Any idea's on how they carved these blocks?

[Bob Schlowsky]

Does anyone have any idea of how these childrens blocks were carved? The one in the photo is from the late 1800's or early 1900's so I know it wasn't laser or CNC router technology. The relief of the carvings is about 1/16". My wife has a large collection of these antique blocks. The carving seems to vary from 1/32 to as deep as almost 3/16". It seems to be on the end grain in most all cases with the other 4 sides painted or plain.
the block is about 1 3/4" cubed so the detail is very fine. The only thing I could think of is sandblasting with a photo resist, but I think it's too smooth for that & I can't believe it would have economically feasible if the technology even existed that far back.
The wood seems to be Pine and Basswood with some other species randomly appearing in older sets.
I would like to try makings some - I've newly found this forum, but do a lot of cabinet work & antique repair.
thanks for your help

[Ben Cadotte]

I have no clue, but I am guessing it was done with a press and a die. Would be easier to crush the wood fibers if its done to the end grain.

[Bruce Page]

I think Ben nailed it. It wouldn’t take much tonnage to press that.

[John Schreiber]

That's my guess too. I'd go further and guess that they probably pressed a whole sheet of them at once and then cut them apart.

[Frank Drew]

Why not worked by hand like other woodblock carving? Ever see how fine engravers can work? Certainly in the late 1800s labor didn't cost much.

[glenn bradley]

Why not worked by hand like other woodblock carving? Ever see how fine engravers can work? Certainly in the late 1800s labor didn't cost much.

The relief is amazingly consistent. Granted human hands can do wonderful things including such carving. I just doubt that the time was spent on children's blocks. I'm going with press. JMHO.

[David DeCristoforo]

"Why not worked by hand like other woodblock carving...in the late 1800s labor didn't cost much."

This is how the thousands of apprentice carvers spent their time. Part of their training program. Of course, they spent the first five years learning how to sharpen their chisels properly. Then it was on to the block carving. This phase of the apprenticeship could last anywhere from five to ten years. And since the apprentices were indentured, they worked very cheap indeed. After they became proficient at carving blocks, they moved on to carving those little crown designs in the tops of checkers. I thought everyone knew this....

[Mike Henderson]

Why not worked by hand like other woodblock carving? Ever see how fine engravers can work? Certainly in the late 1800s labor didn't cost much.
I can't comment on the cost of labor in the US in the late 1800's, but for most of the early history of the USA labor was scarce. That's one reason the industrial revolution took hold so well in the United States. While the industrial revolution occurred in Britain, there was much more resistance to mechanization in Britain than in the United States simply because there was greater availability (and organization) of labor in Britain.

But maybe those blocks were made in England.

Mike

[Alan Schaffter]

One way to get a flat background is to chisel the pattern in one block, not worrying about the background. You can even cut it a little deep. Then glue the pattern face of this block to a second block. When the glue has set, cut the blocks apart, leaving the pattern on the new block. If you have lettering, you need to remember to cut the letters backwards.

[Russ Hauser]

This is just a guess, but Why couldn't they have been routed using a small diameter cutter in a steam powered shop router using a master template? They might have been able to rout several at once. Many shops in the 18th century had machinery powered by steam engines thru overhead shafts and belt drives to the various machines. Steam power is what started the industrial revolution in the 18 century.

Russ

[Frank Drew]

Alan.

Would that work, considering that it might be endgrain to endgrain? The glueing, I mean.

Mike, I guess I was thinking that they were made in England; I don't know why, maybe I thought the design looked English.

Russ, if they had that technology when these were made that's a good hypothesis.

[Carl Hill]

How about sandblasting? I've sandblasted lots of wood (even end grain) and it looks a lot like that. Just a guess.

Carl

[curtis rosche]

maybe they were burned in with an iron then just scraped away the charred?

[Bruce Page]

These things were made by the thousands. Do you really think that they would go to the trouble of carving/routing/burning/sandblasting/chisling, when a single hardened steel die could punch them out in a second or two, and do it ‘till the cows came home?

[John Schreiber]

. . . snip. . .After they became proficient at carving blocks, they moved on to carving those little crown designs in the tops of checkers. I thought everyone knew this....
You may be right. But I thought they spent the first five years carving the logos in bars of soap.

[Bob Schlowsky]

Bruce & others may be right with the steel die idea, but the wood doesn't seem crushed.
I think that you may have it - although I have really enjoy the international labor cost discussion.
After a lot of web searching I did find a company called Barclay wood toys in Hebron, Indiana that still makes the same style of blocks. Their website has a lot of history, but not how it's done. I plan to email or call them on Tuesday & try to see if they have any info about how this was done.
thanks
Bob

[Peter Quinn]

I know an old carver that can easily carve details that crisp by hand, though the process is not what you would call quick. I have no idea how they were made, but if you use non toxic paint and have a one year old present, I'm sure they will be able to help you "Antique" them efficiently. Mine sure does!

