woodworking-msg - 2/13/08

Woodworking tools and techniques.

NOTE: See also the files: wood-msg, wood-bending-msg, wood-finishes-msg, tools-msg, tools-bib, tools-lnks, merch-woods-msg, Tool-Making-art, Sharpng-Tools-art, mkng-a-p-lathe-art, p-lathes-bib.

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Subj: Spears and shafts_
Date: 24 Feb 92 
From: tip at lead.aichem.arizona.edu (Tom Perigrin)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Organization: University of Arizona UNIX Users Group

Unto Lothar the Wanderer,  doth Thomas Ignatius Perigrinus send his 
humble greetings,

My Lord,  thou speaks most truely when thou doest say that ash is a goodly 
wood for to use in hafting a spear.  An it would'st please thee, may I
add a few points to thy message?

First,  thou dids't mention a lathe as to the rounding of the shaft.  May
I suggest that this may not be the method of choice for several reasons:

Imprimus;   turning a shaft of 2 fingers thickness but more than 6 cubits
length woulds't be most difficult.  The wood would tend to flex most 
severly, and would retreat from the tool, leading to an action that turners
do call "whip".   I'faith,  were the shaft long enough,  I would fear me that
the shaft would whip itself free of the centers, and strike thee a sharp blow
as it did fly from the layth.

Secundus;   Even my largest lathe be but 5 cubits in length, and longer are
most difficult to find.

Thus, an it doth please My Lord, may I suggest the following in it's stead?


First,  hie thee to a goodly wood cutters, and beg to examine all their
stock.  Find thee a board of goodly thickness,  such as 8 quarters or 10
quarters.  Cant it up upon the ground, and site thee the length, and proove
that there be no cup, nor wind, nor other deviations from good straightness.
Then, lay down the board, and look thee at the grain....   Assure thyself
that the grain be good and straight,  with little or no wave or cant.

Then buy thee this board,  and take it to one who has a goodly rip saw (a 
bandsaw shall function most excellently)      Now cut thee a strip but 1/4 
inch in thickness from the edge, running the full length of thy board.  
Take up this strip, and grabbing it firmly between thy hands about 1 
cubit apart, see an thou mayst bend it unto the half part of a right angle.
An it doth hold, then move thy hands a lngth, and test again,  and so forth,
until thou hast proven the whole length.

An it doth break,  thou hast purchased a brash board,  and it is useless
unto thy purpose.   Nor can'st thou apprehend a board which is brash by any
simpler examination.  I have taken two oak planks that to all outwards
appearances were brothers,  yet one was brash and did in all cases break as I
did assay to make the rim of a great wheel of it,  yet it's brother was sweet,
and did bend well without the slightest crack or plaint.

Now that thou hast found a sweet board,  saw thee a square billet the
length of thy board.   Then, find thee a goodly drawknife, or a spokeshave.
I myself do prefer the former since one can cut both thick and thin, and 
pare most cunning fine,  whereas the the spokeshave is limited in it's bite.
Then affix thy billet in a vice, and begin to shave thy shaft.

The vice that thou woulds't use should not be a common joyners vice,  for
that woulds't bite too deeply and mar the wood, an it is not quick to release
the wood.  In it's stead thous shoulds't use a shaving horse,  or a shaving
bight.  The latter is most easy to make, an so I shall describe it thus;

Find thee a beam that doth sit horisontal.   The rail of a fence, or a 
beam affixzed in a joyners vice shall serve.   Then take thee a loop of 
rope, neither so short that thou cans't neer pass both beam and shaft
throu't, nor so long that it doth hang so loose,  but just such a length
that when thou dost place the shaft and the beam through the loop that they
do lie snugly, but thou can'st turn thy shaft.   Then, cant thy shaft around
so that it comes to make an angle with the beam - this shall tighten thy bight,
and thou shalt find that thy shaft is held firm from turning,  until
thou does't walk it back unto alignment with the beam.

Then, take thee thy knife or shave,  cant thy shaft until it lies snug,
hold the free end of thy shaft under thy arm,  and begin to shave thy
shaft.

With a drawknife,  thou shouldst use the flat side,  so that thou does not
bite too deeply.  Thou shoulds't consider the shape that thous wouldst thy 
shaft to have -  and it be round,  it may notbe so easy to grasp when it 
is wet or thy hand is gloved gainst the cold...   I would humbly suggest that
thous does't shave it of 8 or 12 sides.

When thou shavest thy shaft,  draw it not straight an plane,  but consider
the grain in thy wood.  Where it doth rise slightly,  then leave that 
slight proud,  so that thou hast not cut cross the grain... this shall
give thee much more strength than thou mightst come to expect,  for that 
a crack in would doth almost always progress from some point where the
grain has been cut...   Avoid thee cutting the grain, and thou shalst have
the greastes strenth of thy wood.


Once thous hast drawn it to thy shape,  then consider thee the finishing of
thy wood.   My good Lord Lothar did suggest that one should first to oil
their wood, and then to apply some resin or varnish.   I might suggest
that therein can lie disaster,  for not all resins nor varnishes will adhere
to an oiled bit of wood.   It can be repelled so that none may stick, else 
it may rise up and crack, or it may form large flakes which dot remind one
of a lepers skin under the noon day sun.  An thou woulds't to follow this
advice,  first take thee a small amount of thy wood, thy oil, and thy
varnish, and prove it aside afore tthou dost commit thy greater work.


I faith,  I myself do favor the following finish,  which, although it is
not so hard, nor so glossy as many brews that do abound this day,  is
true and tested, and has been in use since antiquity...

