The David Rittenhouse astronomical and musical clock now in the collection of Drexel University in West Philadelphia has been called the "Most Important Clock in America". It is a stunning achievement. The gearing calculations would have been difficult if Rittenhouse had access to modern computing technologies. That this work was done by hand calculation in … Continue reading Drexel’s Rittenhouse
Carving
Chips and Shoulders
Responding recently to a question about the quality of carving gouges marked C. Maiers, I noticed that in the post I wrote two years ago about some of the C. Maiers tools I own and use I said I had never seen a C. Maiers tool with a shoulder. Since then I’ve acquired two Maiers … Continue reading Chips and Shoulders
Batsto Furnace Part II
More information and photos of the carved mahogany stove plate pattern at the Burlington County Historical Society. The size of the pattern is 26 inches high and 33 inches wide. The ground of the relief carving is on the shy side of 5/16 of an inch below the upper surface. I don’t believe a router … Continue reading Batsto Furnace Part II
Batsto Furnace
I recently spent the day working at the Burlington County Historical Society in Burlington, New Jersey. While there I was able to examine and photograph what is, for me, one of the treasures of their collection - a carved-wood pattern used to produce one side of a ten-plate cast iron stove. A small number of … Continue reading Batsto Furnace
Catching Up
There were several questions I didn’t have the answer to during my week teaching at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking. I’m using this post to correct that with the hope that those who attended the class stop in here from time to time. Several years ago I decided to make an another attempt at … Continue reading Catching Up
In Proportion to the Trouble 