Toolemera Blog

Hartford, Hereford and Oh, 'ell

Recently the topic of old clamps came up. Somehow the topic drifted to obscure clamps. Further somehow, I came up with the Hartford Coffin Clamp. Yes, Virginia, there was such a clamp.

As proof, I scanned the catalog, which catalog it was a wee bit easier to find now that I've nearly finished sorting out stuff into archival boxes. No labels yet, no database yet, but they're mostly boxed. The easy part first, ya'know.

I've wanted to add an inline PDF/ePub viewer to the website and this seemed like a good time to fiddle around with a couple of likely examples. Adobe Digital Editions is way too up there in the stratosphere so that one is out of the running. Others are too esoteric or too likely to bite the bullet when their particular tech bubble bursts.

Then there is Google Docs Viewer and Samurajdata. The Google viewer had been kicking around for awhile and the second is open source, recommended by Jim Esten. Whenever Jim recommends something, I try it.

I created two sample pages:

Hartford Clamp Co. Google Docs Viewer

Hartford Clamp Co. SamurajData Trial

The Google Docs Viewer doesn't seem to like Firefox or Aurora. Even with the Google Docs addon, the PDF won't read on my system.

Maybe you will have more luck and wouldn't mind telling me what happens or doesn't happen at your end? In any event, feedback on both viewers would be much appreciated.

Or, I could go back to two Campbell soup cans and some string.

Till next, Gary

 

A saw by any other name...

Over at Jeff Peachey's blog there's been a recent discussion of tool nomenclature. Specifically, when is a bookbinders hammer a blank book hammer or a backing hammer? After much thought and discussion, I have come to the conclusion that the answer falls within the realm of the riddle "Which came first, the chicken or the egg? If you are vegetarian, it's "Which came first, the tofu or the soybean?"

Prompted by this discussion, I unearthed and posted a Hickok Bookbinders Machinery catalog. After some further thought, I dug even farther into the recesses of my shelves and pulled out a Peugeot Freres, Outils Montes catalog of July, 1938. My take on the term "Outils Montes" is along the lines of "High Class Tools". Peugeot Freres, for those who do not know, began as makers of tools and such for the kitchen and the shop. In time, they became makers of such sordid things like cars. There is a company history for those who really want to know more. 

Let's talk frame saws. Common enough in Europe, uncommon but gaining in recognition in the United States, the frame saw is typically seen as a simple wooden frame for holding a blade that looks as if it was chopped from a bandsaw blade. What I 'used' to call a frame saw, or even a bow saw, is known to the French as:

Even embalmers have their own frame saw. Although I don't read a lick of French, I can say with certainty that frame saw nomenclature is as confusing as bookbinders hammers names or plane names.

At least with roses there is a genetic trail to follow.

Till next, Gary

Catalog Reprints: When Real is UnReal

If you read this blog you know my feelings on ephemera and book reprints. The more it looks like the original, the happier I am. Sure, many people just want the nitty gritty content and don't care if the stains and arrows of outrageous fortune have left their marks upon the original. Sure, these philistines are interested only in the factual information they can derive from the paper. Sure, nearly all, if not all, of the paper reprints of books and ephemera on the market, both past and present, are of the bleached out, photoshopped variety. Sure, you've heard this from me before.

Once in a while I get the chance to compare an original to a reprint. In this case, it's the 1873 J.B Shannon catalog. I recently picked up the reprint plus the original original. Weeeehoooo what a difference a hun'red and thirty odd years can make. 

Here is the reprint cover and next to it the original. Notice anything different between the two? The reprint was made on a nice paper that approximated the coloration and texture of the original. Good so far. The text and borders are clean and sharp. More good. Never mind the staples, that was just someone's attempt to keep the pages together.

Now for the original. Stains, tears, insect munching, damp wrinkling. All the stuff you could expect to see from a catalog this old. Somewhere between 1973 and the 20th Century, this little gem was dry-cleaned of all it's personality. 

There are two schools of thought when doing reprints or reproductions: Make it look as new as the day it was printed or make it look like it looks in the present day. Sounds sort of like the ages old arguement between tool collectors on cleaning tools, doesn't it?

Call me a paper snob, but I like my stuff to show it's age.

Till next, Gary

Witherby History

Often, interested and dedicated fanatics, errr, scholars, research the history of a particular company by pouring over moldy town records, searching old, yellowed newspapers and pestering local historical societies for information. Some of us simply buy an old trade catalog and extract the company history from the preface.

This is one of this instances. Witherby has always stood for excellence in edge tools, chisels, gouges, turning tools, draw knives, etc. I recently received a very nice and very scarce copy of a c1950 catalog for this self-same company. As I had hoped, there was a concise history of the two companies. To add to the allure of this catalog, there are a number of tools and tool sets that I had neither heard of nor seen before. The history is presented here, as well as at The Toolemera Press website:
............................
IN 1827, in Millbury, Massachusetts, T. H. Witherby started manufacturing the fine steel 'chisels that today still bear his name. The high standards of quality under which those tools were designed and produced gave Witherby Chisels a very high reputation among tool users.
After forty-two years of consistently maintaining this reputation, the Witherby business and its good will were purchased in 1869 by the Win¬sted Edge Tool Company of Winsted, Connecticut, an organization that had been manufacturing edged implements since 1829.

Three years after acquiring the Witherby rights, the new owners decided to discontinue their other products and concentrate on Witherby Chisels. Later gouges and drawing knives of similar high quality were added to the Witherby line, and in 1882 the present company name, The Winsted Edge Tool Works, was adopted.

In all these years of expert tool-making from 1827 down to the present day-dose to a century and a quarter-a vast wealth of knowledge and experience has been accumulated. The Witherby reputation for high quality has never been lost sight of. The excellence of the steels selected has been maintained. Special hardening and tempering processes have been perfected, to give uniformly hardened surfaces, with absence of soft areas. The procedure of rigid inspection at various vital stages of manu¬facture is scrupulously upheld.

Equal skill and care are devoted to the design and production of handles for Witherby Tools. Only high grade, second growth white hickory stock is used. For the leather tips, skin of excellent quality is expertly applied. And all handles pass as rigid inspection as is given the steel blades.
These are reasons why we are able to stand behind every Witherby Chisel, Gouge and Drawing Knife with the following unqualified guarantee.
............................

 For the full effect of this catalog, please head over to my companion web site, The Toolemera Press : Free Stuff, for the pdf. Unfortunately, the recent spate of bootlegging of material has led me to add some additional security measures. When this pdf is printed, or viewed in any PDF reader other than Adobe Reader, you will see a faint copyright logo splashed across the middle of each page.

The Toolemera Press Free Stuff : Winsted Witherby Feature Page

Till next, Gary

PS. A few people have had difficulty opening this pdf file. This pdf has been optimized for Reader 8 or above. If you have not upgraded recently, please head over and get a copy HERE!

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