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Any Workman, However Unskillful

Posted on by fitz

bartholomews_saw

The unlimited field which is open to inventors, and the boundless fertility of ideas which is constantly busy in filling this field, are both strikingly illustrated in the invention here represented. In working wood by carpenters and others, a great deal of labor is expended in sawing boards lengthwise—“ripping” them, as it is called—and this work requires not only a true eye and hand, but a certain measure of skill which is the result of long training. By this machine, the operation is performed by any boy, however inexperienced, or any workman, however unskillful.
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Our Christmas Gift to You: Practical Geometry

Posted on by Lost Art Press

555px-Peter_Nicholson_(architect)Every year we try to offer our readers a little gift during the holidays. Last year was an mp3 of “The Irish Joiner,” before that was Henry Adams’ rare “Joints in Woodwork.”

This year, we offer you lateness.

John Hoffman and I have been working around the clock to build a new Lost Art Press web site and get our book fulfillment handled by a local company so we can spend more time making books than mailing them.

Oh, and I’ve been working on a little book called “Campaign Furniture.”

But today I had a few moments of free time to pull together something special for you. It relates to one of the book we released this year: “By Hand & Eye” by George Walker and Jim Tolpin. In all honesty, we have been shocked by how well the book has been selling since its release in mid-2013. We are already in our second printing.

After talking to students in classes and at shows all over the world, I have heard the following question: I love this book, so what is the next step?

As Obi-Wan Kenobi says, it’s “the first step into a larger world.” And that is the world of geometry, which is more important to our craft than math or even reading.

I am not certain what George and Jim would recommend, but I heartily recommend you investigate some of the basic (very basic) manuals designed for beginning mechanics that were written in the 19th century. My favorite of the basic manuals is Peter Nicholson’s “Mechanic’s Companion,” which was written as a sequel to Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanick’s Exercises” (1678).

Unlike Moxon, Nicholson was a practitioner with a traditional training. And as a result, his book is more detailed. I own the 1845 edition of Nicholson. And while I know you can get copies of it on GoogleBooks, I decided to scan his chapter on basic geometry for you at a high resolution (800 dpi – almost good enough for a decent web press).

It’s a much prettier scan than you’ll get from Google, and I hope you will download it, read it and attempt some of the lessons. It’s a short chapter, but not a single word is wasted. (Oh, there is one error, but I’ll leave that for you to find.)

If you can master this short chapter, next year I’ll post the next stage of a geometry education for a mechanic.

Download the low-resolution pdf here (less than 3mb).

Download the high-resolution pdf (197mb) from Jeff Burks server here. (Thanks Jeff!).

— Christopher Schwarz

Upcoming Projects from ‘The Furniture of Necessity’

Posted on by Lost Art Press

Cwm_Tudu_chair

Though I haven’t been writing much about it, work has continued on my next book, “The Furniture of Necessity.” It’s still too far away to predict its publication date, but things are falling into place to make a type of book that hasn’t been seen in a long time.

Here are some recent waypoints.

1. An Engraver. I have found a copperplate engraver who will make the plates for “The Furniture of Necessity.” She works in a very traditional manner. This book will be a partnership between her and me, so expect some eye-opening illustrations.

2. Thanks to Suzanne “Saucy Indexer” Ellison, the research for the book has been forging ahead. She has been collecting the limited literature on these forms, which I have been reading for many months now on long flights and in hotel rooms. Without Suzanne’s help, I’d be a year behind on this book.

3. Projects. I’ve been sorting through some of the projects I want to discuss and build for “The Furniture of Necessity.” Today I was looking at some of the English pieces I selected from a 1982 exhibit at the Stable Court Galleries at Temple Newsam. Suzanne dug up the hard-to-find exhibit catalog for me.

Here are a few of the forms that are finalists for the book.