Take thee a pound of good beeswax, and warm it gentle until it has melted.
Then take thee a quart of good tung oil, and mix it with a quart of good
turpentine,  and then cast these into the wax with rapid stirring.  As it
doth cool, it shall give thee a pleasant smelling paste which shall enter the
wood freely, and after a day may be buffed unto a dull warm glow.  Tis not
a hard finish,  but it doth smell well,  an when tis damaged, may it can
be repaired by so simple a means as buffing more on.   Thou shoulds't store
that which thou has not used in so tight a can as thou may find,  for the
air do cause it to harden.

And thus, in short and in plano,  is how I might process to make such a 
shaft as to which enquiries were made.   I fear me that I have left out
much of the process,  for the use of a drawknife is such that may be best
learned at the hand of a master, and not by reading a missive upon the
Rialto.  But mayhaps my humble efforts at expostualting my course will
help thee upon thine.  And thus, I remain,

thy humble and thankful servant
Thomas Ignatius Perigrinus


From: brettm at execu.execu.com (Brett Miller)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: period woodworking
Date: 12 Oct 93 19:44:36 GMT
Organization: Comshare, Inc. Ann Arbor Development Center

	I might warn anyone seeking to work in "period" styles that if you're going to use the original tools/techniques (let's
say about pre-1600), you're going to need a fair amount of skill.
Much embellisment was done through carving while most joinery
was done using simple mortice and tenon joints.  Planes were
simple at best.  In fact, most tools hadn't changed a whole lot
from Roman times.  To put things in perspective, many early wood
workers refused to use a saw because they believed that it showed
that the workman had insufficient skill to use an axe.

	As for me, I'm kind of a modern guy.  I use 18th-19th
century woodworking tools.

Brett
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Brett Miller
Comshare Inc, Ann Arbor MI
brettm at comshare.com


From: timsmith at oasys.dt.navy.mil (Tim Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: period woodworking
Date: 12 Oct 93 22:07:39 GMT
Organization: David Taylor Model Basin

Poklon k Fiammetta Attavanti (y Rialtogradu) ot Timofeya Ivanovichya!

A very useful text is:

Author:        Goodman, William Louis.
Title:         The history of woodworking tools [by] W. L. Goodman. New
York,
                 D. McKay Co. [1966, c1964]
Description:   208 p. illus. 26 cm.

Subjects:      Woodworking tools -- History.

Other entries: Woodworking tools.

Call numbers:  UCB   ForestPrd TH5618 .G6 1964

I've also found Roy Underhill's Woodwright books to be very useful.  A
lot of his stuff is nineteenth century, at the very apogee of
traditional woodworking technique and technology, but the roots extend
much, much deeper.
I believe it's

11. Underhill, Roy.
      The woodwright's eclectic workshop / Roy Underhill.  Chapel Hill
:
    University of North Carolina Press, c1991.
        UCB   Forestry  TT185 .U52 1991

that starts with an illustrated essay on "The Debate of the Carpenter's
Tools," a 16th century bit of doggerel that, Underhill argues, was
clearly written by a carpenter.  (Who else would think a plane and a
broad axe were nearly identical tools?)

Good luck, and may the cuts on your hands heal quickly.

Dosvedanya,

Timofei Ivanovitch       Ponte Alto       Atlantia


From: tip at lead.aichem.arizona.edu (Tom Perigrin)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: oak spears?
Date: 24 Mar 1994 18:59:19 GMT
Organization: Department of Chemistry

jab2 at stl.stc.co.uk (Jennifer Ann Bray) wrote:
> 
> In the "lawsuit" thread I saw a mention of oak spears being banned in
> SCA combat on safety grounds. I'm curious as we fight with metal
> weapons and use wooden spear hafts with metal tips (for hand held
> spears not for throwing). The most popular wood is ash, but I have
> seen all sorts used, and whilst they occasionally break it's never
> been a real problem. It's pretty obvious when a spear's broken & you
> just drop it and either grab a back up weapon or leg it.

[snip]
> 
> Anyone know what happened with oak spears that caused them to be
> banned? If there's a potential problem that we haven't run across yet
> I'd like to know about it.

Oak can be "brash".  You can have two seemingly similar pieces of oak,
and one will bend without breaking and return elastically to the original
shape,  while the other one will bend to the same point and then suddenly
shatter, yeilding a large number of splinters and a couple of splintery
ends.  I can see how long splinters and splintered ends could be dangerous
in a melee.  

Furniture shops that steam bend oak would love to be able to spot brash
boards, as the sudden failure not only causes the lass of a workpiece, but
it can also damage the machine or the workers due to the sudden release of
tension.   Unfortunately there is no reliable method of spotting brash oak.

Note that brashness doesn't imply that the only change is a significantly
reduced modulus of elasticity - it also implies a significant change in the
mode of failure.   A brash failure is a nearly explosive release of tension
rather than a more normal break occuring at reduced deflection.

If I remember correctly, white oak has a worse tendancy towards brashness
than red oak.   Ash does not have this tendancy towards brashness.

 A good source for more information would be Bruce Hoadley's book:

 AUTHOR       Hoadley, R. Bruce.
 TITLE        Understanding wood : a craftsman's guide to wood 
              technology.
 PUBLISHER    Newtown, Conn. : Taunton Press, c1980.
 SUBJECTS     Woodwork.
              Wood.
 NOTE         Includes index.
              Bibliography: p. [248]-250.
 DESCRIPTION  xiii, 256 p. : ill. ; 29 cm.
 ISBN         0918804051 : $17.95.

On a personal note, I have steam bent red oak for walking wheel rims. I
found that about one out of six of the boards I used were brash.

