Ralph Brendler wrote:


> The DAT (fellow galoot Bob Nelson's labor of love) is a particularly
> amazing font of knowledge.

I've been waiting for this TLA (Three Letter Acronym) to be expanded
since it's come up frequently lately. What means DAT?

I've been spliting my books purchases between tools and homebrewing
lately, but picked up "How to Make Carpentry Tools", Aaron Moore with
Musaemura Sithole. (ISBN 1-85339-406-8) I'm not past the Introduction
yet, but it was written for teaching practising artisans in developing
countries: namely, Africa. Hand drawn pictures and simple instructions
show you how to make everything from a mallet to a plough plane.

The Introduction, at least, is very good. It goes into the social and
economic challenges faced by these carpenters. Well-meaning Europeans go
in and try to help folks learn skills with machinery that they cannot
afford once the class is over. Blacksmithing knowlege is fading fast.
The guys that wrote this book are trying to restore the reality of
handtools to the media-washed masses much the same as some folks here
have done at the tool shows.

Norm's shop ain't worth a cr*p when you got no lectricty.

Cheers, Kyle Accardi

Galoots

Dunbar's "Restoring, Tuning and Using Classic Woodworking Tools" has
been posted as a good reference.

"Plane Baiscs" By Allen Caught my eye, and I found a copy for $11.
Wearing's "Handtools for Woodworkers" Also caught my eye.

Are these useful books for a user (so far)? I'm not interested in
picture books. I want good information techniques and advice. "The Fine
Art of Tools" did nothing for me. Any other suggestions?

Mike Duchaj
Elgin, IL

Mike Duchaj asks about hand tool books:

This is an important topic that hasn't come up in a while.  IMO, a good
library is every bit as important as good tools.

> Dunbar's "Restoring, Tuning and Using Classic Woodworking Tools" has
> been posted as a good reference.

Yup, this is a great one.  Probably my second favorite, right after Bernie
Jones' stuff.

> "Plane Baiscs" By Allen Caught my eye, and I found a copy for $11.

Another goodie.  I like this one a lot-- the information is good, and it is
very easy to read.

My personal favorite books for hand tool woodworking are the Bernard Jones
reprints from Astragal Press:  "The Complete Woodworker" and "The Practical
Woodworker".  These cover a lot of different things (wanna make an airplane
propeller?) in enough detail to be useful. Best of all, these are *cheap*...
;-)

I also really like Graham Blackburn's and Aldren Watson's books-- these are
both good additions to any hand-tool woodworker's library.  FWW has done a
couple of reprints that may be of interest (FWW on Hand Tools, FWW on Planes
and Chisels, FWW on Bench Tools), but I've never been too impressed with
these myself.  Other folks love them, though.

If you are into wooden planes, Whelan's "The Wooden Plane" is a must-have.
Every time I pick this up I learn something new.  His planemaking book is
also really good if your interests lie in that direction.

The collector references are also useful if you are one of the folks who
will own up to having a collection , or if you are a flea market
scrounger.  The DAT (fellow galoot Bob Nelson's labor of love) is a
particularly amazing font of knowledge.  John Walter's Stanley price guide
is also an outstanding reference, as are Roger Smith's PTAMPIA volumes.
There are also a host of other books that cover more specialized tools, like
Lamond's spokeshave book and Bacheller's gage book.

One author I'd say to stay away from, however, is Alex Bealer. We've been
around the block several times on this guy, so check the archives.  I got
his "Old Ways of Working Wood" book in a discount bin for $3, and found it
laughably bad-- so bad, in fact that I gave my copy to Jeff (you, Jeff) to
use as fodder for his "Old Wives Tales" column in Good Woodworking.  I still
have nightmares about his recommendation to sharpen paring chisels with a
bevel on both sides... ;-)

ralph

Kyle Accardi asks:

> I've been waiting for this TLA (Three Letter Acronym) to be expanded since
> it's come up frequently lately.  What means DAT?

My bad-- I thought this was in the FAQ, but it's not.  Sorry about that...

DAT is "The Dictionary of American Toolmakers", published by the EAIA.  Bob
Nelson, Phil Cannon, and a few others spent years organizing and
cross-referencing hundreds of thousands of paper references, to create the
definitive list of who manufactured what, and when.

I've talked to Phil a couple of times about what went into the creation of
this, and the effort required to organize and analyze the data is mind
boggling.  It's sort of the Oxford English Dictionary of tooldom... ;-)
-- 
Ralph Brendler, Chicago, IL - OTLM, ENB, FOYBIPO
"Every team has their bad centuries"-- Jeff Torborg, former Cubs manager

I'll offer up Leonard Lee's Sharpening Book as a good un

And if you ever decide to build something and want to finish it, Hand Applied
Finishes By Jeff Jewitt and
The New Wood Finishing Handbook by Micheal Dresdner are both fantastic (and
complement each other well)

Mike Duchaj wrote:

> Galoots
>
>
> Are these useful books for a user (so far)? I'm not interested in
> picture books. I want good information techniques and advice. Any other
> suggestions?
>

-- 

Kirk Eppler
Eppler.Kirk@g...

