We start with husband and wife team Cindy and Ted DeMers, who have been producing a blend of natural and finished furniture for many years using timber such as walnut, oak, and bittersweet vines, harvested from their own Connecticut property, in the course of which Ted has developed some useful techniques for joining irregular pieces to machined parts. Peter Murkett explains the niceties of ensuring permanent rung-to-leg joints in chair making, one of the more notoriously difficult areas in furniture making. Geoffrey Holmes discusses the differences between period antiques and modern replications, and offers some intriguing insights into how woodworking has changed over the centuries. And we talk the wonders of computer numerical control, or CNC machines, with contemporary furniture maker Stephen Robin. Also: Bill Hull introduces a low-tech way to press small veneered panels. John Hartcorn demonstrates some sophisticated jigging he uses to duplicate the curved legs featured in many of his designs.
