Strong Beer, that he might be Strong to Labour

Posted on June 18, 2013 by
printing_pressBenjamin Franklin writing about his time spent working at Watt’s Printing House in London, about the year 1725.

At my first admission into the printing-house I took to working at press, imagining I felt a want of the bodily exercise I had been used to in America, where presswork is mixed with the composing. I drank only water; the other workmen, near fifty in number, were great drinkers of beer. On occasion, I carried up and down stairs a large form of types in each hand, when others carried but one in both hands; they wondered to see, from this and several instances, that the Water American, as they called me, was stronger than themselves who drank strong beer!

We had an alehouse-boy, who attended always in the house to supply the workmen. My companion at the press drank every day a pint before breakfast, a pint at breakfast with his bread and cheese, a pint between breakfast and dinner, a pint at dinner; a pint in the afternoon about six o’clock, and another when he had done his day’s work. I thought it a detestable custom; but it was necessary, he supposed, to drink strong beer, that he might be strong to labour.

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Hints for Staining Elm of a fine Mahogany Colour

Posted on June 17, 2013 by

desk Extract of a Letter* from the Reverend Mr.—— to —————, Member of the Society for encouraging Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce; and by him ſent to Dr. Templeman: Containing Hints towards attaining a Method of ſtaining Elm of a fine Mahogany Colour.

* This letter was read before a committee, on Sept. 12, 1763

You know very well, my dear ſir, in what manner I ſpend much of my time, I agree with you that philoſophical enquiries are very amuſing; but ſhould not we ſometimes indeavour to benefit the world by our reſearches, as well as entertain ourſelves? I have been for ſome months thinking of a novelty, at leaſt, in the arts; whether, if compaſſed, you would allow it to be an improvement, I cannot ſay.

The world of England has been, for ſome years paſt, running mad after mahogany furniture: an inferior artiſan thinks it a great misfortune, if he cannot have his two or three mahogany tables, or whatever elſe you pleaſe to call it, the wood is abſolutely, as I am very well informed, grown ſcarce in our Weſt-India iſlands, ſo that a great deal of French mahogany is yearly imported *, notwithſtanding which, the price, the dealers ſay, is of late very much riſen. What I would propoſe is that the hard cloſe-grained English elm ſhould be ſubſtituted in its place. I know it will take a good stain, but I have not yet found out a method of giving it a true mahogany colour.

* A great deal of mahogany, of a very inferior quality, has been lately imported from the Havannah: It is much ſofter and paler than the Jamaica wood, and will ſooner decay.

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A Botcher

Posted on June 16, 2013 by

joiner_tool_bassA botcher is a clumsy bungling workman. He is found in every trade and profession, and he is one of the direct causes of the high cost of living. A botched job is expensive at any price. Sooner or later it has to be done over. No one can afford to keep very long in his employ a man who doesn’t take pains to do his work neatly, thoroughly and well.

We recently watched a boy in the act of blacking his shoes. He was particular about getting a high polish on the toes. The heels got no blacking at all, not even a rub of the brush. It is pretty safe to predict that a boy who forms the habit of shining half his shoes, and slighting the other half will grow up to be a botcher in other kinds of work.

We know a man who always blacks the heels of his shoes first. He says his father insisted on his doing it that way when he was a boy. It is now a habit with him. However pressed for time he is, having first polished the heels he never slights the fronts of his shoes. There is always time for the toes. Similar characteristics are found in every thing he undertakes to do. He is just as painstaking in piling up wood in his cellar as he is in the making of a mahogany sideboard.

The habit of painstaking is a good financial investment. It must be found in every genius. It ought to have a place in every man’s life whether or not he is engaged in work that is open to inspection. He, who when a boy, practices doing to a finish every job he undertakes and not slighting part of it because it is more or less concealed, will find, when he has grown to manhood, that he has escaped the curse which falls on some workmen, namely, of being a botcher.

E. W.

Our Paper – Concord Junction, Mass. – October 25, 1913

- Jeff Burks

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Give Yourselves a Pat on the Back

Posted on June 16, 2013 by

Roubo_web_loTo all of you who have supported and encouraged us along the path of completion for “To Make As Perfectly As Possible: Roubo On Marquetry,” please congratulate yourselves on making André-Jacob Roubo one happy man. Here is a revealing paragraph from the Conclusion of the original treatise.

“One of the biggest obstacles that I have had to overcome is the cry of the public against big books, which they will not buy because they are too expensive, or they buy but do not read because they are too voluminous.  But how could I do otherwise?  Should I fool the Public in pandering to their taste but against their interests by giving them an abridged and consequently less expensive edition, but where they will learn nothing, or at the most learn only words or names of the arts? “

Well said, Monsieur Roubo. In an age where far too many want to know everything without bothering to learn anything, I am happy you have found a home at Lost Art Press.

