Furniture Forensics with a 19th Century Table
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- Rescued from the trash, this table is filled with clues about who made it and how!
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The first half of the ua-cam.com/users/postUgkx3ICSK6nSknaL_45CU2NmFSoXjarGMDiJ book is everything about wood: types, tools, finishes, setting up shop etc. The second half is all about doing projects for inside and outside of the home. The color pictures are helpful. After reading a dozen of these types of books, this is probably the best overall (layout, color photos, plans). Only detraction is that many of the projects use a table saw/router/planer, which are usually expensive and take up space, so the plans are less friendly to newcomers and the budget conscious. But I know I can use a drill, circular saw or a jigsaw to make the projects.
"My wife isn't mad at me about ANYTHING right now..." - cue #toneArmScratch
My wife isn't mad at me about ANYTHING right now. Yeah Right
She's not allowed to.
@@darrellbedford4857 I dont know it has happened once or twice to me in the last 20 years
I love that part!😂
ROFL
Super interesting! Great detective work. 🕵️♂️
Nice, Steve’s in the house!
Thanks Steve!! I've watched your videos for YEARS. Big fan.
Steve and Rex are my favorite woodworking channels. Steve for power tools and his builds and Rex for the hand tools.
Rex tells the story of mortal wood workers. When practicality was essential.
Steve just gave you a shout out in his video today!! Great to see everyone has a common goal!!!
The legs were probably bought “off the shelf” from a local turner. Most specialized work like turning and carving was routinely outsourced to a specialist. It’s likely a pattern the turner made thousands of when business was slow. That implies it was made in a relatively urban area. Furniture starts to get really funky in more rural areas where specialists aren’t available and the local joiner or cabinetmaker had to figure it out on their own!
I just stumbled upon your channel a couple days ago and I’m digging it! Great stuff!
I was thinking the same thing. That is a very common table from it's time I would suspect the legs where mass production on a lathe that copied a template. I have 3 or three tables like that kicking around my old New England farm.
Very interestinig, thx for that info.
Cheers
wow .. so worth it to go through the whole video for one sentence at the end ... "in the quest for perfection, the craftsman has erased every trace of his/hers own hands on the work ... and there will be no story to tell"
I call it "The off the rack look"... Why in the world build for Wally World, when literally NOBODY likes to show off the crap they bought there???
Do custom work, and take the time. I still use some power tools for major break-downs (stock) when it's applicable, but I love getting into the details and often build things without a single square edge in the whole project! Just like you would choose to go to an old-school tailor to get an expensive, SHOWY bit of wardrobe, you'd go to an old-school woodworker to get a piece of furniture you actually WANT to show and brag about. ;o)
Yeah that resonated with me too. What will our artefacts say about us in 100 years time?
I can still f up with power tools.
@@yetanotherbloke I had to think about this one... If I had to guess, in a century (or a few) when the archaeologists are brushing off our artifacts, they'll likely think we had one uniform way to do anything, with all templates... stock designs copied by the hundreds of thousands...
...AND there were occasionally little "rogue establishments" that were probably outcasts or criminals because they refused the templates and patterns of the masses, and made things "just willy nilly every which way"... ;o)
@@CanKenMakeIt Just my experience... BUT at least in the beginning, it's easier to f up FASTER and WORSE with power tools than it is with hand tools... It's one of the reasons I prefer hand tools in the first place. ;o)
Amazing video! Only gripe: Hell yeah would I show off a maple table nowadays. People are building out of cardboard...
Oh, today this would be fine furniture, for sure!
Kind of like birch where I live: it’s abundant as unprocessed timber/firewood, but not common as lumber because the large scale sawmills deal more with pine or spruce instead, because those are faster to grow commercially.
@@RexKrueger are you going to restore the table i hope so
@@ragnkja where I live in the UK ash is predominant. It makes really good firewood.
Literally made of cardboard in the case of Ikea furniture.
This is great, Rex! More of these! I know the channel can't be a forensic channel, but, damn, do we learn a lot! So once in a while it would be wonderful to have a few of these types of videos :) Great work!
I plan do do these more!
@@RexKrueger I think Dodo is in one word, although that makes your sentence a little confusing? :^D Joking aside - I look forward to that!
Yeeessssss! This was great. I second the motion for more of these forensics videos!
