Marking time on tools
Bill Blair, trug maker
I was in New Zealand last week studying Oamaru’s wonderful Victorian limestone buildings. Beside the harbour I found Bill Blair. In an old tin shed he makes wooden rakes, pitch forks, grain shovels, firewood carriers and other products of woodland hand craft. His best-selling item is the Sussex trug, a type of wooden basket which he makes in a range of sizes. I bought one as a gift for my long-suffering partner Margie, who I had left holding the fort while I enjoyed this solo sabbatical.
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Rake making
I’m delighted by the quiet intimacy of this video interview with wooden rake makers John and Graeme Rudd, who live and work in the village of Dufton in the English Lake District.
»more»Hokusai sawyers
Found on Wikipedia Commons, this beautiful woodcut of Japanese sawyers cutting some heroic planks. Neither of the sawyers, nor the saw doctor, have time to enjoy the view of Mount Fuji, but their lady companions might. I recommend following the link to the high resolution version.
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Shovel collection
The Stonehill Industrial Heritage Center at Stonehill College, Massachusetts, holds a vast archive of documents and objects about the shovel-making enterprises of the Ames family in the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection includes 755 shovels — something Eric Olthwaite could only dream of.
»more»Ripping yarn
Note to self: The trials of Eric Olthwaite is available on YouTube.
»more»The well-dressed mower
Among the accessories offered by the Scythe Supply Co (Maine, USA) is this cow horn whetstone holder. Not keeping your scythe sharp is the way to frustration. Tradition (and good sense) dictates that you carry a sharpening stone in a holder on your belt, and stop from time to time to touch up the edge. If you find a galvanised steel holder too plain, and a plastic one too gauche, consider this alternative. As the blurb says:
It will make a marvelous accent to your mowing costume. A frivolity, but a pretty one. You will be the envy of your mowing friends.»more»
Axe throwing
The Swedish Axe Throwing Society organises an annual championship competition, as I learned from the excellent website of Gränsfors Bruks AB, makers of hand forged axes.
»more»Houses on permafrost
Following my mention of houses on stumps the other day, Phil Koontz has described sinking pilings in permafrost.
Bad scanner
Today I collected my Nikon LS-30 film scanner which has been away at the repair shop. Here’s the technician’s report:
Dismantle, Inspect & Test, Disassemble circuit modules, Service scan mechanism, Replace scan and A.F. stepper motors, Service Parts As Necessary Clean optical unit, Checked All Modes, Adjust and Calibrate, Reassemble And Test All Functions.
After all that, it should be as good as new. But it’s not.
»more»Getting knotted
Puzzling through the diagrams and descriptions of knots in a book may be good for my mental fitness, but Alan Folsom’s animations make the whole thing easier to grasp.
»more»Knocking off time
In a post to the oldtools mailing list, Jeff Gorman explained the origin of ‘knocking off time’:
In case you might just want to know, the expression derives from coalmining when at the end of the shift, the miner inverts his pick and thumps the shaft end on the ground to release the head.»more»
Dewey’s birthday
According to a mention in Garrison Keillor’s writer’s almanac, today is the birthday of Melvil Dewey.
This prompted me to look at the middens of paper around me, and think about Dewey’s invention of the vertical filing cabinet. Thinking turned into procrastination. Instead of putting those papers into those filing cabinets, I turned to Google. I found this book review: The social life of paper. Also see the short biographical entries in the Columbia encyclopedia and Wikipedia.
Robotic lumberjacks under water
In a sequel to my story about lumberjacks in wetsuits, there’s a related piece in New Scientist:
»more»Making a split cane fly rod
I know nothing of fly fishing, but I enjoyed Thomas Penrose’s description of making a rod. Like a violin maker, Penrose carefully selects his materials, precisely shapes and assembles them with hand tools, and makes an instrument of delight.
»more»Making a violin
A violin is one of the most subtle and wonderful artefacts that can be made of wood. The best violins are still made using tools and materials that were familiar to Giuseppe Guarneri (1698-1744) or Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737). I enjoyed Derek Roberts’s step-by-step description of making a violin.
»more»Swedish hunting backpack
Here’s another useful item from Dick Fine Tools (remember their animal glue?). This is the way to carry your mobile phone and some small dead animals:
»more»Message from Alaska
For recreation I read a mailing list devoted to old woodworking tools. There is constant banter about hand-forged chisels, the shapes of saw handles, infill planes, tool patents, and many other subjects. The members are almost all men, and mostly in the older age bracket. The discourse is helpful, erudite, relaxed and polite. Nobody swears or insults anyone.
This is a quirky crowd, and I enjoy visiting workbenches and toolchests all over the world. Some messages take me right away from the places I know. Like this one from Phil Koontz in outback Alaska, headed ‘That ol’ commute’:
»more»Mobiles and the appropriation of place
Cultural anthropolist Mizuko Ito has written an article about the way mobile phones are changing the experience of being together for young Japanese people:
»more»Acme whistles
Acme whistles have been made by J Hudson and Co (Whistles) Ltd of Birmingham since the 1880s. Their range of police whistles, thunderers, sirens, bosun’s whistles, orchestral whistles, silent dog whistles and marine whistles is displayed on their website.
