Toolemera Blog

The Baldwin Tool Company Catalog, 1858

I just received a Baldwin Tool Company catalog, 1858. The front cover is missing, the rest of it is there and possibly one of the dirtiest catalogs I've ever bought. Plus a bunch of other ephemera from the 1850-1870 Savannah, Georgia area that is also covered in dust, old smoke ashes and who knows what else. An easy winters worth of cleaning ahead for all of this stuff. Unlike my usual treatment of an old catalog, this one will have to be disbound and cleaned page by page.

This is not an Arrowmammet Catalog, it's a full line, illustrated, Baldwin Tool Co. catalog. Does anyone have any planes with this imprint? Any plane irons? I know I've seen some irons in the past but don't have any at the moment. I can't remember ever seeing a plane with this stamp. AWP doesn't list a stamp either.

All of this came from an old merchants store in Savannah, Georgia so I assume the grunge on everything is from the period too. The other material is local as well as from the North and the South.

No smell of smoke any longer which gives you an idea of just how long this has been sitting there. The dealer originally had 40 boxes of paper and sold it to another dealer from where, I believe, it found it's way to a university archives. I was lucky enough to provide some assistance to her in explaining various ephemera terms and in return, instead of tossing the 'nasty and dirty' stuff (believe me, it really is) she was kind enough to send it to me along with the material I bought from her.

Lots of absorbene cleaner, lots of polyester sheets and lots of scanning because this stuff is really heat damaged and fragile. But am I arguing?

Bring us your Baldwin Tool Co. stuff, if it exists.

And a Happy New Year Too!

Till next (year), Gary

On Sale Now: Carpentry & Joinery For Amateurs by James Lukin

It's a pretty cover. Not to fussy. Not full of all sort of tools and woods and shavings and all those things woodworking publishers seem to think woodworkers expect should be on the covers of their books. Or at least that's the theory I selected as the one to rail against with this cover.

We have Aldus Manutius' sigil which is not from the cover of one of the Hot Chili Peppers CD's. We have a nice parchment color for the background. We have Big Caslon as the font of the day and a cropped selection from a cabinet card from deep within my collection of old photographs. This one was entitled "Daddy" by someone who I can only assume was this woodworkers child.

The tool box on the back cover is typical of what James Lukin would have recommended for the serious amateur of the nineteenth century, replete with a nice bit of moulding along the base. He does give specifics for the construction of the chest. Alas and alack, you'll have to buy the book to get those details. I'm nothing if not a cut-throat running dog lackey of the capitalist, starch-collared, cigar smoking money-mongers of wall street. Or not.

For more on the book, including a sample PDF, albeit in low resolution, go to the Toolemera Shop and if you are so inclined, order up a copy. Just for now, only Paypal is up and running for this one. You might find it listed on Amazon if you search by the ISBN. In due time, Shop Woodworking and most other online book sellers will offer the title as they update their Books In Print files.

If I don't return here before then,

Have a Happy New Year!, Gary

The Woodworkers Yuletide, 2011

A Woodworkers Yuletide

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the shop
Not a woodworker was stirring, all the projects were stopped
The chisels were laid by the wet-stones with care
In hopes that the Elves would come sharpen them there
The tools were all nestled and snug where they lay
Poised and ready to woodwork the next day
Then up in the wood loft there came such a clatter
The old building shook from the weight of the matter
And there on the creaky tin roof did appear
A fine handmade sled drawn by ten dusty deer
With a sparkling eyed helmsman as spry as a lamb
Who went by the name of Saint Woodworkerman
He was dressed all in flannel, cap to his shoe
His clothes were all covered in sawdust and glue
A bundle of tools he had stashed in his sack
With a dovetail jig sticking out of the back
On his face he wore goggles and a dusk mask fit tightly
His cheeks were like Pink Ivory and his hearing dulled slightly
His skills were the the sharpest and best in the lands
And he still had five fingers on each of his hands
Then as quick as sharp back saw, his staunch helpers came.
He yelled and hollered and called them by name
Now Router, now Chisel, now Clamp and Bit-brace
On Shaper, on Scroll-saw, on Jointer and Lathe
All hustled to the workbench and snapped to his call
Now get to work, get to work, get to work all
So they wasted not a board, and got right to the task
And sawed, planed, carved and scraped, 'till at last
All the toys that the children were waiting to see
Were varnished and wrapped, and made from a tree
There were cars made of Mahogany, dolls made of Yew
And a Curly Maple rocking horse with it's tail painted blue
A set of Cherry soldiers all carved from one log
And splendid wood balls for the cat and the shop dog
Then the kindly crew tidied and swept every crack
And Saint Woodworkerman thanked them and stretched out his back
Then he jumped in his sleigh and let out a huge yell
As they roared from the shop at the ring of a bell
But these words he exclaimed as they vanished from sight
Merry Christmas to all... that's enough for one night