I'd like to see more of these in the future as well!
I agree. Early on in the video, I felt that commenting on the work of others was a good thing.
Tables like this were quite popular in Germany not that long ago. In the 70s and 80s the swedish furniture giant IKEA sold thousands of them to students and young families, i.e. people who couldn't afford large homes. They would have been made from fir or pine.
Very nice and informative video. I really do enjoy your channel and ended up buying two wooden handplanes from an antique store two weeks ago. The postman brought the sharpening jig I ordered online for them just the other day. This would never have happened but for the inspiration you provided. Thank you!!
Keep up the good work!
This video is inspirational Rex. It caused me to reflect on many things. I looked around our house and had a bit of a bitter sweet moment after watching this. My father in law recently passed away and he was the one who gave me a love for working with wood. I've inherited some of his tools. Yes he was a machine tool guy but he had that philosophy of leaving his mark in the wood. The exposed surfaces are beautiful but not perfect. His goal was generosity. He wanted to make furniture for those he loved. I am sad that he passed but honoured that he left us a legacy of heirlooms. Your video has motivated me once again. You are an amazing thoughtful person.
75 years ago: "you have a machine that can make 4 perfect sides? Amazing!"
Today: "You did all that by hand? Amazing!"
The squeaky wheel gets the oil, a sealed bearing needs no grease.
A sqeaky wheel may get oil but a squeaky nail gets the hammer.
75 years ago was 1945, we had atom bombs by then, lol. I don't think power tools were impressive anymore.
Andy Prokopyk Seventy five years ago I was suckling my mother’s milk.
a sealed bearing gets thrown away more often.
Your bearing is neither oiled nor sealed - I think it seized.
Awesome video, Rex! This is super interesting. I think we are all hoping to see how you restore it, or even replicate the piece.
Love the insight on machine work being sterile, too. I was thinking it, then you said it, and I was like, "this guy gets it."
What a lovely thing to say! Thank you!
Yes, after you make the foot powered lathe for humans, then replicate this table, and use the lathe for the legs, but make your improvements like show an alternative way to attach the top (that the old craftsman could have done) instead of the pocket screws.
Seconding the request for a recreation video :-)
This table is nearly identical to one I owned in the 80's. The leaf supports I had were curved at the ends ,fancy for something unseen. I never considered they were scraps, until today.
My table had the same wood shrinkage issues & had been stored in a barn, later in a mechanics garage . It had a lot of history visible. I enjoyed hearing someone else sharing this type of knowledge, and doing it very well. This guy is worth watching!
I would really like to see you restore it as well.
Pardons to your wife, but holy cow, bring home more “junk” furniture!
This video was awesome. This is what I love about woodworking, learning and appreciation of past masters.
He used pocket screws! :^D
He sure did!
Thomas Hverring And, they have exactly the same problem the modern ones do. I built a work table using pocket screws this way, and guess what? Similar problems; a weak connection to the top, and difficult to repair.
Yea he had an uncle Kreg 🤭
My thoughts exactly!
I noticed that my drop leaf, relatively similar, but in cherry, has similar pocket screws, but they were each carved out with a hand chisel. However, the hinges were cut out the same way, prepped with a saw. My glue blocks and/or the tops of each leg are splitting from poor transportation methods, unfortunately.
I watched this video while resting my elbows on a table nearly an identical twin to yours. Very similar physically with only some cosmetic difference. I brought it home from my parents house after they past away. I’ve always treasured it and I am now inordinately grateful to you for your information on its history. Thank you.
This, I think, the best video you have ever done. I found the picture you painted of the experiences of the wood worker, the client, and the piece itself fascinating.
l am not a woodworker, but your videos are so good that I pop in from time to time. My late father-in-law, however, who learned his carpenter's trade from his father, in London on hand tools in the 1940s, (and still had them when he passed away in the 1980s), would have been with you, and loved this, every step of the way.