Humbly, I remain your servant
Thomas Ignatius Perigrinus


Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: rzex60 at email.sps.mot.com (Jason Magnus)
Subject: Re: Rope beds
Organization: The Polyhedron Group
Date: Fri, 24 Jun 1994 21:48:07 GMT

In article <1994Jun24.100402.33171 at hulaw1.harvard.edu>,
schuldy at zariski.harvard.edu (Mark Schuldenfrei) wrote:

> keegan at netcom.com (Tim Bray/C. Keegan) writes:
>   My own rather limited experience leads me to conclude that Tage Frid is 
>   right; if you have mortise chisels and know how to use them, chopping a 
>   mortice out by hand is the fastest method.  In softer woods, I believe it 
>   is faster than boring and chopping/paring.  In hard wood (like oak) it 
>   may be faster, for large mortises, to bore out first and pare to the lines.

In my experience making furniture, it's -consistently- been much faster to
make mortices with mortise chisels than it is with drills, etc., in either
softwood or hardwood. In fact, hardwood goes -faster- than softwood, and
does a cleaner job. The only time I bore out a mortice first now is when
I'm doing something huge, say the size of a 2x4. Even then, I -might- do it
by hand.

I followed the instructions in one of Tage Frid's articles in Fine
Woodworking, and found it rather an easy skill to pick up. For tenons, I've
found it a toss-up between hand and power tools. If I'm only doing a few
tenons, I use hand tools. If I'm doing a production run with a lot of
duplicate pieces, I'll use my tablesaw and a tenoning jig that I've made.
Either way, with practice and the right tools, it's a breeze. And it's FUN,
too!
-- 
Regards, Jason Magnus (aka Jay Brandt)         <rzex60 at email.sps.mot.com>
In the SCA, HLS Jason of Rosaria, JdL, GdS, AoA           (Member # 3016)


Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: rzex60 at email.sps.mot.com (Jason Magnus)
Subject: Re: Tusk-tennons
Organization: The Polyhedron Group
Date: Thu, 23 Jun 1994 21:05:51 GMT

Suze.Hammond at f56.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Suze Hammond) wrote:

>  BM> In article <keeganCrq582.Jrt at netcom.com> keegan at netcom.com (Tim
>  BM> Bray/C. Keegan) writes: >Jason Magnus (rzex60 at email.sps.mot.com) wrote:
>  > Tusk-tenons are period and work really 
>  >well for knockdown joinery, but I haven't worked out how to design a 
>  >joint to use them in this application.
>  >
>  >Regards,
>  >Tim
> 
> Can anyone describe these? My friend Ed is a cabinetmaker, recently become
> interested in period techniques, and never heard of this one...

A 'normal' tennon, also called a blind tennon, does not go all the way
through the morticed item. They may be fixed in place with glue, with pegs
from the side, with a water-swolen friction fit, or with small wedges that
brace against the bottom of the mortice and spread the tennon as it is
forced into the hole (this last type is called a 'fox wedged' tennon).

A 'through' tennon does go through the morticed item, and usually stops
flush with the far surface. Often these are fixed in place with wedges
driven in from the far side, or less commonly with pegs from the side.

A 'tusk' tennon is a period joint for knock-down furniture. It is often
found on trestle tables and other furniture that must be repeatedly
assembled and disassembled, but which needs to be sturdy. Look for examples
where the streacher rail of a trestle table meets the leg. In some cases it
is also found in timber-frame architectural woodworking as a decorative
joint. 

Start with through-tennon that extends past the far side of the mortice and
which has a hole piercing top to bottom (or side to side) through the
tennon. The mortise is a square or rectangular hole that goes all the way
through the leg or rail that the part with the tennon is to attach to. The
tennon is the narrowed-down end of the rail that goes into this hole, and
in this case goes several inches past the far side. What makes it a 'tusk
tennon' is the hole in the tennon, which has a tapered peg (the 'tusk') in
it, locking the joint together. This hole is placed so the side toward the
mortice remains a bit within the mortice, while the rest of the hole is
exposed. The tennon is held firmly in place in its mortice by a tapered peg
through that hole, that acts against the far side of the mortice. When
assembled, the tennon end with the peg piercing it sort of resembles the
head of a tusked mammal, thus the name.

I'd be happy to field other questions on period woodworking and joinery.
I've got a fair amount of reference materials, research, and practical
experience in that area.
-- 
Regards, Jason Magnus (aka Jay Brandt)         <rzex60 at email.sps.mot.com>
In the SCA, HLS Jason of Rosaria, JdL, GdS, AoA           (Member # 3016)


Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: keegan at netcom.com (Tim Bray/C. Keegan)
Subject: Re: Tusk-tennons
Date: Fri, 24 Jun 1994 04:56:40 GMT

Suze Hammond (Suze.Hammond at f56.n105.z1.fidonet.org) wrote:
:  BM> In article <keeganCrq582.Jrt at netcom.com> keegan at netcom.com (Tim
:  BM> Bray/C. Keegan) writes: >Jason Magnus (rzex60 at email.sps.mot.com) wrote:
:  > Tusk-tenons are period and work really 
:  >well for knockdown joinery, but I haven't worked out how to design a 
:  >joint to use them in this application.
:  >
:  >Regards,
:  >Tim

: Can anyone describe these? My friend Ed is a cabinetmaker, recently become
: interested in period techniques, and never heard of this one...

: .. Moreach  | Suze.Hammond at f56.n105.z1.fidonet.org  


Hmmm....  Have him look them up in a book such as "Tage Frid Teaches 
Woodworking, Vol. 1: Joinery,"  Taunton Press.  Or some such.  Basically, 
a tusk-tenon (also sometimes called a wedged through-tenon) has a tenon 
that extends all the way through a mortise and some distance out the far 
side.  A hole or slot is chopped or bored through the projecting part of 
the tenon just at the point where it emerges from the mortise, and a 
wedge or tapered pin is inserted through this hole to tighten the joint.

