Toolemera Blog

The Lion Is Conquered And Another Old Book

Now that OS X 7 is installed and messing up my PPC apps, I have to do something. Which something I did today. Installed Parallels Desktop 6 and Windows 7. Eureka! I'm back in business. The problem was Book Cover Pro, the software I use to create, what else, but book covers. The Windows edition is now working on the virtual machine/Windows 7 partition and I'm a happy camper. Or, at least I will be until Windows crashes on me.

On to old books. I've drooled after a copy of Guide For Drawing The Acanthus, by I. Page, c1850 and at last, I have my grubby little paws on one. Ok, not so grubby. I always clean my paws after using the litterbox. Here is a link to an online 1886 version. There are a few minor differences between the earlier and later, mostly in that the later edition lacks a handful of full page plates. My guess is the originals of the engravings were lost or damaged and rather than have full size plates made, the publisher opted for smaller engravings. I think. Or maybe not.

Mac Lion Upgrade Gives Me A Headache

Soooo like good boy I upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion. Personally, I like Snow Leopards better than Lions, which should have told me something.

Lion (OS X 10.7) does not support power pc apps, which means Rosetta Stone is missing which means a whole lot of apps are useless under Lion. Am I PO'd or what?

Lion seems to be a lot more stable, faster, uses RAM more efficienty, etc. etc. But... no PPC apps work under it. Yes, I said it again, NO PPC APPS WORK UNDER LION.

Guess I'm going to have to mount a separate hard drive just to run Snow Leopard. First time ever I'm angry with Apple for doing something so dumb.

Grumble grumble grumble... Gary

The Anarchist's Tool Chest - Review, Part 2: The Nitty Gritty

Now that I have used up the better part of my dictionary, it's time to get on to the hard core content of TATC. Don't be alarmed, this post will be rated for all audiences. (and don't forget to continue with Part 3 at the end)

Allow me to first say that anyone who seeks to enhance the general pool of knowledge of hand tool work gets my most sincere approbation for swimming against the tide of electrons that have so engulfed our world. In my personal research into all sorts of new, not new, older and really older books, I have found that we have lost more than we have retained. Your average re-enactor knows this full well. Inference and reading between the lines is much the manner in which we try to understand what our fore-craftsmen learned by example rather than by guesswork. We're left with comparing multiple written source as well as the physical evidence left by those old guys. It's good stuff, don't get me wrong, but it's not first person.

The Anarchist's Tool Chest - Review, Part 1: A Theory Of Social Order In The Context Of Personal Versus Monopolistic Enlightenment

My copy came in a day or so ago. I finished reading it yesterday, which yesterday was part of said day or so ago. You figure it out. My time sense is lousy.

I spent some time reading various forum discussions of TATC. Why, you ask, can't I make up my own mind? Of course I can. It's simply that I like to see what other people are thinking to determine if their thoughts spark something deep within my head. Often this happens. Sometimes it's just a migraine and sometimes there really are thoughts kicking around inside my cranium.

In every culture (and woodworkers have many cultures within their chosen addiction) there are gurus who people follow: Roy Underhill, Tage Frid, Ian Kirby, James Krenov, Sam Maloof and so on. I'm a Roy Underhill, Tage Frid and Sam Maloof kinda guy. I admire James Krenov for the thoughtfulness he brought to the craft. Ian Kirby, well, never mind. Chris Schwarz has entered the pantheon of woodwork gurus through his writings and lectures on the joys of craft, the advent of the 'boutique' hand tool maker and the general resurgence of what I like to call the Manual Arts Era Part Deux (MAEP2).

Aurora and Brough

I am now in Aurora, the newest hunk of code to come from the Mozilla people. Firefox, that venerable browser, has been updated, fixed and fixed again for so many times it resembles a nicely aged swiss cheese. Aurora is the new kid on the block and I like it. Fast, steamlined, a colorful icon and of course, free. Try it, you'll like it. Like all beta versions, who knows what evil lurks in the hearts and minds of men?

As to Brough, J. C. S., I have yet to discover what the initials stand for. Mr. Brough (pronounced: Brow, Broff, Bruff, Brew or?), he edited the vast majority of the Woodworker Series books of Evans Bros. Alongst with the William Fairham titles, Brough edited what I find to be one of the most user friendly series of woodworking titles.

If anyone has any idea of what his initials stood for, I would appreciate a ring-up.

I'm currently finishing up an edition of his Cabinet Construction, a later edition of Details Of Cabinet Construction. Typically, I try to find the earliest edition of a given title. In this case, the later edition far surpasses the earlier in quality of images and descriptive text.

No matter how carefully the imaging is done, there is always a page or two missed. It is my firm belief that the God of Scanners does this simply to annoy and aggravate us.

A number of readers have asked if additional titles by David Denning (The Art And Craft Of Cabinet-Making) will be produced. Yes. He wrote three other books on wood carving, finishing and fretwork. In time, all will see the light of day.

Till next, Gary