Moxon’s Technique – FineWoodworking

Old woodworking books weren’t written for us—modern practitioners of the craft looking for in-depth how-to details about process. Instead, the earliest English language woodworking texts like Joseph Moxon’s Mechanick Exercises were written to inform his fellow well-heeled late 17th-century Englishmen about the goings-on in the shops of the artisans (or “mechanicks”) with whom they may conduct business. The craftspeople themselves learned their trades through the oral tradition of apprenticeship. However, just because Moxon’s aim was to satisfy the curiosity of his peers and not educate apprentices, doesn’t mean we can’t glean a lot from his writing today. It does sometimes take extra work and an open mind for us to grasp the insights Moxon had to offer. Let’s consider his description of fine-tuning a miter and see how I translate this into modern language and practice.

https://www.finewoodworking.com/2024/05/15/moxons-technique

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