had been building a timber frame, sharing my tools. I had … Continue reading
Posted in architecture, carpentry, food for thought, furniture, woodworking
Tagged Apprenticeship, Art, Craft
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The Decline of Craft
Every one is different… As winter wears on, I spend more time scheming and planning than building. My building ideas are just on the margin of convention, and we have implemented them freely in our own house. Mostly, to be honest, … Continue reading
Posted in boatbuilding, carpentry, education reform, food for thought, furniture, traditional building, woodworking
Tagged Apprenticeship, Capitalism, Education
2 Comments
How and Why
Actually (to clarify the last post a bit), this began much earlier, but the photos from that phase aren’t digital, and I’ll eventually have to dig them out and scan them. For now, the brick part is original and we … Continue reading
Posted in architecture, carpentry, traditional building, woodworking
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Roof Valleys
Trigonometry, once you understand the basics, is fairly easy to use. The sine curve/cosine curve model works great for electrical engineering, but isn’t very useful for building math. Really, just the ++ quadrant of a unit circle is sufficient for every … Continue reading
Posted in architecture, carpentry, traditional building, woodworking
1 Comment
Ozone
At first, I thought it was just about being alone on the water, floating in a small boat far away from the noise of people. Yesterday, it occurred to me that air movement lifts ozone out of the water. In … Continue reading
Posted in education reform, food for thought, woodworking
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Design and Workmanship
Before the “Maker Movement”, there was David Pye. If you make things, or design things, and ever feel the need to communicate about making or designing, you should read these books. In 1964, David Pye published The Nature of Design, … Continue reading
Posted in architecture, boatbuilding, carpentry, furniture, woodworking
2 Comments
Piñata of Ideas
Ever have a really good idea, and when you float it out there, someone just can’t wait to knock the stuffing out of it. Yeah! Just think of it as a piñata, a little out of reach but interesting enough … Continue reading
Learning Curves 11
Swamped Not exactly sitting pretty, I swamped and soaked myself. Even worse, I lost my balance getting aboard, and slammed my foot so hard into the bottom that it split the hull. This is the sort of thing that the … Continue reading
Learning Curves 10
“…and there were also with them other little boats.” Mark 4:36 We spent the past four days day-tripping around the Ozarks, trying out the canoe, car-topping on our latest BMW, a 1987 325e. Found a set of vintage Thule brackets … Continue reading
Posted in boatbuilding, Uncategorized, woodworking
7 Comments
Learning Curves 8
To escape the rain, I moved the canoe into the painting studio, and proceeded with fiberglass and epoxy. The sealer coat was a bit tacky, positioning the fiberglass cloth was tedious, and it was late Tuesday afternoon before I … Continue reading
Posted in boatbuilding, carpentry, Uncategorized, woodworking
2 Comments
Learning Curves 7
Back outside with a sealer coat of epoxy, ready for fiberglass. Which I ended up sanding down to bare wood again Sunday morning. The few drops of rain that hit the uncured epoxy left white streaks and spots, and … Continue reading
Posted in boatbuilding, carpentry, woodworking
1 Comment
Learning Curves 6
We finally stitched the bottom into the hull this afternoon, and all those pieces of spruce have become a singularity. We might have cleverly taken apart a tree and made it into a boat, pieces of several trees more likely, at … Continue reading
Posted in boatbuilding, carpentry, woodworking
1 Comment
Learning Curves 4
Today, I went ’round the bend. Actually, there are several problems with the material I chose. Spruce is much stiffer that either Atlantic cedar or western red cedar, and I cut the strips 1/4″ x 15/16″. There are more scarf … Continue reading
Posted in boatbuilding, carpentry, woodworking
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Learning Curves 3
Once lost, the information on primitive watercraft cannot, as a rule, be recovered. “It might be said fairly that those who had the best opportunities to observe, including many whose profession it was to record the culture of primitive … Continue reading
Posted in boatbuilding, carpentry, woodworking
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Learning Curves 2
Progress, like peace, comes dripping slow. Running in and out of spring showers to get tarps on everything, I conceded to the weather gage and moved upstairs. Lighting is much better; windows for daylight, ample incandescents for night work, and my … Continue reading
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