Full Chisel Blog

June 10, 2013

Painted & Grained Furniture at Historic Cove Fort, Utah

On a recent visit to Historic Cove Creek Ranch Fort in central/southern Utah I had an opportunity to photograph a fine collection of original pioneer era painted and grained furniture.  I actually made some of the chairs that are also on exhibit.  Also items from the Blacksmith shop and fences around the barnyard.

Bellows

Said to be the original bellows from the fort, quite sure it is new leather. Bellows nozzle

Nozzel reinforced with rawhide, a good application. chairs and grained table

Ladder and Arrow back side chairs with mahogany grained table, not black stripes and edge.cochineal overshot quilt and mahogany grained rope bedstead

Croch mahogany rope bedstead with cochineal dyed overshot bed spread, log cabin patchwork quilt on blanket roll.cove fort

Entrance to the fort, the keystone and plaque were probably carved in Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory. cove fort exterior

Exterior shot of the Fort, made from local volcanic rock, the fort was built for protection against the local Native American Indians. Cove fort exterior wall

The walls are very thick and there is a chimney for each room a total of 12 smokes. Croch mahogany grained bedstead with striping

Another fine croch mahogany rope bedstead.  The blanket roll should be loose, an extra blanket was wound around it and if needed pulled over the top.  The headboard is called a ‘rolling pin’ headboard because of its shape.  Some say because many are loose that it was used to flatten the straw and feather ticks [mattresses], this is a myth, you want the ticks fluffy not flat! curly maple blanket chest

Pine blanket chest grained to simulate curly maple. Detail Iron bracket on blacksmiths forge

Detail of rope holder on blacksmiths bellows. Edible fence

Strangest fence I have ever seen, held together with rawhide.  How many critters and farm animals would make a meal of this?  Silly modern interpretation. Farm yard

Barn yard. Finely grained chest of drawers with glove boxes, grained table and gondola chair

Mahogany painted and grained chest of drawers with glove boxes and black painted split column and handles.  The gondola chair is one of the 25 chairs made for the LDS Museum of Church History and Art back in the 1980′s. indigo overshot quilt

Indigo overshot coverlet on maple grained bedstead. kitchen and questionable clock

A view of the kitchen, the tall clock is suspected by many to be of newer manufacture. kitchen with gondola chairs

Another view of the kitchen area including more of the gondola chairs.  All of the rooms have connecting doors to allow movement around the sides of the fort without having to go outside. Loop hole in Fort wall

One of the view ports [loophole] around the ramparts on the sides of the fort. Mahogany and maple grained bedstead

Pine rope bedstead grained to look like mahogany with maple panels. maple burl game table

Tripod game table made of pine and grained to look like curly maple. maple grained armless spinning wheel rocking chair

Pine side [armless] rocking chair, low construction for working on a spinning wheel. nice grained set of chairs

Matched side winsor chairs, mahogany with black stripes. nice pair of rope beds

A pair of pine rope bedsteads grained to imitate curly maple. oak grained bedstead

This bedstead is painted to look like quartersawn oak. Ogee clock owned by original occupant of the Fort

Original ogee shelf clock said to belong to the original residents. Ox stantion

Ox shoeing stantion, because cows can’t stand on 3 legs like a horse. polychrome firewood box

Polychrome wood box, even the utilitarian pieces were painted. Proper gutter and downspout in copper

Last time I saw these copper gutters and downspouts they were bright copper, a few years in the weather put on a nice verdigris patina. quilt and clothing

Nice quilt and some original pioneer clothing. Stenciled rocking chair belonging to original owner

Rocking chair said to belong to the original residents, black paint with bronzed stencil work. telegraph office, maple grained table

The desk in the telegraph office is pine painted and grained curly maple.  Note the lead acid battery pile under the desk. Wooden Fort Gates filled with sand

The doors of the fort originally filled with sand for protection of depredations that never happened.  Four Native American braves showed up at the fort, Mr. Hinkley invited them to dinner and there were never any problems.

I recommend a visit but be warned there are some dry cities in Utah, so take along provisions.

Stephen

May 3, 2013

The Complete Cabinet Maker And Upholsterer’s Guide – J. Stokes 1829

stokes1829

Gary Roberts over at Toolemera has done it again and reproduced a fine tome from the nineteenth century.  The book has many full color plates, hand colored engravings and Mr. Roberts has reproduced the entire book in color, so the pages appear as they would in an original edition.

Mr. Stokes has done an excellent job at assembling material from his peers and predecessors, which I won’t call plagiarism as it was common practice.  Some of the engravings have the long f for the s, indicating an earlier time.

The book is however full of very useful information about lay out, perspective, drawing, design and construction of furniture, with an emphasis on finishing, which I found fascinating.  This is a great hardbound edition of an historical work that is a pleasure to hold in ones hand and read about the past and the ways of old.  Add this one to your bibliotheque.

