Dr. Powertool, or, how I stopped worrying and learned to love handtools

Hi, I'm Brad and I'm a Normite.... that's right, like all of you I am a powertool driven, bought a biscuit joiner, have a dedicated mortiser, have 4 routers Normite. But I'm recovering, over the last few years I've been converted to quality hand tools.

I've been watching The New Yankee Workshop every Saturday morning for years. I guess you could say that its replaced my Saturday morning cartoons. Over time I grew to have serious shop envy. I wanted a big shop with a huge tablesaw, a stationary tool for every operation and a brad nailer, oh how I wanted a brad nailer. But, alas, I had a house in Downtown Charleston with no garage and no space for one. I worked out in the driveway and used all portable tools, but they were power tools. Don't get me wrong, I had chisels, Stanley Chisels that had never seen a wetstone. I had a block plane that I got from the local True Value, it was a Stanley, but by this time, all Stanley made that was any good would be garage door openers.

I found a nice house on the island with room for a shop... a shop.... oh how happy I was. I built my shop, after lots of drawings and using the shop planner tool on the Grizzly tools site at least once a week. The shop turned out great, just what I wanted. I filled it with all the power tools that I'd been planning over those long years of shop lust. I ran a dust collection system, lots of power outlets, I built some ugly cabinets and made a big assembly table. I even sharpened my chisels.

Well, oddly enough, the Internet brought me to hand tools, well that and the magazines. I saw people using hand tools and read about techniques. I even got some decent chisels free from Dewalt with a combo router kit, they were actually Marples but in black with the Dewalt logo. I started getting saws, a Japanese saw, a flush saw, a gent's saw. But the true conversion came when I got my first Lie-Nielsen plane, it was a low angle shoulder plane that I picked up at Woodcraft to clean up the junk that the tablesaw left on my tenon's shoulders. It was like that scene in The Holy Grail when the clouds open up to Arthur and the voice of God talks to him. That plane, right out of the box, cut shavings that you could see through. It felt so good in my hand, heavy, solid, SHARP!! That was it, I had seen the light, my eyes were opened.

This winter I got a sharpening system, now all my irons and chisels are razor sharp, even that crappy old Stanley Block plane cut ok. I think I turned a corner this summer when I made my first wooden plane. I really can feel this plane move through the wood. I decided to replace that POS block plane that never holds a setting with a Lie-Nielsen low angle block plane. I love the heavy blade and the solid brass parts. I ground a microbevel on the blade and stropped it on a leather wheel, rubbed little wax on the bottom and zzzzzzooooommmmmmm.

I finally treated myself to a nice set of chisels, I ordered these Two Cherries babies through The WoodWhisperer's Amazon site. They are sharp and shiny and in a nice box. I could feel a burr on each bevel so I hit them with a very fine grit at 25 degrees and a microbevel at 30 degrees, and on the flat. I then stropped both sides on the leather wheel with some green compound.

Now, all that said and done don't come asking me to sell you my Powermatic Mortiser or my Leigh Dovetail jig, I still need my power tools, but there are times when its easier and FASTER, to use a hand tool to do something then to set up and run a power tool. If I have a dresser full of drawers I'll take the time to set up the Leigh Jig and Router, but if I have one drawer in a wall cabinet, it time to hand cut. I'll still cut my tenons on the tablesaw, but I'll trim them to that perfect fit with a shoulder plane. I'll still cut my mortises on the mortiser, but cleaning them up is now a breeze, and the through mortises are cut on the outside with the chisels. If I just have one or two mortises, its the drill press and the chisels.

Thank you to everyone that has helped me overcome my addiction and move along the road to being a better craftsman. I end with this simple prayer.

