At 10:21 AM 1/17/97 -0500, Fred Marsteller wrote:
>
>I just had the pleasure of spending a few days in Williamsburg, with
>much of my time spent lurking around the carpenters' yard asking lots of
>dumb questions (I know -- no such thing as a dumb question -- just dumb
>questioners :)) about 18th century wood technology and tools.  One thing
>that I was told was that by the late 18th century, most of the beech
>harvested in Virginia was shipped to Britain for use by planemakers.  If
>this is true, then identifying the origin of the wood would probably not
>be informative with respect to the origin of the plane.  Can anyone
>verify this story?
>
Seems plausible as a lot of other species of woods made their way across the
pond.  I do remember reading someplace that the English planemakers did feel
that the American beech was an inferior wood to the English beech, that the
English product was denser.  Hard call from what I have seen, although
(warning, highly inflammable personal opinion approaching), in the planes
that I have handled many of the English planes do seem to have made it
through the ages  better than their American cousins of comparible age.

Now I realise that there are environmental factors at work here as well, but
also consider the fact that (and this is based on my readings to date and
maybe Jeff can shed some additional light on this), that the manufacture and
use of wooden planes in England went on far longer than it did in this
country.  (almost all the wooden plane makers were shut down by the early
1920's for the US of A vs. post WWII for England.)

Tony

   
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	One is an interest
		Two is a collection
			Three is an obsession
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