I picked up a busted old oak dresser drawers. It must have undergone similar wet conditions and then drying out. I got it home and dismantled it (it pretty much fell apart) and reglued all the boards and planed all the bits flat again. might get another hundred years out of it now
Wow, do more of this, I love the history element. I was listening to this and looking at my drop leaf table and was like “square tapered legs, hinges instead of cool joinery and made of knotty pine... yup poor people table” than I looked at the table and thought “not much has changed in the income level of your owners over the years”
amazing video. thank you rex. this confirms my wood-working-ethics. i built 2 pergolas this year and a wood-steel staircase and some ikea-hacked shop-furniture currently a carport with a simple classical half-timbered frame is in the making and while i work with electric tools, i embrace and like every little imperfections that makes it mine. i even make errors of sorts, so it looks "hand"made. and even realizing that the carport is 5cm to short in height, just made me chuckle, because i still did that - with no prior woodworking experience. only youtubers like you gave me the courage to pick up that hobby. and i hope you continue to do so...
One gripe about the lathe, you can build them without custom castiron parts pretty easily. They've likely been around for a VERY long time, longer than the original patents and they were probably originally wooden.
Check out Mr. Chickadee's video on building a treadle lathe.
I have one of these tables, almost the same, but slightly fancier. It's cherry, and it has a drawer on one end. The thing I thought was interesting when I first got it is that the aprons on the two long sides are made of pine, and the sides and bottom of the drawer are also pine. Also the turning on the legs is a simpler style; definitely looks made by a country carpenter, but the turning is very consistent. He did plane off all the saw marks, but he didn't even completely scrape off all the glue squeeze out underneath the tabletop. It's a lot of fun to find these things.
I’m guessing the leaves wouldn’t be up other than on occasions when there would be a tablecloth over it, hiding the aprons.
Rex; I find you don't speak enough about the satisfaction of actually doing the woodworking. There is joy in simple things
I have to tell you that I love everything about this table; all the imperfections, tool marks, shortcuts, blemishes, splits, and cracks. It actually hurt when you said that it was ‘garbage by the side of the road’, although I knew what you were referring to. That table is such a beautiful, enduring, piece of understated elegance.
Thanks for the wonderful video.
I loved the "my wife's not mad at me about anything" comment. Soooo true!
Thanks Rex love your contributions to my learning journey.
That intro is very relatable.
Haven't we all been there?
The wife definitely gave me an eye roll....
I realize I'm commenting on an old video, but I just recently found your channel. I love how you cared enough to "rescue" this table from going to the landfill, and then proceeded to decipher its history. My thought towards the end was that it would be cool to recreate the table over a few videos, making better choices regarding the construction for the sake of longevity, and then maybe surprising the old owners with the new table, with their permission of course. We would get to learn the techniques and theory of the wood work, and the family would get a new "old" table back. Of course they also just might not have cared as much about some old table as some of us would have.
One of my favorite woodworking videos by anyone. This was fantastically interesting.
Woodworking as a hobby. There's value in the process, not only the product. Hand tool woodworking is more than just a finished project!
This began as a fun exercise of discovery, but at 16:25, Rex really lays out the truth. Using a machine to make a piece of furniture removes it's history - 30 years from now, no one can tell how old the furniture is, or who made it. My father rebuilt the rocking chair from my grandmother's attic. It was tied up with string, all 'broken' apart, but it was just the hide glue released in all the joints. The chair was my grandmother's great-grandmother's chair that came over when they emigrated from Scotland in the mid-1700s. It may have been in the family longer than that, we don't know.
Post a picture or link to a picture of this rocking chair please. It sounds like a wonderful piece of furniture. Thank you.
Seconding John's request for a picture (if you still have access to it).
this is what the people working with stone tools said about furniture built with metal tools
I grew up in a house of antiques, watched Antiques Roadshow as often as I could when I was growing up, I LOOOOVED this video.
I realized I wasn’t a subscriber yet, and I rectified that. I really enjoy your channel and approach to woodworking.
Love the look back through the lens of time. I marvel at the old level of craftsmanship in old buildings. I hope there is more of this type of content. Would enjoy seeing your take on a foot powered lathe for humans. A machine lathe isn't in the cards right now, but I would love to try basic turnings. Thanks for the great content!
I'm going to do the lathe, for sure!
Check out Chop with Chris: he builds and uses foot lathe in a couple videos.
Here is a great human-powered lathe: ua-cam.com/video/afiyNmWOZK8/v-deo.html
Best video yet, I'm a firm believer that when you make something by hand it has a soul, when you buy something from a big box store it's just an object. Like when you look in a new car and all you see is plastic, that car just doesnt have a story to tell. Also I can relate, my wife yells everytime i come home from work and tell her "you're not gonna believe what one of my coworkers almost threw in the dumpster"
Great video Rex! I love historical breakdowns like this.