God grant me the serenity to accept the time I have to use powertools;

courage to use hand tools when I should;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Byrdcliffe Colony, an Arts and Crafts Utopian Community

Byrdcliffe Colony was formed in 1903 by wealthy Englishman Ralph Radcliffe-Whitehead, a student of John Ruskin, near Woodstock NY. Whitehead, who along with his American wife, Jane Byrd McCall, attempted to establish the perfect environment for an art guild adhering to the ideals of Ruskin and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Whitehead, was influenced by John Ruskin's passion for Gothic art and his social reformist ideals. The views of the British designer-craftsman William Morris, a Ruskin disciple who pushed for the return of design to its intimate relationship with processes and materials, also had an effect on Whitehead's thinking.
Seeing art as a factor in the improvement of society, and wanting a purpose for his life, Whitehead aspired to build his own arts and crafts community. His ideas found an echo in those of a socially prominent American artist, Jane Byrd McCall, whom Whitehead met on a trip through Italy. A Ruskinite, too, she joined Whitehead in helping realize his project. He divorced his Austrian-born wife and moved to the United States, where he and Jane were married in 1892. After travel abroad, they built a luxurious Tuscan villa called Arcady in Montecito, Calif., where they lived while planning ahead. Their aims for the colony (called Byrdcliffe from an amalgamation of their middle names) were that it should support itself by selling beautiful handmade objects; offer classes in all the crafts so that it could perpetuate itself; and provide a healthy life on a working farm that would also help to support it. But it wasn't until June 1902 that Whitehead, after months of looking in other areas, was alerted to the possibilities of Woodstock by a close painter friend, Bolton Brown. In a gorgeous setting at the foothills of the Catskills, Woodstock had the added advantage of being close to New York City, rife with commercial opportunities.
At its peak between 1903 and 1910, Byrdcliffe had about 200 working artists and artisans. Some rented studio space and worked on their own, some worked collectively with others, and younger artists from the Pratt Institute, Columbia University and elsewhere flocked to Byrdcliffe for classes. In a beautiful, rural setting, Whitehead built first class accommodations to attract artists and friends. Artists from around the country converged at this Utopian setting where they created pottery, textiles, metalwork and some furniture while enjoying the company of other craftsmen. No more than 50 pieces of furniture were ever produced and most of these were kept and used at Byrdcliffe. Production of furniture lasted only until 1905. Financially, Byrdcliffe never was successful, but it’s importance in the history of the Arts and Crafts Movement is second to none.
As an experiment in utopian living inspired by the arts and crafts movement, the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony was built sparing no expense. Byrdcliffe was a wonderful setting for practicing the art of living through creative manual work. The arts and crafts movement stressed reform of social, environmental and economic conditions to combat the slums and degradation fostered in the industrial regions and Byrdcliffe's Woodstock site offered a pristine environment for the creation of Whitehead's utopian enclave.
Although the arts and crafts utopian experiment soon ran out of steam, the continuing magic of Byrdcliffe enthralled many notable persons including the educator John Dewey, author Thomas Mann and naturalist John Burroughs. Isadora Duncan danced at White Pines; Bob Dylan lived in a house at Byrdcliffe in the '60s and early '70s; Joanne Woodward was involved in the river Arts Repertory at the Byrdcliffe Theatre. After Whitehead's death in 1929, his widow, Jane, and son Peter struggled to keep the colony alive. After Jane's death in 1955, Peter sold much of the land to pay taxes and maintenance on the heart of the colony which he kept intact. The Whiteheads intended to preserve Byrdcliffe "for the purpose of promoting among the residents of Woodstock...the study, practice and development of skill in the fine arts and crafts, as well as a true appreciation thereof..." Byrdcliffe remains a vibrant part of the cultural life of the Catskill region thanks to the careful stewardship of the Woodstock Guild.

