The Mortise & Tenon Podcast 72 – Working at Scale
6 snips
Feb 24, 2025 Joshua and Mike dive into the challenges and rewards of taking on large-scale woodworking projects. They discuss Joshua’s ambitious plan to handplane all the floorboards for his house. The hosts reflect on historic builders who tackled whole houses by hand, promoting a mindset shift for prolonged craftsmanship. They explore the balance between using hand tools and machinery, emphasizing community collaboration and the importance of deliberate practice. Ultimately, they celebrate slow, mindful work as a fulfilling and countercultural choice.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Handwork Scales With Time Not Force
- Hand tool work scales by repetition rather than raw force; planing an entire house is more of the same skill stretched over time.
- Joshua Klein emphasizes adopting a long mindset and resigning to sustained effort for large projects.
Shop Floors Gave A Taste Of Larger Work
- Mike and Joshua previously hand-planed two floors of pine in their shop and generated many shavings while learning the rhythm.
- Joshua mentions he still burns some of those shavings and is about to make many more for his house floors.
Choose Tools Based On Clear Goals
- Decide your goal before choosing tools; clarity about values tells you when to use hand tools or machines.
- Joshua Klein advises aligning method with purpose so you don't switch tools out of impatience or weak goals.