By Mark Ashford
The Lost Workshop
A Medieval Guide to Hand-Tool Woodworking That Outlasts Everything Modern
156 pages · 17 chapters · 33 illustrations · Instant PDF download
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Here's What I Found...
After years of frustration, I discovered that everything modern woodworking taught me was backwards. The medieval guild masters had it figured out 800 years ago.
You've Spent Thousands on Power Tools
Table saws, routers, planers, jointers — the list never ends. And the furniture still wobbles after 5 years.
Modern Joints Are Weak
Pocket holes, biscuits, and drywall screws. They're fast, but they fail. Medieval joints lasted 800 years.
You're Fighting the Wood
Sawmill lumber warps, twists, and cracks. The old masters used riving — and their boards stayed true for centuries.
What You'll Discover Inside
156 pages of techniques the guild masters used to build furniture that lasted centuries — adapted for your modern home shop.
12 essential hand tools that replace $10,000 in power equipment
How to read, select, and rive wood like a medieval timber framer
Draw-bored mortise & tenon joints that outlast the building around them
The guild sharpening method that transforms hand-tool work
Complete build projects: workbench, oak door, and trestle table
Monastery finishing recipes using linseed oil, beeswax, and milk paint
Full Table of Contents
17 chapters across 6 parts — here's everything inside.
The $10,000 Mistake
How filling a shop with power tools leads to weak furniture and wasted money.
10 Things That Would Get You Kicked Out of a Guild
Modern shortcuts medieval masters would have forbidden — and what they did instead.
The Guild Code
The ten core principles that built cathedrals, barns, and furniture that lasted 800 years.
Reading the Tree
How to select, evaluate, and understand wood the way a medieval timber framer did.
Riving — The Lost Art of Splitting Wood
The technique that produces stronger boards than any sawmill — and costs nothing.
Layout & Marking
Story sticks, marking gauges, and the medieval system that replaced tape measures.
Start Building Furniture That Lasts Centuries
The guild masters knew something we forgot. It's all in this book. One project at a time.
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