Byrdcliffe is also an important regional example of the movement to create various types of utopian enclaves in America. British reformers especially saw America as a fertile and cheap land for the creation of visionary communities. The horrors of the working conditions of the industrial revolution led Robert Owen to establish his New Harmony, Indiana, community in the 1820s. Owen had a wide influence in America and a score of communities patterned on his theories were founded including one in Haverstraw, New York, and another in Coxsackie, New York, although these were both very short lived. In the 1880s Thomas Hughes established his Rugby Colony in Tennessee, inspired by Ruskin and espousing creative manual labor. Other arts and crafts communities were also founded in America, including the Roycroft Community in East Aurora, New York, which was established in 1895 by Elbert Hubbard on the principles of the guild system and the aesthetics of William Morris.

These various efforts to create "communities of aspiration" form a vigorous part of American culture. New York State saw successful Shaker communities in the late 18th century; the successful utopian community at Oneida which was established in 1848 near Syracuse and still exists, although not as a commune but as a residence, inn and conference center; the creation of the Chautauqua Institution near Jamestown in 1874 which today draws 300,000 annual visitors for a summer season of arts, education, recreation and religion; and the continuing existence of Chautauquan-style communities at 1000 Island Park on the St. Lawrence River, and at Round Lake near Saratoga. In the 19th century the rise of the Hudson River School of painting drew artists to the region, and Byrdcliffe has a place in the history of artist's retreats which includes the late 19th century Pakatakan Colony near Arkville and the Cragsmoor Colony near Ellenville. Before Byrdcliffe, artists were drawn to Woodstock for stays at the Overlook Mountain House and Meads Mountain House. After Byrdcliffe's zenith the classes of the Art Students League brought many artists to Woodstock. However, it was a result of Byrdcliffe's creation that Woodstock attained its prominence as one of America's premier art colonies.
It is estimated that about fifty pieces of furniture were made at Byrdcliffe before production stopped in 1905. Only a few pieces were designed specifically for use at White Pines. The rest were supposed to be sold to the public. It was not all made of indigenous woods, as John Ruskin decreed. It seldom had the exposed mortise and tenon joints that were the marks of honest joinery for Stickley. It was not made by the person who would ultimately use it, and it was very expensive, which meant that the common man, so central to democratic arts and crafts theory, could not afford it. Scholars today make the case that Byrdcliffe became an essential part of the arts and crafts story after the arrival of Zulma Steele and Edna Walker. This is because these women studied at the Pratt School of Design in New York City when Arthur Wesley Dow was teaching there.

Most Byrdcliffe cabinets have the same problematic proportions that plague the furniture Whitehead made for Arcady They appear ponderous and usually lack the details that might minimize abrupt transitions. By contrast the piece here is one of two known cabinets that are narrower than the standard two-door Byrdcliffe cabinets, which are sixty-one inches wide. In this case the span between the legs is short enough to allow a visual connection between the corner brackets. Finally, the cornice molding is more attenuated than that on the wide chests. Still, all these refinements to Whitehead's basic design would not have carried the piece without the panels of delicately tinted swirling sassafras leaves designed by Steele and colored by Jane Whitehead. The low-relief carved panels Steele designed are the most distinctive elements on Byrdcliffe furniture. Robert Lang reproduced this piece of furniture in the April 2007 issue of Popular Woodworking http://www.popularwoodworking.com/articleabstract?aid=14538, you can also find it in Popular Woodworking Press's recent book, Popular Woodworking's Arts & Crafts Furniture Projects: 25 Projects for Every Room in Your Home (Popular Woodworking)

Though Byrdcliffe brimmed with spiritual moxie - and fun, too, as attested by photographs of picnics, parties and such - its most important material product was the beautifully decorated Arts and Crafts furniture turned out by the colony's woodworking shop. This production spate lasted for only two years, from 1903 to 1905, because of cost factors and more efficient production and promotion by competitors, like the similarly ideological enterprises run by Gustav Stickley and Elbert Hubbard. Still, the 50 or so examples of furniture produced at Byrdcliffe, executed by workmen from artists' drawings, are superbly Arts and Crafts in their rugged but elegant design; their boxy, rectilinear build; and their dark wood tones and rustic finishes. They are simply adorned, with carved floral decorations taken from local plants, but some even have painted scenes.

