Recently my wife and I stopped at a garage sale on an impulse.  After a quick trip around the clothes and dishes I was heading back to the truck when my wife asked me if I had seen the tools, pointing to a five gallon plastic bucket.  I turned back and looked in to see mostly junk except for a plane tote peeking up from the bottom.  I pulled it out and saw a plane that I was not familiar with; it looked like a Stanley #4, maybe Type 16, except that the blade protruded through the sides to the full width of the plane body.  I wondered what a rabbet plane like this would be for as I asked the price.  Told $1, I bought it despite the fact that it was encrusted with grime and rust.

I took it home and, to my surprise, it cleaned up very readily in only a couple of hours and was without any significant defects:



Cast into the body is "No. 10 1/2" and research here revealed that it is a carriage maker's rabbet plane.  Stanley made three versions.  The #10 is basically the rabbet plane version of the #5 jack plane, the 10 1/4 is the same except it has a tilting tote and knob and the 10 1/2 is the smooth plane version of the #10, about the size of a #4.

I'm not sure how carriage makers used them but I do know that I am unlikely to make a carriage so I wondered if I would ever use it.  Further research revealed that they are also used for timber frame construction and raising panels and I can imagine using it for the latter.  Until now, I have used a standard #4 bench plane to raise panels, as taught by Paul Sellers, and have found it quite satisfactory.  I was also interested to learn that Lie Nielsen makes replacement blades for them.  The biggest surprise, however, was that sellers on Ebay are asking $200-$500 for them!  That doesn't mean they're getting that much of course, but it still gives an indication of how highly valued these vintage tools are. This is probably because they were less common to begin with and they are very susceptible to damage due to the inherent weakness of the castings.

Lee Valley and Lie Nielsen make similar planes.  The Lee Valley Bevel Up Jack Rabbet Plane comes with a fence, has knickers on both sides, a tote that tilts to either side and an adjustable mouth.  They also make a Skew Rabbet Plane.  The Lie Nielsen No. 10 1/4 Bench Rabbet Plane has both a tilting knob and tote as well as nickers.  They also make a Low Angle Jack Rabbet Plane.  I am surprised that there is enough demand for planes like this to justify the interest of these fine manufacturers to make so many versions of this tool.  All of them seem like significant improvements over the historical versions, in particular because of the knickers, which I would really appreciate having.  Personally, I think I prefer the Lee Valley Skew Rabbet Plane, which is based on the Stanley #289, but it's hard to say without trying all of them.  This is one more example of the incredible variety of high quality hand woodworking tools that are being manufactured.  Makes you feel like a kid in a toy store.

As many woodworking blogs as I read, I can't recall ever reading about any of these tools in use.  Here is one that argues the Lee Valley version is the Swiss Army Knife of planes.  I am not sure that having one plane that will do everything is a high priority though.

I am looking forward to using my vintage 10 1/2.  Perhaps, as I often do, I will find out that this is a tool you don't know you need until you have one.

This May I will be traveling to near-by Cape Cod to be a part of the Early American Industries Association’s Annual Meeting. If you are not a member of the EAIA, then you should be. They are a wonderful group of men and women dedicated to preserving the tools, technology and skills of early American trades.

This year’s annual meeting is sure to be one of the best yet, but not just because I’ll be there demonstrating saw sharpening on Saturday May 18th, but because Chris Schwarz and Peter Follansbee will also be speaking and demonstrating. I’m incredibly honored to be a part of this years activities. I’m pulling out all the stops and will be filing up some classic American handsaws and might even bring some big cross-cut saws to saw my wife in half (if I can get her big pregnant belly in that damn wooden box). I’m also really looking forward to hearing Chris speak on Saturday the 18th about traditional tool chests. That’s sure to be worth the trip alone.

On Thursday May 16th Peter will be demonstrating and speaking at Plimoth Plantaion where he chops wood day after day. If you’ve never gotten to visit this historic place and see Peter work, then you’re missing out. I spent a day last January with Peter in his shop and met the carpenters and blacksmith who work on the Plantation….it was like Disneyland for big boys.

There’s tons more scheduled too…..and that doesn’t even include the usual hand tool revelry. The tailgating is second to none and there’s a tool auction, tool trading, tool displays and tailgating. Did I mention tailgating? And tools? You can check out the full schedule and travel/hotel accommodations at the website. I could go on and on about how great this event is going to be (its EAIAs 80th anniversary, by the way) but you can read all about it on the web.

