Lost Art Press

Free Download: ‘Smith’s Key’

Posted on by Lost Art Press

f47.highresOne of the “Rosetta Stones” of 18th-century tool forms is a book with the long-winded title “Explanation or Key, to the various manufactories of Sheffield: with engravings of each article designed for the utility of merchants, wholesale ironmongers and travellers.” Most people just call it “Smith’s Key” because the editor/engraver was Joseph Smith.

What is it? It’s collection of beautiful plates of all sorts of tools for woodworking, some other trades and a big section of cutlery, always a popular item in Sheffield, England.

The Early American Industries Association published a reprint of it in 1975 with a nice essay by John S. Kebabian and an important price list. According to the Kebabian essay, it is likely this “key” was used by salesmen who represented different manufacturers and needed to show the lines of several makers.

There are earlier tool catalogs than this circa 1816 example, but this one is particularly important because it might have been used extensively.

For us, the catalog is important because it shows tools in their new states, without any user modifications from sharpening, mishandling or simple use. Most significant is the page on saws, which shows backsaws with blades that get narrower at the toe. I wrote about this years ago, and saw wright Matt Cianci of the thesawblog.com has been crowing about it, too. (Yay Matt!)

If you’ve ever looked for a copy of “Smith’s Key,” you probably decided to instead spend the money on a mortgage payment or a trip to Europe. And that’s why I’m pleased to present this link, courtesy of Jeff Burks, that allows you to download “Smith’s Key” from Gallica.bnf.fr.

Click here to get started. The link to download the entire book is at the top right part of the screen. It’s a fantastic scan. And though it doesn’t include the essay or price list from the 1975 EAIA edition, it does offer some of the plates in color.

Check it out. Download it now.

— Christopher Schwarz

The Roorkhee Chair – and the Improved Roorkhee

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Bartlett

Though I have been actively building campaign furniture for 17 months for a forthcoming book, I felt like I was treading water – until yesterday.

I got my hands on a copy of the 1907 “Annual Price List” of The Army and Navy Co-operative Society. This incredible 1,284-page book is an illustrated compendium of all the objects sold by the co-operative to its members. In the catalog is a nice section on campaign furniture, plus some other sections that are relevant to my research.

The book cost more than my first pick-up truck, but it was well worth the price and the wait for it to arrive from England.

This book shows the breadth of portable furniture available to officers, colonists, students and urbanites at the turn of the last century. It is so staggering, it makes you want to pick up the telephone and ring them at Westminster No. 69 to order some hard goods.

army_and_navy_book_IMG_5804I’ll be reproducing at least a hundred drawings from this book to illustrate the ingenuity and scope of this neglected style.

One of the first surprises in the book was a form of “Improved Roorkhee” chair called the Bartlett Chair. It has all the hallmarks of the standard Roorkhee – plus extendable rests for your feet, like the classic planter’s chair.

Also of note (to me) are the odd-shaped turnings shown on the standard Roorkhee. The top and bottom of each leg look more like a sphere that any Roorkhee chair I’ve seen. The drawings of the turnings of the improved Roorkhee looks more like the ones I’ve seen in the wild.

But, as Joseph Moxon knows, you can’t always trust an illustrator to draw wooden objects perfectly.

Lastly of note: These chairs were available in ash. I’ll have to make some in ash before all our country’s ash is lost to the Emerald Ash Borer.

Enough yackity yack. I’ve got to get back to scanning this book (each page takes 20 minutes) and editing chapter 14 of A.J. Roubo.

— Christopher Schwarz

Roorkhee1

His Tool Chest is a Workbench Too

Posted on by fitz

crookston01

A Minnesota inventor, Andrew Anderson of Crookston, Minn., has devised a portable tool chest which also serves as a workbench. It consists of two parts which can be hinged together, side by side or back to back. If the chest is to be used as a workbench, the two parts, securely fastened together, are raised to the proper height by foldable, firmly braced supports. These legs are hinged to the body of the chest and give sufficient stability to the bench for any ordinary work, like sawing, planing or sandpapering.

One of the parts has two large drawers for saws, planes, and other large tools. The other has three drawers for smaller tools, sandpaper, and light hardware, including screws, nails, brads, hinges, staples, etc.
(more…)

Free Download: Joseph Moxon’s ‘Mechanick Exercises’

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Moxon_book_Moxon.jpgI’ve always been surprised how hard it is to find Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanick Exercises” in the public domain. A few years ago I stumbled on a link from that HathiTrust and totally forgot about it.

While doing some research on S.W. Silver (makers of campaign furniture), I stumbled on HathiTrust again.

If you don’t have a copy of “Mechanick Exercises,” go here.

The link is for the section on joinery. To download the entire book for free as a pdf, look at the left rail of the page and click on the link “Download Whole Book.” A couple clicks later and the entire “Mechanick Exercises” from 1703 will be on your hard drive, with the plates intact.

— Christopher Schwarz

Divorce is Hard on Benches

Posted on by john

 

A long time ago when I was married, David Charlesworth, Tom Lie-Nielsen and Chris came over for libations. Near the end of the evening, Tom suggested we move the 8′ long Nicholson bench Chris had made into my basement shop. David assured us it would not fit, and to prove his point he walked away when disaster began.

David was right. The bench did not fit, and I had to remove a wall to get it around a corner and into the shop. Fast-forward a number of years and due to some legal issues I was required to remove the bench from the basement. Let me interject that I will never ever have a basement workshop again. Never!

The rebuilt wall was 3″ too wide, and again the bench didn’t fit up the stairs. Because the Nicholson bench doesn’t come apart, I had to saw down the legs. I wanted to destroy the wall again, but with a former spouse videoing the condition of the wall before I got there and having an attorney on speed dial I figured it best to saw. It was so fun cutting some off the legs that I did it again. Seems like the only thing I did right that day was to keep the off-cuts.

Recently, I repaired the bench. The Dominos worked great, although they were a little tricky because the cross members that support the legs prevented me from using the plate to register the cutter. I had to do some exact measuring that didn’t work in one instance. I just glued in a domino then flush-cut it and started again. The mending plates were added for extra strength. All is now right with the world. I have the bench upright and working and converted the dining room into a workshop.

— John Hoffman

Image