Issue No. 7 - Published May 4, 1889

Looking to the past for guidance is bound to have its pitfalls, and I was truly wondering when certain Victorian sensibilities regarding ethnicity and gender roles might rear their heads to obscure the craft and technicality in Work. That said, I don't think I was fully prepared for this week's cover article.

Without quoting the full passage, I'll just say the author digresses from simply describing the construction of "Egyptian" trellis work, and goes off on a tear describing how they comprise a boon to harem women. He also deigns to include some other less than helpful remarks about life under the veil.

I'm vaguely inclined to believe that, at the time, the author was hard-pressed to offer much more on the fabrication of these decorative elements besides um, turn these parts and glue them together, and decided to fill up space by painting an exotic picture of womenfolk in foreign lands. It's plausible and understandable, but still, I'm uncomfortable. Before my discomfort passes I'd like to get a discussion going about the dark side of Work.

Certainly, we're going to dig up more of this stuff in the future. For the moment I don't have any good suggestions as to how to reconcile my concerns with my charge, and I'm looking to the rest of you for ideas.

Regarding the rest of the issue; I'm happy to report that it's packed with awesome. Metal geeks all around will appreciate the primer on "Repoussé and Metalwork." What is more, "Boring Small Cylinders" is back and features what I believe to be Joel's favorite lathe technique.

The noble scratch beader gets its day in the sun with a pretty exhaustive article by none other than David Denning. If you're new to the idea of the humble scratch, let me say do not miss this article, and then by all means get scratching.

Finally, if you need anything to entice you further, check out all of these gorgeous hinges.

–TIM

ARTICLES FOUND IN THIS ISSUE:
EGYPTIAN TRELLIS WORK • REPOUSSÉ METAL WORK
BORING SMALL CYLINDERS (Part 2) • THE SCRATCH OR BEADING ROUTER
"TIPS" FOR TYROS • HINGES:THEIR VARIETIES AND APPLICATION
NOTES AT THE ARCHITECTURAL AND BUILDING TRADES' EXHIBITION, 1889
OUR GUIDE TO GOOD THINGS • SHOP: A CORNER FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO TALK IT

• Click to Download Vol.1 - No. 7 •

Disclaimer: Articles in Work: The Illustrated Weekly Journal for Mechanics describe materials and methods that would not be considered safe or advisable today. We are not responsible for the content of these magazines, and cannot take any responsibility for anyone attempting projects or procedures described therein.

The first issue of Work was published on March 23rd, 1889. The goal of this project is to release digital copies of the individual issues starting on the same date in 2012, effectively republishing the materials 123 years to the day from their original release.

The original printing was on thin, inexpensive paper. There are many cases of uneven inking and bleed-through from the page behind. Our copies of Work come from bound library volumes of these issues and are subject to unfavorable trimming, missing covers, etc. To minimize harm to these fragile volumes, we've undertaken the task of scanning the books ourselves. We do considerable post processing of the scans to make them clear but please bear with us if a margin is clipped too close, or a few words are unreadable. We would like to thank James Vasile and Karl Fogel for their help in supplying us with a book scanner and generally enabling this project to get off the ground.

You are welcome to download, print, and pretty much do what you want with the scan for your own personal purposes. Feel free to post a link or a copy on your blog or website. All we ask is a link back to the original project and this blog. We are not answering requests for commercial downloads or reprinting at this time.