What follows immediately below are preliminary remarks
designed to highlight matters that I have discovered in
beginning a survey of woodworker's manuals published over four
centuries, i.e. eighteenth through early twenty-first
centuries.
Introductory Notes
Why survey
three centuries of woodworker's manuals?
The main focus of my study is the
20th century, but since woodworking manuals published in
the 18th century remain popular among certain amateur
woodworkers today, I believe that I need to explore
approaches that allows you to visualize the context in
which these "original" woodworking manuals were
published, and thus may be able to sense their
significance as timeless artifacts.
My first convictions about
woodworking manuals is that the intent of their authors
in assembling these manuals is to
instruct and to inspire.
The "to
instruct" -- the "how-to-do-it" function -- is
obvious. Potential woodworkers need guidance, and
guidance comes best from other woodworkers' experience.
The "to inspire" part may not be
obvious to beginners, of course, but finding any
evidence of attempts toward inspiration is usually not
difficult, especially if you read the introduction to a
woodworking manual.
For example, read the introduction
to the 1946 woodworker's manual, How to Get
the Most Out of Your Home Workshop Hand and Power
Tools, published by Popular Science.
This manual's Introduction revives the term,
"Skill Hunger", coined and popularized in the Depression
by promoters such as Lawrence Pearsall Jack, for
promoting use of "leisure
time" wisely.
What is "skill hunger?"
For the
editors of the woodworker's manual, How to get the most
out of your home workshop hand and power tools, skill
hunger concerns "How the Hammer, Saw and Try-Square Can
Satisfy the Urge to Make Things". Read more on this term by
clicking on this hyperlink.
In comparison, how does this 1946,
How to Get
the Most Out of Your Home Workshop Hand and Power
Tools, manual stand up in promoting use of power
tools over competitive manuals?
I checked this matter by doing a
survey of woodworking manuals published between 1941 and
1950 in the Worldcat
bibliographic database.
(Worldcat, the world's largest
bibliographic database of books, periodicals,
publications of governments, etc, etc., currently
contains records for over 50 million items.)
How to Get the Most Out of Your Home
Workshop Hand and Power Tools, Worldcat
registers only 17 copies in libraries worldwide --
telling us that libraries did not perceive this title as
a "keeper", meaning that we can't use library holdings
as an indicator of the impact of this manual on the
amateur woodworking movement in the '40s.
(Since How to Get the Most Out of Your Home
Workshop Hand and Power Tools is over 50 years
old, and has been "replaced" by numerous other more
up-to-date manuals, most public libraries could have
"discarded" their copies for more recently published
books.
By discard, do not think the trash
can; instead, it is more likely that the book was
offered for sale at one of the book sales public
libraries conduct annually. As a rule, public libraries
-- unlike college libraries -- do not consider
themselves "last copy" repositories. However, while this
assumption may be soundly based, it is still only
speculation.)
Worldcat registers that in 1946, 35
volumes were published, and for the decade, i.e., from
1941-1950, 206 volumes were published that libraries
classified as woodworking manuals. So, with these
figures, we can conclude that the How to get the most
out of your home workshop hand and power tools volume
had much competition, especially in a nation occupied by
a war.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Home
Workshop Hand and Power Tools was, however,
indexed in the Index to Handicrafts,
Modelmaking and Workshop Projects, 2d
supplement, 1950. This is one volume in a series of five
volumes, published between 1943 and 1975. These volumes
were purchased widely by public libraries, because their
contents are indexes the internal contents of manuals.
Pages of The Index to Handicrafts where certain "how-to"
plans are accessible: for example, the following entry
shows that you can find:
"Mortising and shaping on the drill
press". In How to Get the Most Out of Your Home
Workshop Hand and Power Tools, pp.
91-95.
The Index to Handicrafts
began as an in-house file of hand-written 3 x5 inch
library cards in the Pittsburgh Public Library. Click on
this link for an online example of how a public library
lists these volumes.
How To Get the Most Out of Your Home
Workshop Hand and Power Tools is still in the Index to
Handicrafts, Modelmaking and Workshop
Projects volume, but the manual itself --
probably because in public libraries it is considered
outdated -- has been removed from the shelves of many
public libraries.
