Woodworker's Journal 2009-33-3, страница 29

A modified English brown-oak gun cabinet built by Ernest Gimson in 1904.

The third tenet, The work shall be rightfully constructed using rightful workmanship" is easy to express but difficult to describe. What they sought was a common method of working and a common vocabulary. What they arrived at was a set of hand tool techniques and working methods — methods which remain unassailable today. This was accomplished by analyzing every step down to the smallest point. How best to saw a tenon will serve as an example of a procedure that was applied to the whole of their woodworking.

Everyone in the shop gets to saw a tenon and describe the efficacy of their method. From these various methods, measured against the standards of accuracy and time, one will show itself to be superior — that's the making method all will adopt for now. If someone subsequently comes up with a variation that improves the accuracy of the tenon, or reduces the making time with no loss of quality, then all will adopt the improved technique.

When I began my studies in 1952,1 followed this pathway, but there wasn't much about hand tools and methods of construction that hadn't already been thought of, and so my working life was much simplified. Many years passed before 1 could add something to the mix, and then only in small details. The most important bonus to me was that my studies included time spent with Edward Barnsley (1900-1987), the son of Sidney. His visits and his presence were an inspiration. I knew it then, but like a few experiences in life, I sorely wish I could return to them one more time.

The American Arts and Crafts Movement

Gustav Stickley (1858-1942) is now best known for his furniture, but the scope of his energy and drive paralleled that of Morris, whom he much admired. Besides furniture, he was involved in architecture, metalwork, textiles, leatherwork, gardening, writing and publishing.

He put his own stamp on the philosophy of the Arts and Crafts movement, which he expounded in The Craftsman, a periodical that he published from 1901 to 1916. During its life, the periodical printed over 2(H) house designs as well as plans for individual pieces of furniture. This "do-it-yourself" enthusiasm is largely responsible for the subsequent widespread establishment of woodworking as a hobby for many and a vocation for others.

Whereas the English practitioners looked backward through rose-colored spectacles at the art and architecture of the Middle Ages and romanticized life in the craft guilds of

Gustav Stickley. who designed the piece below, was the American analog to Britain's William Morris. Both were concerned with far more than furniture design, which was an outgrowth of their social philosophy.

photograph by Kay Stubblebine. used urith permissiim of The Craftsman Farms Foundation, [nr.. Parsipanny. New Jersey

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June 2009 Woodworker's Jou ma I