»more»Stopping the Kodak Carousel
I have seen this message posted to various internet mailing lists:
Eastman Kodak Company has confirmed plans to discontinue the manufacture and sales of slide projection products and accessories in June of 2004. This early disclosure is being made to key user groups in order to allow time for adoption of a replacement technology or purchase of backup slide projector products.
Tool porn
A business that hypes itself as an exclusive purveyor of quality Japanese tools offers a set of Akio Tasai’s chu totsu mokume shiage chisels with aromatic sandalwood handles.
»more»Tool patents online
Some of my cheerful companions on the OldTools mailing list have helped to build the Directory of American Tool and Machinery Patents. This is a searchable database that opens the historical records of the US Patents Office. Here you’ll find patent specifications for great leaps in American tool design (like Justus Traut’s 1888 plane iron lateral adjuster, used ever since by the Stanley company), and for thousands of smaller steps forward.
»more»Another toaster museum
Here is another web collection of toasters to add to the one I pointed out last year.
»more»Woodwork
Sally made this at pre-school. Beer bottle caps and slices of champagne bottle cork nailed to a piece of pine. She told me “It’s woodwork, Daddy”.
»more»Collecting saw handles
As a harmless distraction from war and mayhem, consider the aesthetic merits of saw handles. Like this one — the beech handle of a nineteenth century dovetail saw made by Thos Turner & Co, of Sheffield.
»more»Utility kilts
The things you find on the web. A range of tartan-free kilts, including this one:
A multi-functional kilt designed for working men. Extra pockets and a modesty snap between legs. Two exterior rear pockets. Two side mount saddle pockets, with “the Grip” retractable side hammer loop and front key loop. Patent Pending Wallet Grip rear pocket. Right side scraper/pencil pocket, heavy duty rivets at all major pocket stress points. 12 ounce Duc cloth. Fully pleated from bottom to top. Available in Neo-Traditional closure method only.»more»
Letterpress museum
Briarpress.org has a delicious online museum. Dozens of virtual printing presses are here, richly linked and organised, displayed with other tools of the trade. And there is an illustrated glossary of letterpress terms — handy if you don’t know your frisket from your tympan. I admire the clarity of words, pictures and navigation. My congratulations to Eric Nevin and the other authors.
»more»Tool chests
The look of tool chests can tell us much about workers and workplaces. While their purpose is to organize, carry, and protect tools, these chests also suggest what workers think of themselves and how society measures the value of their work.
See this online exhibition of tool chests on display at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. See the portable tool kits of various occupations: cabinetmaker, circumciser, farrier, gentleman woodworker, machinist, needleworker, piano maker, shoe shiner, office machine technician, uphosterer, and urologist. The oldest dates from the 1810s (cabinetmaker's chest), and the newest from the 1990s (technician's tool case).
Screw standards
James Surowiecki has written a history lesson about technological standardisation for Wired. He claims that standards have had large economic and technological effects. OK, I agree. But he gives too much credit to just one man, William Sellers, who he calls a legend and the finest tool builder of his time.
»more»The mortar and pestle
Janet Fletcher has written in the San Francisco Chronicle praising the mortar. It’s a well written piece, with delightful photographs of a selection of mortars. According to SauteWednesday it won a 2002 James Beard Foundation journalism award:
»more»A new Leica
The Leica company has just announced a new M-series camera. The M7 is a descendent of the M3 of 1954, the first Leica rangefinder camera with a bayonet lens mount. Details are on the Leica website, or see this review by Irwin Puts.
»more»Making a birch sled
Tucked away in a story about the 2002 Iditarod trail sled dog race is this description of a traditional Alaskan dog sled:
»more»The right tool for the job
If you ever need to escape from a car with disabled electric windows, you’d better have an automatic centre punch with you. Get one now for the glove box.
»more»Ratbag of note: Erik von Sneidern
Erik runs the Disstonian Institute, a website full of arcane information about Disston saws. Henry Disston started making saws in 1840 and for the next hundred years Disston saws were the best in America.
»more»Object of obsession: the infill plane
From about 1860, Thomas Norris & Son of London made the Rolls-Royce of woodworking planes, constructed with iron, steel, brass or gunmetal bottoms and sides, infilled with rosewood, ebony and other exotic timbers. High grade cabinet makers aspired to own these costly tools, known for their precision and performance. Discerning woodworkers and collectors still search for Norris planes, which have not been made since 1940.
»more»Planespotting
If you pick up Stanley planes in junk shops and wonder how old they are, I have a suggestion. Print out this web page and carry it with you. It’s a dichotomous key: Answer a few yes/no questions about the tool to discover its date. You might find a Type 1 (1867-1869), worth a lot of money to an obsessed Stanley collector.
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