Popular Woodworking 2000-01 № 112, страница 30

1973 1974 1975 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982

The last U.S. Nixon resigns; World popula-

troops leave Patty Hearst tion more than

Vietnam; long kidnapped 4 billion; Fine

gas lines cre- Woodworking

ated by OPEC; begins

first CAT scans, publication

microcomputer and space station

Carter pardons Home Depot Chrysler bailed Vietnam War founded in out by U.S.

draft dodgers; Atlanta government

New York City loan; gasoline

blackout; space rationed

shuttle, neutron bomb and alkyd paint invented

American Iran hostages AT&T splits up;

Clamping released after first artificial

introduces the 444 days; heart

K-Body clamp; Reagan survives first solar-pow- assassina-ered aircraft tion attempt;

Lie-Nielsen Toolworks founded

planers, band saws — are only part of the machine tool revolution that transformed home workshops. Portable power tools are, of course, far more common. Many households without any workshop at all have at least one electric hand drill. Like my dad, woodworkers in the early 1950s might have owned a portable circular saw, jigsaw, belt and pad sanders, and a router in addition to a hand drill. Today you can choose among dozens of different variations on each of these tools as well as a few truly innovative new tools, such as the biscuit joiner.

In the early days, versatility was a big selling point. An author in the March 1954 issue of Popular Science called the electric hand drill "a m torized shop you can hold in your hand." There were attachments to transform a drill into a hole saw, drum or pad sander, a grinder, buffer and even a hedge clipper. My favorite pitch for tool versatility is a 1949 Dremel ad for its electric sander, which shows the tool used for sanding, for polishing and for massaging the back of the homeowner's neck.

Enter the Router

Versatility was not a hollow claim for one of the most important innovations in 20th century woodworking — the electric router. If I had to choose one feature of the home shop that encapsulates the reasons why woodworking has become such a widespread and popular American pastime it would be the router.

With a router and very little training, an ordinary woodworker can tackle work once the province of only highly skilled craftsmen and their well-stocked tool chests. It

makes obsolete dozens of moulding planes, as well as dado, rabbet, plow, sash and fillister planes. Fitted with jigs, a router can produce mortises, tenons, dovetails and a raft of other joints. It can be made to joint edges, thickness boards, even carve. In the hands of a true router fanatic, the tool seems to be able to do almost anything — though I've yet to hear of one giving a massage.

A primitive form of the electric router appeared as early as 1905, and today's versions bear a striking resemblance to their ancestor—a cutter mounted directly on the shaft of a high-speed electric motor that is held above the work by an adjustable base. Over the years, the tool lost some weight and

orders of magnitude higher than those of 1928, woodworkers can buy comparable routers for the same prices.

By the early 1950s, all the familiar components of the home woodworking shop as we know it today had fallen into place. Amateurs had ready access to hand and machine tools designed to fit their houses and pocketbooks, to cater to their interests, and to overcome their technical limitations. Plywood and new synthetic glues developed during World War II were hitting the home market. Such materials further reduced the difficulties of traditional woodwork by eliminating tedious stock preparation and simplifying joint-cutting and assembly. A growing number

Sturdy, no-frills Parks planers (above) are still prized by woodworkers.

No, it's not a Unisaw, it's a Duro (right). The Delta Unisaw has always been imitated (courtesy of Dana Batory).

size (in 1928, for instance, the R.L. Carter Company offered an 18,000 rpm, Vythhp model that weighed only 3 lbs.), but the only truly significant technical innovation was the introduction, in 1949, of the plunge router by the German firm Elu.

Far more than technical advances, it is the availability of low-cost models that has made the router ubiquitous in home shops. In 1928 Carter sold the lightweight router mentioned above for $46.50 and a heavy duty model for $245. Today, with incomes

There is a complete line of precision engineered Duro Power Tools at NEW ECONOMY PRICES!

Seu Band

Sexes in 10", 12" and 15^

54X04 . . . priced tr«m ¥49,95 to $114.85.

R oultT-Skap<T'CsfVcr , . . multi-purpose power tool that is really J Look in one! . . . $277-50

Drill Prefta in 12" and 14" Mies , , . priced from $44,65 to $93,50 ■

30 Yfdn of building precision tools has ui vrn Duro the priceless design and production experience that brings you "today's greatest power toot values." Makers ol Nationally Advertised Duro-Chrome Hand Tools,

www.popwood.com I 41