Hey all
For the last few days I have been massaging an old dresser back into
shape for my wife. The piece is an heirloom from her mom and I'm taking
great care, reproducing a few parts from oak to get the drawers working
correctly. I have a couple of questions--
--In the [late?] 1800's, what did cabinet makers use for adhesives-?
The remnants I find are like amber--was this like the "mucilage" we had
in the 50's in grade school-?
--The back is attached with square shank nails with round heads; they
look hand forged--was this style representative of any era in
particular-? The are equivalent to about 8d in size.
--The piece has four 2" dia. casters whose wheels are white porcelein;
forged iron metal portion. Very cool looking; never seen one before. A
guess at the era-?
It's interesting to note that the cabinetmaker's signature appears on
the bottom--(no date)--but several European-style numerals here and
there, even some arithmetic.
It's obvious that I'm no expert cabinet maker-! Pretty fair hand at
repair, though, and this antique gets a lot of respect--anyway, this has
been a fun project thus far.
Cheers-Buzzy
BuZzY [email protected]
>-In the [late?] 1800's, what did cabinet makers use for adhesives-?
>The remnants I find are like amber--was this like the "mucilage" we had
>in the 50's in grade school-?
Yes. It's likely animal hide glue. Still availablen (in a version) at most
hardware stores, but then applied hot from a glue pot.
>--The back is attached with square shank nails with round heads; they
>look hand forged--was this style representative of any era in
>particular-? The are equivalent to about 8d in size.
Probably machine cut nails. If they are all sort of uniform, then they are
probably not hand made. Nail-making machinery was being patented in the U. S.
by the very early 1800s.
>--The piece has four 2" dia. casters whose wheels are white porcelein;
>forged iron metal portion. Very cool looking; never seen one before. A
>guess at the era-?
Don't know.
Frank Morrison
Norm did a project a project on TV (I think last week) and he used cut
nails for the project . It wa a sheering table made into a coffee table. He
said the nails are still available in MA.
Frank
BuZzY wrote:
> Hey all
>
> For the last few days I have been massaging an old dresser back into
> shape for my wife. The piece is an heirloom from her mom and I'm taking
> great care, reproducing a few parts from oak to get the drawers working
> correctly. I have a couple of questions--
>
> --In the [late?] 1800's, what did cabinet makers use for adhesives-?
> The remnants I find are like amber--was this like the "mucilage" we had
> in the 50's in grade school-?
>
> --The back is attached with square shank nails with round heads; they
> look hand forged--was this style representative of any era in
> particular-? The are equivalent to about 8d in size.
>
> --The piece has four 2" dia. casters whose wheels are white porcelein;
> forged iron metal portion. Very cool looking; never seen one before. A
> guess at the era-?
>
> It's interesting to note that the cabinetmaker's signature appears on
> the bottom--(no date)--but several European-style numerals here and
> there, even some arithmetic.
>
> It's obvious that I'm no expert cabinet maker-! Pretty fair hand at
> repair, though, and this antique gets a lot of respect--anyway, this has
> been a fun project thus far.
>
> Cheers-Buzzy
items4sale notes:
>Norm did a project a project on TV (I think last week) and he used cut
>nails for the project . It wa a sheering table made into a coffee table. He
>said the nails are still available in MA.
Tremont Nails. Now owned, I think, by Maze Nails. Used to be out of Tremont,
MA. May still be.
Charlie Self
"Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and
hurry off as if nothing happened." Sir Winston Churchill
Charlie Self wrote:
> items4sale notes:
>
>
>>Norm did a project a project on TV (I think last week) and he used cut
>>nails for the project . It wa a sheering table made into a coffee table. He
>>said the nails are still available in MA.
>
>
> Tremont Nails. Now owned, I think, by Maze Nails. Used to be out of Tremont,
> MA. May still be.
>
> Charlie Self
> "Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and
> hurry off as if nothing happened." Sir Winston Churchill
Just a nit, they're based in Wareham, MA.
Try this link
http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.asp?SID=&ccurrency=2&page=40387&category=3%2C41306%2C41324
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Norm did a project a project on TV (I think last week) and he used cut
> nails for the project . It wa a sheering table made into a coffee table.
He
> said the nails are still available in MA.
> Frank
>
> BuZzY wrote:
>
> > Hey all
> >
> > For the last few days I have been massaging an old dresser back into
> > shape for my wife. The piece is an heirloom from her mom and I'm taking
> > great care, reproducing a few parts from oak to get the drawers working
> > correctly. I have a couple of questions--
> >
> > --In the [late?] 1800's, what did cabinet makers use for adhesives-?
> > The remnants I find are like amber--was this like the "mucilage" we had
> > in the 50's in grade school-?
> >
> > --The back is attached with square shank nails with round heads; they
> > look hand forged--was this style representative of any era in
> > particular-? The are equivalent to about 8d in size.
> >
> > --The piece has four 2" dia. casters whose wheels are white porcelein;
> > forged iron metal portion. Very cool looking; never seen one before. A
> > guess at the era-?
> >
> > It's interesting to note that the cabinetmaker's signature appears on
> > the bottom--(no date)--but several European-style numerals here and
> > there, even some arithmetic.
> >
> > It's obvious that I'm no expert cabinet maker-! Pretty fair hand at
> > repair, though, and this antique gets a lot of respect--anyway, this has
> > been a fun project thus far.