Welsh Stick-back Chair (shown above)
I call this chair the “Cwm Tudu” chair because that was the area where the chair was found in Cardiganshire. (And because I have no idea if I’m pronouncing “Cwm Tudu” correctly, it’s fun to botch.) This chair has an elm seat. The arm bow is a naturally curved branch. And guests won’t be able to tip backward in it.

countrey_stoole

Countrey Stoole
Illustrated in Randle Holme’s “Academy of Armory,” this particular example was allegedly owned by Anne Cotton, the West Auckland murderess. These stools were used for everything from milking a cow to resting your feet.

farmhouse_settle

Farmhouse Settle
The high-backed settles of England are one of my favorite forms. I particularly like the ones with a curved seat and back, such as this early 19th-century example. Ealier examples tended to have backboards of random widths.

lodging_box

Lodging Box
These very common boxes were used by every youth leaving home to go into domestic service. Most had a till for storing small objects. The boxes were commonly dovetailed and used for a variety of purposes in a household.

round_drinking_table

Drinking Table
A common three-legged table, usually painted white or left in the white. The three legs made it stable on uneven floors. This example is dated 1821, though this form is quite older.

— Christopher Schwarz

Measuring Rules

Posted on by fitz

rabone_1878Of the early history of this manufacture it may be sufficient to state that until the early part of the seventeenth century, at which time Edward Gunter invented the line of logarithms graduated upon a sliding scale, which solves problems instrumentally in the same manner as logarithms do arithmetically, the trade never assumed sufficient importance to cause it to be followed by persons who had no other occupation, and to make it worthy of being designated a craft.

Up to that time the best measures had been made by the mathematical instrument makers; but this ingenious invention of Gunter, by reason of its universal applicability to measuring purposes, called into existence another class of workmen, superior to those who had hitherto chiefly made the notched sticks similar to those used in many rural districts at the present day, but still somewhat distinct from the opticians and makers of such instruments as quadrants, sextants, and the finer kind of optical and mathematical instruments. The first men who were worthy of the name of rule-makers were to be found only in London; but after a time the trade gradually extended itself to Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
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The Advantages of Saws with ‘Tapered’ or ‘Canted’ Blades

Posted on by Lost Art Press

dt_overall_IMG_8343

During every class I teach where we pick up a saw, a students always asks the following question: Why is your sawblade narrower at the toe?

This characteristic of some backsaws is curious at first to the modern eye. Many of the backsaws from the 19th and 20th centuries have blades that are perfect rectangles. And yet many old saws have blades that are narrower at the toe than they are at the heel.

Modern sawmakers who do this have different names for this feature. Lie-Nielsen Toolworks says the blades are “tapered,” which can be confusing because sawblades can also be tapered in their thickness. Gramercy Tools says their saws are “canted,” which is confusing because I don’t exactly know what that word means at first glance.

In any case, it means the blades are narrower at the toe. Many old saws have this shape. The question, however, is why.

Some woodworkers say that vintage blades are tapered or canted because of poor sharpening or because the blade has come loose from its back and has slid down. While both of these things are quite possible, my opinion is that the feature is very desirable and was commonly known among early sawmakers.

If you look at early catalog drawings of saws, the blades would have a tapered or canted shape. The most famous example is the page of saws in “Smith’s Key.” (I first wrote about the features of these saws seven years ago in this blog entry.)

Smith's_Key_saws

So why were the saws tapered or canted? My opinion: It makes for a better saw.

Saws that are narrower at the toe have the following working characteristics.

1. The saw is lighter at the toe because there is less steel there.

2. On a related note, removing that steel shifts the center of gravity of the tool back a bit, making it feel lighter.

3. When you push these saws forward, every tooth is followed by a tooth that is a little lower. The saw feels more aggressive (to me, at least).

4. Most importantly: When you are sawing dovetails or any other joint, the canted or tapered blade allows you to saw to your baseline on the front side of the work and still be shy of the baseline on the backside of the work. Then you can look over the work and finish the job.

dt_backside_IMG_8340

dt_frontside_IMG_8339

I love canted/tapered blades. I prefer them in all instances and for all of my joinery saws. Whether you buy into the historical argument or not is immaterial. Today we have a choice when we buy saws: tapered/canted or not tapered/canted.

I think the tapered/canted blades are clearly an improvement.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. I’m not recommending you throw away your non-tapered/canted blades. Quite the opposite. You can easily joint the teeth of your saws so the blade is canted/tapered. Just take more jointing strokes with the file at the toe of the blade. Then file the saw normally. After a few sharpenings your blade will be tapered like an old saw. Then you can file the toothline normally during sharpenings.