Toolemera Blog

1833 Single Page Catalogue

Over at that OTHER site, the one I rarely name, is a plane makers catalog from 1833. Msrs. Hills & Richards of Norwich, Massachusetts, felt it was time to distribute their catalog of goods. From what I can see, these guys were only in business for a very short time. They each were skilled plane makers in their own right. I checked the bible of American wooden planes:

A Guide to the Makers of American Wooden Planes and discovered that these guys changed partners almost as often as a square dance couple would. Was it all about personalities? Someone's lease ran out and they had to move? Contractual disputes? Artistic differences in the placement of the gouge cut? Disagreements over the purpose of the saw nib? For some reason, Hills could not stick with any one partner.

Aside from my wonderings about the intra-corporate conflicts of the 19th C plane makers business, this catalog is interesting in that it is early, in fact the earliest catalog in my personal collection. It's a single sheet of paper and it's a stampless letter. Stamps were first issued in 1847 and by 1856 had become mandatory. The stampless letter was folded up carefully, sealed with a wax blob and mailed. Sometimes the sender paid the way, sometimes the recipient might be responsible for charges. In 1833, the stampless letter was the only way to go. Although, it wasn't called a stampless letter because we had not yet invented stamps.

You'll notice this catalog is entitled: "Catalogue and Invoice Prices...". There is also a note offering 'liberal discount to Wholesale Dealers'. My guess is that 'invoice' meant this is the price and we won't raise it when you walk in the door.  Reading through the types of planes offered is fascinating stuff. We have our assumptions of what was a commonly needed plane, but our assumptions are based upon our present day system of work. Halving planes are offered in three styles, regular, with handles and with plating. We don't use these today, but clearly there was a need for them in the early 19th C.

Bed molding planes are there too. No, not for your trundle bed, but for the molding along the floor. I think. Or maybe it was for a four poster? But what is a Blind Plane? Boxed or Unboxed? I'm guessing Draw Planes referred to shaves, but that is only a guess. They were available boxed, moving fence and circular. The Circular plane was also called a Heel plane.

Fillister planes were a big item. Hills & Richards offered them in every variety you can think of:

• with stop
• with stop and cut
• with stop, cut and boxed
• with screw, stop, cut and boxed
• with armes, stop, cut and boxed
• with screw, armes, stop, cut and boxed

Fillister planes are yet often found, atesting to their popularity. The variety of configurations speaks loads to the personal preferences of the workers, if not to the ever-present "my tool is fancier than your tool" school of though. If you're looking for a modern fillister, check out Philly Planes for a true to the note fillister. Even Chris Schwartz, who sings the praises of hand tools, reveled in the delights of fillistering.

Before there were multi-page, bound trade catalogs, there were single sheet catalogs of this ilk. Before the single sheet there were trade cards that served as catalogs or listings of goods. I haven't come across one of the trade card variety as of yet, but I'm still looking. The closest I can come to that is the May & Co. trade card at my website, The Toolemera Press. What, you thought I wouldn't slip another reference in? The May & Co. trade card is late 19th C, so although it does list a bunch of stuff, it really can't be termed a catalog of goods.

I have another single page plane makers catalog to display, but first I have to remove some photo-mounts that became stuck to it. And that is why you should never mount single page trade catalogs using photo-mounts (no, it wasn't me).

Till next
Gary

The Moxon Saga

Some people have asked "Where in the World is Joseph Moxon?". Understandably so as I first set out to produce a new edition of Moxon's Mechanick Exercises nearly a year ago. Numerous technical hills had to be overcome, some basic book conservation tasks had to be revisited, some software was not up to snuff and a wide variety of family crises served to slow the entire process down.

Needless to say, handling and imaging a book from 1703 requires quite a bit of care, planning and holding-of-your-breath. This copy has an original 18th C binding, at least from what I can see. I have no desire to rebind it. Sure, most of the spine is missing, the covers have bits and pieces of leather chipped off and there are a few loose pages. But so what? This book is pretty much the way it came to the hands of the first owner. Lopsided pages due to poor binding abound, finger prints, the remains of a shoe heel imprint on the cover, personal annotations, creases, wrinkles and so on. All of which adds to the allure of holding and reading The Real Thing.

To achieve a truly flattened image, I would have to disbind the book, press and flatten each set of pages and image them individually. That could be done, but once again I'ld have to disbind it. After viewing the results of trials under magnification, I really didn't like the quality. So the book went into a book press and sat there for three months. I checked it every now and then and relegated it to the press for some more torture. Finally, the pages had flattened as much as they wanted to be. Some wrinkling from centuries of damp is evident, but that is what a really old book looks like. Just take some dramamine before reading it.

A funny thing happened on the way to scanning. I have used Lasersoft Imaging's Silverfast scanning software for years. The latest version seemed to lack something. Greyscale images lacked definition, contrast was muddy and the page texture seemed to disappear into a granular mess. Lots of tweaking but still not up to what I wanted. Photoshop Elements 4 (Mac) and Graphic Converter did good jobs of correcting the problems, but I really prefer to produce a scan at the scanner end that contains the best possible image before I start on image manipulation through a graphics program.

