Toolemera Blog

More Saws - Monhagen Saw Works 1859

Some days we just can't get enough of saws. Not the plastic handled, stamped sheet metal things at the local Borg that won't cut paper more than once, I mean SAWS, the real deal, the kind that still cut after lo these many years. Just as the saying goes, "you can never have too many planes", it's even more so a truism that "you can never have too many saws". Witness the myriad companies that came into being over the centuries, each oft to be swallowed up by the early conglomerates, yet each producing under their own label. What does that tell you but that customer loyalty was and is a powerful force.

The latest addition to the Saw Catalog Collection (I just named it that, don't go looking for it at the website yet) is this early Monhagan Saw Works catalog of 1859. The proprietors: Wheeler, Madden & Bakewell, who begat Wheeler, Madden & Clemson, who in turn had the fortune, or misfortune, to be swallowed up by The National Saw Company. In time The National Saw Company owned just about every working saw shop with the exception of Disston, Atkins and Simonds. In their day, The National Saw Company became known as the Saw Barons of the industry (just kidding, I made that up... please don't quote me and create a new and spurious historical fact that is based on the writings of some author who needed to fill space).

What's more curious is that most, if not all of the saws produced under the Wheeler, Madden & Bakewell label had the stamp of Josiah Bakewell on the blade of panel saws or the spine of back saws. The tote medallions often did have W M & B initials. I wonder if this trio had a back stock of Bakewell saws blades that needed to be used up? Did they buy up Josiah's shop at bankruptcy? Did Josiah sell out to them and retire to the West Indies to brew rum? How many more historical inaccuracies can I add to this tale? Why did Josiah have the family name of Bakewell and not Sawswell? Personally I think that stamping Wheeler, Madden & Bakewell Co. on each and every saw blade and spine was too time consuming, not to mention it yielded an unwieldy bit of graphic design. Plus, stamp makers charged by the number of letters and/or size of the stamp.

I'll leave you to peruse the catalog over at the Toolemera Press Website.

Till next
Gary

The Handyperson's Lament

Twas  the night before Christmas
when all through the house
I searched for the tools
to hand to my spouse.

Instructions were studied
and we were inspired,
in hopes we could manage
"Some Assembly Required."

The children were quiet (not asleep) in their beds,
while Dad and I faced the evening with dread:
a kitchen, two bikes, Barbie's townhouse to boot!
And now, thanks to Grandpa, a train with a toot!

We opened the boxes,
my heart skipped a beat—
let no parts be missing
or parts incomplete!

Too late for last-minute returns or replacement;
if we can't get it right, it goes straight to the basement!
When what to my worrying eyes should appear
but 50 sheets of directions, concise, but not clear,

With each part numbered and every slot named,
so if we failed, only we could be blamed.
More rapid than eagles the parts then fell out,
all over the carpet they were scattered about.

"Now bolt it! Now twist it! Attach it right there!
Slide on the seats, and staple the stair!
Hammer the shelves, and nail to the stand."
"Honey," said hubby, "you just glued my hand."

And then in a twinkling, I knew for a fact
that all the toy dealers had indeed made a pact
to keep parents busy all Christmas Eve night
with "assembly required" till morning's first light.

We spoke not a word, but kept bent at our work,
till our eyes, they went blurry; our fingers all hurt.
The coffee went cold and the night, it wore thin
before we attached the last rod and last pin.

Then laying the tools away in the chest,
we fell into bed for a well-deserved rest.
But I said to my husband just before I passed out,
"This will be the best Christmas, without any doubt.

Tomorrow we'll cheer, let the holiday ring,
and not run to the store for one single thing!
We did it! We did it! The toys are all set
for the perfect, most magical, Christmas, I bet!"