Periodicals Indexed in Index to
Handicrafts 1950- 1961
The image below shows numerous magazines -- general and specialized -- published in this era that include articles on woodworking itself, woodworking projects plans, or otherwise contributed to the encouragement of amatuer woodworking.
Deltagram
1931-1959
Home Craftsman
1931-1965
Home Mechanics [get
dates]
Mechanix
Illustrated get dates
Popular Homecraft 1930-Woodworker.v. 55-65. Ja. '51-D. '61.
Evans.
Chronological List of Woodworker's Manuals
1941-1950:
1951
Walter E. Durbahn. Walt's Workshop Chicago: General
Publishing Co., Hobby Books Division, 1951.
(Given
my four decades of experience in conducting research, teaching,
and writing six books on research topics, I am puzzled about why
my discovery of Walt Durbahn as a major contributor to amateur
woodworking occurred only recently. Durbahn -- I discover -- was
not only a bona fide woodworking teacher since the early 1930s,
but most significant was the Norm Abram -- of New Yankee
Workshop fame -- of TV in the late 1940s and early 1950s in the
Chicago area. For very brief info on Durbahn's TV history, read
down in this link: http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/1968/closeup.html.
Not only
a local luminary in promoting woodworking, it's obvious that he
had a national presence as well. Durbahn's impact in the amateur
woodworking movement -- especially in the critical period of the
post-WW II era -- needs much more investigation. More to come,
but in the meantime. 8-24-08)
Question: Who is Walt Durbahn?
Answer: "Dean of workshop craftsmen"
His
television show—"Walt's Workshop",(WNBQ-NBC, Chicago),
is a two-time winner of TV's top
award for "the best educational and how-to-do-it" show;
also cited in 1949 by the Chicago Federation of
Advertisers for "the best
instructional show on TV" that year. You also know
him for his "Walt's Workshop" column which has been
appearing regularly in Popular Homecraft since the
spring of 1951. As an editor also, Walt is a top
performer.
Walt Durbahn
is well equipped both as a
craftsman and an
author—40 years as a
craftsman, 35 years an industrial education instructor,
26 years as a professional carpenter.
He is chairman of vocational
education, and is building trades instructor, of
Highland Park's (Illinois) High School; also supervisor
of the Lake County carpenters' apprentice training
program.
Walt Durbahn
has authored several widely used text books on carpentry
and construction, as well as numerous how-to articles
for Better
Homes & Gardens, Popular Science, and others.
Finally, on Chicago's Highland
Park Historical Society grounds is a "Walt Durbahn
Museum of Tools".
1951:
De Witt, Hunt,
and Cermak, J. L.
Machine
woodworking.
3d ed. 1951. Harlow
Publishing Corp., Oklahoma
City.
1951: Norman
Cherner, Make Your
Own Modern Furniture: Working Plans and Room Designs for More
Comfortable and Convenient Living. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1951. 140 pages. Drawings by
NORMAN CHERNER and FRANK STORK; Photographs by THOMAS YEE;
Interiors by NORMAN CHERNER
PREFACE
This book is directed to the ever-growing number
of people who appreciate good modern design and would
like to build their own furniture. Most of the young people I know cannot afford to furnish their
apartments or homes with expensive furniture. Some
have tried to solve their problem
with egg crates and the slab-and-glass-brick
makeshift. Others have struggled endlessly with
sketches and the local carpenter.
In many
cases the result is a hodgepodge
of loudly painted furniture, a dark wall, and
spun-aluminum gooseneck lamps that glare in your
eyes.
Having dissipated my own energies
rather wildly in that direction some years back, prior
to finding myself delightedly trapped in the design
profession, I have a soft spot in my heart for these
ambitious folk. So much so that I decided to
dedicate a work in their behalf long before I was
invited by my publishers to do so.
It is my
firm belief that almost
anyone with a certain amount of conviction and a good strong back can have the
pleasure of creating his own
furniture. Some will be more
inventive than others, but essentially the satisfaction
will be in the doing—working with
tools and materials toward making an idea a concrete
reality.
