Popular Woodworking 2006-06 № 155, страница 36

Arts & Mysteries

Modern Tools in 1700

Plumley had a variety of what I consider to be modern tools. "Strike blocks" were low-angle planes with short rectangular bodies used to trim joints. These planes are probably the real reason we call small, low-angle planes "block planes." Plumley's upright smoother is very likely his toothing plane. Half-upright smoothers must be what we would call "half-pitch" planes today. Bedded at 60°, half-pitch planes are halfway between "upright" and "common-pitch" 45° planes. It's difficult to know if these were used as high-angle smoothers, or were fitted with one of the many "tooth-plaine" blades. Plumley had an impressive array of moulding planes including 22 hollows and rounds, ogees and bolections.

1 was surprised to see the follwing two entries, which I am interpreting as concave and convex compass planes:

2 Rownd Smoothing Plaines

1 hollow ditto

When is the last time you saw a wooden concave compass plane? I've never heard of such a tool.

Stanley never made a high-angle smoother and its block plane was only marginally lower than the "common-pitch" bench planes. So the industrial revolution, for all its innovations, only reduced what had previously been

available to craftsmen. It appears Plumley had a greater variety of planes available to him in 1700 than were available 200 years later.

Materials

Plumley may have had as much as 10,000board feet of pine and walnut. The quantity of lumber alone challenges the notion that 18th-century woodworkers cut down trees and had their apprentices convert the timber into useable stock. The Plumley inventory appears consistent with the John Head account book (google "John Head"+joiner); Period craftsmen bought sawn lumber much as we do today. It's doubtful they did much "thicknessing" with planes. Rather, they very likely flattened their boards with their jacks and long (try) planes, then smoothed them as required.

There were other surprises as well, such as this one related to wood:

36.5 2 [inch] Mohogany Planks at 16 [d. per foot]

The price of this plank is more than eight times greater than walnut. Elsewhere in the inventory, the price of mahogany is comparable to walnut. It's possible this particular mahogany was crotch or figured wood intended for veneer. Plumley certainly had the tools he needed for veneer work, including: 1 parcell of olive wood and other Veinarys

1£ 16s 1 Large frame saw 9s

1 Upright Smoothingplaine 8d 7 New Plaine Irons 10d

3 Tooth plaine Ditto 10d 7 plaine Irons 5d

2 Tooth Plane Do 10d

6 glew potts wt 41 [lb.] 2s 1d 6 ffeneaireing[veneering] Screws 1s 76 lb. of Glew 14d

In this instance, "Snipe bills" are probably snipe hinges (shown at right), not snipe bill planes (shown above).

Plum ley's chairs may have looked something like this caned black walnut chair c.1720.

'Traditional' Hand-rubbed Finishes

I am of the opinion that period furniture was typically finished with little more than oil and/or a bit of wax. And that may be generally true. But there's nothing like primary source materials to challenge our longstanding beliefs. In the Plumley inventory we see very expensive varnish and brushes to apply it. The fish skins, possibly shark, were known for their abrasive qualities and could well be the sandpaper needed to rub out the finish. But sharkskin, often called "shagreen," was identified in other accounts and inventories in conjunction with cases that held silverware (especially knives). Skins of different sorts, often dyed green, were stretched over wooden frames to make small boxes. They could have used brick dust to rub out their finishes, or the lightly abrasive rushes in the shop may have been considered valueless and not inventoried. So were the fish skins sandpaper, or a decorative cover for a future knife case? Decide for yourself.

2 Quarts Varnish 12s 6d

4 pr fish Skins 2s 6d

1 [lb.] bees wax 1s 6d

2 New Varn[ish]ing brushes 1 s

Things Forgotten

Equally as interesting as the many surprising items inventoried is the omission of items we tend to think of as necessities. Most glar-

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Popular Woodworking June 2006