I hope to do more!
Rex Krueger Any plans to stabilize this piece and refresh it so it’s around another 150 years? I’d love to see that.
That rule joint is so good, the maker was top class. I hope you renovated that table. Lovely wood. Beautifully made . Very interesting story.
As a hobbyist, I'm not making a dozen of anything. Using hand tools: less space is needed. It's quieter. There's no dust. I don't need to waste time making a jig to get it perfect. If I'm off by a bit, I get another chance that I wouldn't with fast spinning metal bits. It's safer. Planing & scraping gets the mirror finish that sanding can't. Sanding sucks. If I'm not doing production work, I really don't need the machines.
A hand saw would still leave dust floating around though, doesn't it? Reason I'm asking is that I live in a flat, but I love woodworking. So I bought some battery powered tools that I take in my tool bag outside and do the cuts and prepare the pieces, then I bring them inside ready for assembly. I did it once inside and it filled my flat with dust.
A hand saw does produce dust, but it's way less than when you use power sander and routers, dado blades, jointers, planers, etc.
@@sebytro I guess it does, but without a spinning motor it stops it from getting fired round the room.
@@sebytro I do woodwork in a boxroom - a handsaw will make dust, but it falls straight down, so you get a pile of dust instead of the cloud you get from power tools. No problem making cuts inside with hand tools.
Dust is the main reason I made the transition to hand tools. The only tool I use that makes dust is the saw, and even then it's relatively coarse dust that doesn't coat every surface of the shop.
When I have to use sandpaper, I either go outside or I do it in a finishing hood (basically a five sided box with a filter over a hole in the back, a box fan, and some cardboard and dryer tube connecting the two).
I used to have to take a leaf blower to my shop once a week to get all the dust out. Now my respirator is the one thing gathering dust, and the shop is filled with the smell of plane shavings instead of fine sawdust.
I think what I like most about you, is your historical approach. You won't use modern tools, techniques, or designs just because they are modern. Instead, you evaluate carefully what you want, and what method is the best, without prejudice against, or towards, old methods.
''When we made the shift from hand tool woodwork to machine tool woodwork, we didn't just change the methods that we were using to build furniture. We changed the goals.''
This quote says it all. Working without high noises from machines is just as much a decent goal as making your pieces fast, or square, or without tool notches.
Thank you Rex, insightful video as always.
After seeing many restorations by Johnston Antique Furniture Restoration, it is extremely interesting to see how it was built from woodworker's perspective.
Thomas Johnson... one of my favorite channels
I too love the work of Tom Johnson. He is a master and his history of a piece is most interesting. The maker’s attitude shows through and Tom shares it. RK has done the same thing here.
Hi Rex, I've been doing carpentry and joinery in UK for just over 40 years now and I totally agree that there is far more satisfaction when using hand tools, which is how I was taught as a youngster. You use the word 'sterile' to describe a lot of machined furniture in much the same way I would describe most modern construction fittings, fixings and installations - they all look sort of 'perfectly the same' to me; they have no character! When working on sites, I naturally followed suit with the trades and mechanised my kit but these days, I am more laid back and have started using mainly hand tools all over again - and what a joy it is to plug back into that attraction that drew me to woodworking as a kid all over again. Geez, I even make most of my own wall plugs from whittled bits of scrap wood - much stronger than the plastic ones you can buy. I really enjoy your vids and will make a few of the designs myself, especially the benches - keep up the good work.
Terrific forensics. So very interesting. Keep up the great work.
Will do! This might be a series!
Probably the best video you made. Thank you. You touched here the main point: all what we do is an evolution of what people did for centuries and it’s great to let in a work piece some traces of history.
Very interesting to look into how and why certain things where done on this piece. I have a very similar table, it failed in all the same places, split legs, failed apron mortise etc. Still there is a beauty found in the quality of hand work and wood in this piece. Thank you for the table thoughts.
im now invested in seeing rex rebuild this table!