Stephen

March 12, 2013

The Worlds simplest Bar Clamp

If there is a simpler bar clamp, I have never seen one as simple as this one.  I have wanted one of these clamps for a long time and now I have one.  Made of 1/2″ square mild steel it has a reach of 3 1/3″ and can hold up to 12″ between jaws, with an overall length of 17″ to fit in a Medium Flat Rate box for shipping.

bar clamp1

bar clamp2

The prototype in the photograph is slightly shorter, clamps for sale will be slightly  longer.  Made by Master Blacksmith Mark Schramm, it took a couple of variations of the short piece to get it looking like the old images of this clamp.

clamp extensions

With the addition of wooden clamp extensions [of any length] it can clamp very large panels, see illustration.  Simple to use, tighten or loosen with a wooden mallet or hammer.

I am offering these for sale in The Full Chisel Store.

Stephen

March 3, 2013

30 day e-pox-ee or traditional Cutler’s Cement

 

As many of you know, and all of you should, that I don’t use modern things when it comes to doing traditional woodworking.  I don’t like modern white or yellow glues as their manufacture is extremely dangerous, highly polluting and based on petroleum distillates.  Same with modern poly glues and plastic finishes, I have no use for them.  They are just inappropriate for what I do.

What I was missing was the equivalent of e-pox-ee, the word does not even come out of my mouth, but I needed a permanent adhesive for chisel handles and for attaching wooden handles onto metal objects.  I did some experimental archeology and recreated the 1824 Cutler’s Cement from the Universal Receipt Book that I reprinted.

Well the stuff works great with only one drawback and that is its incredibly long drying time.  It does take at least 30 days for the stuff to completely cure and that is even helped along with keeping the newly ‘glued’ pieces near a heat source to aid in the drying and curing of the cement.  I also live in an arid mountain desert with low humidity.

I went with the exact formula on this batch, carefully measuring out the two main ingredients then adding just enough linseed oil [in the form of Moses T’s Gunstocker’s Finish, which is high in linseed oil with a bit of turpentine, gums and resins, etc.], to make a very thick paste.

small eating knife

small eating knife2

On a small German [F. Herder, Solingen] eating knife with a beech handle, I first etched the metal tang with a fresh cut clove of garlic, then pushed the thick past down the hole of the handle and checked it until it was pushing excess back out the hole.  I cleaned off the squeeze out and set it aside to dry.

small eating knife4

small eating knife3

After about a week I noticed that the oil had soaked through the beech wood handle in two places near the blade.  To my surprise the oil had not traveled with the grain of the wood but it migrated along the medullary rays, through the grain or growth rings.  I found that astonishing as I assumed the oil would flow along a ring rather than through the annual growth ring.

After a few more weeks the blade was securely held in the handle and I raised the grain and allowed it to dry.  I lightly sanded the beech, applied some Moses T’s Reviver [a lean oil] and some burnt umber dry powdered pigment.  I wiped off the excess and allowed it to dry for a couple of days, followed by a couple of coats of Moses T’s Gunstocker’s Finish [a fat oil].

small eating knife5

This knife has been used, soaked twice and washed with soap and water over a dozen times.  Blade is held securely.

The other items, brazier handle ferrules, saw handle, awl, chisels, etc., have all dried for the required time and all are very secure.  So now I have my appropriate, traditional adhesive that is waterproof, heat resistant, all natural, safe to make and use, and not a permanent inflexible dangerous petrochemical plastic.

Stephen

 

February 16, 2013

Pivot Hinge made from the under-rib of a muzzle loading rifle.

Filed under: Documentation,Furniture,Hardware,Of Interest,Techniques,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 2:43 pm
pivot hinge1

I didn’t have my gnomon, that is a Mini-Mag flashlight

Here is another documented example of what lengths cabinetmaker’s had to go to make furniture on the frontier of Utah in the mid nineteenth century.  It is a pivot hinge that has been fabricated from part of the under-rib of a half stock muzzle loading rifle.  The cabinet was made by Henry Dinwoody in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory in the mid nineteenth century.  It is a wardrobe and these are the pivot hinges for two large flat panel doors.  The secondary wood is pine and the primary wood is black walnut made from packing crates.

pivot hinge3

Brigham Young instructed the saints to have items shipped to the West in hardwood shipping crates and these pieces of wood used in this large wardrobe have neatly bung plugged holes where the nails secured the shipping crate together.

When I first examined this piece in the 1970’s and immediately noticed that the hinges were made from the gun part, just from the visible end profile, the under-rib has a particular shape that was easy for me to realize, as I had recently just completed my first black powder gun.

pivot hinge2

Years later I was able to further examine the piece and found a touch mark on one side of one of the hinges and it is illustrated in the photographs.  I am not sure what they are, any ideas?

Someone gave me an old under-rib and I have it somewhere in my collection of stuff, and I intend to make it into pivot hinges like this historic example.