— Don Williams, Michele Pagan and Philippe Lafargue

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Grinding an Axe

Posted on June 15, 2013 by

grinding_an_axe_fig_1-4
The best recommendation a carpenter can possess is a good kit of tools, well worn and in fine condition. A chest full of brand-new tools, however nice they may look, is of no use as a recommendation, for it is evident that the man has never used them. When the tools are half worn out, and still are in good condition and ready for instant use, they form pretty good evidence that their owner understands his business.

In looking over a piece of kit possessed by a “wood butcher” not long since, the writer saw an axe which looked like the one shown in Fig 1. There was a big piece broken out of the edge at a, where a spike had evidently come in contact with the edge of the tool. To put this tool in shape considerable grinding must be done.

The first step is to hold the axe against the edge of the grindstone, as shown in Fig 2, until the broken part is entirely removed, leaving the edge at b probably about one-sixteenth of an inch thick. The next step is shown in Fig 3. Rest the head or pole, of the axe, upon the grindstone frame, making a mark at c, so as to be able to replace the axe at will after looking at it. By resting the head of the axe at all times at c, the bevel at d is made flat, and not as shown in Fig. 4. Here there are something more than a dozen different bevels, to say nothing of a corner being ground off where the axe evidently slipped when being placed upon the stone.
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The Use and Abuse of Screws in Wood Work

Posted on June 14, 2013 by

screw_patent_sArchimedes is credited with the invention of the screw, but whether the famous geometrician’s labours extended much further than the enunciation of the scientific principles and the mechanical power of the screw, it is difficult to say. If he made a screw, he certainly must have tried its effect, and was probably well satisfied with its performance, for in the whole range of mechanical appliances in the constructive arts there is not a more useful article than the screw.

Archimedes is further reported to have said, “Give me a prop, a position, and a lever strong enough, and I will move the world,” and, no doubt, if these conditions could be granted to him, he, as well as others after him, could lift the earth, or aught upon the earth, by a combination of the tremendous lifting and driving powers exercised by a series of screws, apart from the lever.

Screws are various, and of various sizes, forms, and materials, but the same principle runs through them all, whether they be manufactured for use in metal or woodwork, or for exerting a lifting, driving, or pressing power separately. Our object here is not to treat of screw-cutting, but rather screw-driving in woodwork, and to throw out some useful hints to the building constituency, and particularly workmen.

The use and abuse of screws is a matter of importance to architects, builders, and their clients, for it is according to the way screws may be applied in several building and kindred operations that good or bad workmanship will be evidenced.
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This Frenchman Won’t Fly to Germany

Posted on June 13, 2013 by

editing_IMG_6171

During the last 48 hours, I have been hunched over the latest set of paper proofs of “To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry.” And this is the part where the doubt creeps in.

During every book project, I lose my faith on the 10th edit. As I pored over Chapter 12 last night, I read Roubo’s words, but all I could hear were the critics:

“This translation is incomprehensible.”

“Useless information for the 21st century.”

“This is all there is?”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m in awe of (and grateful for) the work that Don Williams, Michele Pagan and Phillipe LaFargue have done – not to mention Wesley Tanner, the book’s designer. My doubts are a personal problem I’ve had since the day I began writing.

I know there are typos we won’t catch. I know we will be skewered for choosing one word over another in the translation. That we didn’t do enough to make M. Roubo palatable.

So to cheer myself up I decided to make a list of all the things I learned from this volume.

I couldn’t. The list was too long and involves something on almost every page.

Like Robert Wearing’s “The Essential Woodworker,” this is a document that is far greater than the sum of its parts. It is not just a manual of marquetry. Every page oozes Roubo’s personal view of the craft – the failings of customers, fellow craftsmen, merchants. And their occasional triumphs.

In Roubo’s world, quality work is the job of the individual at the bench – even when the customers won’t pay.

And there is something deeper that is even more important and difficult for me to express. But I’ll try:

One of the dominant modern views of pre-Industrial woodworking was that it was a brutal way to live. The work was hard. Each day was a desperate slog for artisans ekeing out a living in poorly lit and dank situations.

All those things might be true, but that doesn’t mean these menuisiers didn’t love their work. When you read Roubo – who was a compagnon – it’s clear that it was cause for rejoicing when they brought something beautiful and well-made in the world.

Yeah, the work was hard. It still is. Yes, it involved years of practice. It still does. And no, it didn’t pay. It still doesn’t.

But it has been and always will be something that is (and I’m stealing Don Williams’ favorite word here) glorious.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. Today I finish up my editing on this book and send the paper back to the designer (about 15 pounds of it). I don’t want to take this stuff on the plane to Germany. Our goal is to send this book to the printer on July 1. I think we can make it.

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