The first part of the book gives a
basis from which to design furniture. While concrete
suggestions are made, it is presented primarily as a
core around which you can shape and develop your own
thinking. It shows how materials, processes,
budgets,room characteristics, and the personalities of
the inhabitants shape the design of the furniture and
the home.
The second part of the book is
devoted to suggested furniture arrangements. In it
you will find ideas that you can readily apply to your
own situation, your own personality and living
requirements.
The third portion of the book deals
with design suggestions. The designs are basically
simple — so simple, in fact, that they can be fabricated
with hand tools. If these plans fall in line with your
needs and ideas, by all means reproduce them in
accordance with the plans and specifications. On the
other hand, the same plans can always be changed or
modified to suit your skills, your personal taste, and
your particular room layout.
The simplicity of the designs allows
you to create your own setting regardless of the
architecture of the room or the style of other pieces of
furniture. The forms are basic enough to complement
existing pieces until complete refurnishing is possible.
They are straightforward enough to fit into even the
most conventional kind of building; you need not own a
ranch type of house to live with and enjoy this kind of
furniture.
Although these interior arrangements and
designs are contemporary in feeling, I like to think of
them as having all the warmth, refinement, and character
associated with some of the timeless concepts of the
past. Their advantage is that they are keyed to
today's living.
NORMAN CHERNER
1951: Mario Dal Fabbro. How to Build Modern
Furniture. Volume 1: Practical Construction Methods.
Volume 2: Designs and Assembly. New York: F W Dodge,
1951-1952
1951:Better Homes and Gardens' Handyman's
Book Des Moines, Iowa: Meredith, 1951 (1970). 480
pages.
Loose-leaf format -- where, with frequent use, the pages with the three-holes never wear very well -- these manuals always strike me
as "fluff", but -- pentrate below the glitz -- and some substance in the content emerges. A corporate production, no where can you find a name
of the person responsible for product, writing, or anything else mentioned.
This shop layout -- and its power tools -- was probably pretty heady stuff for the wannabe
woodworkers of post-WW II.
The tools shown in each of these two
lower images all almost identical to the tools shown in Walt
Durbahn's article on gifts for woodworkers in the December 1954
issue of American Magazine
This image and the one below indicate the power tools recommended by the Better Homes and Gardens woodworker's manual.
1952:Grimwood, H. H., and
Goodyear, Frederick. Introduction to
decorative woodwork. 3d ed. 1952. Chas. A. Bennett
Co.
1952: Stanley
Tools. How
To Work with Tools and Wood. New York: Pocket Books.
(Division of the Stanley Works, New BritainConnecticut) 444 pages with
index.
Click on
this link for an extended treatment.
1952: Stanley Works
Inc. Stanley tool guide.
New Britain,
Conn. :
Stanley Works, 38
p.
1952: F. H.
Gottshall. Woodwork for the beginner. 1952.
Bruce.
See
annotation directly below, Shea's 1953 edition
1953: John Gerald
Shea and PaulNolt Wenger. Woodworking for
everybody. 2d ed. New York ; Toronto [etc.] : D. Van
Nostrand, 1953. xi, 207 p. : ill. ; 29
cm.
Click here for an account of
this significant manual. This Shea manual was, until, 1954,
published by the International Textbook Co (Laurel Publishers),
as noted in the 1955 Publishers Trade List Annual. Seeing the
opportunities in the marketplace expanding for books on
woodworking, Van Nostrand -- a mainstream publisher -- acquired
Laurel Publishers in 1954, thus adding to its list 20
titles in the vocational industrial arts from this line, which
had been the school department of the International Textbook Co.
Laurel had been formed by International in 1951, the imprint
appearing on ITC's trade titles. (John Tebbel, A History of Book Publishing in the United
States: V 4, The Great Change, 1940-1980, NY, R RBowker, 1981, p.
578.)
1953: Arthur Wakeling. ed. Home Craftsman's book
of garden furniture. 1953. Home Craftsman Pub.
Corp.
1953: DeCristoforo,
R J. Power Tool
Woodworking for Everyone.Dayton,
OH: Shopsmith. A 4th ed published in
1989.