So come and meet Chris, Peter and some of the other crazy whack jobs like yourself who eat, sleep and breathe old tools and wood. I can’t wait.

I hope to see you there.;)

-Matt

 

To an American woodworker, the Melbourne, Australia, workshop of Alastair Boell is a place both familiar and strange at the same time.

Boell, a graduate of the North Bennet Street School in Boston, has lots of old American iron in his shop:

• A Tannewitz 36” band saw he bought for $750 from a business closing down. It was in unrestored condition. He pulled the whole thing apart while in Boston. Re-sprayed it. Replaced the bearings and took it apart to get it into the shipping container. Alastair guesses it was built in the 1950s.

• An Oliver 24” patternmaker’s jointer built in 1922 for the American Navy. It even has a Navy yard number stamped on it and its price ­– $1,933.22.

• Oliver patternmaker’s lathe built in the 1970s. It has 8’ (and a bit) between centers.

What is somewhat strange is all the timber. Alastair has taken an enormous interest in salvaging urban lumber – including lots of species that are hard to get in Australia. So the rafters are packed with all sorts of odd timbers – I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a shop that was filled with such a wide variety of species.

And then there’s all the Australian accents, the upside-down weather and the colorful idioms from the students and Alastair – bless his cotton socks.

All in all, it’s just similar enough to an American shop that you can work comfortably on your own on the machines. But it’s just strange enough that you have really weird Australian-themed dreams.

Alastair and his wife, Jacqueline, run the Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking in a light industrial area inside the neighborhood of Box Hill. Box Hill itself adds another layer of surreal for Americans because it’s filled with Asians who all speak with an Australian accent.

The Boells started the school in Box Hill five years ago after returning to Melbourne from the United States. At first, Alastair began working at a nearby not-for-profit school, but after 18 months he left. Then he worked at another not-for-profit school and had a bad experience. He decided to start his own school.

The Melbourne Guild conducts three sorts of classes – open classes, where students bring their own projects. Specialist classes that cover a particular topic. And Masterclass series, where Alastair brings in people such as chairmaker Peter Galbert.

“All the inspiration for all of this is from the United States,” Alastair says. “Everything is emanating from the U.S. at this point – the tools, literature, teachers, revival in hand skills and old machinery.”

In addition to the school, Alastair runs a timber business with a couple other partners that cuts and dries salvaged timbers from neighborhoods, botanical gardens and other urban places.

“I always loved the idea of salvaging timber,” Alastair says. “You can source your own material. Plan your project. Mill your components. Finish it. Use it. Hand it off to your children. The total cycle. There is no other medium I know of that you can have that same journey with.”

The business – Big Sky Timber – is the result of Alastair meeting Pete McCurly, who makes sculpture and has devoted his life to Australian trees.

“When Peter he was a teenager he spent years protesting old-growth logging,” Alastair says. “He lived in a tent. Pete’s very passionate about trees.”

The business came together when Tony, a childhood friend of Alastair, became interested in salvaging urban lumber and invested the money needed to get the business going.

Now if all this seems like a lot to take on for one guy, you’re right. Alastair might be one of the busiest people I’ve ever met.

This morning he was working in the shop on some milling for some bent-laminations. Then he and Pete moved some massive blackwood logs using a crane truck and spent the afternoon positioning a huge hydraulic duplicator lathe. Later he and his family set up for an evening seminar for 50 woodworkers and cleaned up the place afterward into the late hours.

It is, in his own words, a crusade to improve the craftsmanship of his countrymen. What’s obvious is that he has the energy (and family support) to do it. What isn’t as immediately obvious is how highly skilled Alastair is at the bench. The only two testaments to his mastery at the school are his workbench and his tool chest from North Bennet – both fairly low-key objects at first glance. (His graduation project – a stunning and complex Federal piece – is in his bedroom at home.)

While Alastair wasn’t around, I spent some time fiddling with his tool chest, looking at his joints and trying to figure him out through his work. Personally, I think Australia is lucky to have him, and I wish we Americans had been fortunate enough to keep him.

— Christopher Schwarz

Filed under: Personal Favorites, Woodworking Classes

More Asians who rock, from my friend Sooyoung Park.

setjmp:

#disco #korea #마포구

In a recent blog post Paul Sellers looked at how Plane soles reflect their use and their users. I must say I warm to Paul's enthusiasm for the Stanley No 4 bench plane, in particular, and other tools within the reach of the amateur woodworker. Paul's post prompted me to ask if sole wear is likely to be more or less of a problem with bronze planes - not that I have one, mine are old steel Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12042650405946029324noreply@blogger.com0

On today’s show, we blasted through some emails with our 20 Question Quickfire Challenge! Topics ranged from grain direction, to wood selection to dust collection to tool-buying circumspection!

