Lost Art Press

Evil Effects of The Division of Labor

Posted on by fitz

st_giles_slum

In attempting to prove that the minute subdivision of labor has an evil tendency, I am aware that I shall meet with few who will admit the evil to be so extensive as I shall endeavor to point out; and it is very probable I shall be written down by some of the many able correspondents of the Mechanics’ Magazine.

But as the following facts are the results of long observation and experience among the working classes, I have resolved to publish them anonymously, in the hope that they will meet the eye of some who may be benefited by them; and should they be the means of convincing even one, I shall consider myself happy in having brought the subject into notice. I have myself served an apprenticeship to a mechanical profession, and had then ample opportunities of observing the causes that tend to bring about the moral degradation of some of the working classes.

That the division of labor produces a cheaper article, and is a great source of national wealth, I readily admit. I believe were it not for this very cause, Britain would ere this have lost her political status among the nations. Groaning under a load of taxation, which no other nation on earth could have borne, we have been driven into an artificial state of society, and the division of labor with all its attendant evils is one of the results.

This is illustrated by the fact that we export machinery to countries where workers are obtained at half the price: and yet these countries are unsuccessful competitors in the same market with the poor tax-eaten British. Our national vanity whispers that this is owing to our superior genius; but I contend that it is our artificial mind-degrading system of dividing labor, which by making individuals do only one part of a thing; with mechanical, or rather slight-of-hand, rapidity, enables us to produce a whole as cheap as our foreign brethren.
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Peter Galbert on Chairmaking

Posted on by Lost Art Press

The Sterling Historical Society presents PeterGalbert from Robert McKay Jones on Vimeo.

With all the (well-earned) hoopla about our Roubo translation, we haven’t been talking as much about the other projects coming up from Lost Art Press – including a fantastic book on chairmaking by Peter Galbert.

The book is essentially written, and now Peter is making the illustrations (by hand, natch) for the book. I’ve been editing the text and I can say that it is outstanding. And I say that as a chairmaker, not as a publisher. Look for it in 2014.

If you’d like an introduction Peter and his way of working, check out the above video shot at the Sterling (Mass.) Historical Society. If you’ve had the benefit of taking a class from Peter or attended one of his seminars, then you know his book will be nothing less than fantastic.

— Christopher Schwarz

Oh Crap, it Works

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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When you start working in the world of furniture that folds and unfolds, it’s easy to get your frontal lobe into a blender. Even though you know that this contraption should work, you don’t actually believe it until you build it.

With this folding officer’s desk, I had six butt hinges all turning in different directions. So keeping inside and outside all straight as I screwed them in kept me flummoxed. And I kept wondering how much spacing I should leave between the folding aprons and the inside of the legs (my experiments with the mechanism told me the answer was “none”).

But still you worry.

So it was satisfying for the table base to snap open and shut perfectly on the first try.

Now I just need to build the folding desktop, which locks the base in the open position. I’d better get the jack plane sharpened up – the top is 24” wide, and I have only a 13” surface planer.

— Christopher Schwarz

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Fast and Slow Moulding

Posted on by fitz

moulders

The moulder that produces the most work is not always the one that makes the most motions. The contrary is generally true. The man who does a large day’s work, if observed, will be seen to be attentive, calm, and thoughtful, but never, apparently, in a hurry. You will never see him excited, or making a false move.

If he steps across the shop to find some tool, you will generally see him bring back more than he went for. On his way he sees something that he will want further on in his job. His thoughts are on his work, and he sees ahead of what he is doing, and does not have to wait until he comes to the different parts of his job to know what he wants.

Materials and tools are always waiting for him, not he for them. When he has a new job he sees its requirements before he begins it. He thinks before he acts. His brains are always ahead of his muscle, and he never makes two motions where one will do. This requires thought and study. All men are not capable of this, but many that are do not practice it. They would sooner be in a sweat than bother their brains with thought, or study how to accomplish the most work with the least labor.
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Barefaced and Burly

Posted on by Lost Art Press

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You don’t see bareface tenons discussed much, but they can sometimes be the right joint when you need some extra strength.

For those of you new to joinery, a bareface tenon is a tenon that is missing a face cheek. Instead, the face of the workpiece acts as a tenon cheek.

The primary disadvantage is you give up the face shoulder that can conceal the rim of your mortise. And you might be giving up a little strength against lateral forces – sometimes called racking forces.

But you get some real advantages, too. You can use a thick tenon and still have a beefy mortise wall. This is helpful with workbenches and many table constructions in my experience. It makes a joint that is robust enough for drawboring with little risk of you cracking the tenon or the mortise wall.

Plus, you have one less shoulder to fit – there’s no chance that an inside shoulder can interfere with the fit of the shoulder on the outside. Oh, and the joint is less work to make.

I wouldn’t use a bareface tenon when you could easily see the inside surfaces, and a ragged mortise wall might be evident. But for apron tables and the like, it’s definitely a joint to consider.

— Christopher Schwarz

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