At age 33, Decristoforo evidently was
commissioned to write the Shopsmith manual early in the ‘50s
decade, because this first edition came out in 1953. After
a long, successful career of writng on woodworking, Decristoforo died at 83,
in 2004. Among writers on topics of amateur woodworkers in the
last half of the 20th century,
DeCristoforo is probably the most
prolific.
This title seems to be his earliest book.
The Worldcat bibliographic database – it lists the holding of
libraries worldwide -- registers 87 hits for books authored by
DeCristoforo, but because of the nature of how individual
libraries catalog their books, you cannot conclude that he wrote
over 80 books, but that number isn’t far
off.
In the Reader’s Guide Retrospective
database (subscription required) – its coverages stretches back to 1890 --
DeCristoforo’s first article, on metalworking, is 1947 (It
wasn’t until the early ‘50s that the push for amateur
woodworking was launched.) From my calculations, DeCristoforo
was 26 in 1947, a young age to begin writing professionally, but
evidently, he had a talent, because he spent his whole career
writing, mostly on woodworking topics.) In all, Reader’s Guide
registers 187 entries under his pen.
According to the entries in the Reader’s Guide
Retrospective database, he didn’t start on woodworking topics
until 1952, which puts him in sync with the do-it-yourself
movement – see Creden's 1953 article, "America Rediscovers Its Hands"
The Shopsmith manual itself was remarkable
for its depth and comprehensiveness in showing how many
woodworking operations the Shopsmith combo tool performed. The
volume is over 300 pages – there are ten chapters -- with almost
every page containing at least one photo or illustrative
diagram, but often up to 5 or 6.
Popular Mechanics Do-It-Yourself Encycopedia for Home Owner, Craftsman, and Hobbyist
New York: J. J. Little & Ives Co, 1955, 12 volumes
Popular Science Do-It-Yourself Encycopedia: Complete How-to Series for the Entire Family, by How-To Associates New York: Arlrich Pub. Co., 1955. 12 volumes
Both published in 1955, both sets are also marketed through local supermarkets, at $3.49 per volume. Volumes were issued once a month, over 12 months. My immediate reaction to such news is, basically, cynicism. How can such crude mass-marketing turn out "good"? Well, frankly, it does. The sets, for their times, each contain hundreds of well-written, (mostly) well-illustrated articles that were good then and many, today, even though dated, still have usefulness. "Most" of the illustations -- photos, drawings, graphs -- are good; some of the photos, though, could be clearer.
Homeworkshops -- in the basement, in the garage, even in the apartment -- are featured.
1955:I. C.
Madden. Creative
handicraft. 1955. Goodheart-Willcox.
1955: Andrew W.
Marlow. Fine
furniture for the amateur cabinetmaker. Chicago,
IL :
Distributed by Independent Publishers ; Chelsea,
MI : Scarborough House, 1955,
reprinted 1990 ?
1955: Bill Baker. Furniture you can
build. 1955. Arco Pub. Co.
1955:Popular
Mechanics
Do-It-Yourself Encyclopedia for home owner, craftsman, and
hobbyist.New York, J.J. Little & Ives
Co.,1955 12 v. illus. 23 cm.
1955:Popular science do-it-yourself encyclopedia; complete how-to series for the entire family,Brooklyn, Arlrich Pub. Co., 1955. 12 v. illus. 24 cm.
Long before becoming interested in this woodworking history project, I had a complete set of the PS.
Probably for lack of space on my bookshelves, I gave the 12-volume set
away. Now, sensitive to the motivations of potential woodworkers of
that era -- booming post-WW II -- I began looking at these sets
in a different light. Much of the content is, yes, dedicated to house
construction and home improvement, but there is no lack of woodworking.
In the future I plan on an extended treatment of this set.
The 1955: POPULAR MECHANICS DO-IT-YOURSELF Encyclopedia FOR HOME OWNER, CRAFTSMAN AND HOBBYIST; (no editor-in-chief
listed) NEW YORK: DESIGNED AND PRODUCED BY J. J. LITTLE & IVES Co., INC., 1955. IN TWELVE VOLUMES. NINTH PRINTING 1956, on the verso of the titlepage of my set. (According to my calculations -- at 2,500 copies per "printing", approximately 25,000 sets were sold in 1955-1956.)
