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

June 3, 2013

First time working Cypress

One would think that having done woodworking for over 40 years I would have worked this wood before, but this is the first opportunity to work this particular species of wood.  I got some scrap pieces from a friend, I had told him I had not used the wood before so he gave me some cut off from a bathroom counter top he is making.

soft arkansas2

Needing a new home for my soft Arkansas sharpening stone, I decided to make it from cypress as my others were made of pine.  Having worked a lot of pine, I thought that cypress would behave in a similar manner.  Much to my surprise it worked more like poplar than pine, with little end grain collapse of the softer spring wood.  I liked how it cut under a chisel, the router plane made smooth work of the inside mortise and it stood up well under a hand plane.

soft arkansas3

In making the box I noticed that the stone was not symmetrical, one end was slightly wider than the other.  I fit it tight in the bottom but had to make the top a bit loose in order to fit on the stone in either direction.

soft arkansas1

On the bottom of the sharpening stone box I used a long fine cut headless brad, pounded it in then cut it off with pliers to form small points to prevent it from slipping when in use.

I will not put a finish on the cypress and as you know I never use lubrication when I am sharpening only when I am cleaning the stone.

I generally keep my shavings separate and put them in my compost pile, however not the cypress, it won’t decompose.

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

January 16, 2013

Boxwood and Slate

My Christmas gifts arrived

This year my family changed from the usual gift exchange in the spirit of giving to a you can steal someone else’s gift in the spirit of taking.  My objections were overruled and I decided to play my own game.  I bought a gift card from Lee Valley, so that no one else in my family would be interested.  After choosing lots [my comment about deciding who is to die in a survival situation, got some chuckles] I was number 4 to draw and chose my own gift.  My sister objected and I told her she couldn’t change the rules in the middle of this evil game.  Needless to say we will be going back to the regular gift exchange next year.

Cashing in on the free shipping offered by Lee Valley, I picked up several turned and threaded boxwood containers.  I could not even buy the wood locally to make these at this price, not including labor.  Great items and very well made.

boxwood containers

I tried to order a staple-less stapler, but for some reason they can mail them to an address in the US.  I wonder if they are considered as personal protection devices or the magazine is too big?  Strange.

slate1

I also purchased a piece of slate, had to order the middle size as they do not ship the large size for some reason.  I thought it would be flat on one side but it was split and had uneven surfaces.  I checked their website and that is what they listed.

slate2

I however wanted to use it for writing with chalk or soapstone so I needed to smooth the surface.  I started with a coarse file and float, then converted to a piece of industrial sanding belt that had grit the size of cracked pepper and got it flat.  I then used a card scraper to remove the scratch marks.  The scraper was great, I did have to resharpen it during the process, the slate was abrasive to the scraper.  [I do have a piece of English Slate sharpening stone and it is very hard].

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 19, 2012

Prices of Wood, Boston March 6, 1856

From the front page of the Boston Post and Press.

BOXWOOD, per ton   60 00 @ 85 00

LIGNUM VITAE, per ton  15 00 @ 20 00

LUMBER, per 1000 feet

East Boards, white pine, No.1  40 00 @ — –

Do, do, No.2   40 00 @ — –

Do, do, No.3   33 00 @ 34 00

Do, coarse, No.3   23 00 @ 24 00

Do, do, No.4   13 00 @ 14 00

Do, Scoots     9 00 @ 10 00

Do, Flooring, southern pine  18 00 @ 20 00

Clapboards, extra   38 00 @ 40 00

Do, clear    33 00 @ 35 00

Do, No.1    17 00 @ 20 00

Shingles, pine, shaved, best   4 25 @  5 00

Do, do, do, 2d qual.    2 25 @  2 50

Do, do, sawn best    3 00 @  3 25

Do, cedar, shaved, best   3 50 @  4 00

Do, do, 2d qual.    2 00 @  2 50

Laths, pine, 1 ½ in.    1 75 @  2 00

Spruce Lumber, at measurement   9 00 @ 11 00

Hemlock do,    8 00 @  9 00

Sugar Box shooks   – 45 @ — 50

Ton Timber, white pine best   6 00 @  8 00

Do, do, ordinary    4 00 @  5 00

Do, do, southern pine   10 00 @ 12 00

MAHOGANY, per foot.

Cuba    – 12 @ — 24

St. Domingo   –   8 @ — 17

Honduras    –   9 @ — 18

[MAHOGANY – At public sale 586 logs Mansanilla at 11 ¾ @38c per foot, 6 mos.]

