In Louie’s shop, this old carpenter’s bench from a high school woodshop. There’s another vice kitty corner on the other side. It’s made to be utilized by two students. There’s a swing-out stool on each side; you can just see the hinge on the right leg here. I’d love to find something like this, but can’t locate anything either on eBay or craigslist.
Yogan is a skillful and prolific French carpenter whose treehouse was in Tiny Homes (pp. 154-55). Isn’t this a beauty?
hi lloyd!
i want to you see our new cabine, the house of Menthé:
https://shltr.net/cabaneMenthe
wheels and water is finish?
when you come in france?
yogan
This is a book I wished I’d had when I started building, but it is also one that’s extraordinarily useful to more experienced builders. Mike Litchfield was the original editor of Fine Homebuilding; in 1982 he published the first version of Renovation, and it’s been updated periodically, this being the latest and 4th edition. Popular Science called it “The most comprehensive single volume on renovation ever” — totally true.
What differentiates this book from others of its ilk is that the author has gathered all this information in the field, interviewing carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and contractors, finding out what’s important, what works, what’s new. These guys love to talk about what they do well, and in this sense, the book is one of collective wisdom. It’s at the same time highly useful to professionals, but also one that’s invaluable for homeowners and people of the fixer-upper persuasion.…
See Full review on Cool Tools here.
On November 29, I posted a link to a large New York Times article on SunRay Kelley. In retrospect, it’s not really good or fair reportage on SunRay; it doesn’t do him justice. Part of it is East Coast reporter snark about West Coast free-spiritedness. Part of it is that the reporter just didn’t get SunRay— that he’s not only an artist, designer, architect, and inventor, but a master builder. His mortise and tenon joints, even with gnarly lumber, are tight. He’s a carpenter whose buildings soar. There’s a joy and a spirit in both builder and buildings. The NYTimes reporter missed all this and focussed on a bunch of trivialities.
And there was a very weird interview with SunRay’s ex-wife, who came up with some mean-spirited comments. This shouldn’t have been included in the article. Cheap shot, ex-wife-wise and journalistic-wise.
SunRay’s way better than you’d get from this account. In my opinion, there’s no other natural materials builder in the world who’s combined such ecology, design, and craftsmanship in so many buildings on the American landscape.
Just settin it straight…
For anyone interested in SunRay and his work, we have posted a PDF of the 27 pages we did on him and his work in Builders of the Pacific Coast in 2004. (We do—ahem—a way better job on builders than does the New York Times.)
For the real SunRay, click here. (To get this in Acrobat, you may have to right-click and save linked file in downloads folder.)
“Hi Lloyd,
First of all thanks for all the inspiration! Your books have opened up an entire culture that I did not know existed. Seeing the way that you and the folks in your books are living lives simply and honestly has given me a whole new perspective on the world.
I also really appreciate how it’s not an idealistic way of going about it either. It’s about making choices of what is beneficial in modern times and what you can really do without.
I was wondering what advice you would have for someone that wants to get into carpentry that has no professorial experience.
“I’ve followed your stream of fantastic information…for quite a few years, monthly I seem to find something that really speaks to me on those pages. I own most of your books from Shelter Publications and am particularly inspired by “Builders of the Pacific Coast.”I believe a sequel to that book, if time and material permits, would be well received. I wanted to email you to say thanks and share some of the projects I’ve been involved with in the last few years here, at the website here. Much of my work from the last few years is in the portfolio section. I think you may enjoy, “Working with a Master,” “Extended Point,” and “Stevens Point IFTB,” Thanks for your enthusiasm in the field of handmade construction and keep up the fine work.
-Adam Valesano”
Just got their new catalog. This is an amazing school on the banks of Lake Superior, with classes on boat building, blacksmithing, basketry, sailing, building, foods and a lot more. If you (or your kids) want to learn some of the almost-forgotten skills and crafts, I recommend checking them out: https://www.northhouse.org/