Stephen

 

February 8, 2013

Double Leaf Hinge made from a wrought iron barrel band

Filed under: Furniture,Hardware,Historical Material,Of Interest,Techniques,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 11:12 am

leaf hinge1

leaf hinge2

leaf hinge3

It is rare that one finds this particular style of hinge on a piece of furniture made from between 1847 to 1850, as the double leaf hinge usually dates from the late 18th century to the early 19th century.  It is also rare to find a documented piece of early Utah furniture, knowing the original owner from the family history but also be able to determine the original maker because of the construction and decorating techniques.

The piece of furniture is a large secretary with a fold down desk top with loafers to support and has an integral upper double glazed doors.  One of the doors was missing and one hinge was still attached to the carcase.  The intact door also had hinges made in the same manner.  This particular hinge has evidence that it was made from something else as it had a large hole on the underside [out of view] that shouldn’t have been there if it were made from sheet iron.

The hole, with evidence it had been punched is I am certain a hole from one of the two rivets on each barrel band from a water or whiskey barrel.  Out here in Utah in the 1850’s everything is repurposed because of the lack of supplies.  I have seen a pivot hinge made from the under rib of a half stock muzzle loading rifle.

double leaf hingeThe hinge is 2″ long, 1 13/16″ wide [open], [1 1/32" wide closed], and the metal is .051″ thick, the pin is 1/8″ in diameter.

The drawing indicates how the hinge would look if it was unfolded.  There are two choices as to how the hole was arranged on the barrel.  Because of a small surface crack on the barrel, I think it was made from a fairly wide barrel band.  The grain in the wrought iron would go along the length of the barrel band.

Every other example from this period and place I have examined is the single leaf style hinge; see Shepherds’ Compleat Early Nineteenth Century Woodworker page 73.

Interesting piece of history.

Stephen

January 11, 2013

Shepherds’ Compleat Early Nineteenth Century Woodworker – First Review

bookcover2

This is the first book review of my first book that was originally published in hardbound in 1981.  This review appeared in Smithsonian Magazine April 1982.

smithsonian1

smithsonian2

 

 

I found this while doing research at the University of Nevada, Reno at their excellent library.

Now I need to find the reviews in Workbench Magazine, Soldier of Fortune Magazine and Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly.

Available at Tools for Working Wood

and The Full Chisel Store or from Amazon.  Amazon also has original hardbound editions for sale.

Stephen

July 16, 2012

Iron & Steel Prices, Boston March 6, 1856

IRON, per ton,

Russia, Old Sable, P.S.I –@–

Do. N. Sable   –@–

Swedes, common assorted 95 00 @100 00

Do, square and extra sizes 105 00@ 118 00

Glendon bar   –@–

English, flat, round & square  –@–

Do, do, refined  65 00@ 75 00

Do, Foundry   –@–

A Forge   –@–

Pig, American, Anthracite –@–

Do, Charcoal   –@–

Do, do Foundry  –@–

Do, Scotch, 1st quality  34 50@ 35 00

Do, do, other qualities  –@–

Sheet, English, per pound -13 ½ @-4 ½

Do. Russia   -15 ½ @-16

Boiler, Penn, 1st quality –@–

Do, do 2nd do   –@–

Do, Brandywine best  -6@ -6 ½

STEEL per pound

German, cast steel  -18@ -19

Do, Halbach   -12 ½ @-13

English, best   - 13@ -17

Do, common   -6 ½ @-7

American   - 5@ -7

Check out the difference in prices between iron and steel.  Interesting.

Stephen

 

 

July 5, 2012

A Brief History of Nails

Filed under: Hardware,Historical Material,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 11:23 am

Stephen

June 28, 2012

Double Flax Spinning Wheel Flyer – done

I started this documentation of the restoration of this flyer here.  And continued here and here.  The flyer was broken in two around the mandrel, which I repaired with Hot Hide Glue, I also served linen thread around the base to strengthen, secured with a couple coats of shellac.

I could not bend the hooks the way I normally do as they are too small.  So I had to bend them in the reverse order than normal.  I used the thickness of the needle nose pliers to determine the length of the hook shank, then bent it over and hit it with a hammer to create a sharp corner.

I then bent the hook end and nipped them off.  I had to be careful as I only had a short length of old iron wire the correct size to match the other flyer.

After making 20 iron wire hooks I had plenty left over, see the 1/2″ piece on the gnomon?  I was sweating the last five, but when I got down to 3 I knew I had it made.

I then had to file all of the ends of the hooks to remove any sharp edges and flatten out the shank of the hook.

The lower hook is flattened on an anvil with a hammer and has not been sharpened to a triangular point on the end.

And here it is completed, I did use Fish Glue to secure the hooks, I also etched the iron wire with garlic prior to gluing.  I used the little clamp from Lee Valley to push down a couple of difficult hooks, most went in by gently pushing with pliers while very gently twisting.

Stephen

 

 

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