| Blog series by Hoosierwoodcraft | updated 5 days ago | 17 parts | 26542 reads | 48 comments total |
Part 1: Paul Prybil, First Commerically Available Bandsaw
In June, I researched the history of Paul Prybil, who invented the first commerically available bandsaw. The video is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUlMWLV5AQ4 Here was a man that made a lot of money in his lifetime. To see his story, see the video. After I posted this video, I got a call from the great great grandson on Paul Prybil. He told him that his great grandfather lived in a wonderful life in Long Island, with many servants. After a dinner with J P MOrgan in the 1...
Part 2: George Nakashima, Modern Craftsman
In the grand scheme of woodworking, what is more important: the skills needed at a wood bench, the woodworking machinery, or the tree? If you have any doubts, you need to look at the furniture and life path of George Nakashima, a Japanese-American woodworker (1905-1990). My historic woodworker tribute can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWermZAxvfc
Part 3: Elias Atkins Saws
For vintage tool collectors, a short reminder that the second largest saw producer was the E.C. Atkins and Company in Indianapolis. The quality of the Atkins saws was equal to Philadelphia’s Disston, with a Indiana leader of metal as true as the steel of which his famous saws are made. To see my video tribute to this man and his company, click on the YouTube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b81Z1_cAucU
Part 4: Bily Brothers Scrollsaw
For my fellow hobbyists who love the scroll-saw, I created this video on the Bily Brothers. Their life history shows the potential of the scroll-saw and your leisure time. It can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg-IV03eVf4
Part 5: Thomas Day, Cabinet Maker
This month I created a tribute to Thomas Day, a free man of color, who became one of largest furniture maker in North Carolina before the Civil War. The video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhUeWAdlARc
Part 6: Morton Converse, wooden toy manufacturer
To my fellow woodworkers, I wanted to look back at one of the first and largest toy manufacturers in America at the turn of the last century Morton Converse. The historic tribute video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYua1FEVefs . You can follow his tradition by making a toy for your child or donate your efforts to children in your community.
Part 7: James Krenov, Cabinet-Maker
After reading “Cabinetmaker’s Notebook”, I began to understand why James Krenov was so admired as a woodworker. Attached is my tribute video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_X39RC0jXY
Part 8: Pear Wood - Woodworker's Delight
This video started with an examination of a musical recorder patterned after Phillippe Bolton; and a look back and back to the process of how one pear tree made the wood for this instrument. It is a tribute to the “wood” in the term: “woodworker”. This video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMxMMnNUpm8
Part 9: Orren Haskin, Shaker Woodworker
This month, the woodworker tribute video focuses on Orren Haskins as a carpenter and his role as a woodworker in Shaker society in the 19th Century. A purity of form, a doctrine of usefulness, a love of order, and a sense of spirituality permeate all aspects of his craftsmanship. The video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6y5eiq3C0Q&feature=plcp
Part 10: A Tear for the Cooper Trade
I have created another woodworking tribute video. This is a melodramatic tribute to the handcrafted wooden barrel-making trade in southern England; and a fictional story of its end with its lost skills to be replaced with manufacturing of steel containers. So shed a tear for this fading trade. It can be found athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtMXzKoIcXw
Part 11: Oshkosh Woodworker Strike
Because most of us work at a small studio shop -with one or two employees, we forget that most of modern equipment was first used in a factory. I wanted to look back at the industrial revolution in 1898, when George Paine built a new factory to make internal wooden doors and lower prices; and woodworkers in Oshkosh Wisconsin who attempted to raise their wages Mr. Paine’s progress ensured the adoption of the power planner, and confirmed long term success depends on the workers wo u...
Part 12: Tribute to Nora Hall
In 2011, woodworkers lost the master wood carver, Nora Hall. She brought honor back to the mallet and chisel and taught other traditional woodworking. The Tribute Video to her life and work in Europe and America is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lNQezJ7Ejw Happy Holidays to all.
Part 13: John Townsend, Colonial Cabinets of Newport
With thanks to Doucette and Wolfe Furniture, I developed a tribute video to John Townsend, the Newport woodworker who refined the best of high-end colonial furniture in the 18th Century. The Video can be found on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49sGS5ColmY
Part 14: Antonio Stradivari and his woodworking skills
For one of my Illinois violin making friends, I completed a woodworking tribute to Antonio Stradivari, the great violin maker. Luthiers do not get enough credit for his skills. The YouTube video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3Sq9Ecx5I0
Part 15: Revenge of the Wood Spirit (animation)
Am curious with all of the creativity of woodworkers, that no one since the 1940s has attempted to a comic book for chldren on wood-working. Hoping to have a grand child myself one day, I decided to make an attempt of forest folk tale and a story appropriate for children in an animation format As a first attempt at animation, it is as crude as the lumberjacks it portrays. But it offers a hint why the forest survives the outslaught of greedy woodworkers clear cutting a forest. Unfornat...
Part 16: J.D. Fosdick, Father of Wood Burning - Deleted
I pulled this video at the request of request of several viewers. The video sucked.
Part 17: Thomas Molesworth, Father of Western Furniture
As a follow-up on Robby44 submission of his Molesworth’s cabinet (with Norm Adams design), want to present my woodworking tribute to Tom Molesworth, the father of western furniture. The focus is more on the furniture business and nostalgia than it is on woodworking. But, you got to admire his crew in finding fir burls across the west and incorporating them into his furniture. Can find this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoWk8g_GOc8
Have created over 20 videos on numerous woodworkers as a tribute to their craftsmanship, their unique style, or new innovation. These videos have been posted to YouTube under Hoosierwoodcraft. Would like to use this space to talk about new stoies I am developing. These Notes link you to those videos
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