Volume I Complete Index in Volume XII
Foreword
POPULAR
MECHANICS, a household word in America for more than
half a century, proudly presents this encyclopedia of
"do-it-yourself" know-how for homeowner and craftsman.
Here, in 12 handy volumes, is the information that will
keep your household well-run, well-furnished and in good
repair. Within these pages lie opportunities to save
hours of time and labor and hundreds of dollars in money
unspent.
This encyclopedia has hundreds of
authors and illustrators.
[none of whom are mentioned, not
even the editor in chief, although the first person,
"I", is used occasionally. Should we consider this a
Freudian slip? or a typo?]
They are the same
skilled craftsman, the easy-to-understand writers and
the trained illustrators who produce the famous
magazine, Popular Mechanics, and the host of
how-to-do-it books published by Popular Mechanics
Press.
Each
article in these volumes is written by a specialist in
his particular field, and who has actually built the project or
made the home repairs and improvements under
discussion. In illustrating these articles, no
expense was spared to have precisely the right drawings,
photographs and charts necessary for easy understanding
of the job at hand.
The
variety of topics within these volumes is such that
there is no household, homemaking, garage, workshop or
garden task for which you will not find an easier way, a
right way, an economical way. From Abrasives (how to use) to Youngster's Bed (design &
construction), the handy alphabetical arrangement of
these volumes makes it easy to find answers to a
bewildering number of home problems. The complete index in volume twelve
will act as a further aid to quick location of material.
The home craftsman will find a
wealth of information on how to better use his power
tools, lumber and other materials; valuable know-how on
special jigs and attachments, and a treasury of projects
he can make for his own use or for sale. The householder concerned with
repairs and home maintenance will find approved methods
for getting all these jobs done economically. There are
sound and simple instructions for repairing your
automobile and making it run better and longer. There
are hundreds of household hints and scores of
interesting hobbies for all members of the family.
Would you
think it a rare encyclopedia which gave you practical
information on basement moisture-proofing, bandsaw techniques, photography,
archery, furniture building,
welding, roofing, antique refinishing, air conditioning
and how to read a blueprint? You would? You have such a
rare volume in your hands.
THE
EDITORS
1955: D. X. Manners.
How to plan and
build your workshop. 1955. Arco Pub. Co.
10 Grind-ing, buffing, and
polish-ing-wheel operations
11 Shop safety
12 Facts you should know when
buying wood
13 Wood-working techniques
14 Wood-finishing facts
15 Work-benches for the Radial-arm
machine
The
strength of the RAS is its capacity to Dado safely and
accurately. Images of dadoing in Scharff's manual with the
Dewalt are above, at the top; the two images below, also on the
right, are of dadoing with the Delta.
The "beauty" of dado operations with the RAS
is (1) the operation is
fully in sight and (2)
the saw's dado blades pass across the wood, rather than the wood
moving over the rotating blade, as is true with a table
saw.
Other strengths are cross cutting,
mitering, and using the arbor off the motor for precision
horizontal mortising and molding.
1956: Delta Power Tool Division, Rockwell
Manufacturing Company. Getting the Most Out
of Your Radial Saw. Pittsburgh: 1956. 108 pages.
Although
lacking the "glitz" of the Scharff volume -- noted directly
above -- this volume is comprehensive guide to operating the
double-arm Delta RAS, still beloved by owners, like myself. Click here for the Glossary
entry on the RAS.
For
comparative purposes, I have set the two tables of contents for
Scharff's Dewalt manual and the Delta manual,
one-above-the-other. Since the Delta "annotate" the contents of
each chapter, manual users find out in advance the coverage of
each chapter, which can often be a time saver.
CHAPTER
ONE—The Mechanics of the Radial Saw
Types—Construction—Rip Fence—Blade Guard and
Anti-Kickback Fingers—Controls and
Scales—Sizes—Location—Operation—Power and
Speed.
