The wind up:

We had to cut down a big hackberry tree in our front yard. The tree
service said they would take the trunk to the saw mill for me. The
trunk was about 8' long and about 22" in diameter. To make a long
story short, they had a lot of trouble pulling it onto their trailer
using a come-along. Some nice guy with a forklift drove down the
street, saw they were having trouble, stopped, and helped them get it
in the trailer. It was a big ordeal.

Then I was reading one of Roy Underhill's books and he showed a picture
of a cart they used to move logs in Colonial Williamsburg. Here's a
similar pictu
http://www2.willard.lib.mi.us/bcphot...n/r20_1180.htm It
has two big wheels at the end of a long beam. On the short end of the
beam, near the wheels, are two hooks that snag the sides of the log.
You put the long beam up in the air, snag the log, then pull the beam
down so it is parallel with the log. Then you chain the log to the
beam. Now, if the log is centered properly, you pick up the front of
the beam and roll the log out of the forest. Genius!

I think the old timers understood finesse much better than I do.

The question:

I'm tired of reading books and magazine articles that just encourage me
to buy one product or another and have all my woodworking problems
solved.

I'm considering cancelling my Fine Woodworking subscription to read old
books instead. Do you all have any suggestions for old books (or books
about old wood technology) that are a good read?

Mark

Wed, Oct 11, 2006, 9:49pm (EDT-3) (Mark*Wells)
dideth stateth:
snip I'm considering cancelling my Fine Woodworking subscription to
read old books instead. Do you all have any suggestions for old books
(or books about old wood technology) that are a good read?

You've gotta cancel Fine Woodworking before you're allowed to read
old books? I cancelled mine long ago. WoodenBoat has proved much more
interesting, and has articles on how they used to do it.

Wanna read old woodworking books, eh? Well, you "could" come to my
place and read some of mine, I've got a fair collection. But then I'd
have to kill you, so that option's probably out for you.

You wanna read the old books, then start out in your local library.
You wanna "buy" old books, then you go to used bookstores. You can
check eBay, but I consider that a last resort type of thing, when you
can't find whatever you want anywhere else - shiping can kill an
otherwise good deal - that's IF they happen to have what you're after,
and the price isn't push way too high. There's a lot of on-line
booksellers - I've got around 40 links saved, and sometimes go thru
every one of them when searching for a specific book. I've sometimes
spent weeks and weeks searching for a book, at an affordable price - got
one for under $20, including shipping, that was being listed most places
well over $50 - not a woodworking book by the way. I stay away from new
bookstores, unless I want to check out their magazines.

You didn't bother saying what your specifi interests are, so I'm
not about to go thru my books and copy titles. I've got books listing
old tools, including their pictures, and their uses - some of the stuff
I'm not even sure Roy knows about. Then I've got other books, some
going back to the 1920s, and earlier. I've got a few I've paid less
then $40 for that I now see listed for close to $400 each. Amazing.
There's stuff on the web too, articles you can read, or print out -
including reprints of personal diaries, etc., telling people's personal
experiences back in the 1700-1800s, and how they did it back then - all
free, you've just gotta look. You might want to check out some of Roy's
books too, they're pretty good.



JOAT
It's not hard, if you get your mind right.
- Granny Weatherwax

"J T" wrote in message
...
I've sometimes
spent weeks and weeks searching for a book, at an affordable price - got
one for under $20, including shipping, that was being listed most places
well over $50 - not a woodworking book by the way. I stay away from new
bookstores, unless I want to check out their magazines.

So you spent weeks and weeks searching so you could save $30? Interesting.

Thu, Oct 12, 2006, 2:59pm (Locutus) doth
burbleth:
So you spent weeks and weeks searching so you could save $30?
Interesting.

Don't let it worry you. I'm sure that sooner or later you can find
someone that will be able to explain it to you.



JOAT
It's not hard, if you get your mind right.
- Granny Weatherwax

"J T" wrote in message
...
Thu, Oct 12, 2006, 2:59pm (Locutus) doth
burbleth:
So you spent weeks and weeks searching so you could save $30?
Interesting.

Don't let it worry you. I'm sure that sooner or later you can find
someone that will be able to explain it to you.



JOAT
It's not hard, if you get your mind right.
- Granny Weatherwax


Nothing to explain, just doesn't sound like a good return for the effort
spent.

Fri, Oct 13, 2006, 10:03am (Locutus) doth
claimeth:
Nothing to explain, just doesn't sound like a good return for the effort
spent.

Sure it is. Maybe you've got money to pay listed prices for
out-of-print books, but I don't. I don't put bread on the table from
woodworking, it's a hobby. Buying a woodworking book for a lower price,
after a bit of looking, is part of the hobby. After all, no matter how
I spend the time, it's not like I'm losing money from not doing paying
work.

