Megan is teaching a class on building a Shaker silverware tray here at the storefront this weekend, so y’all are stuck with me and Wally the cat for Open Wire.
We are happy to answer your woodworking questions here on Open Wire. Simply type your question into the comment box below. Post it. We will read it and answer as best we can. Know that Wally has only one answer to every query: “Treats, in my mouth.”
Sometimes there is a lag between the asking of the question and the typing of the answer. But I will attempt to answer all questions. Sometimes we answer them after comments have been closed – it just depends on our schedule for the day.
This picture is from 2019; no we did not haul my 400-pound Gluebo bench back to the shop.
NOTE: We are having technical difficulties with Word Press’s commenting system today. Our replies are not posting. Or they are posting and then disappearing. (Both Megan and I are having this trouble on separate machines.) We are trying to get your questions answered, but it’s frustrating….
The fellow above is here this weekend teaching a class in making traditional sash, so Chris and I are twiddling our thumbs and awaiting your questions about woodworking, cats, LAP books, Shakespeare, the Anthe building restoration (we’re finally on to the stuff that should be done, rather than must be done – so that’s exciting!) or Wilco songs.
So type your question in the comment field and we will do our best to answer it. And know that concision is much appreciated.
Comments for this entry will close at about 5 p.m. Eastern.
Saw, sawset, handplanes, square, sumitsubo and sumisashi by Kawahara Keigo, Museum Volkenkunde, Leiden, Netherlands.
We start our matsuri, or festival, with work commissioned by Philip Franz von Siebold, German physician and botantist. In 1823, under the auspices of the Dutch East Indies Company he was posted to Dejima, an artificial island and trading post off the coast of Nagasaki. For over 200 years, first for the Portuguese and later for the Dutch, Dejima was the conduit for trade with Japan during the isolationist Edo period (1600-1869).
Siebold collected a vast number of plants that were later taken to Leiden. He taught western medical practices and he, along with others, documented Japanese flora, fauna, customs and culture. Siebold quickly began the multi-volume “Archiv zur Beschreibung Nippons” (Archive for Describing Japan). The archive included this illustration of tools:
Siebold was allowed to hire artist Kawahara Keiga (1786-1860?) to further their documentation efforts. Kawahara was taught western painting techniques by Carl Hubert de Villeneuve. He painted harbor scenes, plants, animals and all manner of things. His artwork included the hand tools used by Japanese craftsmen.
Kawahara painted on paper, wood and silk. An archive of his work is held by the Netherlands National Museum of Ethnology (Museum Volkenkunde Leiden). Below is a gallery of Japanese hand tools painted on silk by Kawahara. At the end of the gallery are three illustrations by other artists, each of which has been used in previous blog posts (now they are all together!). After the gallery is a link to use if you would like to see several more paintings of tools, boats, sea life and more.
Kanban (shop sign) for a blade and toolmaker, late 19th century, Mingei International Museum, San Diego.
Cooper’s Tools, before 1872, National Archive of Estonia. Measurements are in fuß (fuss or foot).
The link will take you to a Search Page. If it comes up in Dutch you can select your alternate language at the top right of the page. In the Search Box enter Kawahara Keigo and press Search. Use the Green Arrows on the right to advance to Page 11. Kawahara’s work is found on Pages 11 to 51.
Kawahara’s cats! After all, this is the Lost Art Press and Cats blog.
We spent the last five days with this merry band of chairmakers – great fun! Today, we’re at our computers, awaiting your questions. (That’s a lie…but we check in at least every hour!)
We are here today and happy to answer your questions about woodworking, cats, our books, Shakespeare, linseed oil paint, the Anthe building restoration, or Jayhawks songs. This week’s open wire is hosted by Chris and me. Here’s how it works: Type your question in the comment field, and we will do our best to answer it. And know that concision is much appreciated.
So ask away. Note that comments for this entry will close at about 5 p.m. Eastern.
Note: Comments have been closed for this edition. See you next week.
A chairmaker and his cat enjoy the refreshments of an afternoon nap. Photo by Vittorio Pandolfi, Naples, Italy, ca. 1950.
It is Labor Day in America and Labour Day – Fête du Travail in Canada!
Back in 2019 I wrote two pieces for Labor Day describing how the mechanic societies organized to bring about more protections for themselves, their families and their actions to shorten the workday.
Rest for the Weary is about craftsmen’s associations and societies and you can find that post here.
From Six to Six covers the long struggle to reduce the workday from sunrise to sunset to a more humane ten-hour day. You can find that post here.
The Lost Art Pressers will soon be back from Handworks and my short residence is at an end.