Then off to dreamland and sweet repose
I gratefully went, though I suppose
there's something to say for those self-deluded—
I'd forgotten that BATTERIES are never included!

by Anonymous

How To Paint Your Home

Ever wonder where all that lead paint came from? Well folks, here is a nifty little booklet from New Era Paint, c1920 that tells you all about it. Courtesy of Louis Schmidt (who does not advocate the use of lead paint on homes), New Era Paint "How To Paint Your Home" extols the virtues of Pure Lead, Oxide of Zinc, Linseed Oil, Turpentine, Dryer and Tinting Colors. Doesn't that recipe just make you want to rush out and whip up a batch for your home?

The advantage of lead paint is not really what caught my attention. Within the booklet are a series of images of houses with differing color combinations for the roof, exterior walls and trim. Some houses are contemporary to the 1920's and some, such as Queen Anne, predate the booklet by quite a few decades. Even allowing for some color fading, this is still a great way to see what color combinations had been recommended for the discerning home owner. Black & White or Sepia toned photographs of the period simply don't tell you what the house really looked like. Examining paint chips may, but how many of us take chip samples and check them under a microscope?

In the case of my house, a 1920ish Farmhouse (read: 1 & 3/4 story "colonial" of indeterminate design), there was no way to tell. When it came time to reside, re-roof and re-window the house, we discovered that referring to earlier siding doesn't always work, as you can see here... Termite and water damage aside, the earliest white cedar siding was in less than optimum condition. Yes, we did need an entire new sill. The original was pure punk. The kitchen wall was held together by the interior wall board and luck. My guess is that the original color scheme, if you can call it that, was white, or off-white, or? If I had had this booklet, I could have transformed our farmhouse into a beautiful turreted, 2.5 story Queen Anne style dwelling. We would have gained a few extra rooms and been the pride of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, I did not have access to this booklet (no blame on Louis, it wasn't his fault) and so settled on a pretty light yellow siding with white trim and black shutters. Vinyl of course but it is wood grained.

So hop on over to The Toolemera Press site to see the full PDF version of this booklet. Transform your home into the castle you have always wanted. And while you are at it, consider the classic line "but this is how they used to do it and that makes it good". Obviously, lead paint and linseed oil are the way to go.

Till next
Gary 

Ohio Saw Works Catalog 1874

Ever hear of the Ohio Saw Works? Not being all that well versed in the nomenclature of saws, this company had slipped by me. But wait... Woodrough & McParlin? Sure I've heard of them. The makers of the near-mythic Panther Head Hand Saw. Just as Jaguar added a Jaguar to the hood (or bonnet if you will) of their cars, Woodrough & McParlin added a carving of a Panther Head to this model of their handsaw. Clearly, as with the Jaguar, adding this bit of feline symbolism improved performance while adding visual appeal.

Back to ephemera. The full title of this catalog is:

"Price List. August 1874. Ohio Saw Works Established 1854. Woodrough & McParlin, Manufacturers Of Patent Ground Saws, Circular, Mill, Mulay, and Cross-Cut Saws, Hand And Back Saws, Billet, Cooper, and Power Webs, Etc. Factories And Warehouse, Corner Sixth And Hoadly STS., OPP. Cin., H. & D. R. R. Depot.

Modern day advertising execs. could learn a thing or two from the 19th Century commercial printer. Emerald green covers with full gilt lettering and images. Before you start counting your bullion, bronze powder was used to produce the look of gilding without the expense. Not your average piece of commercial production, this catalog screamed "Look At Me". Sadly, by the 1880's, gilt lettering had pretty much gone the way of the Dodo bird. As with many trade catalogs of the middle 19th Century, this catalog is offered with "self-covers", paper covers of nearly the same weight as the contents pages. Along with the problems of acidity, that's one of the reasons we see so few trade catalogs from this period, at least those that retain their covers. The introduction of stiff or paste-board covers in the 1880's led to the survival of many more catalogs. Or perhaps the self-covered catalog served a secondary purpose at the local out-house when the household ran out of the town newspaper. We will never know for sure.