QUICK FIRE – 20 Questions in about 1 hour!

Chris – “I have a thickness planner, and a shaper that I use to joint edges. Is it worth investing in a jointer to clean up the faces of the boards as well?”

Jeffrey – “I know pistol style clamps don’t have the most clamping pressure so I mainly use them as a “third hand” but I wondered if you guys had some opinions on which ones were better or worse than others or are they all pretty much the same?”

Larry – “I’m starting on a dinner table to give as a gift. I’ve read a lot of online articles saying to swap grain pattern on the end grain of the top but I’ve read equal articles saying it doesn’t matter. Which is going to give me the best results? I’m using brazilian cherry (thanks Shannon) for the top and curly maple base. Will pocket screws be sufficient around the aprons or will using cleats be my best bet? What type of finish is best for a dining table as far as giving it a good moisture barrier, food safe and of course a nice shine?”

Bob – “You guys ever use a dado insert with a hump to get a dead flat dado?”

Frank – “How would you advise a married homeowner late 20′s with spouse and child and modest income in his next purchasing decisions and the path to follow? He has an attached garage with small homeowner type shop. Worktable (2x4s and plywood), normal complement of tools for home repair. Power tools are; 7.25″ circular saw, power drills, and palm sander. He is considering purchasing a power 10″ compound miter saw for some molding he is going to put up in a bedroom makeover. He has also been researching woodworking on the internet and is very interested in building some modest furniture for his home and perhaps to pursue as a hobby.”

Russ – “What type or brand of blade should he purchase to get the longest life in a production situation? Is it normal to go through a sharpening every couple of weeks or is there a better solution?”

Andreas – “The last time I bought blades for Miter & Table saw, I stepped up to Freud blades which were about $40 at the home center. I have noticed the miter saw struggling and burning more as of late and was wondering: at this price range is resharpening an option or is it time to buy a new one? If so, is it worth stepping up to a better quality blade that can have a longer life?”

**Suggested links for Andreas –
www.freudtools.com
Rockler Router Bit and Saw Blade Cleaning Kit
Rockler Pitch and Resin Remover

David – “I am currently designing a french-ish night stand with cabriole legs and a single drawer for my dorm next year. I would like to keep some sensitive things in that drawer, so I want to add a lock. Because it’s me and I can’t do anything the simple key-lock way, I’d like to have some sort of puzzle box thing to keep unwanted hands out. Do y’all have any ideas?”

Rich – “I have some 100 year old rough cherry that was the interior siding of a family home. It’s now starting to cup and warp. These are 1″X10″X10′ boards. Should I plane them first, or should I cut to length for project first (bed headboard) or should I rip them and re-joint them. Which order is best or is it a crap shoot?”

Jim – “I did a project a year ago with some cedar 6 x 6 beams in my living room. I sealed all the ends with several coats of tung oil. How long do you think I should wait before they are done moving and dried out before touching them up?”

Tony – “I was dreaming of projects and one of them was making handle scales for a fixed blade knife. I picked up two pieces of bocote, both of which are drop dead gorgeous. What do I need to do to make sure they don’t swell or shrink that much? Also, any suggestions for a finish that can stand up to this punishing use? I have some spar varnish that I use for making walking sticks so I am very comfortable with that, but I am not sure it would work.”
**Suggested link for Tony –
www.brownells.com “Tru-oil”

Lawrence – “How do you come up with a price for a project?
**Suggested link for Lawrence The Woodwhisperer article “Pricing Your Work”

Miles – “I’ve heard that brown paper bags work well to gently abrade a shiny finish. Any thoughts?”

Michael – “My dust collector is a roll-around, 2HP machine with dual 4″ ports. When connected to the a machine with a 4″ port it performs reasonably well, sucks dust, and swirls things around in the bottom bag as I expect it should. When I connect it to the mitre saw, however–leaving the second 4″ port sealed like I normally would for the other machines, the swirling actions stops. To avoid burning out the motor or ruining things, I usually leave the cap sealing the second port slightly ajar to let in a bit of extra air and keep the dust spinning going. So my questions are as follows:
1. Do I risk ruining my dust collector if the swirling cyclone isn’t spinning?
2. How do you guys connect a smaller machine to your main DC? I know a few of you have shop vacs as well, which I don’t.”

