Hi Mike
As a part time lurker and minimal activist on this list I can only opine
that you
should find yourself in good company here.
With a bio such as yours you will find many of the list members able to
(and very willing) help you fill some of the blanks in your quest.
Good to see your postings!
Regards
Bob in Ohio who is gearing up for family at Christmas...love it...love it
love it!
and wishing y'all the same emotional experience!
In a message dated 12/23/2013 7:58:28 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
branson@c... writes:
Having mentioned my difficulties communicating with State Parks, it's
about time I
put together a bio.
In 1981 I began as a living history docent at Sutter's Fort historic park.
There's a
carpenter shop, but in '81 it was stuffed with donations of "old" tools
most of which
weren't in existence in 1845, which had been recently established as the
cut off date
for anything used or displayed in Sutter's Fort. Another fellow and I
were asked to
create a formal document for "rehabilitating" the carpenter's shop, to be
approved by
State Parks for implementation. We produced a 200 page document,
describing wood
work
for that time, listing the tools needed and the wood available to Sutter's
carpenters.
It was approved and we went to work putting the shop in order. The
existing
bench was
no more than a display piece with a 3/4 inch thick work surface, and it
was set
against
the back wall where there was never any light. It went away, and we built
a new
bench
using a slab of black oak 30 inches wide by a full 4 inches thick. Topped
it off
with
an all wood leg vise I picked up for 8 bucks, and placed it under the
windows.
The two of us got to buy all the tools we had listed, either antiques or
modern
examples
of what was available in 1846. The carpenter's shop now worked as either
a static
display or as a fully functional shop during living history programs. All
the tools
were purchased as "consumables," meaning they all got to work for a living.
I worked there for 17 years, and also assisted with the rehab plans for
some of the
other rooms and workshops in what Sutter called his "factory." In
addition to the
tools bought for the State, I expanded my own tool collection, personal
tools that
I brought with me to events.
There was a 3rd generation working blacksmith at the fort as well. I got
my first
lessons in blacksmithing from him. He started at the age of 9, and had
been trained
by his father and his grandfather. It wasn't a hobby for him; it was how
he made
his living, and that made a real difference in how he approached his work
and a
difference in how I came to approach smithing.
In 2001, I was contacted by a fellow who was a member of the California
Historical
Artillery Society. He had restored a Civil War "traveling forge" and
built the
battery wagon that accompanied the forge. These were used by the
artificers who
were the repair and fabrication workers of all light artillery batteries.
He needed
to identify and acquire all the tools issued to the artificers and carried
in the
field. We succeeded in finding or making 98% of the tools in the lists we
had
from Ordnance Department documents. As long as I was helping him identify
and
find all the tools, he recruited me into the society, and for the next ten
years
we reenacted the Civil War.
I had the forge lit for about 15 minutes at my first event when I was
asked if I
could make a staple for one of the Grimsley saddles that had lost one.
Sure.
A half hour later, another saddle lost one of its staples, and another one
was
made. An hour later I was asked if I could restore one of the cannon
implements
to working condition, and later in the day a second one was brought to the
forge
for repair. We spent hours at each event doing the various repair jobs
that
artificers were supposed to do. If anything could be broken, the tools
were there
to replace, repair, or rebuild -- smithing, carpentry, or harness making.
Between events, we rebuilt, repaired, or rehabilitated gun carriages and
other
military rolling stock. We also got the task of rebuilding and repairing
a few
other carriages and wagons that belonged to the group.
Things fell apart with CHAS and the four artificers. In 2012, all of us
resigned.
Which brings me to one of my two big projects at the moment. Bob, the
fellow who
recruited me, wanted to continue the artificer gig. He found the plans
and tool
lists for the blacksmith forge and tools and the carriage maker's tools
that were
designed to accompany the mountain howitzer. There are four chests that
contain
all the tools issued, including the forge, which folds up and goes into
its chest.
There are four chests in all -- two for the smith, two for the carpenters.
Bob passed away last summer unexpectedly, so finishing this project is all
up to
me at this point. I have assembled most of the carriage maker's tools as
issued,
but some of the smith's tools are hard to identify. There's a wrench that
is
driving me nuts. Double open end, one 3/4 inch, and the other 1 1/2 inch.
I
haven't been able to find its length or appearance. There's a bothersome
"nail
punch"
that isn't adequately drawn -- what is the point dimensions?? Since the
chest
also contains a fore punch and a pritchel, I doubt that it has anything to
do with
horse shoes. For cannon carriages and some other things, wrought nails
are specified
and my current thought is that the nail punch is for making holes to
accommodate
these wrought nails.
My other project was dropped on me by the lead ranger at Sutter's Fort,
which I
have recently rejoined. The plan for the cooper's shop has been shuffled
around
for quite a while, waiting for a number of people with Parks to sign off as
approved. But the lead ranger and his superior want thing to happen
there, and
to have the shop functional. I've been volunteered to get things rolling
and
establish what tools are necessary and appropriate, as well as what
processes
would have been used. This just happened after the Spanish cooper video
was
posted here -- good thing I joined this list!!! I've got another 50 hours
or
so in research on coopering, which has been very educational.
Since there is very little known about Sutter's cooper shop, this is going
to
be a rather creative project. There was a German cooper who came to
Sutter in
1847, but documents show that the shop itself was already in existence.
There's
a great diversity among cooperage in the US, France, Germany, and Spain.
so which
tools should be found in Sutter's shop? And what names for those tools?
I'm
settling on the Spanish. I have found other videos of Spanish coopers
that show
a very distinctive hammer (different from the first video). The names of
the
tools are just out the window, so the tool list will have to depend on
pictures
rather than names. The winch sort of things the first video shows, that
gathers
the ends of the staves has at least five different names in French... No
consensus there.
In real life, I do woodwork. I've built and designed furniture for
Sutter's Fort
and also for Fort Ross. I spent several years building sets and props,
primarily
for opera. I've made window sash using tools not mentionable here, adzed
beams for
architectural projects. Built a hollow core racing mast once. With the
help of
a Stanley 400, a Marsh 400, and a Stanley 100, I build picture frames.
I've done
wagon and carriage repair and once made a Mexican carreta from scratch.
My tools include some that were my grandfather's, and a very few that
belonged to
his father, a master carpenter. Of my hand tools, the newest are pre-war
Stanley
planes, and my oldest is a neolithic stone ax. Well, the *really* newest
are
a number of planes hand made by Viet-Namese carpenters and shipwrights and
an
Anglo-American felling ax, circa 1705 that was reproduced by my first
blacksmith
teacher.
I love old and old style hand tools.
Mike in Sacto
---- Msg sent via CWNet -
http://www.cwnet.com/--------------------------------------------------
-----">http://www.cwnet.com/----------------------------------------------------
---
-----------------
OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
To change your subscription options:
http://ruckus.
law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
To read the FAQ:
http://swingleydev.com/archive
/faq.html
OldTools archive: http://swingleydev.com/archive/">http://swingleydev.com/archive/
OldTools@r...
http://ruckus.
law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
|