Anon

Till next year

Gary, Amy, and the feline five: Domino, Ella, Max, Phinney, Louie and as always, Casey & Merlin, in our hearts

The Melhuish Exonian Cabinet Bench

Not to be outdone by Hammacher Schlemmer, Richard Melhuish of Holborn Circus, London, offered a unique all-in-one Swiss Army Knife Bench-Cabinet-Dressing Bureau-Music Cabinet thing for sale during the later part of the nineteenth century. I'll confess, the dressing bureau music part is my invention. It just looks as if that could be part of the equation.

Over at the inimitable Oldtools list, there was a discussion of what the Exonian Bench/Cabinet measured and what was in it. Some poor soul wanted to construct a reproduction of the thing. There's a 1925 edition of the Melhuish catalog on display at the Toolemera site. I have a copy of the 1899 special catalog which amounts to the woodworking related tools and machinery offered by Melhuish.

Herewith, the relevant three pages from the 1899 No. 11 catalog. In time, this triplet will find it's way to the Tool Chest sub-domain but for now, here 'tis in all it's glory.

till next, Gary

What's done, What's new, What's glitched

After many a long night of niggling away at the details, the Toolemera primary site at Toolemera Press is finally updated and cleaned up. Errrant code is gone, everything is converted to CSS or at least it should be, layers when needed, extraneous html cast adrift, images updated, tables simplified and so on. The entire site has been pulled down from 1000 pxl wide to 980. Navigation has been fixed up a bunch and simplified in preperation for future plans and some sub-domains created even if you can't see them yet.

Glitches. I have no doubt there will be some. Maybe some images that don't do what they are supposed to do. A pdf or two that won't download or a text block that doesn't like IE. I checked against other browsers but given the amount of stuff there, the liklihood is some things crept through. Those things I'll correct as I find them or as those eagle eyed readers inform me of the errors.

Next up: sub-domains for Tool Chests and Tool Makers. Tool Makers will feature embedded frames for those makers who want to be listed. Instead of links, each maker will simply have their website embedded in the page. Once the visitor clicks anywhere in the page, the visitor leaves the Toolemera site and is in the maker site. I'll be in touch with all those currently listed as tool makers to ask regarding interest or lack of interest. There will also be a section for authors of hand tool related books. Yes, that includes Lost Art Press books. As before, for the Tool Maker section, I won't edit. If it pertains to hand tools and it's legal, it's ok.

Carpentry And Joinery For Amateurs by James Lukin is now live from the printer. At any moment, it will be live through Bowker and then to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all the rest of those outlets. Within a day or so I'll have the Paypal order form set up.

This is the tweaked cover, which, if I must say so, I like much better than the untweaked cover. No, that's not a hot chili pepper, that's the Aldine Press sigil.

 

Other than that, it's on to more books and more tools. A very nice W. Woodward/Taunton plow plane is on it's way to me, the first of that maker I've seen in many a year.

It's been a very good year. Lots of books sold, quite a few given away for good causes of one sort or another and after a whole lotta books sent out to a local bookstore (for credit of course) I can actually see some of the basement floor.

Till next, Gary