[David DeCristoforo]

"...have a one year old present, I'm sure they will be able to help you "Antique" them ..."

Before the indentured apprentices reached an age at which it was considered safe for them to handle sharp tools, they spent their time "distressing" blocks and adding teeth marks. There is still a debate over whether or not this was done in an attempt to deceive the public by making the blocks look like antiques which would command a higher price. But most agree that it was done simply encourage the young "up and comers" to develop a "taste" for woodworking.....

You guys really need to study your history a bit.....

[Pete Bradley]

I think the folks who said "pressed" get the prize. Take a look at the last paragraph of this page:

http://www.barclaywoods.com/Blocks_Quality.htm

Pete

[David DeCristoforo]

"I think the folks who said "pressed" get the prize..."

Ya think? :rolleyes: ;)

[Brian Kent]

It's easy.

1) You punch down the image itself with a die. Not the negative of the image, but the image.

2) With the image fibers compressed you chop or saw off the top.

3) Then you place the block in water and the compressed fibers expand again and stand out from the surface.

4) Then you paint the image and don't notice that the fibers have been worked.

Piece of cake. I do it in my sleep all the time.

[Jeff Mohr]

"...have a one year old present, I'm sure they will be able to help you "Antique" them ..."

Before the indentured apprentices reached an age at which it was considered safe for them to handle sharp tools, they spent their time "distressing" blocks and adding teeth marks. There is still a debate over whether or not this was done in an attempt to deceive the public by making the blocks look like antiques which would command a higher price. But most agree that it was done simply encourage the young "up and comers" to develop a "taste" for woodworking.....

You guys really need to study your history a bit.....

Yep...I think my grandpa did something like that. You are right on with that! ;)

[alexander galvin]

Alphabet blocks are indeed made by the millions and they are embossed - and importantly on the end grain of basswood, a wood that compresses nicely under a little heat. However, they can also be made with a fine CNC router, though the effect is somewhat different. They could probably be made by a Carvewright machine, though I've not seen it done.

Typically they are dyed (not painted) and it is possible to find child safe dyes from the Nazdar company, an American manufacturer of dyes and inks for silk screening.

Whether they could be made by photo silk screening a resist and then sandblasting is a question I cannot answer - but I would imagine so, and this process can be done by a talented woodworker at home (photo-sensitive resist is also available from Nazdar).

Hand carved blocks could be very beautiful, I would imagine, though a trifle hard to justify economically since a set of 28 alphabet blocks only tends to run around $30. Crafts people sometimes make them by decoupage, affixing painted or printed designs onto the blocks and protecting with a few coats of an overcoat like shellac.

Sandy Galvin
Barclay Blocks

[Ben Cadotte]

I think the folks who said "pressed" get the prize. Take a look at the last paragraph of this page:

http://www.barclaywoods.com/Blocks_Quality.htm

Pete

Ah, hemm. Cough, nudge, nudge, wink, wink. :)

What is the prize. :cool:

[alexander galvin]

Some of your participants may be interested in the history of the Halsam Products Co. which was not the first, but certainly the dominant maker of toy alphabet blocks in the early and mid part of the 20th century.

http://www.toyhistory.com/halsam.html

It often comes as some surprise to those Galoots that make a fetish of olde tyme craftsmanship – that in general, the toy business has been dominated by automation and big iron. But it has also benefited from cheap labor, and for this reason is often an industrial precursor in developing nations. Things are first made by hand, and then, if demand is great, automated. Been so since the Luddites. The following link requires you to obtain a password, but illustrates a machine from around 1920 used to soften the corners and edges of toy alphabet blocks.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/result.html?query_txt=PN/1458733%20OR%201458733

There are a couple of different developmental threads in the wooden toy business and it has suffered the hiccups as various wars interfered with production, then to be stimulated by the surge in babies after these conflicts had ended. In addition to the Chicago thread of the 1920s, a more interesting history for the recent evolution was the Amish/Mennonite/Hutterite flowering after WW II. Companies like “Bird in Hand” in Lancaster County, Pa. eventually evolved into Childcraft – a name familiar to all of us that wielded a mallet pounding split pegs through a board or stacking tapered, colored discs on a post.

An important machine in this development was the turntable auto-shaper from Onsrud. Designed to make knife handles, canister tops, and the like – this machine could turn out various shapes with nicely rounded edges and the worker could set up a piece blank on one side while the machine cranked out parts on the other. I just saw one for sale second hand here:

http://www.woodweb.com/exchanges/machinery/posts/420751.html

This weighs a couple of tons, but it’s a great machine. The technology has been superseded by CNC routers for most tasks, but it’s ability to undercut an edge makes it more useful than a CNC router for a number of jobs.

Anyway – you could certainly hand carve a set of alphabet blocks if you cared to do so – a little like building Petra, though.

[Mike Henderson]

Your link to Halsam is broken. The html page requires a capital H

http://www.toyhistory.com/Halsam.html

Interesting reading.

Mike