Fascinating video, Rex! How you gonna get all serious on me at the end though? 😉
Also, (and I learned some of this watching you and also Steve Ramsey) but when I'm building something, I try to leave as much evidence of the process as possible on non-show surfaces (thanks for teaching me the term!). For example, I built my own version of the milking stool from a previous video but I left the layout lines and the natural patina on the bottom of the seat. Nobody will ever see it unless they flip the stool over. I built a rustic looking shelf from pallet wood and did my best with what I have to make the top smooth and level and looking like one cohesive piece. The bottom, however, is pretty much untouched pallet wood, including where some of them are still painted blue. I like to think of them as "Easter eggs".
Yep... never cover up what "they" are never going to look at anyway. It's like leaving a few clues or a "treasure map" for the next poor restorer who might have to puzzle out what you did so he can fix it... just in case.
I'm a fan of "hidden mortises"... If I don't leave the odd layout line or "tail", the folks who examine it might wonder if I carved the thing out of one contiguous piece of wood. I've had guys with metal detectors trying to figure out "where the screws go" in some of my projects... like some over-head racks for skis and poles. I installed them in a "lodge" next to a ski resort, and I like things "severely over-engineered"... Well, between the wedging and glue, I tested the racks with a 250 pound man doing "chin-ups" to see that they weren't falling out anytime soon... Empty or full, they're decorative and shapely, but the owner of the place couldn't stand not knowing "off the top of his head" how that was done... (hahaha) Poor guy called me back about two weeks later and took me to lunch (expensive place) just to "talk shop" about how I'd built and installed the things. You can imagine his face (after looking for "hardware") when I explained that it was possible and they really did NOT have a single nut, bolt, or rivet in the lot! ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 lol that's a cool story. I ain't on your level but I like the cut of your gib.
@@CeeJayThe13th Thanks... Glad you liked it. AND I'm more self taught (with books) than formally instructed or trained... You can certainly get "there".
I believe in you. ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 thanks. That feels nice.
@@CeeJayThe13th I was trained by the U.S. Navy, so I call 'em... like I SEE 'em.
In all seriousness, though. As detail oriented and precision based as it gets, it's still wood-craft, not rocket science. You really CAN do this! ;o)
Thank you verry much Mr Krueger. I made the shift to full handtools workshop (for fun) a few years ago and i've never regret power tools. Silence, safety, dust free all that with a lot pride to be able to be "almost" as good as the old woodworkers. And when you give us a piece of philosophy like you just did here, you touch me right in the heart !
Aww, this brings memories. I hated one we had when I was a kid. Ours was full of full drawers and almost no overhead to have a nice grab, and when I helped Father to bring it out for this or that holiday feast it was kicking my ankles during the process...
This has got to be my most favorite episode you have done. The knowledge of how this table was produced and why is so much more enlightening. Thank you so much for this journey. Like you, I like using traditional hand tools for my projects.
It’s ALWAYS the perfect time to bring home crap from the side of the road! 😁
Or out of the dumpster
There is no such thing as absolute perfection, anyway. After all, you're working with wood; an organic, moisture absorbing, dimension changing, always moving substance. You make it as accurate as you can, and then the piece you've created takes over, and it moves to its semi-final stable state over time. I'm really glad you saved the table, it deserves that kind of respect.
Thanks for your work, Rex. K
Why does this feel like the "Good Eats" of woodworking?
That's a really good comparison!
A few days ago I have ended up in a remote location and the desire to build a shelving unit. My only power tool was a combi screwdriver/drill. It was an interesting experience to cut 1220x2440 OSB sheets into the shelves using only a hacksaw. All of the joints were very rudimental, but even before that - cutting the timber by hand and eye to make the cuts square (I do have and use a sliding mitre saw - normally - it takes seconds)..well.. I enjoyed it. Patience, resilience, respect for the material, some creative thinking - pure joy of woodworking. Without Mr Rex videos - I would never buy a Stanley plane. ;) Cheers, mate!
Hey Rex, I'm with you, you can't have enough crap.
"In the quest for perfection, the craftsman has erased every trace of his or her hand on the work." Beautiful synthesis and analysis Rex!
This may or may not be the most informative video, but it's definitely the best you've made imho. Probably have to Patreon now, lol.
Wow, I came here to see the story behind this 19th century table and was amazed by wonderful poetry about woodworking!
"Rex, what are you doing? Send it through the machine. Get the piece done. C'mon, it's 2020."
Me: :::sobbing::: It's still 2020.