Bart – “Hi guys, Just wondering what, if any, conferences you plan on going to this year. WIA, fine woodworking live, Weekend with WOOD?”

Chris – “When is it appropriate to use a sanding sealer? Or is this just a product that manufactures put out to make more money? I typically seal with a coat of shellac before building my finish, is this sufficient or do I need to do more?”

John – “I’m building a workbench which includes a leg vise. I have some 12/4 kiln-dried, flat-sawn ash I plan on using for the chop. Do you have any recommendations on how I should orient the grain in relation to the bench? While the remainder of the lumber I’ve used has been incredibly stable I’m worried about possible cupping. As my workbench nears completion, I’m trying to figure out how to drill 3/4″ holes in my bench top. My plunge router seems like a possible solution, but I’m kind of new to routers. I was thinking I could start the hole with the router and then finish it will an auger bit in my drill. Can I safely plunge cut my 3/4″ holes? Any other recommendations suggestions on how to approach this?”
**Suggested links for John
9-Piece Power Bore Drill Bit Set
Glen Huey on Routers and Dog Holes

Mark – “I just went to my first Woodworking show in Fort Worth, and went for two days, getting to absorb as much knowledge as I could (and buy some cool new accessories for the shop). Back in 2007 Marc was very disappointed in The Woodworking Shows saying it was not worth the money. Just curious how you think their shows compare now? Are there any specific shows that ARE worth the time and effort to go to?”

Josh – “I am working on a book shelf that uses plywood and solid lumber. They are going to look foolish next to each other unless I can get a better color match. I was hoping to keep the finish simple with some BLO and a top coat of poly or varnish. I tried out some BLO on the plywood and it took on a nice color and matched the untreated lumber closely. However once I put the oil on the lumber I’m back to square one. Next I tried a couple of the lighter stains I have and that’s a no go. The color match wasn’t great, but more importantly, I just don’t like the way stain unevenly colors the different parts of the grain of oak. Going back to the BLO, I figured that two coats on the plywood should match one coat on the lumber but the second coat of oil sure didn’t color the plywood twice as much. Are there any tricks or advice to applying two coats of BLO? Should I really flood the wood with just one coat and let it sit for a bit before wiping off excess to get more color?”

Mike -”I was just wondering what your opinions are regarding what skills you need to posses to graduate from a beginner to intermediate, advanced, master woodworker.”

Help support the show – please visit our advertisers

Arrived safely and good flights

Just to let everyone know I arrived safely in the UK and had good flights with US Airways once throughout my US tour and also with Unite Airways to the UK again. Thank you everyone for your tremendous support. Driving back through the snow I followed m usual route along the Welsh coast line and could see the mountains covered with snow in the distance.

Latest online broadcast episode

I just watched the woodworkingmasterclasses.com Part 5 of the Coffee Table and was very happy with the creative results the team came up with once again. Here is the link.

Upcoming workshops

Back to the shop tomorrow. Lots to do to get ready for the upcoming workshops, which are either full or filling fast. Please sign up early to avoid disappointment. I will not be able to offer any overspill classes any more as of this time because of my limited time schedule both in the USA and the UK.

Some new-to-me tools

Bought some neat tools and will post on them shortly, but this includes a very nice Woden #7, a Disston Keystone handsaw, a toothing plane, a box full of dogging spikes and lovely gouge.

The post Good flights to UK appeared first on Paul Sellers.

...err, maybe I could phrase that better but the gist of my thoughts while converting a cherry log into a couple of hefty beams today, using a carpenter's axe and a jack plane, concerned woodworking machinery. It might be the shock of the axe jarring my bones or that make-do dowel of a plane tote raising a blister on my palm but something makes me think of other ways of doing this. Not that I Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12042650405946029324noreply@blogger.com0

The dynamics at my job have changed for me quite a bit in the last couple of months. While I’ve stayed in the section that builds the galley kitchen of the plane, my actual position has switched around several times. I started off about a year and bit ago building the drawers of the galley, [...]

One hundred years ago, when my Grandfather was just finishing his apprenticeship, most of the world’s population still lived in rural surroundings.  Unless the young craftsman was headed for the city, where specialization was common, he was likely to be engaged in all types of work that were based on working with wood.

On any given day the rural carpenter might lead a team of neighbors in building a barn or house, repair a wagon, build a gate, create a dower chest, spend time above or within the saw pit.  He might build falsework to support the masonry on the new bridge across the creek.  He might build a new sluice at the mill or provide a new bull gear.  In short, the rural carpenter was a central figure in the community.  His importance to rural life cannot be understated.  The master carpenter was surely seen as a steward of arcane knowledge that was vital to the general well-being of the community.  And as I heard more than once, “sure, wasn’t Jesus Christ, his’self, a carpenter?  And St. Joseph, as well”.