I've been using an Epson 4490 which really is a great scanner. But the software, while good, was not up to Silverfast for options. Until the latest release. There is an all important parameter set that I wanted to use: 300 dpi Greyscale, original size output. What's so important about this task? If you set the output for physical dimensions, most software will adjust the dpi to suit the height and width of the object. Why? Because dpi is really an indication of physical dimensions when scanning. The way to produce a higher quality scanned image is to force the dpi to meet the physical dimensions. The latest Epson scan software does that beautifully. The older version had these settings, but the output sometimes varied.

Then comes Photoshop Elements 6 for the Mac. Sure, I have it on the PC too, but it's sort of slow and fussy. The batch functions are a breeze. Adjusting contrast became easy-peasie. Plust the output was a perfect reproduction of the original with suitably enhanced contrast to bring out text and the page texture.

Along the way to this stage, I finally realized that almost everyone who expressed interest in Moxon, as well as a variety of other titles (e.g.; Denning, Jones, Nicholson, Holtzappfel, etc), asked for a PDF of sufficient quality for printing off their home printer. That was the next glitch. Getting a PDF that is small enough for downloading yet contains sufficient quality for printing... of a 305 year old book... was a failure in the making. Let's step back a moment to discuss your typical reprint. What you see from the vast majority of reprints of classic books are actually recreations. The content has been re-typed, re-word processed or re-typeset, graphics have been properly placed for an end result that looks like the original, but is clear as a bell. Some companies do work from scanned or photographed images that have been carefully cleaned in imaging software. The end result is the same, a copy that looks like new.

I have this thing for old, stained, wrinkled, creased paper. I don't iron out the creases and wrinkles in billheads, I don't bleach out paper. I will gently erase modern smudges or remove loose surface dirt, press out particularly bad creases and mend tears that threaten the viability of a page but that is about it. A book may be pressed for a good many weeks to correct any one of a number of faults but I rarely rebind.

There is a form of reproducing incunabula (a book or page that was printed before 1501) that I like. The image, scanned or photographed, is reproduced as is, as you see it, in greyscale or color, typically with a fairly wide clear margin surrounding it. You know that you are looking at the original, warts and all. Maybe I can't afford to buy a copy, or even find a copy, but I can pretend I am reading the real thing. That is the goal of most of my reprints, PDF or hard copy.

Which brings us to the present. Over at work, we have been using a POD (Print On Demand) service to produce bound copies of lengthy reports. We have an in-house publications department, but in some cases we needed features only a full scale publishing house could provide. Aha! I've been investigating POD publishers for the past few months and find that in the past year, the quality and reliability of POD has improved considerably. What was a venture in it's infancy even a year ago is now a fully grown industry for the independant author or publisher.

And that is were I am at now. The current plan is to produce a series of books, beginning with Moxon, in paper. Hopefully there will be the option of trade paper back or hard cover, depending upon the readers preferences. I may offer a PDF version at a much lower price for those prefer a digital read. In general, prices will be kept reasonable and affordable. I'm in talks with a few POD publishers to see which best fits my requirements. In the meantime, I'm rescanning Moxon at press quality settings: higher dpi, high contrast text, background adjustment for legibility, etc. The whole will be formatted in a desk top publishing program, sent to the POD agency and, voila! Offered for sale in an eStore.

In summation, if it don't look good from the get-go, it ain't worth doin'.

Till next
Gary

Chronicles of The Chronicle 4

Whilst I sit here half awake from cold pills, I figured to update the Chronicles of The Chronicle.

3.85 Gb of images copied over to the hard disk for processing can be daunting. Never-the-less, I plowed into them, hoping for enlightenment along the way as to what I was going to do with them. And this is only the first half of the job. The rest should be in within a few weeks from the imaging service. First off, set up a simple folder hierarchy for sorting them out and checking for accuracy. Checking and vetting will happen over and over again in the hopes of hitting 100% in the final product. Such Fun. It ended up thusly:

chronicle vol 1 > 1933.1.1 > image files

Sounds simple doesn't it? Checking files before copying them over is tedious, to say the least, but it must be done. To make my life easier, most of the early volumes and issues didn't follow any readily discernable pattern. Constant checking and double-checking was the order of the day. So of course I discovered four issues missing and one contained a bad image. The missing issues were my fault, I'll just have to send them out again for scanning. Or do it myself. One bad image out of 3.85 Gb is pretty darned good work.

Photoshop Elements 6 is a lifesaver, pure and simple. Fully tricked out for Mac OS 10.5, this beast screams through files. I set up a simple batch process to fiddle the images, selected 'include all sub-folders', hit the button and crossed my fingers (I was working from a copy of the primary folder, of course). 30 minutes later each and every jpeg had been adjusted for contrast and sharpened a wee bit. Just enough changes to make up for the necessity of scanning everything Greyscale at 400 dpi. Greys were blacker and Blacks were sharper. Those nasty halftone bars had by and large disappeared as well as imaging shadows. Text popped out. Well, almost. The really early issues were not sharp to begin with. You can't make something into something it is not if the original is of poor quality. I think it has something to do with quantum physics.

