Dear Nina,

I too have been suffering from tennis elbow in my left arm and I have never played tennis ! This comes mainly from two fingered typing.

Apparently it helps if you stop using the index finger.

The bad news is that this condition does not cure itself quickly if at all. In my case now well over a year and still not back to normal.

I would suggest some lateral thinking that will both improve your arm and quality of carpentry.

Medieval carpenters could not have been immune to this condition and a tool was developed and used in both England (twybill) and France (besaigue) which is like a long (48") chisel equipped with a paring blade at one end and registered chisel at the other with a machine gun handle about half way between both ends. These were used for cleaning out mortice pockets and paring across tenons.

The major difference with the use of this tool is that the work piece is laid on the ground and not on a trestle and the carpenter stands above the work and uses body weight to make smooth cutting actions rather than repetitive nerve tingling mallet blows which both damage and inflame the nerve sheathings. I have noted that using this type of tool also has the beneficial effect of reducing grain squashing and pull out on brittle softwoods e.g douglas fir.

You can see an original Diderot illustration of one of these tools in action on page 195 in Jack Sobon's first book Timber frame construction.

You can buy one of these tools made to measure for your own height from Barr Quarton to a design supplied by Paul Russell from Sussex, England which was based on an original French tool which Paul uses in his everyday work.

I wish you well in your chosen career.

Regards

Ken Hume
Hampshire, England
ken.hume@pareuro.com