There are a jillion variations on this joint; it can be oriented in a 
number of ways, and the tusk-holes can be vertical, crosswise, single, 
double, etc.  It is extremely versatile for knockdown joinery, becasue 
you just withdraw the pin or wedge to disassemble the joint.

Tusk-tenons have been applied to everything from fine furniture to 
barns.  They can be any size, from less than an inch to more than a foot 
in any dimension.  They can sometimes be a pain to make, and you havve to 
watch the grain and strength of the wood because the wedges exert 
terrific force and can split the tenon.  But they are incomparable for 
rigid yet easily assembled joints.

Hope this helps...

Colin
The WoodWrong Shop


Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: keegan at netcom.com (Tim Bray/C. Keegan)
Subject: Re: Using Hand Tools - Sources?
Date: Sun, 26 Jun 1994 06:17:23 GMT

Bruce Mills (millsbn at mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca) wrote:
: Ok, here's my stoopid question for today.

: Anybody have any source material or references on how to use hand tools
: (period or not)?

: Since I have next to no experience, best to start with overview type stuff.

: Akimoya

"Tage Frid teaches Woodworking, Vol. 1: Joinery" is an excellent text for 
learning both modern and traditional joinery.  Frid is a proponent of 
hand tools for M&T joints, using primarily a bow saw (period as far back 
as Manuscript illos go) and mortise chisels (ditto).

Roy Underhill is the popular god of traditional woodworking.  See all of 
his books.

That's a start - there are several booklets in the "Fine Woodworking" series
that deal with specific kinds of hand tools, etc.

Colin d.


Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: rzex60 at email.sps.mot.com (Jason Magnus)
Subject: Re: Rope beds
Organization: The Polyhedron Group
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 20:06:27 GMT

In article <keeganCrzpHq.GxK at netcom.com>, keegan at netcom.com (Tim Bray/C.
Keegan) wrote:

> Jason Magnus (rzex60 at email.sps.mot.com) wrote:
> 
> : In my experience making furniture, it's -consistently- been much faster to
> : make mortices with mortise chisels than it is with drills, etc., in either
> : softwood or hardwood. In fact, hardwood goes -faster- than softwood, and
> : does a cleaner job. The only time I bore out a mortice first now is when
> : I'm doing something huge, say the size of a 2x4. Even then, I -might- do it
> : by hand.
> 
> Now you have piqued my curiosity; how can it be faster in hardwood than 
> in softwood?  Cleaner, yes, I can see that; but it seems like I can 
> drive my chisel deeper with fewer mallet blows in softwood, and lever the 
> chips out faster & easier, than in oak. For a 1/2" wide mortise, using a 
> razor-sharp mortisiing chisel, I can cut about 1/4" deep MAX in each pass 
> in oak; seems like I could get 3/8" at least in fir. 

Well, Oak and Fir are two woods I mortice a lot. Fir's better than most
softwoods for morticing, as in hardness it's almost a hardwood in spite of
being from a conifer. Pine, on the other hand, can be a mess to mortice,
and is what I was comparing to for softwood, since pine dimensional
construction-grade lumber is the softwood most folks would have access to.
Here's my observations...

Morticing hardwood is faster because, if you use the right tools, the wood
chips shear cleanly and with less overall effort. Each chip will fairly
fly from the hole, clearing the way for the next chip to be released. The
chips from softwoods, on the other hand, tend to tear and crush. You waste
a lot of time and effort morticing in softwoods due to chips that won't
clear the mortice, which jams the work in progress. Imagine hand-planing a
brick of wet clay, as opposed to a block of hardwood. The hardwood cuts
clean and smooth, while the clay jams the throat of the plane.

When I mortice hardwood, I get about 1/4 inch penetration on each pass. I
start at one end, work my way to the other, and reverse the chisel and come
back. (I stop about 1/8" from each end, to avoid crushing the finished
sides of the mortice as I pry out the end chips.) Then I clean up the ends
with a plunge cut when the rest is deep enough. A 3/8" wide, inch-long,
inch-deep mortice in white oak takes about 16-20 mallet strokes, including
the plunge cuts to shear the ends of the mortice clean. A 3/4" wide mortice
of the same dimensions takes the same amount of time. The chips are simply
wider. Each chip in hardwood is about 1/4 inch x 1/4 inch x the width of
the chisel in size. When done, the bottom of the mortice will be fairly
flat and smooth.

On the other hand, a similar mortice in fir or pine will take almost twice
as many blows, half of which are to remove chips that didn't pop right out.
This doesn't include time spent with a smaller chisel or an ice pick,
extracting reluctant pieces. Then add more time to smooth the bottom of the
mortice, which is usually fairly ragged. Each chip in softwood is about 1/4
inch x 1/8 inch x the width of the chisel in size. Twice as many cuts are
required down the length of the mortice to minimize tearing and crushing of
the chips.

Note that in -any- case, the wood being morticed should be securely held,
preferably in something heavy. Any effort that makes the wood or workbench
bounce around is energy that is -not- being spent doing useful work. I use
a 'blockmakers clave', which is a 24" section of 12" diameter hardwood tree
limb with an 8" wide, 4" deep square notch cut in one side. The log has
four legs, and the work is held in the notch with wedges and spacer blocks.
The nice thing is that it supports the wood on three sides, with wood on
all touching faces. Even if you mortice through the piece, your chisel
simply strikes more wood, and is not damaged.
-- 
Regards, Jason Magnus (aka Jay Brandt)         <rzex60 at email.sps.mot.com>
In the SCA, HLS Jason of Rosaria, JdL, GdS, AoA           (Member # 3016)


From: timsmith at oasys.dt.navy.mil (Tim Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: HELP REQUESTED - Books on ancient woodworking techniques
Date: 15 Jul 1994 17:50:52 GMT
Organization: David Taylor Model Basin

Poklon ot Timofeya Ivanovichya k Lord Emrys Cador!

