Now you can read about all things Don by visiting donsbarn.com – the web site of Don Williams. For those of you who aren’t frequent visitors here, Don is the mastermind behind the A.J. Roubo translations and the author of the forthcoming book on H.O. Studley.
He’s a former conservator for the Smithsonian and expert on all things waxy and shellac-y.
His new site will feature lots of the public-domain articles he wrote while at the Smithsonian, plus a blog on the things that go on at his extremely huge barn and a store for buying some of the things he makes – like the polissoirs from Roubo.
So bookmark the site, add it to your reader and enjoy the articles that are already there. Don says more are forthcoming.
One of the reason many campaign chests survived wars and colonial life is they were at times packed into other plain chests. These iron-bound and plain shells were painted and simple affairs – and are a fairly rare sight today.
Despite their simplicity and plain construction, they were critical to the mobile household – the cases were stacked and used as a wardrobe for the officer and his family. Note the removable shelf in the illustration above from the Army & Navy Co-operative Society 1885 catalog.
I hope to inspect some of these cases and maybe build a set for my book. They might make a good introductory project – and I really dislike the veneered English Victorian wardrobe we now use for our sheets.
A double victory.
The other interesting thing about these Army & Navy Co-operative Society catalogs is how the lumber world has turned a bit upside down in the last 125 years.
You can buy almost all the wooden furniture in three species: the cheapest is always teak. Getting the item in mahogany is an upcharge. And you have to pay a further upcharge if you want the piece in oak.
What appeared to be an innocent truckload of lumber turned out to be a bootlegger’s vehicle loaded with prime scotch when the Los Angeles Federal Prohibition Agents smelled the odor of a broken bottle. Investigation disclosed a cleverly conceals trapdoor of board ends leading to the interior, from which 70 cases of liquor were taken. The device is said to be the most ingenious ever caught here.
We finished up work today on a special H.O. Studley T-shirt design for the Handworks event on May 24-25, and we ordered enough to sell them here on the web site.
The shirts will be heather gray, 100-percent cotton and from American Apparel – just like all our shirts. On the front is a stylized image of H.O. Studley’s signature from the metal plate on his impressive tool chest. On the back is the name of the forthcoming book “Virtuoso: The Toolbox of Henry O. Studley” plus our logo. We’ve substituted Studley’s register calipers in the place of our corporate compass.
The shirts will be $20 each and will be available in sizes between medium and 2XL.
As with all products in our store, these shirts are made entirely in the United States.
Lots more mahogany in 16″ and 18″ widths. No knots.
When the only tool you have to flatten a board is a 6” electric jointer, all your boards look 6” wide.
One of the greatest gifts of handwork is the ability to flatten boards of almost any width. Many times when I demonstrate flattening stock by hand I get asked the following question: Isn’t it grueling work?
To which I reply: When you are working with 18”-wide stock, nothing is too grueling.
Today I led a bunch of woodworkers (there were 15 or 20 of us at one point) to Midwest Woodworking in Norwood, Ohio, so they could experience this epiphany themselves. We bought tons of old mahogany that was 18” and wider for less than $7 a board foot. We bought 30-year-old sugar pine – dead flat and about 12” wide – for about the same price. Many of these boards will become campaign chests at my class next week at Marc Adams School of Woodworking.
And then we went around the corner to Gordo’s Pub for a burger and a beer – my definition of a perfect day.
You can have your own perfect day wherever you live. Getting wide stock is a matter of looking, asking and refusing to settle for low-quality raw materials.
Do you have a phone? Call Wall Lumber, Hearne Hardwood, Horizon Wood Products or Irion Lumber and tell them what you want. They can truck it to you. And if you are willing to buy 100 board feet or so, you will get a surprisingly fair price.
Wide boards are always worth the money. To me, good lumber is more exciting than a fancy shop or an expensive plane.
What did I buy at Midwest? About 20 board feet of old teak from Malaysia for my next project: A full-size fold-up officers’ desk, circa 1830.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. Thanks to Andy Brownell of Brownell Furniture for helping me arrange this special visit to Midwest. Andy also supplied us all with free Gorilla Glue (PVA and poly) and T-shirts.
Planing some 24″-wide sapele.Another of many 18″-wide mahogany boards. That’s not sapwood. It’s dust.