This particular catalog predates the absorption of Woodrough & McParlin, along with a variety of other saw manufacturers into (read: swallowed up by) The National Saw Company. National Saw was the AT&T of it's day. From  "Between the Ocean and the Lakes: The Story of Lake Erie." by Edward Harold Mott. 1899 we have:

"The National Saw Company was incorporated in 1890, with a capital of $3,000,000. George N. Clemson was made its president; Louis Duhme, vice-president; R. W. Clemson, secretary; R. L. Woodrough, treasurer; and H. H. Woodrough,  treasurer. The company owns and operates the establishments of the Wheeler, Madden & Clemson Manufacturing Company, and the Monhagen Steel Works at Middletown; Woodrough & Parlin at Cincinnati, Ohio; The Richardson Saw Works at Newark; Harvey W. Peace, Brooklyn, N. Y., and Woodrough & Clemson, Montvale, Mass. The Middletown Works alone cover an area of five acres."

While you're over at The Toolemera Press website checking out this catalog, use the Search function to find more material from Richardson Bros. Wheeler Madden & Clemson and other saw manufacturers. Coming soon: a Monhagen Saw Works (Wheeler, Madden & Bakewell) catalog from 1859.

Till next,
Gary Roberts

Update: Courtesy of Brian Welch, we have an ad from Iron Age for Woodrough & McParlin. With the exception of the Send for Catalogue entry, this is the same engraving used on the back cover of the catalog.  Recycling was obviously in vogue in the 19th Century...

Roman Woodworking Book Review

We like to talk about traditional woodworking techniques. The Secrets, Arts & Lore handed down from Master to Apprentice. We pour over 19th Century books attempting to figure out how did they do that? Wayyyy before us, there was the Roman Empire. Unfortunately we can't pick up a Roman Trade School book and read up on dovetails.

But we can read Roman Woodworking, by Robert B. Ulrich. Published in 2007 by the Yale University Press. ISBN: 9780300103410. I could write a bunch of stuff to start with, but instead I'll quote from the flyleaf:

"... the art of woodworking in the ancient Roman world. Illustrated with over 200 line drawings and photographs, Roman Woodworking covers such topics as the training and guild memberships of Roman carpenters, woodworking tools and techniques, the role of timber in construction and the availability of trees, and interior woodwork and furniture making."

What could have been one of those dry academic texts that look good from the cover but read like an Introduction to an International Economics text, is instead a fascinating and scholarly review of the world of the wood craftsman during the Roman Empire. I was increasingly surprised to see just how far we have not come. Ok, so maybe they didn't have an IncraJig or whatever it is called. No-one had a bevel gauge to determine the perfect chisel or plane iron bevel. And the micrometer had not yet been invented to enslave us poor unsuspecting craftspeople. A glossary of Roman Woodworking terms will make you the life of the next shop class.

Next time someone asks you what are you making, instead of a bookcase, say you are making an Armarium. And you can tell your Significant Other that you can never have too many Runcinae (planes). Hopefully I got that right. My early Roman dialects are sorta rough.

I know, it's a tad expensive. That's what your local library is for, isn't it?

Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Roman Woodworker
3. The Tools of the Trade
4. Joints
5. Foundation
6. Framing and Walls
7. Wooden Flooring
8. Roofing and Ceilings
9. Interior Woodwork
10. Wheels
11. Furniture and Veneers
12. Classification of Trees
13. The Forests of Italy
14. Glossary
15. Appendix: Roman Woodworking Tools

Till next
Gary Roberts

PS: The Toolemera Press website has moved to a new host, WebDynamic LLC, the day job of Jim Esten, he of the Galoot Central. Links and stuff should be pretty much the same. The site needs a little touch up here and there to correct some errant code but that will be taken care of shortly.

PPS: Hop over to the blog of Chris Schwarz, c2006 for a real life honest to goodness Roman Plane made from a kit.