Popular Woodworking 2000-01 № 112, страница 25

1900 1902

Paper clip, tractor, alkaline battery invented

cKinley assassinated; Hormones discovered, disc brakes invented

1903

First flight at Kitty Hawk made by Orville and Wilbur Wright; first World Series

1906

452 killed in

San Francisco

earthquake;

crystal radio

apparatus;

Porter-Cable

founded

1907

1912

1914 1915

1917

Financial panic First diesel lo-

and depression comotive; 100

started March anniversary of

13, first modern Constantines'

First diesel lo- The first World comotive; 100th War begins in

anniversary of Europe; bras-

Constantines' siere invented

color photography

cabinet shop, which later became a major cataloger

The first World First phone call U.S. troops

War begins in made by Alexander sent to Europe;

Europe; bras- Graham Bell & SONAR detec-

siere invented Thomas A. Watson; tion system

pistol-grip drill invented introduced by Black & Decker

Early shops, such as this replica at Williamsburg, were not for hobbyists.

at large: The spirit of self-sufficiency that has always driven Americans. And the unprecedented affluence of the country's vast middle class during the last half of this century.

It won't surprise anyone to hear that technological innovation and widespread affluence have shaped woodworking, as they have everything else, during this century. What is remarkable, to me at least, is the way these forces have transformed a demanding and somewhat inaccessible craft into a pastime enjoyed by millions.

My grandfather was a young man the last time a century turned. At the time, his home shop (if he had one) would have presented no surprises to a journeyman woodworker from colonial Philadelphia or medieval London. A drawing in The Practical Woodworker, a how-

Photo courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg

to woodworking book of the period, shows a home workshop equipped with a sturdy cabinetmaker's workbench, several handsaws, a hand plane and a treadle grinder. Other than a foot-powered treadle lathe, the shop contains not a single machine tool. Woodworking machinery had been in commercial use for much of the 19 th century. Small professional shops or well-to-do amateur woodworkers might have a few manually powered machines. But machines capable of the work routinely done in today's home workshops by compact and powerful table saws, jointers and planers were then massive cast-iron affairs, driven through belted lineshafts.

At the turn of the 20th century and for several decades after that, much woodworking was the province of hand work. The period's tool catalogs offer a marvelous snapshot of the times.

Makita's first plunge router— one of the first to hit the market in the United States (courtesy of Makita).

"Every CARPENTER, BLACKSMITH or other mechanic once buying from us ever after is a regular customer," boasted Sears in its 1897 catalog. Saws, marking gauges, squares, rules, hammers, chisels, spoke-shaves, gouges, braces, bits, clamps, grindstones and more — Sears crammed hundreds of tools into 18 pages of the catalog's "Mechanic's Tools" section. Two treadle scroll saws (called "bracket" saws) and a combination treadle lathe and bracket saw are the only machines offered. Hand planes alone occupy four pages, including three complete lines of bench planes (wood, metal and wood-metal combination). The prices make a modern woodworker weep. A Genuine Bailey Iron Smooth plane sold for $1.14, or you could get "an imitation of the above plane" for $1.08. Wooden moulding planes went for 27 to 54 cents each, and the majestic Universal Plane for a budget-busting $9.30.

Mail-order catalogs revolutionized retail marketing, bringing a vast array of goods within the reach of people on farms and in small towns — the majority of the population at the time. Unlike specialty tool catalogs circulated only among tradesmen, the Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs were sent to ordinary homes. These catalogs addressed their tool sales pitch to tradesmen, but I suspect they had considerable appeal for others.

Tools and Training

Owning a tool and knowing how to use it are, of course, two very different things. For centuries, even basic woodworking procedures required considerable training. Anyone hoping to produce more than the roughest of shelters and furnishings would need at least rudimentary skill with various handsaws, planes and chisels. Acquiring these skills to earn a living required years

40 XXV Popular Woodworking January 2000