One well-known example shown here is a sturdy small oak cabinet (called at Byrdcliffe a chiffonier) from 1904. Its two door panels were painted with a single composition, a lovely scene of a river meandering through a green landscape, by Hermann Dudley Murphy (1867-1945), an artist who taught at Byrdcliffe in its first two summers.

Several pieces are adorned with decorations by Zulma Steele (1881-1979), a painter, potter and designer very active in colony life and work. A drop-front desk in green-stained cherry with its three panels painted in iris motifs is one of her most appealing contributions.

A big, heavy dark chest of poplar is lightened by Edna Walker's delicate tulip design in peachy-orange across a horizontal front panel. Walker and Steele, both Pratt graduates who had studied with the famous painter and teacher Arthur Wesley Dow, together designed a house, the Angelus, at the colony, where they lived for many years.

This wall cabinet features an Iris design by Zulma Steele, unlike most Arts and Crafts furniture its made from Poplar, the original has a greenish stain with a relief carved iris. I also found this original drawing on Ms. Steele's iris motife. This cabinet is going to be my next project and I'll try my hand at the carving on the door

panel. I've previosly made his cabinet from the plans from Popular Woodworking Magazine, http://www.popularwoodworking.com/projectplans_display/?planid=11070 , the plans are also included in the CD included in Popular Woodworking's Arts & Crafts Furniture Projects: 25 Projects for Every Room in Your Home (Popular Woodworking). The cabinetry is simple in this project but stock selection is critical, poplar is white when cut, but ages to green, it can also include black and purple streaks which you want to avoid. In the Popular Woodworking plans the iris is an aplied cut-out using a scroll saw which I did on the first cabinet, this time I'm going to use the same design, included in the plan, but I'm going to carve it, or attempt to, stay tuned.

The Roycrofters, Elbert Hubbard

Get happiness out of your work or you may never know what happiness is.
Elbert Hubbard

In a small village named East Aurora in upstate NY just outside of Buffalo in 1895 Elbert Hubbard founded the Roycroft community of crafters. The community reflected the Movement's ideals of art and craftsmanship as instruments of social reform in its organization as well as in its products. The high quality and unique artistry of the Roycroft creations made them very popular. But it was the business acumen and charismatic personality of its founder, Elbert Hubbard, that made Roycroft one of the most successful artistic enterprises of the Arts and Crafts era.

Hubbard was a very successful salesman that became part owner of the Larkin Soap Company in Buffalo, NY. He sold his interest in the company and retired to East Aurora to persue his interest in writing. On a trip to England he visited William Morris and his Kelmscott Press, Hubbard was intrigued by the philosophy of the Arts and Crafts Movement and decided to start his own handicraft press in East Aurora. He set up a print shop and published a magazine called "The Philistine" which contained his interpretations of the craftsman ideals. The magazine, along with other philosophical pamphlets and publications, became popular and helped to bring Hubbard and the Roycroft community to national attention while supporting their activities at the same time.

The press led to the establishment of a bindery where Hubbard's books as well as classics from literature were bound in leather, this led to a leather shop and a metal shop, finally a furniture shop was added. The handicrafts were sold throughout the country advertised in magazines and in ''The Philistine" and due to Hubbards accumen as a salesman soon the Roycrofters were known throughout the country. He was at heart a businessman and salesman and he succeeded in selling not only the Roycroft products but the Roycroft concept and even himself as an American Ruskin or Morris to an ever-growing segment of the American public. People flocked to East Aurora to meet the man, to buy Roycroft handicrafts and to live and work at the Roycroft community. Hubbard built the Roycroft Inn in 1903 to house the large number of visitors and filled it with furniture and wares from his shops. The Roycrofters, as the craftsmen were called, published catalogs featuring leatherwork, copper wares, leaded glass lamps and their version of the popular Morris chair. Both the inn and the catalogs fostered an increased demand for these handicrafts which resulted in an increase in the number of workshops and people employed at Roycroft.