Hi Ralph & Kyle & All,

Ralph complemented the DAT which led Kyle to ask what means DAT which
led Ralph to answer Dictionary of American Toolmakers. That's what a lot
of other people also call it, but it's not quite correct. It's really
the Directory of American Toolmakers. The difference is  mainly only
relevant if you're trying to find it on a listing or such, but I offer
this in case any here might do that. 

Best Wishes,
Bob

If any of you live near a Half Price Books outlet (national
chain of used bookstores,) take a look -- two weeks ago I
found multiple brand new paperback copies of a couple of
Blackburn's books as well as Kingshott's 'Woodworking
Joints' book. You might get lucky and find these at some
of the online book discounters, too, since it looks like
they're being remaindered...

-----Original Message-----

I also really like Graham Blackburn's and Aldren Watson's books...

Hey, Y'all,

     I took a chance and went to Halfpricebooks.com.
yep it's there.  Click on "crafts & hobbies" then
"woodwork" and there they be.  One of Graham's books
and the Kingshott Joint book plus several others of
interest.  Including two that I have bought recently
and paid up to twice as much for. Dang it.

Tony Lewis
Collinsville, north of Tulsa, Indian Territory
--- Chris Otto  wrote:
> If any of you live near a Half Price Books outlet
> (national
> chain of used bookstores,) take a look -- two weeks
> ago I
> found multiple brand new paperback copies of a
> couple of
> Blackburn's books as well as Kingshott's
> 'Woodworking
> Joints' book. You might get lucky and find these at
> some
> of the online book discounters, too, since it looks
> like
> they're being remaindered...
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> 
> I also really like Graham Blackburn's and Aldren
> Watson's books...
> 
> --
>
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> Private replies: chrisotto@s...
> Public replies:  OLDTOOLS@l...
> To signoff or digest:
> listserv@l...
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>
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>                      Quote sparingly.
>
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> 

__________________________________________________
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Love those places, got ALL the Woodwright books by his Royness in one
swell foop there for 5 to 7 dollars each a few years ago. The always
have SOMETHING good there.

SWMBO groans louder when the car turns in there than she does for flea
markets. (even thought she is likely to spend more in either place
than I am.)

Tnoy Lewis wrote: I took a chance and went to Halfpricebooks.com. yep
it's there.

Ralph replied to Mike's book request thusly:

>
>> Dunbar's "Restoring, Tuning and Using Classic Woodworking Tools" has
>> been posted as a good reference.
>
> Yup, this is a great one. Probably my second favorite, right after
> Bernie Jones' stuff.
>
>> "Plane Baiscs" By Allen Caught my eye, and I found a copy for $11.
>
> Another goodie. I like this one a lot-- the information is good, and
> it is very easy to read.
>
> My personal favorite books for hand tool woodworking are the Bernard
> Jones reprints from Astragal Press: "The Complete Woodworker" and "The
> Practical Woodworker". These cover a lot of different things (wanna
> make an airplane propeller?) in enough detail to be useful. Best of
> all, these are *cheap*... ;-)

    Great minds think alike, these are on top of my list as well. What
    follows right on their heels is Paul N. Hasluck's "The Handyman's
    Book" ISBN 1-85891-254-7. Packed with good oldtools information and
    usually found cheap.

    "Bench Work in Wood" by W. F. M. Goss is another good book for use
    of handtools. It includes a set of excercises to build skills. This
    was reprinted by the MWTCA a coupla years back and may be available
    used at tool events.

[snip]
>
> One author I'd say to stay away from, however, is Alex Bealer. We've
> been around the block several times on this guy, so check the
> archives.

    It just continues to be funny to hear your review of his body of
    work.

Regards, Steve

:-) Ralph rants :

>If you have supposedly interviewed hundreds of old-time "experts" to learn
>the "lost secrets" of cabinetmaking, THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY THAT YOU CAN
>NOT KNOW WHAT A PLOW PLANE IS CALLED!  Sorry for shouting, but this still
>gets my goat.  This is one of the most basic tools in the set, and it is
>just inconceivable that someone's research could be so shoddy as to think it
>was a dado plane.

I can't say anything about Bealer since I haven't seen any of his books
but he's not the only one with strange mistakes.  Aldren Watson's
Country Furniture calls a yankee? plough a "fillister plane" and his
picture shows one with an iron so bent out of shape that you could never
get it out of the plane to change it, let alone sharpen it.  [I must 
add that this doesn't detract in any way from my high opinion of Watson's
books.]

