Neanderthal Home Remodel

[Mark Leifer]

I was looking at the book "Pattie Boyd: My Life in Pictures" and saw a photo that may be of interest to members of this forum. It shows Pattie sitting behind a workbench during the remodel of the mansion called Friar Park that she and George Harrison bought in 1970. Go to this site and scroll down a little
https://www.reelartpress.com/catalog...fe-in-pictures
I can't expand the photo on my computer but I can zoom it in nicely on my iPhone. Starting from the floor, you can see some nicely mitered crown molding, a simple wooden miter box and what looks like a tall miter box for crown molding to the right. A number of large chisels sit on the window sill. The bench has some enormous bar clamps underneath, a record vise, some hand planes, Pattie in trendy bell-bottoms, and to the right a hand-cranked grinder. I think it's cool that their workers were still using hand tools in 1970!

[Jim Koepke]

I think it's cool that their workers were still using hand tools in 1970!

It is likely the better restorationist today still use a lot of hand tools. Especially when doing finish carpentry like molding for their more discerning clients.

It sometimes feels like a curse to be in a up scale restaurant or other business establishment and see a multi light window and see that one of the panes has been replaced. All the original work was coped in the corners and the new pane was done with mitered corners. Most people probably do not notice. Sometimes there is a gap that makes it hard to ignore.

jtk

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I do not know how George Harrison and Eric Clapton managed to remain friends.
We trimmed houses with hand tools only until 1974.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I can't get zoomed in on that picture with any clarity but it is interesting to see a real workbench right in the house.

[Jim Koepke]

I can't get zoomed in on that picture with any clarity but it is interesting to see a real workbench right in the house.

Read an article many years ago that claimed for many houses built before WW II, one the first things done on the job site was for someone to make a pair of sawhorses. Often the sawhorses were left behind when the house was finished.

jtk

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Several framing contractors in our area still start a building project by making a set of horses. They are made very quickly and nailed together with gun nails. I had a bit of a falling out with a framing contractor who kept ordering (on my account) way more 2x4s and gun nails that the job required. He said "Well I had to make horses". Being a general contractor did not work for me.