Jim Burton

And now, the process of squaring one edge to the face. I’m about to resaw this cherry, in other words, split it along its width, in order to glue up a wider plank of wood to use in a shaker-style writing desk that I’m making as a prototype. One edge and one face need to be flat and square to the other so that I can make a very tight bookmatch. #handtoolwoodworking #handtools #cherrywood #shakerwritingdesk #finewoodworking

Thought you all might like to see the ultra glamorous process of using my jointer plane and shop-made winding sticks to flatten and true up a rough cut piece of cherry. This is like, 85% of my life in the shop. #handtoolwoodworking #jointerplane #tryplane #finewoodworking #cherrywood #shakerlapdesk

Had a week and a half of a bad winter cold, but now I’m doing a bit of shop work, and refining this year’s orders from @wilkinsonsfinegoods. Stay tuned around thd first of the year for one or two exciting prototypes that could see the shelves! #bootjacks #wilkinsonsfinegoods #westernboxes #shakerlapdesk #lapdesk #shakerwritingdesk #finewoodworking #handtoolwoodworking

The good kind of messy… #handtoolwoodworking #finewoodworking #domestichardwood #handplanes #jointerplane

Those of you who have been to my studio know that no matter what the state of the building as a whole is in, whether it be organized and easy to walk around, or a veritable trip hazard, know that the area around my woodworking bench is basically always the same, and is always relatively organized, even if the bench has working projects and tools on it, or has been cleared and tools put away in anticipation of the next piece. In addition, the floor as always littered with various amounts of wood shavings. Because I work mostly by hand, and I process rough cut boards at my bench with a jointer plane, I am always surrounded by shavings underfoot. Some of you are even more taken with these shavings than the finished or in progress pieces themselves! There’s always a letdown on visitors’ faces when they ask what I do with all of these beautiful, gossamer shavings, and I tell them, “I use them for kindling in my wood burning stove in the winter!” Most people in the modern era have never seen wood in that state, so I do understand the fascination. But the fact is, I produce so much of these shavings over a spring, summer, and fall in Texas, that I have generally several full sized trash bags full of them out in back! I look forward every year to this day…the day that it is finally cold enough to light the stove and feel the romance of the gentle heat, and the smell of the wood burning. However, these shavings go very, very fast! Even with the surplus that I generate during the year, I find myself scrounging for lighter material near the end of the “winter,” such as it is in Texas. So, I’ll enjoy these first few days while they last, and hope that my production is great enough during the winter to fuel my stove, keep me warm, and prevent me from having to actually (ugh) BUY lighter material for it. #woodburningstove #traditionalwoodworking #handtoolwoodworking #handjointing #jointerplane #planeshavings

I’ve learned a lot about traditional operations in woodworking over my 22 years studying the craft. I’ve learned how to use old tools, and why different designs of various tools were favored by various craftsmen of various places around the world. I’ve learned about the apprentice systems in western and eastern traditions, and gained a good bit of esoteric knowledge about how guild systems worked for the last few centuries, and have a good idea about how they worked for thousands. I’ve learned basics of metallurgy and metal hardness, and great amounts of wood usage and the reasons wood use has evolved with successive evolutions in operations. I’ve learned how to sharpen an edge to degrees I couldn’t have understood even existed. I’ve learned the soft knowledge of when and how to, “hold my mouth right,” for lack of a better mantra, when I know that my feel for the wood is beyond my explanation and understanding, and that I have to rely on intuition and pure feel to guide my hand and tool. But tonight…as I tidy my studio and take some time to contemplate the previous day’s work, and strategize the next, I realize just how little I actually know. I don’t know how craftsmen felt at the end of their day. I don’t know how they saw their progress in learning. I don’t know what they imagined their futures, or the future of their craft. I don’t know how they revered the giants who blazed their path before them. I’m sad I don’t know these things. But, also, I’m glad I don’t. I want the answers to be out in the ether and waiting for me to understand for all eternity. #handtoolwoodworking #traditionalwoodworking #traditionalwoodcraft

A couple of boxes in a new design. Whaddya think? Would you buy one of these for your loved ones? Quartersawn cherry, quilted maple, flamed maple. #handcutdovetails #handtoolswoodworking #halfblinddovetails #cherrywood #maple #flamedmaple

The “ray flecks,” or, medullary rays in this OLD quartersawn cherry are just stunning to me. Medullary rays are visible in some lumber that has been quartersawn. Most famously, they are present in quartered White Oak, as can be seen in craftsman furniture from the Arts and Crafts movement in architecture, typified by Green and Green and Stickley. In some other hardwoods, like cherry, maple, beech, apple, and some others, they are smaller, but no less beautiful. This cherry is a wonderful example. You can see that the grain is quite straight. But the rays dance around the surface, lending subtle activation of the wood surface. #medullaryrays #oldgowthcherry #handtoolswoodworking

New design I’m playing with. #halfblinddovetails #handtoolswoodworking #handcutdovetails #cherry #curlymaple

Finish Curly Maple Boot Jack and Cherry Western Box commissioned by @postmalone. Thanks for the chance for me and @wilkinsonsfinegoods to work with you! #curlymaple #cherrywood #handtoolwoodworking #handtooledleather #postmalone #wilkinsonsfinegoods

A little bit of very specific info on how to keep your dovetails crisp. #halfblinddovetails #handcutdovetails #handtoolswoodworking #handtoolwoodworking #curlymaple #quartersawncherry

I’m out in the shop working on a prototype. I really love long, elegant tails. These will be half-blind doevetails, and this curly maple will be paired with some really old growth quartersawn cherry that I’ve been hoarding. It’s such a special wood, and I’ve saved every little scrap of these three timbers that I got about ten years ago at a wood purveyor in Atlanta. It’s so old and dark and gorgeous. I’ll share some pics as I get closer to done with these. #halfblinddovetails #handtoolswoodworking #oldgrowthcherry #curlymaple #handcutdovetails