As Roycroft grew, Hubbard set up a community that was to be self-sufficient, based on pre-industrial agrarian ideals where artisans and their families lived and worked in healthy, idyllic conditions. Housing was provided in the form of Bungalows in the craftsman style. In the small shops, the emphasis was on hand-crafted items. The artisans worked in their own areas of expertise but were encouraged to apprentice themselves to other craftsmen to develop new skills. Pay was low but this was offset by the living and working conditions and the opportunity for creative artistic expression. Local villagers were hired to train with the artisans and to work in the shops as well as in the gardens and fields. Housing and jobs were also provided for a few people and their families who came to the community disenchanted by life and work in the industrial society of the day. Hubbard, like the lord of a feudal estate, personally saw to the welfare of visitors, the community and the surrounding village, organizing intellectually and morally enriching activities such as musical concerts, festivals, and his own lecture series. Such benevolent touches as gifts at Christmas and playgrounds for children further cemented the Roycrofters' bonds of loyalty to their leader. Hubbard became a cult figure on both local and national levels.

Hubbard published many profiles of famous people in his "Little Journey's" series. From 1905 till 1915 Hubbard was one of the most sought after lecturers in the country, he was also in great demand as a writer and the Hearst Newspapers paid him hansomly to be a correspondent. Elbert Hubbard and his wife were travelling to Europe in 1915 to continue collecting interviews for his "Little Journey's" series, unfortunately there were sailing on the Lusitania when it was struck by a German torpedo and sunk. The community continued on under his son's guidance, but the great depression put brought it to a close, it was sold at auction in 1938.

Today, the spirit of the Roycroft community lives on due to a renewed interest in the Arts and Crafts Movement. In 1994, the Margeret L. Wendt Foundation bought and restored the Roycroft Inn with most of its original furnishings. The Roycroft meeting house, built in 1899, is currently the East Aurora Town Hall. A few of the original buildings remain on the campus and some are open to the public. For instance, the ScheideMantel house, once owned by a Roycrofter, was donated to the Aurora Historical Society and today houses the Elbert Hubbard Roycroft Museum. Various festivals, Roycroft handicraft auctions and exhibitions, educational programs and Arts and Crafts societies help to keep the memories and interest alive. In the 1970's the Roycroft Renaissance was born and using the principles of the Roycrofters artisans are juried and if their work meets the standards of quality and craftsmanship they are awarded with the title of Roycroft Renaissance Artisan and are able to use the double R Roycroft Logo, they are re-evaluated annually for three years and then may be awarded the title of Master Artisan. When you see the double R mark on a piece of work be assured that it is made with the highest standards of the "Head, Heart, and Hand".

Further Reading

http://www.ralaweb.com/ - The Roycrofters at Large

http://www.roycrofter.com/ - the webpage of The Roycrofters

One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.
Elbert Hubbard

Defining the Arts and Crafts Style

The aim of the Arts and Crafts movement was to simplify, to do away with the gingerbread and scroll work unnecessary to a piece. "Form follows function" was the tenet of these craftsmen, who produced simple, strong, and comfortable furniture that appeared hand-made, yet was affordable. Quartersawn oak and pegged joints are the hallmarks of Arts and Crafts furniture. Utilitarian and well built, Arts and Crafts style furniture honors, above all, hand craftsmanship and the beauty of wood. Its simple elegance and practical functionality combine to create a warm and nurturing environment. While the realities of manufacturing and containing costs required the use of machinery, even in the largest companies hand craftsmanship was still used.

"Given the real need for production and the fundamental desire for honest self-expression, the machine can be put to all its legitimate uses as an aid to, and a preparation for, the work of the hand, and the result be quite as vital and satisfying as the best work of hand alone" G. Stickley

Well, now that we have the concept, the machinery, and the craftsman, what do we need to create Arts and Crafts Furniture? Well, we need the material, the finest construction techniques, the correct joinery, essential design elements, the decoration, and the appropriate finish.