That was my reaction too.
This, too, shall pass. ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 Or we will.
Good thing of sittin' amidst a regularly recurring hotspot (me) or within confines of a lockdown or curfew in crazy 2020: You gotta make do with what You have at hand in visible distance. Quite a challenge, but quite some surprisingly satisfying results, too. (At least in my workshop)
@@jimcarter4929 If I die today, then tomorrow AIN'T my problem anyway! ;o)
So timely! I was working on something yesterday (DIY Router Plane) and after a poorly executed cut, I reminded myself "Perfection isn't the goal". I'm new to hand tool only woodworking, but I love the idea that the tools I have, I made.
This is amazing Rex, I love it!
Thank you!
Rex, you are spot on about hand tool woodworking. I use machines when I can but it's not my prefered way. I get the same reaction when I tell fellow woodworkers that I prefer to do it all by hand. That's okay because they will never be able to understand the relationship between the craftsman, the tools, and the wood.
Back to the future. When the electricity goes out, you will be the future in woodworking. Just like the Woodright Shop
Pask makes it as well, "I could have done that with the machine but it's more fun using handtools ...." . And it's nicer to look at, too, in the end. At least to my eye.
inherited a very similar table this year and had a lot of fun repairing and restoring what I could. 150yr old walnut from the valley my family first settled in. I don't use the table or even like it that much, but I love the story. Thank you for the additional history for pre-industrial craftsmen!
Rex, that intro totally got me. I hope my lady agrees!
We used to have one of these tables when I was growing up. I always admired its functionality.
Why do you assume all the parts of the table were made by the same craftsman rather than subcontracted? A professional turner producing legs for all and sundry, and the final carpenter creating and assembling the table. It looks like the wood for the legs and the top are different batches/colours
Yep. Different colors and, in my opinion, different species.
@@chuckschillingvideos of course the wood can still be different species and be from the same carpenters shop, whuch could indeed be 1 or 2 or more people making as many standardised parts through the day
@@jusb1066 I don't think I asserted otherwise? But I don't think it's a piece offered for sale by a furnituremaker.
@@chuckschillingvideos you didnt, i guess i was just expanding on the subject, in short they bought wood, some they knew was better for turning or thats what the supplier had in that size, and worked with it, i found some of the hacks entertaining, the way they did the hinge cutouts , never occured to me even on some of my own hacks. of course the turner isnt making 4 legs then making the table, hes at the lathe all day making his same pattern probably, some kind of batch produced table from a pattern, some with turned legs some with square sold by sears maybe lol, too many shortcuts for the guy to be making one table now and again, those are production shortcuts
I suspect it was because where he lives there were not large, moderately wealthy, population centers 150 years ago. Without identifying the builder, I don't think it would be possible to know. But, certainly, in a shop with a Carpenter, maybe a Journeyman, and several apprentices they would batch those out; maybe even buy in the legs from the turner next door.
As a hobby woodworker there is another characteristic about my work - the Zen of the process.
This created a problem with my wife who was looking for products to come out of my basement shop,
while I was just down there having a darn good time. 🙂
This was fascinating to listen to
I love how you always thoroughly explain WHY past woodworkers used the methods and techniques they did
"Sterile and uninteresting." Wow, I never thought of like that but you are so right. Thanks for an excellent look into this table and a great perspective on the craft/craftsman/craftsmanship.
I think that also applies to mass produced newer houses. They are clearly more efficient but have no soul.
I use power tools 95% of the time, and trust me, there are plenty of imperfections to tell a story!
Absolute truth. There is a reason why antiques are such and relics are priceless. It all comes down to craftsmanship. I believe that the beauty of woodworking lies in how pieces are made, much like any other crafts, it is how a craftsman creates with whatever materials he has and not exactly on what he actually made.
“Better is the enemy of good enough.” Albert Einstein
Correction: Attributed to Voltaire not Big Al
Hit the nail on the head with this one.
That's not an Einstein quote... It gets credited to Voltaire who heard it somewhere on his journeys in Italy and decided to write it down.
Jonas Holzem - you’re right. I stand corrected. Thanks.
This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen. I’m just getting into woodworking and i can’t believe how many channels are out there. I definitely enjoy your videos the most because you seem to cut through the bull. The main intrigue to woodworking by hand is it’s quite! I could do it in my kitchen if i wanted to.