Here are a few reminders of what a carpenter’s day might have included in years gone by.

We always enjoy coming across blog articles or reviews about Highland Woodworking, especially those where woodworkers young and old discuss their history with our 35 year old family business. We recently came across Paul Sellers’ website and blog, where he describes his days of receiving our woodworking catalog and dog-earring the pages, as well as his recent visit to our retail store in Atlanta. CLICK HERE TO READ HIS BLOG.

Mr. Sellers has been woodworking for over 45 years and is the Founder of the New Legacy School of Woodworking, which has two locations in both Penrhyn Castle, UK and Schuylerville, New York. To learn more about his woodworking school, The New Legacy School of Woodworking, visit their website.

The post ‘A Store Beyond All Others’: A long-time customer blogs about his history with Highland Woodworking appeared first on Woodworking Blog.

Well what do you know, it’s a Roubo!  Here is part of the page in Andre Roubo’s work from the 18th century.  Even shows the clamp extension which I first mentioned in Shepherds’ Compleat Early Nineteenth Century Woodworker originally published in 1981 and available in paperback here.

Here are the final iteration of the original with some ‘improvements’ made from the prototype.  Not really improvements more like matching the original as closely as possible.  These two are for the first order that has already been placed and shipped.

Slightly longer that the original prototype they just fit in a Medium Flat Rate postal shipping box.  The slight increase in length allows for 12″ between the jaws of the clamp.  The increase in the size of the short bar together with the increased size of the top tab makes loosening the clamp a breeze.

These clamps not only work great but look wonderful hanging on a shop wall.  You can purchase yours here.  Thanks to master blacksmith Mark Schramm for making these and redoing them until we got them right.

Stephen

 

Part twelve of the cabinetmaker’s toolchest series, this video starts with pinning the mortise and tenon joinery in the handle as well as the top runners down into the chest sides. I use Miller Dowel System for both the structural benefit as well as its...

This whole blog entry was prompted prompted by a wonderful little thread on Woodnet. Also I get enough questions about combo filing our sash saws that I figured I should just post something.

Two questions:
Q: The combo filing on the sash saw means one saw can both crosscut really well and rip cut really well. How come this filing isn't more popular?

A: My guess is the reason why the basic combo filing (which is really a fairly aggressive rip saw with a little fleam for cutting hardwood) isn't more popular is twofold. In the professional world of hand sawing most hand saws were used in construction and, since the 1840's at least, were mostly used for cross-cutting softwood. Ripping was done far less frequently. A saw tuned for cross cutting softwood is a lot more useful and will work faster for that type of work than one for hardwood. The second reason is that it's a really tricky filing. I don't think a regular machine filed saw would work nearly as well (cutting smooth and fast in both rip and cross-cut modes) as a properly hand filed saw. It also turns out that even by hand the combo sharpening requires lots of skill and has a far smaller window of success. So my historical guess is that most attempts at filing combo weren't consistently done well enough to merit specific documentation. That being said, from historical documents we can pretty much tell you that most 18th and early 19th century saws were used interchangeably for rip and crosscutting and it wasn't until the mid 19th century that so much negative rake and fleam was added for cutting softwood that a separate saw was needed for ripping.

The second question is:
Q: Why we don't offer a dovetail saw in a combo filing?
A: The reason for that is that our current 19 ppi rip dovetail saw is a lot finer in pitch than most of our competition, still cuts very fast in rip mode (even compared to thinner blade saws) and it works pretty darn good at crosscutting hardwood too. With our saw you don't need more pronounced fleam to to do a good job crosscutting small shoulders. And as it turned out with testing, with that fine pitch adding more fleam to such tiny teeth doesn't automatically improve the overall preformace of the saw. So my answer is that the saw works for ripping optimally as is, and for crosscutting pretty well, so why confuse the waters? If we did produce a courser saw at that size, it would combo file better. but you would lose some ripping ability and be harder to start. One other point: since we file by hand there always is a tiny bit of inconsistency that you just don't get with a machine filing. For example as the filer works on dovetails saws (which are fairly short), they don't imperceptibly slide in their seat for each tooth, consequently the fleam angle might change ever so slightly as they proceed. The result is that finished saw will work a tad smoother than if they did, or if they used a filed guide for each tooth. It's just one of those things.