Three hours after that, all the image files had found their homes in their respective sub-folders. Never has image manipulation been so easy. I rewarded myself with a dose of cold pills and went to sleep.

If you thought this would be an exciting post, you were wrong. Photoshop Elements 6 made it just another ho-hum blog post. But just wait until we get to Acrobat Pro...

Till next
Gary

Free Range Gonzo

Because rainy days need some Gonzo and his singing chickens.

The Cat of Many Names

19 years is a long time in cat life, but much too short in human life. That's Casey in the rear and Merlin in front. Casey is around 10 years old and Merlin rests in peace. After a long battle with a variety of illnesses, Merlin's body, but not his spirit, succumbed to colitis.

We've lived with cat companions for more than half our lives. All have distinct personalities, yet there are some that stand out. Merlin was one of those stand-outs. Dr. Jean Duddy, our Vet, described Merlin's violence rating as 0 on a scale of 1-10. He was, without doubt, the most gentle and loving cat we have ever known. He might complain about something being done to him, but he wouldn't bite or scratch. Sedatives were not needed for Vet type stuff, unlike Casey, who at 24 lbs of Maine Coon Cat will certainly let it be known if he is not in favor of a procedure. For Merlin, if mats needed to be trimmed, just go do it. He would complain, but that was all.

Merlin lived to love and be loved. In fact, we had to be careful not to pay too much attention to him when he was eating as he would leave his food in favor of attention. Laps were his favorite part of the human anatomy, followed by fingers for scratching and noses for rubbing. In time he learned that getting his head close to your heart was even better... but once asleep, he expected you to sit still and not disturb him. He had a thing for noses, particularly if he could smear his wet nose across your glasses while saying hello. Maine Coon Cats can be very demonstrative in their behavior. Merlin followed us around, greeted us at the door and talked constantly. And of course preferred to be carried rather than have his paws touch the ground. His favorite carrying position was The Handbag. Sling him under your arm like a handbag, rear end dangling, and he was in heaven.

Did I mention his talking? Merlin had at least 8 distinct vocalizations that let me know what he was feeling wanting or not wanting. And he rarely shut up. The house is much too quiet now. Casey is not much of a talker, except when he is hungry. Merlin would let us know if he was happy, sad, hungry, angry, wanted to go out to the porch, wanted to be picked up, didn't want to be bothered or just wanted attention. He was one of those cats who would purr simply by being looked at.

And then there was the PAW. Somewhere along the line, Merlin discovered the power of the paw, initially if he was hungry, but then if he wanted anything. The paw came out. Tap tap tap on your leg, arm, head, ear, whatever he could reach. It was his way of saying pay attention to me, get me food, wake up, nuzzle me, scratch me. Sometime it was a gentle tap, but if you wanted to sleep and he wanted food, that tap became a firm smack on the head. No claws, just the smack.

Merlin was the Phlegmatic Cat. Rarely did anything disturb him, unlike Casey, who does not realize he is a huge cat and is afraid of most everything. Merlin was not bothered by much of anything. Years ago Dr. Duddy tried to do a neurological exam on him but Merlin would not respond. He just purred. There was nothing neurologically wrong with him... he just didn't feel like participating. As he got older and his hearing and vision became worse, at times I thought he was blind or deaf. We discovered that  he could hear you and see you, but only when he felt like it. Most cats will twitch an ear, wrinkle the skin on their back or flick their tail as a response. Not Merlin. He sat there like a stone until he felt like responding. And then he responded loudly and continuously until he got what he wanted. Not that we spoiled him.

Later in life, the Angell Memorial Animal Hospital of the MSPCA became an often visited place. Although he certainly didn't like the place, he did make many friends amongst the staff. They say that cats have nine lives. Merlin used up a few of those lives over the years, surviving pneumonia, diabetes, arthritis, cardiac problems, infections and IBD. Alas, it was the IBD that finally got the better of him. Dr. Duddy of the Angell Memorial Animal Hospital literally saved his life on more than one occasion as he contracted various illnesses. Each time we thought that it was the end for him, but through the dedication, skills and love of the staff of the hospital, along with his own toughness, he pulled through. During his last months, Dr.'s Duddy, Pugh, Kharzod and O'Kelly, along with Abbie, gave him the best care possible along with love and attention.

19 is a long life for a cat. But much too short for us. There's a hollow in our lives when we lose a pet, an emptiness that needs to be filled even though we know it can never be filled by anything but the return of our companion. We are blessed by their presence and gifted by the memories of their love and attention. Even if it is difficult to go sleep without their warmth by our side, the memories can lull us to sleep.

Did I mention his names? Merlin, Moopsila, Moopers, Puppy, Pups, Mooples, Stinky, Noisy, Merly and most likely others that I can't remember. And he responded to all of them.

The only problem with living with cat companions is that it's just too darned quiet when they reach the end of their much too short lives.

Till next
Gary