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Face vises show up on workbenches about the 14th century. The first image of a face vise I’m aware of is in a northern Italian drawing of woodworkers building Noah’s Ark. The vises on low workbenches hold the work for planing edges, ripping, cutting tenons and many other tasks. It would be tempting to think that vises this massive were used for large-scale work only, but the historical record tends to differ. Take a look at the nuts and chop on (the above painting), “La Sagrada Familia,” by Juan del Castillo (1634- 1636), a Spanish baroque painter. This bench has a remarkably massive benchtop supported by stubby legs that are joined with end stretchers. The vise chop seems to run the entire length of the benchtop and is driven by massive ellipse-shaped nuts. From the painting, it appears that you rotate the nuts counterclockwise to tighten the vise screws. This is reverse from the modern “lefty loosey; righty tighty” scheme, and is a fairly common in early representations of bench screws. I’m fascinated as to when (and how) screws became standardized. But that’s for another book. In this scene, Jesus and Joseph use a frame saw together to either rip a board or saw a tenon’s cheek. This activity is interesting to me because it echoes the way French menuisiers are shown ripping veneers on a low workbench in the 18th century’s “l’Art du menuisier.” Also worth putting in your craw: When you start looking at a lot of New World workbenches from areas conquered by the Spanish, you’ll see lots of these massive vises and the screws will be longer, sometimes freakishly long. Why? I have no clue. — from “Ingenious Mechanicks” by Christopher Schwarz #Ingenious_MechanicksOne of my favorite woodworkers and persons in the general sense. He has passion, good humor and a sharp tongue in spades. And we are pleased to announce that you can now pre-order the new book, “Joiner’s Work,” from @peterfollansbee in our store.I’m checking the final proof of Peter Follansbee’s (@peterfollansbee) new book “Joiner’s Work” this morning. It should be available for pre-publication ordering this evening for $49. Pre-orders will get a free pdf of the book at check-out. It’s a big and spectacular work.@RudeMechanic on Twitter
- How to Sharpen a Curved or Flat Scraper blog.lostartpress.com/2019/03/20/how… https://t.co/iHYNdAC3tZ 2 hours ago
- Timeless Design blog.lostartpress.com/2019/03/19/tim… 1 day ago
- Joiner’s Work available for ordering from Lost Art Press pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2019/03/19/joi… #woodworking #feedly 1 day ago
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Category Archives: Charles H. Hayward at The Woodworker
Four Centuries of Drawer Making
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume II” published by Lost Art Press. The construction of a drawer seems a straightforward and fairly obvious piece of work; there is an accepted way of making it … Continue reading
An Interesting Old Bow-Saw
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume I” published by Lost Art Press. Recently we came across an old type of bow-saw which had been sent to a veteran village carpenter for repair. Its precise origin could … Continue reading
The Ideal Tool Cabinet
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume IV” published by Lost Art Press. A sense of orderliness in woodworking is an important factor contributing to good work. For instance, the bench should be clear of … Continue reading
Working a Moulding Around a Curved Edge
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume II” published by Lost Art Press The majority of woodworking operations are fairly obvious and, given practice, present no special difficulties. For example, to plane an edge straight, … Continue reading
Making the Twist Leg Without a Lathe
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume I” published by Lost Art Press. It may interest readers to know that the best twist-turned legs are still a combination of turning and carving, and that when they were … Continue reading
Door Construction: Five-Panelled Door
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume II” published by Lost Art Press. Although the five-panelled door described in this article may interest only a small section of our readers, the construction is applicable to … Continue reading
Special Dovetails
This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume III” published by Lost Art Press. The through dovetail is straightforward enough to cut, but sometimes there is a slight complication owing to there being a rebate at … Continue reading