A couple of comments on the photo. It's a picture of just the teeth of my personal sash saw which is a few years old. You can clearly see the very consistent dent on the side of ever other tooth from the setting. Note that the bend only goes as far as the tooth - not further, there is no ripple effect in the saw plate (and there should not be). The other teeth without the set marks are bent towards the camera so they look foreshortened. That, and what looks like very shallow gullets is largely an optical illusion caused by the teeth all bent towards and away from the camera position. You can't really see the cutting edges very well in the photo. The toe of the saw is off the screen at left.

If you no idea what I am talking about with fleam and rake. Click here- for our handy dandy saw guide that we published a few years ago.

 

While conducting a plane-tuning seminar on Wednesday with toolmaker extraordinaire Chris Vesper, I got the opportunity to pick through his tool collection. I had no idea he was a tool collector. He is. And he has devoted about one-third of his living space to his collection.

His collection of plane irons (and chipbreakers) is remarkable. I could have spent a week examining them. But the tool in his collection that blew my mind was a Lancashire rebate plane he had sharpened and tuned up.

This is a user-made plane. Words and photos really don’t do it justice.

In essence, it is a cast brass rebate plane with a skewed cutter (snecked!). Instead of having a fence below the cutter (like a moving fillister plane), this plane has a sole that extends above the cutter and cutting surface.

This remarkable feature allows you to do several things:

1. Cut rabbets of any width by dropping into a gauge line. The more you plane, the more stable the tool becomes. So you can really bear down and remove some meat once you get the tool started.
2. Easily alter the floor of a rabbet with a little wrist twist. This allows you to clean up rabbets with ease.
3. The tote encourages you to push the sole into the corner of the rabbet and to remain square.
4. The escapement/lever cap of the tool throws the shavings onto the bench and not into your hand.
5. The brass sole gives you a sharp arris that lets you start in a gauge line.

Vesper was kind enough to let me try the plane out on some King William Pine. I used one of his marking gauges to lay out the rabbet. And within a couple strokes I was a rabbeting fool.

I surmise that this is a tough tool to make. It has a skew cutter, an unusual sole and a wild (but very comfortable tote). So I wouldn’t hold my breath in hopes that someone would make it for the modern market.

But if you see one, drop your small children and watermelons and grab the tool. Buy it. You won’t regret it.

— Christopher Schwarz

Filed under: Handplanes, Personal Favorites

Honestly, I’ve tuned so many dang metal planes in my lifetime that I’ll never worry about having enough iron in my diet. They might mine my carcass for the mineral when I’m dead. For me, it has always been an analog process: Do it by hand with inexpensive supplies. Today I spent the day tuning … Read more »

The post Tuning Bench Planes at Vesper World Headquarters appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

In Four London Cabinet Founders and Ironmongers, I posted the trade advertisements of four of what must have been hundreds of specialist cabinet founders working in the hub of early eighteenth-century London’s furniture district – St. Paul’s Churchyard, and in neighbouring Aldermanbury, Cheapside, Farringdon, Holborn and Lothbury.

Like the goldsmiths and silversmiths who were obliged by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths to impress their mark on their wares, brass founders too, were similarly required to sign their goods by the Worshipful Company of Founders. The Founders’ edict wasn’t rigorously enforced though and many flouted it.

The early mark, ‘IG’ (it was common for the letter ‘I’ to be substituted for the letter ‘J’ at this period) and later mark ‘J*G’ of Aldermanbury cabinet founder, John Giles (fig.1) can occasionally be found on the reverse of backplates and escutcheons etc. dating from the first half of the eighteenth-century.

Fig. 1. Trade advertisement of John Giles & Shadrh. Mulliner, Addle-Street, London.

The Oriental inspired brass backplate in figs. 2 & 3 was sawn from beaten brass plate (not cast as many were) and decorated with a simple punched design.

Fig. 2. Circa 1720 brass backplate, obverse…

Fig.3. … and the reverse, stamped ‘IG’.

Jack Plane

Filed under: Cabinet Fittings Tagged: backplates, brass, cabinet founders, escutcheons, John Giles, Worshipful Company of Founders

Working on two tables on a time has been fun. This first one is a Connecticut River Valley Queen Anne walnut candlestand. My pole lathe has worked beautifully for the pedestal turning.



Gluing up the top



Cutting the sliding dovetails into the pedestal.





The classic Queen Anne cabriole leg with slipper foot.



Standing sans top



And these guys are for Eden's tavern table. Now for their mortises!