Since 2002, Charpentiers Sans Frontières (CSF, “Carpenters Without Borders”) have travelled around the world to build, using the old ways. With axe, saw, plumb bob, and chisel, this diverse group of skilled craftspeople restored a medieval bridge at a castle in France, built a new hewn-truss roof system on a blacksmith shop in Romania, and even ventured as far afield as China – but they had never before done a project in the United States.

In 2019, CSF traveled to the rural Maine coast to construct a blacksmith shop for Mortise & Tenon Magazine. Join author Joshua A. Klein as he documents this ambitious project, from the sourcing of logs in the forest and their harvest using horse power; to peeling, hewing, scribing, and cutting joinery with simple, ancient hand tools; sharing communal meals made with local ingredients; and finally, the raising of the structure – all accomplished in less than two weeks of labour.

Weaving together stunning images along with technical explanations of tools and tasks, Klein draws on the thoughts and words of many of the carpenters themselves, as well as modern philosophers and thinkers, to build a vibrant argument that another way of working is possible ­­– a way that reawakens our hands and minds. Much more than a simple how-to, this book is a celebration of the beauty of skilled manual labor, of slowing down and reconnecting to handcraft, sustainability, and fellowship in our increasingly distracted world.

Product Details:

• 9.5" x 11.5" Hardbound with matte dust jacket. 
• Smythe-sewn and matte-coated heavy paper for long-term durability. 
• Printed in the United States. 
• 240 pages.

About Mortise & Tenon:

“Mortise & Tenon exists to cultivate reverence for the dignity of humanity and the natural world through the celebration of handcraft.”

Mortise & Tenon Magazine is an independent, family-run publishing company (read: 3 families) based in rural coastal Maine passionate about hand-tool woodworking. At Woodsmith, we're delighted to stock titles from a publishing company with such fantastic values - and such fantastic books!