A couple of books I've found helpful (& available through ILL):

McGrail, Sean, ed.  _Woodworking techniques before A.D. 1500 : papers
presented to a symposium at Greenwich in September, 1980, together with
edited discussion_.  Oxford, England : B.A.R., 1982.
      Series title:  BAR international series ; 129.
      Series title:  Archaeological series (National Maritime Museum
(Great
    Britain)) ; no. 7.

Goodman, William Louis.  _The history of woodworking tools_.  New York,
D. McKay Co. [1966, c1964].

Dosvedanya,

Timofei Ivanovitch                 Ponte Alto                  Atlantia
Tim Smith    Code 522    CD/NSWC   Bethesda, MD  20084    (301)227-1312


From: tip at lead.tmc.edu (Tom Perigrin)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: HELP REQUESTED - Books on ancient woodworking techniques
Date: 15 Jul 1994 21:58:46 GMT
Organization: A.I. Chem Lab, University of Arizona

>I am seeking information on early period (pre-period to you Mid-realmers)
>wood working techniques; preferable Roman or Celtic.  Brythonic would
>be ideal.  I am looking for such basics as common carving methods
>used, board splitting, etc.

Bad news...   while there are lots of books about 19'th C techniques, and 
some info on 17'th and 18'th C techniques, things get THIN before that.

The only two monographs I have seen relating to your question ae;

Woodworking Techniques before AD 1500, Edit Sean McGrail, Nat Marit Museum,
Greenwich, Archaeological Series #7

Roman Crafts, D. Selwood, R. Seaby, London

After that, you ae going to have to start going in the primary literature,
which will be difficult outside of a school with a great Archeological 
library.


From: tip at lead.aichem.arizona.edu (Tom Perigrin)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period foods? tools?
Date: 16 Aug 1994 21:42:27 GMT
Organization: AI in Chem Lab

hkoeh at usht01.hou130.chevron.com (Mark Koehler) wrote:
> Greetings and Salutations!  I suppose an introduction is in order...  I am
> researching for a persona out of freshly Normandized Saxony (England during

About 1100?
>                                               but realizes he has a real
> talent as a handyman (Tinker?). 
> What tools are appropriate?  I assume he would be able to provide assistance
> and maybe borrow either a blacksmith's or woodwright's facilities, but he
> could construct a makeshift shop using his own tools in a moment's notice.

Errr, well, don't bet on it.  Tinkers were considered pretty low people.  A
smith is a wealthy man, a pillar of the village or even of a keep, and has
little use for a tinker.   It's not just the training, it's also social
standing, etc...     Same for a woodwright.  

Tinker's carried their shops on thier backs...   some hammers, pliers,
nippers, tongs, a blow pipe, some solders, sheets of metal to make repairs,
a file or two, some clay to make tinkers dams, a piercer, an awl, some
needles and thread,  maybe a small mandrel.

> What kind of machines (old definition) and tools were in common usage, or
> were being invented?  What were the common fasteners; screws and/or bolts,
> or just nails?

One of the previous gentles answered correctly about joinery, except that
he is thinking too late for your period.  During the early 1100's, etc.,
the primary furniture construction is planked construction, simple boards
and nails.  Joynery, as witnessed by the Mayor of Paris's decree in 13XX (I
have the exact date elsewhere), was a very rare and expensive form of
construction, mostly limited to church and royalty.  A commoner had a
boarded chest and dman little else.  The nobility and even parish churches
might have had mor furniture, but it was pretty crudely made.  The
furniture and construction renaissence really startd in the mid 1300's. 
Before then, it was surprisingly crude and rare.  He had the hinges
right...  cotter pins, with the legs banged clear through the wood and
clinched over.  Looks "primative".  I lost a lot of points at an A&S
tourney once because of how crude my hardware was... *sigh*

Bolts were very very rare...  how do you plan to cut the threads on the
nut?  When I make a nut for a spinning wheel reproduction, I cut the
threads in a rod with a file, get a bar YELLOW hot, and then quickly bang
it around the threads.   Then you have to file it square, work it so it
threads on and off, and do a lot more work.    NOT easy.  I require 2 days
to produce a bolt and nut.  I imagine somebody good could do it in a half
day?    More common were long pins with a slot that could take a wedge,
much like a tusk tenon in wood.  This is much easier for the blacksmith to
make.  Look at pictures of cannons... up until 1800 most of the metalwork
uses this type of wedge.   Even fine work such as astrolabes used a slotted
post, held by a wedge typically shaped with a horses head on the end.  The
entire wedge is called "the horse".  The posts for clocks and watches were
also pinned, rather than using screws.


Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: rzex60 at email.sps.mot.com (Jay Brandt)
Subject: Re: Period foods? tools?
Organization: The Polyhedron Group
Date: Wed, 17 Aug 1994 17:51:01 GMT

tip at lead.aichem.arizona.edu (Tom Perigrin) wrote:
> hkoeh at usht01.hou130.chevron.com (Mark Koehler) wrote:
> > What kind of machines (old definition) and tools were in common usage, or
> > were being invented?  What were the common fasteners; screws and/or bolts,
> > or just nails?
> 
> One of the previous gentles answered correctly about joinery, except that
> he is thinking too late for your period.  During the early 1100's, etc.,
> the primary furniture construction is planked construction, simple boards
> and nails.