> >
> > Cheers-Buzzy
>
The first attached link shows some white porcelein wheels. The other links
are to suppliers who may be able to help.
http://www.architecturals.net/restore/home.cfm?page=productdisplay&ProductID=578&CategoryID=38&SubcategoryID=53&Start=1&subcat=y
http://www.ballandball-us.com/
http://www.horton-brasses.com/
They are still available on the web. Do a Google search.
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Norm did a project a project on TV (I think last week) and he used cut
> nails for the project . It wa a sheering table made into a coffee table.
He
> said the nails are still available in MA.
> Frank
>
> BuZzY wrote:
>
> > Hey all
> >
> > For the last few days I have been massaging an old dresser back into
> > shape for my wife. The piece is an heirloom from her mom and I'm taking
> > great care, reproducing a few parts from oak to get the drawers working
> > correctly. I have a couple of questions--
> >
> > --In the [late?] 1800's, what did cabinet makers use for adhesives-?
> > The remnants I find are like amber--was this like the "mucilage" we had
> > in the 50's in grade school-?
> >
> > --The back is attached with square shank nails with round heads; they
> > look hand forged--was this style representative of any era in
> > particular-? The are equivalent to about 8d in size.
> >
> > --The piece has four 2" dia. casters whose wheels are white porcelein;
> > forged iron metal portion. Very cool looking; never seen one before. A
> > guess at the era-?
> >
> > It's interesting to note that the cabinetmaker's signature appears on
> > the bottom--(no date)--but several European-style numerals here and
> > there, even some arithmetic.
> >
> > It's obvious that I'm no expert cabinet maker-! Pretty fair hand at
> > repair, though, and this antique gets a lot of respect--anyway, this has
> > been a fun project thus far.
> >
> > Cheers-Buzzy
>
Sounds like a fun project. I use a Rival Hot Pot Express, the one
with dial for heat settings, for making hide glue. About $15.00 at
drug store. www.homesteadfinishing.com has several forums one being
repair & restoration if memory serves. May be helpful.
On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 19:34:45 -0500, BuZzY <[email protected]>
wrote:
>For the last few days I have been massaging an old dresser back into
>shape for my wife. The piece is an heirloom from her mom and I'm taking
>great care, reproducing a few parts from oak to get the drawers working
>correctly. I have a couple of questions--
On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 19:34:45 -0500, BuZzY wrote:
> --In the [late?] 1800's, what did cabinet makers use for adhesives-?
> The remnants I find are like amber--was this like the "mucilage" we had
> in the 50's in grade school-?
Hide glue would have been the standard at the time. It is still available,
and depending on the project it can still be the best choice. Most of the
folks that I know of using it are Luthiers, especially the craftsman
luthiers who will build one guitar, or mandolin at a time.
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Data/Materials/hideglue.html lots
of information on how to prepare the glue, and use it. He also mentions a
trick way to put a label on finished woodwork using plain paper and hide
glue.
Tigger
On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 19:34:45 -0500, BuZzY <[email protected]>
wrote:
>--In the [late?] 1800's, what did cabinet makers use for adhesives-?
>The remnants I find are like amber--was this like the "mucilage" we had
>in the 50's in grade school-?
Hide glue. Restore and repair with the same stuff, or at least the
cold hide glue in a tube. Hide glue is a good glue for woodworking,
and especially importantly for restoration or even first construction
of a quality piece, you can undo it.
>--The back is attached with square shank nails with round heads; they
>look hand forged--was this style representative of any era in
>particular-? The are equivalent to about 8d in size.
Hard to say without a photo.
Nails were rarely forged square. In fact they're rarely square. More
usually they're _rectangular_ in section, having been sheared from a
sheet. The wider side was the surface of the sheet, and the edges
may show signs of the shearing. If they're truly forged, then it's
easier to forge nailstock down into an even round than an even square
- they might be square, but if so there's very likely to be some
uneveness to them.
A truly round headed nail is nearly always machine made. Handmade
nails had a rose head instead (or "four clout", or "five clout"). This
is round, but instead of the top surface being flat, it's formed into
a shallow pyramid by the hammer blows that upset it.
It's hard to tell whether cut nails are hand or machine made. The best
guide is consistency, rather than the style itself. Many were also
sheared by machine, but headed by hand.
As always, 50 years (or 300, with some styles) may be explained by a
rustic origin rather than an urban one.
>--The piece has four 2" dia. casters whose wheels are white porcelein;
>forged iron metal portion. Very cool looking; never seen one before. A
>guess at the era-?
Hard to say without a photo.
Likely to indicate quite late origin though - mid 19th. China wheels
relied on cheap and reliable slip casting. which didn't happen until
the early 19th and took some time before it was as mundane as all
those Victorian doorknobs and bath taps.
Is the iron really forged ? I'd have expected machine-pressed steel,
or maybe cast iron to be more likely in conjunction with china wheels.
Older pieces might still be brass.
>It's interesting to note that the cabinetmaker's signature appears on
>the bottom--(no date)--but several European-style numerals here and
>there, even some arithmetic.
Cabinetmakers rarely signed pieces. Pencilled notes are just as likely
to be the retail shop that had ordered the piece, or the end customer
if they dealt directly. Numerals (I, II, III, IV, V style ?) often
indicated drawer or component sequence as much as anything.
Arithmetic may well have been working out the height of the carcase,
or even the journeyman's hours for the week. Paper was expensive and
any convenient flat timber becomes a notepad in the workshop.
There's no real point in trying to date something without a photo,
description of the style or any hint of local provenance, so I'm not
even going to try.
--
Smert' spamionam