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A fret saw, and spinning and weaving tools at the Sloane-Stanley museum in Kent, CT

March 1, 2010 By Al Navas

I have a fascination with old tools, regardless their origin; I know other people love them, too. And I especially love tools that are part of what is called Americana, in particular. At the top of my (personal) list of places to visit to see old tools is the Sloane-Stanley museum in Kent, Connecticut. Acknowledgment: I publish the photos in this article, and in all the other articles about the tools in the museum, with the permission of Ms. Barbara Russ, Museum Assistant.

Although I can relate only the fret saw directly to woodworking, I include three other pieces of Americana because they are of interest to our family: two knitting swifts, and one thread bobbin holder, likely used to dress a weaving loom. I also include them because they are skillfully and precisely crafted of wood. In theory, I should be able to make a knitting swift, for example; I might try my hand at it, but I cannot make any guarantees… The reason these are of interest to our family is that our daughter spins her own yarn; four of her six daughters have even learned to dye the wool themselves! Lastly, Sandy weaves on her Orco 2-harness loom.

One of the (very sharp) followers of the blog spied a small fret saw in one of the photos of an old lathe; his comments suggested to me he would love to see some additional details of the little saw. Here is one view:

Fret saw, Sloane-Stanley museum, Kent, CT

Some additional detail is visible from a little different angle,  especially the blade attachment to the arm:

Fret saw, Sloane-Stanley museum, Kent, CT

Totally unexpected, this umbrella-style knitting swift attached to one of the beams caught my eye; this is a very nice, and also a very old, clamp-on swift:

Clamp-on knitting swift.

Another surprise, not far from the first, was this free-standing knitting swift; I have no idea how its use different from the umbrella model:

Free-standing knitting swift.

This bobbin stand caught my attention, and the attention of one of the readers. I consulted with our daughter, trying to pin down the possible use of this bobbin rack. She mentioned it is likely used in dressing a weaving loom; “dressing” involves wrapping long threads on the spool rack (the thread feed side of the loom). The thread is then run from the spool rack through the reed (the “needle-looking” metal pieces that hold the threads apart on the loom) to the carpet roll on the uptake side. To hold a lot of thread requires large bobbins; this also helps to keep knots to a minimum:

Bobbin stand. Used in dressing a weaving loom?

Our daughter uses an Ashford Traveller double drive spinning wheel (it is made in New Zealand). I selected the following photo from the Ashford web site – this wheel literally comes apart; she carries it easily to workshops and spin-ins, or brings it to our living room:

Ashford Traveller double drive spinning wheel.

It is amazing how personal and family interests can lead us to different things in our travels. Initially interested in woodworking tools, we stopped at the museum for a short visit. And we got involved with much more than early American tools! I would love to hear from you regarding interesting finds in your travels:

  1. Do you and/or your family have similar, special interests in knitting or weaving, in addition to woodworking?
  2. If you do, what are some of the special treasures you have found in your travels?

I look forward to your feedback!

— Al Navas

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Filed Under: Blog, Education, Sloane-Stanley, museum Tagged With: bobbins, fret saw, knitting swift, Sloane-Stanley Museum

A display of saws at the Sloane-Stanley museum

February 26, 2010 By Al Navas

Acknowledgment: I thank Ms. Barbara Russ of the Sloane-Stanley Museum for allowing me to take photographs for publication on this blog. Although her official title is not “Curator”, she demonstrates the knowledge and research ability to be the Museum Curator.

I grew up with power tools around me. And power tools are still prevalent in my shop, although I started incorporating hand tools into my work in the last 2 years or so.

During our visit to the Sloane-Stanley Museum in October 2010 I finally felt the impact that hand tools had in our craft, and in the way things were done “in the old days”. Hand tools were the only way. Tell that to a baby boomer city boy! Today, some still use the methods of old, for various reasons; as a recent example, I invite you to read Peter Follansbee’s entry of early February 2010 in his joiner’s notes, “pitsawing”. Peter wrote:

“…Today the kids & I went for a walk, and stumbled upon this scene. They turned to me and said it seemed like something out of a Bruegel painting…”

During their walk the had stumbled upon the Museum’s carpenters pitsawing an oak (as I mentioned in an earlier article, Peter works at the Plimoth Plantation’s Living History Museum). I am still digesting what his children said…Brilliant!

The following are two images of the same wall display of saws at the Sloane-Stanley Museum. To give you a sense of scale, I guessed the pit saw is approximately 8 feet long. I was fascinated by the variety of bow saws, especially (I own, use, and love a bow saw, too):

Hopefully this angle shot will help discern some additional details:

On more mundane things, and back to reality this morning, my finishing tip for today:

Use wax-free shellac: As you know by now, I primarily use waterborne coatings; I don’t have an explosion-proof spray booth in the finishing room, so using waterborne materials is what I do. But for the times I use either red oak or white oak in my projects, I have found it essential to use an alcohol-based shellac to seal the wood surfaces. This is important: red and white oak are high in tannin content. As a result, avoid high-pH waterborne coatings directly on the raw wood surface of high-tannin woods like red and white oak, as pin-holing and bridging of the coating are likely to develop. This would make it difficult to get a nice, smooth finish. To avoid this problem, I recommend the use of a wax-free shellac:

I would like to hear from you regarding your process to finish a project:

  • Do YOU us waterborne coatings?
  • If you do, which are your favorite materials?

— Al Navas

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Filed Under: Blog, Sloane-Stanley, Tools, museum Tagged With: kent ct, museum, saws, Sloane-Stanley