Popular Woodworking 2000-01 № 112, страница 26

1918

First domestic refrigerator

1919

Sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages banned in America; Delta founded

1921

Germany defeated, World War I ends; hydraulic four wheel brakes, Powermatic founded

1922

Raymond E. DeWalt invents the radial arm saw, DeWalt Products Co. founded in 1924

1924

Skilsaw introduced on July 1;spin dryer invented

1926

Porter-Cable introduces the first portable belt sander; aerosol can, synthetic rubber, television invented

1928

Woodcraft Supply, a major supplier of woodworking accessories, founded in Boston

1929

1931

Stock market Craftsman

crashes; first publishes its

color television first power

transmission, tool catalog;

Porter-Cable Fiberglass,

introduces the electric razor

first helical-gear invented circular saw

of dedicated training. Acquiring a few of them (sawing, pushing a jack plane, sharpening a chisel) for occasional use around the farm or house was less time consuming and more common. Acquiring specialized skills (cutting joints, running mouldings) for use as a hobby was rarer.

Looking back from our machine-enabled and leisure-enriched age, the difficulties woodworking posed to the would-be amateur some 100 years ago are formidable. Apprenticeship, the traditional means of acquiring skills beyond the rudimentary, wasn't an option for even the most serious hobbyist. Fortunately, as the 19th century drew to a close, an increasing number of Americans were receiving instruction in woodworking skills courtesy of the nation's public schools.

From about 1870, manual arts training was gradually integrated into the mainstream of American education. Starting in technical colleges and working its way down through high schools, grammar schools and finally elementary schools, manual arts were by 1900 accepted as a valuable part of a well-rounded education.

Although debates periodically arose over the nature and goal of manual arts training, generations of Americans have found in it the spark of lifelong interests and a start on the skills with which to pursue them. My grandfather left school sometime before the 8th grade, but he may well have received some manual arts training in the Ohio schools of the 1890s. My father took shop classes in junior and senior high school in the 1930s and 40s. And I still remember how my shop teachers, Mr. Sell and Mr. Gast, attempted to mask their well-founded apprehensions as my buddies and I stepped up to the table saw or jointer in our early 1960s junior-high shop.

Some of the impetus for the spread of manual arts training in the late 19th and early 20th century came from the Arts and Crafts Movement,whose rejection of shoddy or garish machine-made products gathered steam in opposition to the

rise of industrialism. Movement theorists John Ruskin and William Morris were influential in England, on the continent and in the United States, where Gustav Stickley's Craftsman magazine, published

1926

First belt _{from 1901 to 1916 yoiced}

sander

their message of the virtuous craft-based society. In addition to his proselytizing, Stickley owned furniture factories that produced a line of simple furniture that has become emblematic of the "craftsman" style in America. While the Arts and Crafts ethos was influential in educational circles and a certain segment

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shopsmith: a clever combination

Combination woodworking machines — two or more machines operating off the same motor or sharing the same platform — are ideal for home workshops. They fit from two to five machines into the space any one of the tools on its own would require.And for a price always less (sometimes substantially less) than the cost of comparable machines bought individually. Combination machines are common in Europe and have

been available in North America throughout this century, but they have never been very popular here.With one exception — the Shopsmith.

Since its invention in 1946 by Hans Goldschmidt, a German expatriate living in California, Americans have bought some 500,000 Shopsmith 5-in-1 combination machines.

The Shopsmith is an odd duck. Most combination machines are built around tools at the core of traditional joinery and furniture making — table saw, jointer, planer, shaper and horizontal boring tools.The Shopsmith, however, combines a lathe, drill press, horizontal borer, and disc sander with an 8" table saw. Not an ideal selection of tools for someone who wants to turn rough lumber into coffee tables. But just right for a hobbyist primarily interested in woodturning and small projects or a homeowner in need of a table saw and drill press for occasional household improvements. The machine has admirers among "serious" amateurs and some professionals, too.They use the machine primarily as a horizontal and vertical borer — it is one of the few drill presses designed specifically for woodworking and it is remarkably versatile.

Sold initially through Montgomery Ward and a network of hardware stores, Shopsmith thrived in the suburban boom of the 1950s, but by 1964 the tool was out of production. In 1971, a Dayton, Ohio, stockbroker and amateur woodworker named John Folkerth bought the rights to the Shopsmith and revived the tool, much to the delight of its devotees. Folkerth's initial attempts to market the tool through the old hardware store outlets faltered. It was only when sales reps began showing potential customers what the tool could do in live shopping mall, state fair, and woodworking show demonstrations that sales perked up.Today's $3,000 price seems a bit steep compared to the $199.95 tag on the 1950 model, but the company maintains the cost is still less than you'd pay for individual tools of comparable quality. Photo courtesy of Shopsmith