18th.C. style shoe sticks I made

[george wilson]

These are 2 18th.C style shoe measuring sticks I made for the shoe shop in Williamsburg,several years apart. The browned up one had been in use for several years in the shoe polish stained hands of the shoe makers. They probably deliberately "aged" the stick since the original was much the same color from long,dirty use.

The original is French and is in the collection at Williamsburg.

They are both boxwood. I had made the first one,and they kept after me to make a second. These are more trouble than they look to make,so it took some prodding to make the 2nd. one.

It isn't shown in the photo,but these sticks pull out to nearly double their length. The brass pins you see on the scales indicate children's sizes. When the sticks are pulled out,adult sizes are shown on another similar scale.

The shafts are cut away at 45º angles,with their remaining centers routed away so they slide together, I hope tat makes sense.

The turned caps are lignum vitae.

[George Sanders]

As usual your workmanship is outstanding. Everyday items back then weren't simply utilitarian, they were also things of beauty.

[harry strasil]

Beautiful work George. As George Sanders notes, Utilitarian things back then were things of beauty. That fact is really what draws me to the designs of old things. When I make things for myself, I lack the craftsmanship to embellish things (carving) for ordinary everyday use. I just try to make them as simple and plain as possible as I like the Shaker Style. A few exceptions are some of my Smith tools in which I am slightly more proficant than my woodworking abilities. Mainly my hacksaw frame and my use of hand forged wingnuts of the Ramshorn design. I guess I developed that trait when I joined the MWTCA and several older members I became acquainted with found out I was a Blacksmith and could repair some of the iron parts of old WWing tools in the way they would have been repaired at the time they were made and used. Mostly the use of real Wrought Iron and forge welding missing pieces and sections onto damaged cutters and frames and the ability to hand forge (replicate) wingnuts etc. I am not really proficient at forge welding, but using wrought iron makes it much easier than the more modern iron produced today.

[Gil Knowles]

George

Beautiful work as always, you never cease to amaze me with all your abilities.
I have never been to Colonial Williamsburg but it is on my list of places to visit someday.

All the best.

Gil

[george wilson]

Gil,better hurry. The way they are going,I think it not impossible that actors may replace real craftsmen some day. It has gotten to be too much all about the money anymore. Curious thing is,they pay entry level actors more than entry level apprentice craftsmen.

Harry,you probably know that the reason mild steel replaced wrought iron was that it could be electrically welded.. I just bought a small attachable iron bench vise(the kind you can screw to your bench). The only way I can tell it is wrought iron is that a prong broke off on the clamping part,and you can see the layers where it broke. I could have tested it with nitric acid to see if it left a gray spot(wrought iron) or a rusty spot(mild steel).

It might even be 18th.C.,because there is a "fancy" little ball turned on the end of the screw's nut/housing. You never see that. I'm also sure the threads in the nut are a wire soldered in. They'd wrap a soft iron wire around the screw,unscrew it from the screw,slide it into the hole for the nut,and braze it in(this for other's general info,Harry).

The Master Shoemaker had made a big deal out of wanting this shoe stick when he was first hired. He'd been all over England trying to find someone to make it. Jon and I just kept saying,yes,what else do you want?

[harry strasil]

George, I have electric welded wrought iron, many, many, many times over the years. I still have a piece of wrought iron sway brace 1 3/8" thick by 8" wide and about 8' long that came from a RR bridge over the Missouri river when they replaced it with some kind of ultra modern steel from Japan, and all they do is repair it LOL,somewhere behind my smith shop that I made some things out of years ago.

The only wrought iron I had available to me for repairing those old tools was Wagon tire iron rims and that is some of the lowest grade wrought junk there is. But if you heat it to a bright red and hammer it under a power hammer lightly both ways several times it refines it enough that it won't split and crack or explode when working it at a white heat.

