Weekend at the a Shaker Village

Re: Weekend at the a Shaker Village

Kevin French, Antrim NH

>But this is the reason you go here. This barn is amazing. The cows are on the first floor, in a large ring. The hay is brought into the second floor via a ramp and the wagons travel all the way around the second floor and out the same door after unloading the loose hay into the central loft.

If you're in western Mass and have some free time check this place out.

where's the sink?

Adam Cherubini

>Some vanity that is.

Re: Weekend at the a Shaker Village

Kevin French, Antrim NH

>Here's a pic of the inside. From the inner ring a worker will pull hay from the central loft and place it in front of the Cattle stanchions. He works his way around the barn until he reaches the cow he started with.

South end of the cow points outward an the manure shoveled into the doors in the floor and shoveled into wagons and hauled away.

Re: Weekend at the a Shaker Village

Kevin French, Antrim NH

>Pic of second floor with wagons. Had to do some color correction on tis one because it was so dark.

Re: where's the sink?

kevin French, Antrim NH

>For the WW'r who has EVERYTHING yes that would ake a great vanity.

Re: where's the sink?

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>From my point of view that is a beautiful bench. I tend to have a lot of stuff I don't really need. To not have stuff you don't need would mean that you are a minimalist. I never have been and probably never will be a minimalist. So I need room to store things,and there is a lot of room to store things in that bench. I think if I were interested in only having the tools I need to build whatever I want, I would limit myself to a 5 pound axe and a jack knife. Anything more would be excessive. Why would I need a permanent workbench when I can just find a stump and make some rope for clamps?

Re: where's the sink?

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi

>Adam,

There you go again, picking on the poor Shaker cabinetmaker's taste in workbenches. Just because they've evolved to 19th century woodworkers and you're stuck in the 17th is no reason to make fun of them.

Hope all is well with you!

Jim, who is about 90% done with a Shaker style bench to help solve storage problems.

A weekend very well spent.

Victor Parisian

>That there wagon is a manure spreader. My dad used to sell them among other things. Have a great (but rather gross) picture of him smiling broadly standing directly behind one going full tilt. The caption reads "We stand behind our products."

Love the old barns. If you haven't been there, you should tour Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Detroit. The old Firestone home along with all the outbuildings barns etc. are all there on display with interpreters in period dress etc.

Thanks for sharing the pics.

Re: Weekend at the a Shaker Village

Jim Shaver - Oakville, Ontario

>Hi Kevin,

This style of bench really appeals to me, maybe that is why I made one like it.

The location of the tail vise gives me the impression that the bench was for a lefty, any comments from others on that?

Take care,

Jim

Although interestingly,

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>the leg vise on the front is laid out for a righthander. Maybe the Shaker brother (were there Shaker women who worked as cabinetmakers? I know they were pretty liberated, but not sure that their openness extended that far) who made it was ambidextrous, like my grandfather, or maybe he did a lot of plow and similar work with right-handed planes.

As a leftie myself, I'm well aware of the frustrations of right-handed planes. My bench is laid out lefthanded - end vise on the left, face vise on the right - and I've been frustrated by right-handed planes, which include practically everything Stanley made with a fence, I think, more than once. You can get some interesting harmonics going, planing away from the fixed point on a board.

Bill, waiting for Adam to explain that, if only I used 18th century techniques...

Re: Weekend at the a Shaker Village

JL

>I know it's pretty and all that, but it was made to be used, not displayed. Oh, well - I guess it just goes to show you that being celibacy as a way of life isn't a way to pass on values.

Hi Bill

Jim Shaver - Oakville, Ontario

>Hi Bill,

I am aware of the "Left handedness" of this bench after I saw a bench made by a friend of mine who is indeed left handed.

Konrad makes infill planes and his bench is a key in his shop. His bench is easy on the eyes to look at a left handed bench, best part is, that when he is planing a board to show me his work, I can take the same plane and board and make a shaving back at him and we never get in each others way.

:-)

Take care,

Jim

Re: Weekend at the a Shaker Village

kevin French, Antrim NH

>There are Museums full of things that were meant to be used. I'm going to guess you have a piece or two hanging on your shop wall that are "Show pieces" that were meant to be used, but are not. I've got a few "Trophies". Why else do Stanley planes command such high prices on Ebay?

Celibacy has little to do with making a great piece (of work)

Re: Weekend at the a Shaker Village

Robert R. Clough - Thorncraft

>Yes, the round engineering is efficient but somewhat hard on upkeep. However, as a milking barn, it makes a deal of sense, whether milking by hand or using some form of milker. Having milked in both stanchion and parlor, I personally prefer a well laid out stanchion, and this round option has always made sense to me. (And I sincerely hope I never have to milk another damn cow!!!)

That is an interesting ground driven manure spreader.

Now, Adam....

fmutchler@adelphia.net

>your role as the resident curmudgeon, relative to bench design only, is not being challenged by some innocent pictures. Relax, take a deep breath, look out the window and you may see Paul Revere.....

Re: Weekend at the a Shaker Village

Frank Mutchler in Colorado Springs

>Jim, other than the fact that a right handed person would be planing into the tail vise and perhaps stressing it unnecessarily, it seems very convenient to me to have access to both vises in the same location. What might I find limiting about this arrangement for a right handed worker?

Re: Weekend at the a Shaker Village

JL

>I wasn't refering to it as to the quality of work. I was refering to passing on work heritage (and tools) to descendants.

Re: Weekend at the a Shaker Village

kevin French, Antrim NH

>The Shakers suffered the same lot as most families during that time. The industrial revolution had started and people found it easier to make a living in the factory than on the farm. That was the biggest reason for the decline of the Shakers, not that they were celibate. Up until that time they had no trouble attracting people to their order.

Thanks for sharing...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>I need to get east of the Mississippi sometime here soon...

Any more shots of the bench?

Re: Weekend at the a Shaker Village

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>Not sure what you mean by "access to both vices in the same location". I built a European style bench top set on a base with room for a shaker sink in the middle. My shoulder vise (which I find extremely useful for edge jointing and dovetailing cuts) is on the left, and protrudes from the front of the bench about 10". So the tail vise is on the right, since I am a right hander. The opposite configuration would be awkward to work around as I would be backing into the shoulder vise instead of planing towards it while I'm using the tail vise. There are various configurations that are all workable, but for a joiner working with small sticks most of the time I figured the European style would be the most efficient for me and so far I beleive it has been.

Re: history

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>I think there is a huge amount of value in preserving and displaying history. It gives us a better sense of where we have been and where we are going. Right now, the bench is probably only about a hundred years old. It will have quite a bit more value as a piece of history when it is 50,000 or 60,000 years old.

Re: Thanks for sharing...

kevin French, Antrim NH

>No. As I took the picture the guide was a announcing the start of the tour.

Re: Weekend at the a Shaker Village

Frank Mutchler in Colorado Springs

>Yes, Moses, but the Shaker bench doesn't have a shoulder vise to get in the way. It has a leg vise, which probably present about as much interference as a face vise would.

The sisters mad eshavings too...

Jorge Castaneda ~ Downeast Maine

>Bill,

Yes, the sisters did work in the woodworking shops too, sister Tabitha is credited with inventing the circular saw, if I remember correctly.

Jorge