September 9, 2010

The Sloane-Stanley Museum of Tools and Artwork in Kent, Connecticut

The sign to the Museum cannot be missed – but I missed it on the first pass:

sloane-stanley-musem-logo

Today we planned to end our visit to three of the New England states, after looking for the best Fall foliage colors. I am happy to report that we found the colors at their peak in the Western parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont!

On Tuesday we drove by the Museum, only to find it closed. In October, and due to budget constraints, it is open only on Thursdays. Today, the start of our return trip was delayed a bit, as we once again returned to the Sloane-Stanley Museum of Tools & Artwork, to experience in person Eric Sloane’s beautiful art work on display. He also had an amazing collection of Americana tools, including many woodworking hand tools. Some of the pieces in the Museum’s collection are outstanding, and rare. Click on the Links button at the Sloane page above to get to the Museum web site.

I will post more about the pieces in the Museum in a future article; for now, I share only a couple of them. Please click on the images to enlarge them.

First up is a “standard tool chest, c. 1840″. It has dovetail joinery; and its contents are on display in a way very similar to the way it was found after the artist’s death:

chest-sloane-stanley

The chest contents:

chest-contents-sloane-stanley

The joinery on the carcase:

chest-joinery-sloane-stanley

A special piece in the collection is the following wooden wheelbarrow:

sloane-wheelbarrow-art

It is made special because he painted in full color, against a gorgeous backdrop:

sloane-wheelbarrow-painting

As we headed South on Connecticut Highway 7, we came across this gorgeous barn:

kent-barn-land-trust

We will continue our journey West, stopping along the way to take more photos. In the meantime, enjoy!

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.

Two marking gauges, one old and one new

I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that keeping your practice pieces will confirm the progress you have made. And I find this is true. Below is a photograph of my practice “bucket”, plus some of the more recent results of my hand-cut dovetail journey, with focus on very small joinery for very small boxes:

practice-bucket

My practice "bucket".

To me, it is fundamental to always keep the grain aligned, such that it flows seamlessly around the corners:

cherry-prctice-boards

I don’t care much for the round marking gauges, such as the Tite-Mark and all its incarnations. Enter the Marketplace in St Charles, during the Woodworking in America Conference. I bought the 4-inch Hamilton marking gauge – it is sold exclusively by di legno Woodshop Supply:

hamilton-gauge-ready

It takes but a few minutes’ practice to learn to hold the gauge properly, and it soon becomes second nature:

using-hamilton-gauge

For years I used the Stanley 92 butt marking gauge, because it cuts a beautiful line – but more and more it felt awkward to use it on thin boards. It felt like it was trying to  “rock” on the edge of the work piece:

using-stanley-92

The results:

marked-cherry-boards

Summary: Both gauges cut beautifully. But the Hamilton gauge gives much better tactile feedback; I can “feel” when the gauge is truly square to the face of the board, even with very thin work pieces. Maybe it is because the fence is considerably wider than the face on the older Stanley; maybe it is due to its much lighter weight. But I now mark with much more confidence.

With that this part of a process resolved, I really must concentrate on not cutting beyond that line.

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The bow saw in action

By now you know the mystery box contents revealed the bow saw from Gramercy Tools. The box was much larger than I anticipated, and for a very good reason: The saw was completely assembled, a nice and unexpected touch.

After unpacking and tensioning the blade per the enclosed instructions (two turns of the toggle), I had to take the saw for a test drive. With a few box blanks handy, I tested it by cutting waste between pins and tails of a small box – it felt great in my hand, was easy to control with only one hand; and it cut beautifully with the 18TPI blade already mounted, ready to cut in push mode, which I prefer:

tfww-51

Broken down into its component pieces, with a 6-inch rule for reference:

bow-saw-components

The results of the test drive follow. First I tried a larger pin:

dsc_6202

I then tried a smaller pin, about 2-½ kerfs wide, showing the tails on the poplar board – no paring after chopping what little remained after cutting the bulk of the waste with the bow saw:

narrow-pin-bowsaw

The walnut (pins) board:

narrow-pin-bowsaw-2

This short trial showed me I have great control of the bow saw, even in narrow, small places. It will be the ideal tool for delicate, intricate curve work. This is possible by the use of thin, narrow blades (only 1/8-inch wide). I also learned that it is best to use the full length of the blade when cutting; doing so greatly improves its turning ability in close quarters.

As I was drafting this I did a quick search, and found a December 2006 review of the bow saw by Christopher Schwarz. He gave it a glowing review – I totally agree with his conclusions – this is a great saw to have in the tool arsenal!

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