And yes I know about the forge brazed threads in post vise nuts. I have repaired several of those nuts in the past by rough boring them smooth on the inside, drilling some holes in the barrel and smoking the threads of the screw and lining it up inside the barrell and pouring new threads using hard babbet.

Most people destroy the threads in those old post vises by using heavy grease to grease the screws instead of using a light oil so it flushes out the grit and grime instead of holding it and grinding away the internal threads like heavy grease does.

[george wilson]

But,doesn't mild steel weld more readily?

In Williamsburg they get old wrought iron from torn down bridges,old suppliers of light house fittings,old iron estate fences,etc. I know it isn't as good as the better stuff they had back when it was current technology. I have made things from the available iron they get,as well as from old shot gun barrels. The good old stuff files a LOT better than the low grade iron. The good stuff feels much less gummy than the low grade stuff that they manage to find today.

They also got a bunch of "Byer's iron" years ago,and still use it. This isn't the same as wrought iron in physical structure,but it is the same chemistry. The Byer's iron just had some slag added to a big ladle of iron,and poured that way,then rolled into bars. It wasn't "wrought" like the real iron,establishing finer layers in the process.

We've repaired some old post vises,but used the iron wire method.

[harry strasil]

The old mild steel 1003 does if you can find it, but the new mini mill steel varies greatly in carbon content, its all remelted salvage material. I learned about it the hard way, while out demoing smithing years ago, I cooled the end of the long bar I had hot cut a short piece off of, and later I tried to square up the end in my shop bandsaw with a Lenox Diemaster blade with hard teeth and it wouldn't touch it, so I started making hot punches out of some scrap modern mild to experiment with, they worked fine as long as you cooled it after every 3rd hit like a normal punch.

[harry strasil]

You didn't stay long at the gun show today George, was it a disappointment?

[george wilson]

I learned that apparently my guns are now worth about 3X what I paid for them!!:)

I did buy some ammo,and got a good deal on an engraver's ball. I have one just like it,but this one is in nicer shape. The nickel isn't worn off the bottom. I can engrave 2 handed now!!

Plenty of people there. I asked the ticket seller if I got a discount from all the jewelry,T shirt and beef jerky salesmen in there,but no luck. I left out all the leather wallet,and sparkly crystal animal sellers,dangly crystal ball sellers,and hot sauce sellers. also all the unattended tables while the dealers were off hob knobbing somewhere else. I swear,some of those guys must be lonesome,and buy a table so they can visit!!! It's really true.

I also wanted extra police protection from the obvious roaming gangs looking only at concealable 9mm. automatics. They really irritate me. You can tell they aren't sportsmen.:)

I haven't been to a show for quite a while because with the gun buying fever that has been going on,I'm not interested in paying HIGH retail for something. Besides,I don't like the new stuff anyway,or all the pseudo military semi auto "assault" rifles either.

I only saw 1 nice,hand made German single shot target pistol in the whole place. I could tell it was for those low powered parlor rounds from the very rapid twist. It would not have shot accurately at all even with a .22 short. MAYBE with c.b. caps. I bought one years ago,and had to take it back.

End of rant.

[Don C Peterson]

Gil,better hurry. The way they are going,I think it not impossible that actors may replace real craftsmen some day. It has gotten to be too much all about the money anymore. Curious thing is,they pay entry level actors more than entry level apprentice craftsmen.


That's a shame, but it fits with the whole symbolism over substance thing that is so prevalent in our society...

We are planning on spending Christmas up in and around Williamsburg, I've never been there and we are really looking forward to it.

[Don C Peterson]

Oh, and George, I am just amazed at the depth and breadth of your accomplishments. It's a privilege and an inspiration to read your posts. Keep 'em coming!

[george wilson]

Don,PM me when you are coming. Maybe you could stop by my house.

[Don C Peterson]

Don,PM me when you are coming. Maybe you could stop by my house.

Now, that's an offer only a fool would refuse. PM sent.

[george wilson]

Most anyone would be welcome to stop by.