Quite so. My mistake there. I'm used to thinking as an Elizabethian
furniture maker, rather than for earlier periods. You are correct that a
'six board chest' with the boards nailed to each other was the standard in
earlier times, and even later except for the very well to do. The long
sides and bottom had the grain running lengthwise, and the ends had the
grain running verticaly. The ends often extended below the bottom of the
chest to form crude legs. This necesitated the vertical grain, but also
cause most chests to split the sides, as wood movement at the side to end
joint tore up the side planks. That is a serious problem with nailed
six-board construction, and is what launched the development of serious
joinery.

> He had the hinges
> right...  cotter pins, with the legs banged clear through the wood and
> clinched over.  Looks "primative".  I lost a lot of points at an A&S
> tourney once because of how crude my hardware was... *sigh*

Thanks. I just returned from Boston, where one of my missions was to see as
much period furniture as I could in the museums there. The hinge
description was from examination of a genuine circa 1550 chest in Salem MA.
Sorry to hear about you losing points in that A&S contest. That's why I
usually provide a sheaf of documentation if I'm going for a seriously
authentic piece - complete with photos of museum artifacts when available.

> Bolts were very very rare...  how do you plan to cut the threads on the
> nut?  When I make a nut for a spinning wheel reproduction...

-Good- description of bolt and nut making there! Well done!
-- 
Regards, Jay Brandt --- Austin, Texas, USA --- <rzex60 at email.sps.mot.com>
Motorola,   SPS Sector,   Advanced Products Research and Development Labs
In the SCA, HLS Jason of Rosaria, JdL, GdS, AoA --------- (Member # 3016)
Owner / Designer / Craftsman ------------------------- Bear Paw Woodworks


Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: rzex60 at email.sps.mot.com (Jay Brandt)
Subject: Re: Reconstructing a Saxon Place
Organization: The Polyhedron Group
Date: Thu, 1 Sep 1994 18:41:59 GMT

tip at lead.aichem.arizona.edu (Tom Perigrin) wrote:

> In article <33tp4d$7pr at herald.indirect.com>, locksley at indirect.com (Joe
> Bethancourt) wrote:
> > 
> > Most interesting indeed! Comparing it to early American planes could be 
> > interesting......I have a little booklet of Early American Tools that  
> > you might find to be Good Stuff.
> 
> Someday when we finally manage to succesfully bridge the mear 100 miles
> that seperates us, I will be "happy as a clam" to see this booklet.

Hmmm. I think I have the same booklet. Put out by Colonial Williamsburgh, I
believe. It -is- worth traveling the 'mere 100 miles'  to see his copy.

> Meanwhile, this thread has launched an idea into my brain...   while
> describing my attempts to create a period 16'th C joiners shop a lot of

You too? I'm slowly working on a circa 1575 shop myself. Small world. Maybe
we should compare notes!

> people have commented on the need to use modern tools to make the older
> tools, and the need for a complete 'industrial' mileuax to be accurate.
> 
> I agree to an extent....   I will never use steel made in small crucibles
> and hammered from poured billets.   But if I make a few more Saxon tools; 
> a few chisels, a mallet, a saw, etc...  then I will be able to use THOSE
> tools to make the more modern 16'th C tools...
> 
> Bootstrap backwards BEYOND the century one wishes to portrey, and then work
> UP to it starting with the tools of the more distant past.

Quite so! Its the approach I've been using for a while now. 

Examples : 

I made a 'blockmaker's clave' (14th C period workbench with a
wedge-operated vise, made from a log section with a flattened top, a large
square notch to hold the work, and 4 legs). I did it using a modern bow
saw, a felling axe, a sledge-hammer and steel wedge (the log was american
elm - very tough), a draw-knife, and a brace and bit with a large diameter
auger. I use it regularly, as there's no better tool, even in a modern
shop, for holding wood while morticing it with hand tools. When I set up
Bear Paw Woodworks on-site, it's still my primary workbench.

I then used the clave as my workbench to do all the morticing work, joinery
and shaping on the frame for a new turning saw (15th C rip bow-saw).
Admittedly, I used a table saw to dimension the Oak for the turning saw's
frame, and used an electric-powered lathe to turn the knobs at the ends of
the saw blade. But the rest was done with hand tools, and I can now retire
the metal-framed modern bow saw and many of my other modern saws, as I have
a better tool that is period! (I also made the blade, with hand-filed,
hand-set teeth).

I use that turning saw to produce some of the joinery on my 16th C
furniture designs. I plan to make other period saws eventually, to replace
most of my more modern saws.

Yes, I have several very modern tools in my home shop. But wherever
practical, I use hand tools, and I try to add to my hand tool set by making
or buying new tools regularly as the needs arise. It's FUN!
-- 
Regards, Jay Brandt --- Austin, Texas, USA --- <rzex60 at email.sps.mot.com>
Motorola,   SPS Sector,   Advanced Products Research and Development Labs
In the SCA, HLS Jason of Rosaria, JdL, GdS, AoA --------- (Member # 3016)
Owner / Designer / Craftsman ------------------------- Bear Paw Woodworks


From: Suze.Hammond at f56.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Suze Hammond)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Searching for a wooden flute
Date: Fri, 06 Jan 1995 23:28:00 -0800

 WP> From: wpeloqui at medar.COM (Willie Peloquin)

 WP> I am looking for a merchant who sells wooden musical
 WP> instruments. I would prefer a flute or something
 WP> similar. Would a flute be in period? I know I can
 WP> purchase a wooden recorder locally, it must be
 WP> special ordered.

I have in hand a copy of Fine Woodworking magazine's series "The Best of
Fine Woodworking" entitled "Small Woodworking Projects", (April 1992) 
ISBN# 1-56158-018-X,  1. Woodwork, I. Series. List price $14.95.