CHAPTER
TWO—Saw Adjustment and Alignment--Squaring Blade to
Table—Squaring Blade to Fence—Saw "Heeling"—Adjusting
Bevel Clamp Handle—Adjusting Yoke Clamp Handle—Adjusting
Over-Arm and Track-Arm Handle—Carriage Bearing
Adjustment—Leveling Table—Lubrication.
CHAPTER FOUR—Sawing
Operations--Cross-Cutting—Mitering—Ripping—Ripping Long
Material—Reclaiming Waste Stock—Power Feed
Attachment—Beveling—Compound Angle
Cutting—Resawing—Horizontal End Cutting—Miscellaneous
Sawing Operations—Taper Ripping —Pattern Sawing—Dovetail
Tapers—Circle Cutting.
CHAPTER FIVE—Dado Head
Operations--Cross-Dadoing—Angle
Dadoing—Ploughing—Rabbeting—Panel
Raising—Tenoning—Radius Cutting or Cove Cutting—Splined
Miters—Bevel Cross-Dadoing—Tongue and Groove—Lap
Joints.
CHAPTER SEVEN—Disk and Drum
Sanding--Sanding Drums and Sleeves—Free Hand Drum
Sanding—Pattern Sanding with the Drum Sander—Concave
Sanding—Miscellaneous Drum Sanding Operations -- Disk
Sanding—Pivot Jigs—Rounding Corners—Pointing
Dowels—Sanding with Pattern—Sanding to Width—Sanding
Long Edges—Use of Miter Gage—Miscellaneous Disk Sanding
Operations.
CHAPTER EIGHT—Drilling, Routing
and Similar Operations Horizontal End
Drilling—Horizontal Edge or Face Drilling—Angular
Drilling -- — Routing—Straight
Routing—Circular Routing—Pattern
Routing—Guides—Ornamental Routing—Miscellaneous Routing
Operations.
CHAPTER NINE—Shaping —Shaping
with a Guide—Other Guides—Hold-Downs—Stops—Shaping with
Collars—Shaper Cutter Application.
CHAPTER TEN—Grinding, Buffing
and Brushing Grinding—Buffing—Brushing.
CHAPTER ELEVEN—Miscellaneous
Operations and Uses--Rafter Notching—Power
Take-Off—Abrasive Wheels—Cutting Thin-Wall Tubing and
Extruded Shapes—Cutting Solid Stock—Cutting
Stone.
CHAPTER TWELVE—Helpful Hints
About Machine and Accessories--What to look for when you
buy a Radial Saw (Established Manufacturer—Availability
of Replacement Parts—Practical Arm Design—Proper
Bearings—Quick-Set Stops—Full Power Motor—Provisions for
Adjustment—Essential Safety Factors—Convenient Controls)
Proper Accessories
(
The Moulding Cutterhead—Fifty-three Sets of
Knives—Radial Saw Blades—Dado Head—Sanding Drums and
Abrasive Sleeves—Sanding Disks and Disk
Adhesive—Buffing, Wire and Fibre Wheels—Grinding
Wheels—Shaper Cutters and Collars--Shaper Cutter
Adapter—Geared Key Chuck—Router Bits and Adapters.)
1957: Arthur Wakeling. ed. Cabinetmaker's
project book. 1957. Home Craftsman Pub.
Corp.
1959: Weeks, Verne.
Contemporary and
traditional furniture. 1959. Bruce.
1960:
William F Holtrop and Hjorth, Herman. Modern Machine
Woodworking. Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing, 1960.
Born in 1883, after a long and
distinguished career in Industrial Arts and related activites,
Hjorth died in 1951. Under William F Holtrop,
Hjorth's valued manual was re-edited and published in
1960, to record the "significant changes". The manual describes the
tools -- emphasizing major power tools -- explains how to use
them correctly and safely, and how to care for them.
For anyone with vintage tools of this era, this is an
invaluable guide. As a document of its time, Modern Machine
Woodworking deserves a place alongside classics like
John Richards' A
Treatise on the Construction and Operation of Woodworking
Machines 1872 and Daniel W.
Irwin. Power
Tool Maintenance. McGraw-Hill, 1971.
