Before Electricity – French machine tools that were/are human powered

July 25, 2014 / Matt Talley / 2 Comments

As we have traveled a bit here in France, I have drug my wife, son, in-laws, and friends to dusty museums and shops to see some amazing examples of traditional French woodworking tools and machines. These bits of pre-electric woodworking gems have been covered in beasage, wabi-sabi and love. Some were almost pristine, looking like there were used the day before and a few are shadows of their former-selves, but beautiful none the less. There are lathes, marqueterie saws, Saw-tooth sets, sharpening stones, carts, presses, saws, etc…

One of the most prominent things I noticed were all the different mechanisms for making the different lathes go ’round: peddles, treadles, hand operated flywheels, waterwheels, and bows.

Enjoy

Historic French Work Benches

July 16, 2014 / Matt Talley / 3 Comments

In the 7 months I have lived in France, I have seen some amazing examples of traditional French carpenters’ work benches. They are full of tool marks, tool trays, attachments, vices, dog-holes, studded plane stops, nicks gouges patches, etc… Some are almost pristine, some covered in 100+ years of marqueterie glue, and some rotted – full of worm holes. One some you will see the standard “French” leg vice and others have a parallel top vise – also don’t know what to call it – is a southern French/Basque sort of thing. I asked a local “old guy” here and he said was a “thing” here. That is the direct translation 🙂

Almost all the benches I see here are slab benches and a number are slab benched with a thick dadoed plank bolted to the front edge to provide square dog holes.

As a man who appreciates such things, as a joiner in the process of building my own bench, and as a tourist in a foreign land I have been busy with my camera. 🙂 Below is a data-dump of some of the better benches and details that I have seen so far. I will update as I see more in the “wild.”

Side note: I bought a couple and am having the gassed (wood worms are serious here!) and will be bringing them back to the US when we rotate back in a couple of years – one for the house and one for the shop (tall oak slab for dovetail cutting) and IF there is any room in the container I may bring back a couple more – just because my wife hasn’t said no :-).

Candle Box build

August 18, 2013 / Matt Talley / Leave a comment

As part of my on-going campaign furniture project I decided that I needed a small box to hold beeswax candles and a few candle stick holders. I contemplated spending way too many hours crafting a small box with dovetails or finger joints, but good sense and my travel schedule won out and I happened on a wooden 2-bottle wine presentation box at Goodwill while I was there perusing for candle holders and baseball bats (for my lathe). I found four nice small Indian-made brass holders that fit in half the box with just the right amount of patina and beausage. I glued in a plywood separator in the middle of the box and cut down a piece of 1/4″ plywood scrap to cradle the holders. I glued that into one of the halves. A coat of red mahogany stain was rubbed on the outside and the box was finished off with two coats of polyurethane. An appropriately dinged-up brass handle was a sourced for $0.50 at a local reclaimed hardware shop and the box is now ready for a safari, Glamping, or romantic dinners in the back yard, etc..

Campaign Furniture

January 20, 2012 / Matt Talley / 2 Comments

Charleston, SC is one one the places that makes Marta Stewart go all weak in the knees: it is antiques heaven. I had just finished reading a post on the Lost Art Press Blog about a shop there that deals mainly in campaign furniture (a type of furniture made specifically for travel and/or military campaigning and something that makes my inner Martha breathe heavy), when I got the serendipitous news that my J-O-B was sending me there for a few days. Well then… I had one afternoon off and I drug a couple of coworkers to the antiques district downtown and hunted for the shop. My, my, my…. The proprietor had original pieces from the British Raj that he let me fondle and covet. I really wanted some personal alone time with a specific teak and wicker lounger. Me, the chair, some port, candle light, and sweet, sweet love….

I am in the process of building my own campaign-style camp kitchen, chairs, table, and wet bar to take with us on the Lukowski-Gahagan-Talley Glamping trips planed for this spring and summer, where roughing it means the mushrooms are crimini instead of chantarails. I snagged a few ideas from the shop and some additional research that I am incorporating. I will post when somewhat complete, but in the meantime, take a look at some of the pictures I snapped and have included below.

The functional art of a block plane

November 3, 2011 / Matt Talley / Leave a comment

There is craft and there is art and sometimes the two disiplines make sweet love and this is their offspring:

From here

The lines for this one are almost Art Deco. It looks like it would mold into a palm and become and extension of your hand.

From here

Wood and steel and brass and beautiful. In my mind’s eye I can see the curled shavings littering the shop while I work with this beauty:

From here

There is something wrong with you if this mechanical marvel doesn’t make you wonder what you could build that would REQUIRE you to purchase this plane.

From here

Second site is up and running

March 10, 2011 / Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Oh, if I had a hammer… As mentioned, in my heart of hearts I am just a joiner, a cabinet maker, and a carpenter. To work a hunk of dull wood from rough plank into a beautiful and useful object, used for generations, is so fulfilling to me. I sleep very peacefully after a day spent in the shop. Since I am a 21^st century ape, my building interests have bloomed to include metal work, gears, bicycles, motors, hydraulics, computers, cars, motorcycles, machining, etc… While my specific skill set in most deeply rooted in wood, I can and do appreciate the accoutrements of the other trades. I have been cyber-hording pictures of planes, saws, machines, shops, tools, bike frames, blueprints, and images of amazing works of craft and skill for YEARS and finally decided to do something with them.

I have built another site (in all my unlimited free time…) that is geared toward shining a spotlight on useful, finely executed, beautiful handmade and simple machine-built objects: Little bits of our world that become more appreciated, admired, and useful with age.

The site is Beasauge.net – a definition of the work in included there. I would have liked to have Beausage.com, but some dill hole is cybersquatting on the url and wants $$$ to give it up.

Driven Outside

Tag: Beausage

Before Electricity – French machine tools that were/are human powered

Historic French Work Benches

Candle Box build

Campaign Furniture

The functional art of a block plane

Second site is up and running