Earlywood: Thousands of Meals; Several Lessons

Publisher’s note: Good morning and welcome to Earlywood, a free excerpt from one of the many pieces I’ve written since 1996. Sometimes it originally appeared in a magazine article. Or in a book. Or in this case, several blog posts throughout the years. Each entry has been updated or annotated with some modern context or point of view. We hope you enjoy it.

Like most woodworkers, I learn a lot about the craft while building projects. What’s surprising is how much I learn about the craft after the project is completed and put to use.

Most of the projects I built for Woodworking Magazine and Popular Woodworking ended up in the hands of friends, family and the employees of the publishing company I worked for. (The employees had to pay only for the cost of materials – a sweet benefit.)

But I have quite a few of the prototypes in our house, including our dining room table, which was a project featured on the cover of the Autumn 2006 issue. I’d built the prototype in December 2005, so it has no…