Among several interesting things, it has an article called "River Whistles
and Cane Flutes" which might make it possible for you to make your own.
It also has patterns to make a wood-geared clock (what I wanted it for), a
Moravian footstool that looks "period" to me, wooden shoes, fireplace
bellows, Norse bentwood boxes (very early period to present), Swiss chip
carving, wooden spoons, snowshoes, carving incised lettering, carving and
turning bowls - including handles and feet on some, several types of boxes
that can be period or not, and a several other OOP things that are very
nice anyway.

This can probably be bought at any hardwoods store that carries the
magazine on the rack. Call around!

Happy whittling!
 
... Moreach NicMhaolain


Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: shafer at ferhino.dfrc.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer)
Subject: Re: Celt Tents Info
Organization: NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards CA
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 1995 18:25:56 GMT

On Sat, 03 Jun 1995 10:19:00 -0600, mike.boelter at rodent.isdn.net (Mike Boelter) said:

Mike>         The Chairs you are looking for were featured in a
Mike> woodworking magazine some years ago.  Name of Magazine was Fine
Mike> Woodworking or similar.  If no one remembers the article one
Mike> could always write to the magazines of that sort asking if they
Mike> have an article on same.

If it was Fine Woodworking, it's published by Taunton Press and they
are outstanding about back issues and article copies.  They also
publish Fine Gardening, Fine Cooking, and Threads, plus Folklore
Patterns.  There's an 800 number which, of course, I don't have here
at work but will gladly supply.  I called up looking for an article
that I had only a description of and the person on the other end
tracked it down for me very quickly.
--
Mary Shafer                                             DoD #362 KotFR   
SR-71 Chief Engineer   NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA
shafer at ferhino.dfrc.nasa.gov          Of course I don't speak for NASA
URL http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/People/Shafer/mary.html


From: powers at colon.cis.ohio-state.edu (william thomas powers)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: steam bending (was Re: Making Portable SCA Furniture)
Date: 12 Aug 1997 19:00:21 -0400
Organization: The Ohio State University, Department of Computer and Information Science

a couple of other books:
"Period Furniture Design" Charles H. Hayward, Sterling Publishing Co
isbn 0-8069-7664-0    "oak stool late 15th; oak chest, oak drawtable
early 16th, oak chest 1600, oak bed end first 1/2 16th;  all are just
measured drawings with all the work left to the craftsman.

"Encyclopedia of Spanish Period Furniture Designs" Jose' Claret Rubira
Sterling Publishing co, isbn 0-8069-7902-X   67 pages covers 14th century
to late 16th early 17th century mainly chests and chairs. Very nice drawings
but no indication of scale.  Many highly ornate with blow-up drawings of
the ornamentation.  270 more pages covering from the 17th through the
19th centuries.

wilelm the smith who works wood as an adjunct to smithing and as a means
of providing objects for a more period existance.


Subject: Making Square Poles Octagonal
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 98 13:18:03 MST
From: rmhowe <magnusm at ncsu.edu>
To: Merryrose <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>

This was written to tell someone how to make square poles octagonal
for plain use or in turning to use in a tent or yurt. They intended to
use a lathe. This is an old trick. May as well share it.
...................

Well, whether you use it like this or not, knocking the corners
off couldn't hurt. Use a pushstick. Octagon is fairly close to
round, then again you could knock a further set of corners off -
but at sixteen sides it gets awful round and might flip on you.
I've still got *all* my fingers and I've done way more than a hundred
thousand board feet of wood easily.

You can go from square to octagon two ways fairly easily - on the
table saw or band saw.

On the table saw tilt the blade 45 degrees. Put your SQUARE blank
up against the blade and still sitting on its edge on the table.
Now move the fence over against it's opposite side. Lock the fence.
Placing the blank flat down against the table saw and the fence,
you will now be able to saw a fairly good octagon.

I recommend using some feather boards to keep it against the fence.
You may need to put a spacer under them to raise the feather boards
and stay on the vertical side of the blank / octagon.

Feather boards are those which have a number of slots sawn in them
leaving long teeth about a 1/4" wide, generally angled on the end,
and clamped to the table, and or fence to push the stock against
the fence or table. They hold the stock firmly in position and
prevent kickbacks also.

P.S. It helps to turn the saw on first. ;)

     /\   ___
    /  \ |   |<Fence
 \\/    \|   |  Set up like this. Saw flat.
  \\    /|   |  Kinda hard to draw 45 degrees in ascii.
   \\  / |   |  Imagine a square workpiece.
____\\/__|___|_______________
____|\\|___________________ Table Saw Table
      \\
       \\ Blade goes just a little past the stock, not a lot.
          Move it down after you set your fence for safety.

On the bandsaw you would usually have to tilt the table.
Do the same setup. Saw flat to table.

Use a guard if at all possible. Watch your fingers, especially when
the stock goes past the bandsaw blade. Keep them out of line with
the blade. I've seen an amputation this way. When the blade comes
through the release of pressure can make your hands move rapidly.
Use a pushstick when you near the end.

M. Magnus Malleus, Windmaster's Hill, Atlantia; Great Dark Horde


Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 21:26:11 -0500
From: Peter Adams <redduke at earthlink.net>
To: JBRMM266 at aol.com
CC: ms154 at cornell.edu, atlantia at atlantia.sca.org

You will find the construction notes for a version of the Glastonbury
chair starting p151 in Daniel Diehls book _Constructing Medieval
Furniture_ currently available from the SCA stock clerk for about $20.
It is a good start, though despite his claims I still have some
questions about construction techniques used, especially the nails into
endgrain.
        If you want some SCA furniture based on period design without doing
laurel level research, this is your best commercially available
resource.