The following list is taken from an article by Graham Blackburn, Quintessential Arts and Crafts , Fine Woodworking March/April 2003. The pictures were added by me.

1. Material—Quartersawn oak does have much to recommend it: strength, durability, relative stability and an attractive figure characterized by the medullary rays not visible in flatsawn stock. Although a hardwood, oak is not excessively difficult to work—it is easier, in fact, to produce a crisp surface with a less than perfectly sharp tool on a piece of oak than on a piece of softwood. Oak is not toxic and may have a wide range of color—red, white or brown—depending on the species. The wood also takes stain well and can be fumed, a technique that can produce a wonderful aged look. Although most factory-built Arts and Crafts furniture was made of oak, many well-known designers have used other species, such as walnut, mahogany and cherry.

2. Construction techniques—Although cabinet construction with veneered surfaces is occasionally used for the body of an Arts and Crafts piece, the majority of authentic pieces are made using solid wood and frame-and-panel construction. Consistent with the directness and honesty that are the hallmarks of this style is the use of slats where a solid piece or a frame-and-panel section would be overkill. Unlike the furniture of the Gothic Period, turned elements are rare in Arts and Crafts designs. All of this is in keeping with the principle of using the simplest possible methods of work for the most honest and unpretentious result. Simple does not, however, mean sloppy, especially in terms of the construction of a piece. In fact, because the aim of the Arts and Crafts movement was to design furniture that the maker could be proud of, a nice execution, particularly of exposed joinery, is essential when building a genuine Arts and Crafts piece.

3. Joinery—Without a doubt, the mortise and tenon is the king of Arts and Crafts joints. Dovetailing, doweling, lapped and housed joinery also are used where appropriate, but in keeping with the demands of strength and honesty, the mortise-and-tenon joint plays a major role in the majority of Arts and Crafts pieces. Several varieties of tenons are used, including stub, blind, through and tusk, but each is used only when and where necessary for maximum strength without compromise. This means that if, for example, a through-tenon is the strongest possible form in a given situation, the design will make a virtue of the necessity by not attempting to hide or disguise the joint. This results in the ends of through-tenons being finished a little proud of the surface, often nicely chamfered and with any wedges thoughtfully arranged for a pleasing visual pattern and the most efficient use.

4. Design paradigms—In American Arts and Crafts pieces, whether of the mass-produced variety typified by Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman furniture or the higher-end custom designs of the Greene brothers, there is an immediate impression of squareness. This is most evident in the profiles of tops, edges and other flat surfaces, such as broad chair arms. Molding is almost completely absent, sharp edges are gently relieved but not rounded, and overhangs are kept to a minimum. Although many details are, in fact, square—such as in paneled framing, where a bottom rail wider than other frame members is rare, and in the design of glazed doors,where all panes are equally square—absolute squareness is largely illusory, and slopes and curves are common. It is not that the style is inelegant—many pieces can be found elegant design paradigms such as the golden rectangle -but the strength and utility of a piece always dominate. Both gently and boldly formed curves are common in skirts, chair rails and the lower edges of cabinet sides, but they are invariably simple and rarely compound, except for occasional tight cutouts on stool bases. Such shapes, including ogees and intersecting arcs, are nods to the influence of medieval Gothic oak furniture, much valued by leaders of the Arts and Crafts style for its craftsmanship and honesty. Curved yet square-edged brackets are another common feature of many pieces. One other detail that would seem to belie an apparent squareness and angularity is the frequent use of tapered legs. The tapers, however, are usually limited to a short section near the base. Tapering legs like this prevents the piece from appearing too heavy, but because the tapers are equally formed on all four sides of the leg, a general feeling of squareness persists.