I think that the reason it was on the side of the road, sadly, is Ikea. A homeowner can buy a new table for way less than you could even buy the materials to make one, let alone the cost of your Labour. Parts of it will be made of cardboard with a thin veneer on the outside but it will be so cheap that it will be hard to argue agains buying it if you are on a budget. It too will be on the side of the road. Not in 150 years, more like 5...
I'm very happy there's IKEA, tbh: Lots of dressers and tables and cupboards and chairs and chaiselongues like the one Rex discusses for next to nothing outta households of IKEA-addicts. I got those for the fetch when I was broke and sold
'em refurbished on ebay for reasonable money, given the "material" was for free.
@@manfredschmalbach9023 I agree that Ikea have their place. I’m not an Ikea snob, I have some of their stuff in my own house...mostly bedroom furniture. The problem for furniture makers is that Ikea’s low prices make the average customer baulk at the cost of something made by a craftsman.
Obviously not everyone will think like that but Ikea’s pricing kind of sets the benchmark for prices in people’s minds.
@@georgenewlands9760 Yes, that might sometimes be a problem, but I (boatbuilder, restorer and universal craftsman for different materials and methods, built a lotta one-off design pieces for students of industrial design nearby) usually told people not willing to pay the price of my/our work to go and buy an Ikea piece: perfectly workable, and selfbuildable, too, which gives them a special relationship to their piece of furniture after all. We held competitions of IKEA-hacking with special rules two decades ago (a prof of the design classes had that idea), with very funny and nice results. I loved IKEA until they changed their furniture's looks to what aging boomers might take for "nice" today in their sixties and fifties. Anyway, I even bought sets of IKEA stuff for the materials only (no intention to build those sets the IKEA-way whatsoever) from time to time. Cheers.
@@manfredschmalbach9023 I hacked an Ikea wardrobe recently. I cross-cut the door about 1/3 up from the bottom and found that it was made of corrugated paper😳
@@georgenewlands9760 Yes, quality is ......... decreasing recently, to say the least.
I have different generations of NOT standalone lamps and of steel cable curtain holders: It's like every new engineer starting work at IKEA gets a catalogue side or two with the challenge to find 5 to 20 bucks per product per unit which could be stinted with even worse materials or constructions.
Hey Rex - really enjoyed this. So nice to see someone else who thinks perfection is not the right goal for woodworkers. The 'whole of the project' is much better - the imperfections adding interest and showing that a piece is hand-made. Great video - thanks for saving that old piece!
"We can make these joints stronger by pegging them" My wife says it does the same thing to me!
😌😌
Buddy, this is a family channel.
And, well... if you've got joints "there", you may want to see a doctor.
I have never been a builder of furniture. But I have worked on a Lot of furniture simular to your table. I restored and repaired Antique Furniture for 40 or so years and I always loved the "story" each one tells. I hope you are going to undo the repairs and redo them right, Great Video.
Just made my first workbench today and had no idea how to mount the top. Took me about 10 minutes of desperation to figure out the same method woodworker used to build this folding table. Thought it was a dirty job until watching this. Feeling a bit better now :D
Please make more of these videos teaching the build history. So fun and interesting!
I Love you Rex. You appreciate wood and love it and shape it with care and attention always leaving your mark. What I see in machine work is-great precision, but zero character. I love how in depth you went with describing this rescue. I grew up watching "This Old House", while my father tore down the kitchen & re-built it....I will always adore TRUE wood workers.
Thanks for the storytelling! Excellent 'forensic' analysis about the woodworker. That is what I, too, believe is important about working wood.
Really interesting. In the early 70's my father and I would frequent all of the flea markets and all of your comments are bang on to the rules that we followed. We used to take a string to measure the turnings of the legs or the spindles of a chair and always looked to see what tools were used. Great video ... Cheers
The lack of pegging says to me the maker didn’t care about his reputation too much. Pegging would have been cheap, period appropriate and lasted generations.
Phrasing...
Rex, this is one of my favorite UA-cam videos and that is saying a ton. Thanks for caring about these pieces.
furniture forensics series please
I have a table like that. It was built by my grandfather who was a millwright. Same problems with the shrinking wood. I will be filling cracks with epoxy in the hope that it will last another 60 years.
