On 1/29/2015 2:07 PM, Leon wrote:
On 1/29/2015 10:05 AM, RonB wrote:
On Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 9:04:53 AM UTC-6, Leon wrote:
On 1/29/2015 8:42 AM, RonB wrote:
A few weeks ago I posted a questions regarding lightening the color
of an antique oak table. The table is a family heirloom that goes
back at least 100 to 120 years. My folks had already stripped and
stained it in the 1950's so preservation of patina was not a concern.

This morning I am sipping my coffee and getting ready to apply the
4th coat of finish on a project that is coming together fairly
well. I am doing it in heated garage workshop that includes a 15"
surface planer, 5hp table saw, wood lathe and other power and hand
tools I have accumulated over 30 or 40 years of woodworking and
general tinkering.

A project like this gave me lots of reasons to think. The table is
made of a combination of red and white oak, rather artfully
combined. I wonder if material use was really artistic or just the
use of available material in a small, shop. The red oak top is made
of 4" wide boards that were edge joined with a modified tongue and
groove edge. The under-frame and slide mechanism, that allows it to
be expanded, needed a little work. Some of the double-dovetail
slides were damaged. I was able to "duplicate" these parts on the
table saw but I noticed the old ones still showed slight tool marks
even after years of use.

Then the legs. The table has five 4" diameter lathe turned legs.
The top and bottom 6"-8" are artfully turned spindles with
decorative rings, etc. Everything else is a graceful rope turn
design that kept us busy for days gently removing the old finish
with toothbrushes. The other morning I laid them out side-by-side
before starting the staining process. That is when it occurred to
me they are not duplicates. They are damned near duplicates--but
there are small variations in the width of the turned rings, the
coves, the depth of the groove in the rope area etc. I noticed
variations because I was looking for them but it is clear that the
lathe was loaded five times for five legs. Then I looked over at
the 14" JET lathe near the wall of my shop and shook my head
wondering if these pieces of craftsmanship were turned on a water or
foot operated machine.

My wife and I have built a few pretty nice projects over our years
including some hardwood rocking horses that have sold or raffled
well . We have also finished out our entire home.

We are rank amateurs!

RonB


Take heart in knowing that back then it was probably a more common thing
for people to know how to do this type work and the opportunity to learn
or be taught was more available then as it is today.
Surely, regardless of the tools used, there are forgotten tricks and
techniques that made those tools of 100 years ago more effective in the
hands of the craftsman than now with few left that may know those
techniques. Think about the great pyramids. ;~)


On the other hand, most of us today are self taught, and that is a
testament to accomplishment too.

You hit on a very important and unfortunate point Leon. The
"opportunity" to learn. I know of a few young ones that would like to
take some woodworking classes in junior high or high school. I only
know of one that that the opportunity that I had when I was young.
For various reasons, liability being the main one, schools have
dropped wood classes with no plans to get back in. The old, really
old, Unisaw that I used in high school is sitting at the end of the
current agriculture shop being use for occasional cutoff work or as a
table. The instructor is wood-trained but said the schools don't want
to take on the liability of a kid getting injured - football is OK,
but not woodworking. She also said the introduction of Saw Stop
technology isn't helping because the smaller programs cannot afford to
replace perfectly good Unisaws with new machines.

Very unfortunate in our area. Pittsburg State University (Kansas) is
35 miles away and they have one of the top woodworking programs in the
country. Westhoff Interiors, a leading Yacht interior company, is on
the north edge of our town. Westhoff draws some kids into training
programs but their best trained come from Pitt State, which in turn
pulls students from other areas. Other than the Joplin area there are
few local opportunities for wood classes.

Ron


It is sad. Our country is becoming soooooo politically correct and
recklessness letting the lawyers go after any one that might do
something as simple as teach some one how to strike a match that we are
loosing the ability to actually think and innovate. Let alone do for
ourselves.
The thinking that it would be too expensive to spend $5K to replace a
new saw is ludicrous. The life long skills that could be taught in a
wood shop would be thousands of times less expensive than incarcerating
those that have no other skill and peddle crack on the street corner.
For some odd reason our mentality is switching over to the idea of
knowing how to do "ONE" thing that requires no thinking.
The grocery store cashier from the 70's would look like a genius
compared to those that take you money these days.



AND Jeez. Our president wants to make community colleges free to all!

I can appreciate the gesture but that is only going to appeal to those
that should not be going to college in the first place.
A free college for all will be no different than adding more years to
high school. It will be free so the vast majority that did not want to
be in school in the first place will be there taking up space. I am of
the firm belief that 90% of the students that don't directly pay for
their higher education will get less from it, what do they have to
loose? If you want a lower quality education choose one that is funded
by the tax payers. If you want a lower quality health care system,
choose one funded by the tax payers.

I will get down off of my soap box. ;~)

AND I did not mean to hi-jack your thread, I did appreciate your
thoughts on how much more adapt we as a society were 100 years ago.