ROSEWOOD, Rio, per log  20 00 @ 60 00

WOOD, per cord

Eastern hard    6 75 @  7 60

Nova Scotia do    7 00 @ — –

Pitch Pine     6 75 @  7 00

South Shore, hard    7 25 @  7 50

Just to keep things current.

Stephen

 

 

May 29, 2012

Repairing Buddha

A friend of mine brought this to me to do a repair, it is not terribly old, the carving is good but not great and it suffered from a seasoning check.  It may have cracked shortly after being carved, as it is carved from a round log of wood.

It had been ‘repaired’ at least twice, the first time with some sort of colored clay that almost matched the crack.  It had then been worked over with what looks like a wax furniture repair stick, the lighter color.

The crack goes from the toes to the top of the head.  The first repair was almost undetectable, especially under the bright orange wax work.

Using a thin pallet knife and small needle, I removed the previous ‘repairs’.  I also used an old toothbrush to clean off any residue.

I will mix up some Beaumontage with dry powdered pigments and fill the crack.  I choose not to replace the missing with wood as I think the crack will continue and this ‘repair’ can be easily redone in the future.

Stephen

May 19, 2012

Hickory Handle for a Blacksmith’s Drift

Filed under: Clamping,Hide Glue,Historical Material,Of Interest,Proper Tools,Uncategorized,Wood — Stephen Shepherd @ 11:08 am

I have been using a veneery hammer I borrowed from a friend, because I lent my wooden veneer hammer to another friend.  In the coarse of discussions with Master Blacksmith Mark Schramm it was decided that he should make a traditional wrought iron veneer hammer, based on original designs.

As it was, Mark needed a handle made for a drift in order to make the proper tapered eye in the hammer head to receive the handle.  I have some splits of very dry hickory/pecan [hard to tell the difference some times] to fashion handles.  I used my small froe to split it to the right thickness then used a drawknife, spokeshave, rasp, and card scraper to shape the handle.

I used my pistol handle rip saw to cut the kerf for the wedge, then fashioned a proper wedge from a piece of very hard poplar I have.  I glued it in place with Lee Valley Fish Glue, both the wedge in the kerf and the handle to the head.  I properly etched the inside of the eye with garlic.  With everything in place I hammered the wedge home, washed off the glue [and raised the grain of the wood], then cut off the excess wedge.

After it dried I scraped it down with a card scraper, tomorrow I will put on a coat or two of Moses T’s St. John’s Oil.

Good to do some woodwork for a change.

Stephen

May 16, 2012

An Open Letter to the President, and the Congress of the United States of America

Filed under: Of Interest,Restoration,Trees,Uncategorized,Wood — Stephen Shepherd @ 2:56 pm

 

There is a real problem out here in the West and its solution can benefit the entire country.  There are over 360 million acres of Conifer Forests and over 40 million acres have been killed by the Red Death [bark beetle, pine needle borer] and they are expanding.  We are losing a great national natural resource, and it will get worse if nothing is done.

You and you alone could put hundreds of thousands of people to work to conserve the forests and convert the massive amount of standing dead trees into usable reasonably priced building materials.  The slash could be inexpensive firewood, mulch, and converted to alcohol.  There is also a great resource available from the pitch and sap exuding from both living and dead trees for turpentine and varnish production, not relying on limited fossil fuels.

While the process of removing the dead trees and their conversion to usable materials and stores will have an impact upon the environment, doing nothing is far more egregious.  The process of cleaning up all of the potential fuel will also lessen wild fire danger; making the forest healthy to resist future fires and infestations.

These forests are an important part of the Earth’s biomass that sequesters CO2 and produces oxygen.  They will only be a renewable resource if they survive.  And they are beautiful; please preserve them for future generations to enjoy.

Stephen Arden Shepherd

 

April 28, 2012

Quilting Frame

The frame is mostly done, still have to fit the gears onto the ends of the axles and fit up the pawls.  The frame is made of alder, unfortunately it is not available here in lengths over 10 feet.  This frame holds a 10 foot quilt blank, so the axles and stretcher need to be longer.

This was accomplished by laminating the pieces and overlapping the joints.  Of course it was glued together with hide glue and finished with Moses T’s St. John’s Oil.

I would like to thank George Merrill for his assistance on this project.

Stephen

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