| | 01/15/2014 |  January is always interesting. The weather has been weird. Snow, Rain, Warm, Cold. Who knows? We just got in a new book from Lost Art Press. "Doormaking and Window-Making" is a reprint of two old booklets originally published by "The Woodworker" around the turn of the 20th century. "The Woodworker" was a pioneering publication. The late 19th century saw the rise of the do-it yourselfer as a mass phenomena. We have been reprinting Work Magazine which like many of the how-to's of the time covered not just woodworking, but metalworking, chemistry, and tons of other topics.
In 1898 Percival Marshall began publishing "The Model Engineer and Amateur Electrician" which was a magazine for amateurs, devoted to miniatures in metal, tiny steam engines, locomotives, gas engines, all sorts of electrical projects, and things like that. It was a hit and in 1901 he launched "The Woodworker" with the same specialist focus but this time about wood. With the arrival of these specialist magazines, more general do-it-yourself publications like "Work" begin to fade in importance. Both the "Woodworker" and "The Model Engineer" went on to great fame and became homes to some of the leading craft writers of all time, Charles H. Hayward, LBSC, and Edgar T. Westbury to name a few. Both magazines are still around today - exciting readers as always.
You can read about the contents of "Doormaking and Window-Making" on it's product page, however I do want to mention that while the book is very good, and easy to understand, another book, from the same period (much thicker but not as nicely printed) Carpentry and Joinery by Paul Hasluck ( a Work magazine alumni) is far more comprehensive. The former book is certainly an easier read but the Hasluck book goes into far more depth on different types of door and windows and also covers wainscoting, floors, and tons of other stuff. Both are worthy additions to your library.
Note: In the picture: On the left - volume 1 of "The Model Engineer" (reprint). On the right - volume 1 of "The Woodworker". In the foreground - "Doormaking and Window-Making" reprinted by the Lost Art Press.
My office, along with many nooks and crannies of the warehouse are filled with lots of tools and things that we can't sell as new for one reason or another. For years we sold or gave away some of that stuff in a big bin near the door of the shop. But we decided to open up the bin for everyone and we have started putting up some of the for sale on the site (update: the sale is now over). Right now the clearance bin is pretty empty, but take a look this Thursday night and Friday AM when we post a new pile of stuff. We will also use the clearance bin for free stuff we want to get rid of. You will have to pay shipping on the stuff so the free stuff really only makes sense if you are placing a regular order. And of course all of the clearance stuff is first come first served.
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Are the articles is "The Woodworker - Volume 1" pretty good? It makes sense that early issues of a 100+ year old woodworking magazine would be a fantastic source of information about traditional woodworking.
Is that book hard to come by?
Thanks,
Josh