5. Decoration—Despite a superficial plainness characterized by square edges, the lack of molding, the use of a relatively homogenous material and the flatness of panels, Arts and Crafts furniture often is decorated with a variety of techniques ranging from simple curved cutouts to delicate floral inlays. Reflecting a continuing sensitivity to other styles and fashion on the part of designers such as Harvey Ellis or Charles Rennie Macintosh, who are perhaps better known for their Art Nouveau styles, the influence of the more flowing, nature-based Art Nouveau style is felt in many Arts and Crafts pieces—for example, in the products of various “utopian”workshops such as the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony in Woodstock,N.Y.—in the form of pastel-colored painted sections, tulip inlays and lily patterns. Central to the principle of craftsmanship in this style of furniture is the use of other natural materials, such as reed and rush for seats, leather upholstery and hand-wrought hardware made from iron or hammered brass. The hardware often is as square and sturdy as the furniture it serves and stands in complete contrast to the elegant and finely wrought shapes found on 18th-century pieces or the overworked fantastic shapes common on much 19th-century furniture. A gratuitous form of in terms of structural function, but one that is consistent with the incorporation of natural materials, is the frequent use of a row of hand-wrought nails as an edge decoration.

6. Finish—It would be inappropriate to finish an Arts and Crafts piece with a glossy lacquer. But while natural finishes like simple oiling and waxing may predominate, other processes, such as filling, staining and fuming, are common. Careful surface preparation is most important. In the case of an open-grained wood like oak, a matching wood filler should be used. If oak is filled first, it then may be waxed or perhaps lightly oiled and then waxed. If wax alone is used, it should be colored so that the wax-filled pores in the wood do not show white. Fuming, the process of exposing oak to the fumes of ammonia, is a common method of turning oak darker without producing the irregular color that can result from careless staining. The popularity of fuming, especially among early proponents of Arts and Crafts furniture, resulted from the misconception that genuine Gothic furniture was extremely dark. That darkness, in fact, came from centuries of exposure to smoky atmospheres. When new, however, most Gothic furniture was brightly painted or valued precisely for its light golden color.

In future posts we are going to explore finishing, joinery, construction techniques, and decorative cut-outs, along with a lot of other aspects of woodworking for Arts and Crafts Furniture. There will be projects traced from start to finish, book reviews, articles on the "philosphy" of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and short biographical sketches of the creators of the movement. I hope that you are enjoying reading this blog as much as I am enjoying writing it.

The Craftsman

For 15 years at the turn of the 20th Century Gustav Stickley published a monthly magazine titled "The Craftsman". In this publication he discussed the Arts and Crafts movement. He wrote about the philosophy of the movement, added furniture designs and later home designs.

In the forward to the first issue Stickley wrote:

The United Crafts will labor to produce in their workshops only those articles which shall justify their own creation; which shall serve some actual and important end in the household, either by adding to the ease and convenience of life; or yet by furthering the equally important object of providing agreeable, restful and invigorating effects of form and color, upon which the eye shall habitually fall,as the problems of daily existence present themselves for solution. Thus, it Is hoped to co-operate with those many and earnest minds who are seeking to create a national, or rather a universal art, adjusted to the needs of the century:that Is,an art developed by the people, for the people, as a reciprocal joy for the artist and the layman.

Another object which The United Crafts regard as desirable and possible of attainment is the union in one person of the designer and the workman. This principle, which was personally put in practice by Morris, extended throughout his workshops; the Master executing with his own hands what his brain had conceived, and the apprentice following the example set before him as far as his powers permitted.

Stickley covers everything from which woods are best for what applications, to coloring those woods, to embroidering the curtains for the living room. Anyone interested in the Arts and Crafts movement will find a wealth of information here in its original format, but with the coming of the digital age, you can search the text, view it as an original image or as plain text. I have spent many happy hours reading through the editions and still find something that I'll go back to time and time again. Many thanks to the University of Wisconsin for their digital library. You can find the Craftsman collection here.

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/DLDecArts/DLDecArts-idx?type=browse&scope=DLDECARTS.HOMEDESIGN