That was one example. I've bought other books, listed for a lot
more, for from $5-$30, by looking - I'll probably never buy a book for
more than $30. Adds up to a fair amount over a year. It's not like I
spend 8 hours a day looking, or even look eery day. Plus, these are
books I already know exactly what their content is, and they're not
available just anywhere. I just remembered, I've now got a complete set
of eight steam books from about 1920. The complete set was listed at
about $450 last I looked, I've probably got less then $75 invested in
mine - plus, I've got several extras I need to get rid of, that usually
list for about $35-$45 each.

If you would like to buy an interesting, out-of-print, book on
boatbuilding, I have one I've seen listed for $385, + shipping. Of
course, you "could" look around, and get the same book for probably $35
to $50, including shipping, but why bother?. I've had mine for years
now, and paid about $10 for my copy. I'll make you a good deal, $350,
including shipping, and you won't even have to waste time searching.

I'm pretty well set with woodworking books for now.



JOAT
It's not hard, if you get your mind right.
- Granny Weatherwax

I remembered, just as I pushed the send button. When I buy a book,
I normally prefer to thumb thru it first, unless I know very well what
the content is. So, used bookstores are about #1 on my list. At times
I do frequent new bookstores to check out their books, then any I'm
actually interested in owning, I check on-line for a used copy. If I
just want to read one, I check my local library - if they don't have a
copy, I see if they can borrow a copy - they do have a fee for this now,
so in some cases it could be cheaper to buy a copy, but seldom is. Any
books you don't want, you can usually trade them in at any good used
bookstore.



JOAT
It's not hard, if you get your mind right.
- Granny Weatherwax

Mark Wells wrote:
Then I was reading one of Roy Underhill's books and he showed a picture
of a cart they used to move logs ... Genius!

You might enjoy _A Museum of Early American Tools_, by Eric Sloane
Ballantine Books, 1964

Mark Wells wrote:
The wind up:
When I'm looking for an old or used book I always go to Addall.com.
They can search the inventory of hundreds of used book stores around
the world. In fact I just purchased a book, well it's actually a
catalog, through them. It's called 'Builders Woodwork" from 1927 and
shows architectual details of houses of that era. Doors, windows,
mouldings, ect for Bungalow, Craftsman style and what have you. I
purchased it to resell on eBay because I had just watched one sell for
$360.00 that had over 20 bidders. So I did a fast search, found this
one at Addall.com for $100.00, bought it and listed it on eBay. Went
for $45.00. Go figure.

Fri, Oct 13, 2006, 6:17pm (EDT-3)
(Mike*in*Arkansas) doth posteth:
snip So I did a fast search, found this one at Addall.com for $100.00,
bought it and listed it on eBay. Went for $45.00. Go figure.

Let me know next time you're selling a book. LMAO I've got
somewhere around 40 links saved, including AddAll.com. On a
concentrated search I use 'em all. I don't buy books to sell tho, I
keep 'em.



JOAT
It's not hard, if you get your mind right.
- Granny Weatherwax

Here is one I enjoyed:
http://www.amazon.com/Reverence-Wood-Eric-Sloane/dp/0486433943


______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Mark Wells" wrote in message
oups.com...
The wind up:

We had to cut down a big hackberry tree in our front yard. The
tree
service said they would take the trunk to the saw mill for me.
The
trunk was about 8' long and about 22" in diameter. To make a
long
story short, they had a lot of trouble pulling it onto their
trailer
using a come-along. Some nice guy with a forklift drove down
the
street, saw they were having trouble, stopped, and helped them
get it
in the trailer. It was a big ordeal.

Then I was reading one of Roy Underhill's books and he showed a
picture
of a cart they used to move logs in Colonial Williamsburg.
Here's a
similar pictu
http://www2.willard.lib.mi.us/bcphot...n/r20_1180.htm
It
has two big wheels at the end of a long beam. On the short end
of the
beam, near the wheels, are two hooks that snag the sides of the
log.
You put the long beam up in the air, snag the log, then pull the
beam
down so it is parallel with the log. Then you chain the log to
the
beam. Now, if the log is centered properly, you pick up the
front of
the beam and roll the log out of the forest. Genius!

I think the old timers understood finesse much better than I do.

The question:

I'm tired of reading books and magazine articles that just
encourage me
to buy one product or another and have all my woodworking
problems
solved.

I'm considering cancelling my Fine Woodworking subscription to
read old
books instead. Do you all have any suggestions for old books
(or books
about old wood technology) that are a good read?

Mark

DanG wrote:
Here is one I enjoyed:
http://www.amazon.com/Reverence-Wood-Eric-Sloane/dp/0486433943

Thank you guys for the two Eric Sloane recommendations. I had never
heard of him before and I look forward to reading them when they arrive
at my local library branch. I know I was vague about what I wanted,
but that was kind of on purpose. I almost view this as wood education
for education's sake.

Mark