<snip of furniture book list - see furniture-msg>

For Medieval woodwork I reccomend the following,

_Woodwrights' (fill in the blank)_ Roy Underhill.  Traditional hand
woodworking, primarily dealing with Colonial projects, but many of the
technologies are appropriate for medieval use.  Underhill is concise and
precise about what and why the tool is doing what it does.

_Mechanic Excercises_ Joseph Moxon Astragal Press (on loan sorry no
isbn)  Reprint of the 1703 "how to" book, touted as the first ever of
the genre in the english language.  Smithing, masonry, turning, joinery
and house carpentry.  A must have for any student of medieval
technology.

_Woodworking Techniques befor AD 1500_ Sean McGrail et Al.  BAR
International Series 129, 1982;  The state of academic knowledge of all
types of woodworking from the prehistoric to the Medieval, another must
have for its citations on turning, materials, and techniques.

_History of Woodworking Tools_ W L Goodman, David McKay Company Inc.
1964;  This work dates relatively accurately the time periods for the
use of specific hand tools, and is an excellent source for documentation
of technique.  It helps to place information from other sources in
context as well as being a good general history of the developement of
tool use in western society from Egyptian times to the present.

Badouin


Subject: ANST - Info For Woodworkers
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 99 11:23:21 MST
From: "C. L. Ward" <gunnora at bga.com>
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG

Here's a cool resource for those interested in period woodwork.  Most of
their articles will be reflective of 1700's but I understand from
subscribing SCA members that the information is useful and often discusses
period info as well.

Joiners Quarterly: The Journal of Timber Framing & Traditional Building
http://www.nxi.com/WWW/joinersquarterly/

Gunnora Hallakarva, OL
Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra


Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 15:14:49 -0500
From: rmhowe <magnusm at ncsu.edu>
To: Merryrose <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>
Subject: Making Square Poles Octagonal

This was written to tell someone how to make square poles octagonal
for plain use or in turning to use in a tent or yurt. They intended to
use a lathe. This is an old trick. May as well share it.
...................

Well, whether you use it like this or not, knocking the corners
off couldn't hurt. Use a pushstick. Octagon is fairly close to
round, then again you could knock a further set of corners off -
but at sixteen sides it gets awful round and might flip on you.
I've still got *all* my fingers and I've done way more than a hundred
thousand board feet of wood easily.

You can go from square to octagon two ways fairly easily - on the
table saw or band saw.

On the table saw tilt the blade 45 degrees. Put your SQUARE blank
up against the blade and still sitting on its edge on the table.
Now move the fence over against it's opposite side. Lock the fence.
Placing the blank flat down against the table saw and the fence,
you will now be able to saw a fairly good octagon.

I recommend using some feather boards to keep it against the fence.
You may need to put a spacer under them to raise the feather boards
and stay on the vertical side of the blank / octagon.

Feather boards are those which have a number of slots sawn in them
leaving long teeth about a 1/4" wide, generally angled on the end,
and clamped to the table, and or fence to push the stock against
the fence or table. They hold the stock firmly in position and
prevent kickbacks also.

P.S. It helps to turn the saw on first. ;)

     /\   ___
    /  \ |   |<Fence
 \\/    \|   |  Set up like this. Saw flat.
  \\    /|   |  Kinda hard to draw 45 degrees in ascii.
   \\  / |   |  Imagine a square workpiece.
____\\/__|___|_______________
____|\\|___________________ Table Saw Table
      \\
       \\ Blade goes just a little past the stock, not a lot.
          Move it down after you set your fence for safety.

On the bandsaw you would usually have to tilt the table.
Do the same setup. Saw flat to table.

Use a guard if at all possible. Watch your fingers, especially when
the stock goes past the bandsaw blade. Keep them out of line with
the blade. I've seen an amputation this way. When the blade comes
through the release of pressure can make your hands move rapidly.
Use a pushstick when you near the end.

M. Magnus Malleus, Windmaster's Hill, Atlantia; Great Dark Horde


From: rmhowe <MMagnusM at bellsouth.net>
Date: April 8, 2004 10:24:54 PM CDT
To: - Authenticity List <authenticity at yahoogroups.com>, - BARONY of WINDMASTERS' HILL <keep at windmastershill.org>, - Dunstan <Dunstan at yahoogroups.com>, - Manx <TheManx at yahoogroups.com>, - Medieval Sawdust <medievalsawdust at yahoogroups.com>, - Regia Anglorum - North America <list-regia-na at lig.net>, - SCA Arts and Sciences 7/03 <Artssciences at lists.gallowglass.org>
Subject: Lathe Pages

>>>
I just started a new page on my turning website based on notes I making from a biography of a 17th century London turner: http://historicgames.com/lathes/wallington.html
Chas
--
MacGregor Historic Games
http;//www.historicgames.com
<<<

If you go to the above site you will see a number of pages
on lathes. I think it's interesting that he uses a bow
lathe to make lace bobbins of bone.

Charles and I occaisionally exchange notes on lathes.
He does html and I do ascii redactions of various
medieval techniques.

Master Magnus, OL, Great Barony of Windmasters' Hill [SCA],
regia.org, the Manx, Great Dark Hordebrother


From: rmhowe <MMagnusM at bellsouth.net>
Date: May 11, 2006 5:22:47 AM CDT
To: "- Gregory Blount - A&S. Food, Music, Brewing, and Dance SCA Pages (SCA) Greg Lindahl" <lindahl at pbm.com>, - Stephan's Florilegium <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>, - Medieval Sawdust <medievalsawdust at yahoogroups.com>, "- MedievalEncampments at yahoogroups.com" <MedievalEncampments at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Woodworking Index

<http://www.faqs.org/faqs/woodworking/>

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	woodworking-msg	Page 19 of 19