Everytime I see it's simple construction, it reminds me of all of the amazingly beautiful jobs that he did. He respected simple down to earth things while he made magic for the world.
That story made me smile.
Only a month ago, I started looking for a cheap, minimalist computer desk.
Ikea, Office Works, etc. For about $150
A huge number of Google reviews comnented on how quickly they fell apart.
I ended up visiting the local "tip shop", and picking up a sturdy little old wooden desk that featured a removable timber top, dovetails, timber joints, jointed drawers etc for $30. Some sanding, varnish etc and the desk is ready for another forty years of service.
Very satisfying.
Wonderful how you deduce an entire story from a single piece of furniture.
I got into woodworking to spend time problem solving and using my hands. While many times I do the only things I know how to do (read no skill), I found this to be my favorite video you have ever done. Really enjoyed it. Thanks Rex.
Hi Rex, you and Paul Sellers have influenced my journey in woodworking greatly. I intended to start with machine-dependent wood working, but I found that working with hand tools was more gratifying.
This video and the story you told have emboldened me to go further down the path of the hand tool woodworker. I also want to tell my story through my pieces.
Thank you.
I'm sad I only got to this now. When I decided to teach myself some "basic woodwork" early this year I ended up on your channel (and a couple of others) and I've learnt a lot. Mostly because I didn't want to spend loads of money picking up a hobby I wasn't that dedicated to, I wanted to keep it simple and decided not to go out and just buy expensive machines to do all the work. I can't say I've dedicated my time and life to woodwork but I've still learnt a LOT, and gained a lot of satisfaction creating my own tools, outfitting my workshop with basic things I've been able to make myself to a level I've never imagined possible before. All with a couple of saws, chisels, and A (not very good) plane. Some things, like long rip cuts... do wear on my patience.
But there's something to say for simple work using cheap(ish) tools that don't require me to dedicate a huge amount of space and money.... and having the result be surprisingly good. Besides, when I watch channels that focus on machine tools, often all I see is mountains of Plywood getting plowed through machines. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but I do appreciate stuff made from solid lumber. There's a different quality to it, even if not perfect.
With that being said, this video broadened my appreciation even more. And may have inspired me to attempt my first furniture pieces, however "flawed". Thanks a lot.
One of my favorite videos to date. Agree with what Rex says about a piece being sterile. So true in my opinion.
Great video! Waiting for the follow up where Rex makes one using only a pen knife and a spoon.
My kitchen table is very similar to this. It was brought to western Kansas by covered wagon by my great, great grandparents. It had markings under the top stating it was made in Portsmouth England. I also have the matching chair-side table.
Learning a skill from the "bottom up" is always better. Knowing how the technique was originally done and then learning the shortcuts gives you a better understanding of the principles and gives more flexibility in your design stage. Lovely video very interesting and enjoyable :)
This is an outstanding video. Great analysis of a modest piece of classic furniture.
The last few minutes is a great lesson for would-be woodworkers. It's the difference between a mass producer and a craftsman. Machine-driven work is time-driven mass production, no matter how skillful. Using hand tools is the mark of a true craftsperson.
Rex, such a great video. I love woodworking and your other videos but this kind of historical approach is outstanding. Thank you so much and I hope you’ll have the opportunity to do more like this.
I like using hand tools most often . Like you said , more character in the piece but for me it's more pleasure because it's less noise and makes what I'm doing less " perfect " but more special in that the hand work is more noticeable
Love it! Keep ‘em coming, Rex! You elevate the work of the ordinary guy and give them the respect they might never have received in their working life. It was assumed that a craftsman could perform his or her craft; such skills are now gradually becoming obsolete. Wood working skills were a huge part of Western culture. Furniture tell a story. That story of the common Man needs to be heard and understood. Thank you for telling it.
This is fantastic
Dude, your opening line about how it's time to bring home more crap spoke to me. Subscribed!
Amazing job diagnosing the table's features. Now, let's see a video about refurbishing it up to snuff again.
This is the exact table I’ve got that I’m refinishing! It was my grandpa’s and is coated in multiple layers of paint, is missing a leaf and was falling apart. We’ve taken it apart and sanded the top but I’m going to keep the painted legs so it’s history is still there! This was super interesting especially as we saw so many of these features as we tried to figure out how to take it apart! Thanks for a great video!