Popular Woodworking 2007-10 № 164, страница 70
Great Woodshops storage. Wilson buys all his wood in the log form. By doing so, he says, you learn the connection between the log and the finished product - you also learn how to live with everything you buy. At least once a year he buys, for example, 3,000 board feet of cherry and 4,000 board feet of pine and basswood. Wilson oversees all the log buying and cutting, and personally controls the drying in hand-built kilns behind the shop (see Wilson's article on building a backyard solar-powered kiln in issue #159, December 2006). "All logs are cut to dimensional stock and from that point on we handle them," he says. "To be able to dry our own material is an important ingredient." But the room's main attraction is two machines from the 1880s used to make copper tacks. In 1991 the W.W. Cross Nail Co. - the one small copper tack manufacturer - decided to stop manufacturing tacks. Wilson smartly acquired two machines and today makes seven sizes of tacks and V2" copper shoe pegs, which some people use to secure a box's top and bottom boards instead of wood pegs. Wilson fires up one of the pulleys on one of the old, oily, ingenious machines to show how it works. Depending on the size, it takes from 10 to 50 minutes to make one pound of tacks. Considering there are about 750 tacks in Copper tacks. John Wilson runs the more than 125-year-old copper tack machine. an ounce, that's 12,000 copper tacks. They're tiny, like garden seeds, and easily fit in a small box. Tacks sell from $40 to $130 a pound - enough for a lifetime of box making. And he sells 300 pounds a year. Yesterday's press. Eric Pintar uses a 1920s veneer press. Feeding the potbelly stove keeps the shop warm during Michigan's cold, winter months. However, box makers aren't the only ones delighted that Wilson is making copper tacks. He also sees healthy business from the makers of Adirondack guide boats and organ restoration companies. "Talk about specialty," Wilson says, laughing. "This is the ultimate niche business." A Blend of Hand and Power "What would a craftsman of200 years ago do in my shop?" John asked. "He would delight in the thickness planer, table saw and drum sander to relieve much of the drudgery of woodworking. At the same time he would laugh at some elaborate setup for the router, which could be done simply and quietly with chisel and mallet or with a well-tuned hand plane." Wilson says the choice to use power tools or hand tools depends on the situation. "The power tool - hand tool debate isn't an exclusionary 'either/or,' but an inclusive 'both,'" he says. "Tools of any kind are problem-solving objects depending on the skill of the craftsman. Learning this is what gaining an educated pair of hands is about." His favorite tools - a blend of power and hand - include a 3" x 21" belt sander, 21/2" Red Devil scraper and a Stanley low-angle block plane. Wilson sponsors events at The Home Shop 84 ■ Popular Woodworking October 2007 |