Hey, this is the second time in just a few days that I've pulled an
oldtool book off the shelf, after not touching them for over a year.
I'm starting to re-realize what a great passtime this is...  Gazing
at Bill's panel raiser a few minutes ago gave me the urge to go down
and fondle a plane or two of my own, something I haven't done since
my shop was filled to the ceiling last year with extra furniture.
Got the place mostly cleaned up now...

Speaking of books, don't forget mwcta.org's list of books that we of
the porch put together several years ago.  Last I heard Russ Allen
was taking care of it.

Paul Pedersen     
Montreal (Quebec)

"Ralph Brendler"  writes about good WWing books:
  > both good additions to any hand-tool woodworker's library.  FWW has
done a
  > couple of reprints that may be of interest (FWW on Hand Tools, FWW on
Planes
  > and Chisels, FWW on Bench Tools), but I've never been too impressed with
  > these myself.  Other folks love them, though.

     The newer (color) versions have a lot of pretty pictures and very
little actual content.  "Look at the pretty planes this guy makes", etc.

     The old versions (black and white) aren't as pretty, but have 
content that you can sink your teeth into.

     IMHO, YMMV, etc.

Tad Anhalt
Des Moines, Ia.

>     The old versions (black and white) aren't as pretty, but have 
>content that you can sink your teeth into.

Incidently, Cambium Books is currently selling 18 of the 20
older "FWW on" series for a very good price - they're going
out of print, and being clearanced at a "for the set" price
of $140, IIRC.  

This was on the last inside page of their most recent catalog,
I couldn't find it on their website.

[insert standard disclaimer]

Kirk Hays
Cedar Mills, Orygun
Cruffler Galoot #1

>"Ralph Brendler"  writes about good WWing books:
>both good additions to any hand-tool woodworker's library.  FWW has
>done a couple of reprints that may be of interest (FWW on Hand Tools, ...
>but I've never been too impressed with these myself)......

Hmm.  Dare I risk appearing to conflict with the estimable Dr. Brendler?
FWW on Hand Tools.  This book is like a primer on the galoot life.  I've
been enjoying the '93 reprint of this, which I just picked up mint for a
buck.  Especially when I found therein a contribution from our own Trevor
Robinson on making a tap for making wood threads.  (Maybe there are other
galoots in there I haven't recognized?  If so, my apologies.)

There's basic stuff on blacksmithing for woodworking tools, heat treating,
and chisels and steel; a brief treatise on spoon bits; a piece on tuning up
your auger bits; how to tune your screwdrivers (a practical, uh, bit that
contains the sort of minutia, accessably presented, that us newbies can get
alot of learnin' from); the treatise on a handmade tap and screwbox for
making wood threads; a succint summary on files and rasps for woodworking;
some shop math and layout; couple nice pieces on bowsaws, sawing, and
sharpening; and finishing up with good stuff on hewing and working green
wood and pieces on spoke shaves and draw knives.

This is the older FWW, the stuff is from '78 to the mid-eighties.  I'm
reading some other twenty-something year old Taunton magazines (FWW, and an
apparently ill-fated furniture publication), when I have a few minutes....
I am going to save the FWW article from '78 (is it?) showing a rather baby
faced Prof. J. Alexander astride a shaving horse.  And in that same issue,
if memory serves, a contribution from a gentlegaloot from across the pond
(England, Jeff).

Ahhh, to know that I am brushing emails with greatness.  So for the
multitude of wannabe galoots like me (and we know who we are), find some of
this old stuff in original or reprint.

Now, where is that address for Tod's planemaking video.......

chris

cmca@c...

 "A man who wants to work must attach value to the best tools."

					-- Goethe

Don't forget to break out your FWW Techniques (Volumes 1-9) every once
in a while to get a feel for the early FWW articles - without the ads. 
Although it's sometimes interesting to see the older ads (with the
wonderful prices) once in a while.  For that you have to go to the
magazines themselves.

Frank (Fort Worth Armadillo Works)

Frank Sronce wrote:
> 
> Don't forget to break out your FWW Techniques (Volumes 1-9) every once
> in a while to get a feel for the early FWW articles - without the ads.
> Although it's sometimes interesting to see the older ads (with the
> wonderful prices) once in a while.  For that you have to go to the
> magazines themselves.

Try "The Woodworker" circa 1930 if you want good ads, low prices, and
excellent hand tool projects.

	BugBear

I visited the Barnes and Noble website and was able to purchase both books
at the remaindered price with no shipping charges since I ordered two
items. I also was charged no tax for the internet transaction. The standard
disclaimer applies, i.e. not affiliated with Barnes and Noble etc.

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