Over a century ago ...

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  • twistsol
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2002
    • 2888
    • Cottage Grove, MN, USA.
    • Ridgid R4512, 2x ShopSmith Mark V 520, 1951 Shopsmith 10ER

    Over a century ago ...

    I just ran across this item from a century or so ago. This was at my great aunt's house when I was a kid, went to my parents, and I've had it in storage for about 15 years or so. The story behind it is that it was presented to my great grandpa as a resume from a young woodworker that was looking for a job.

    It's held up pretty well over the years considering the abuse I know it has taken. At holidays, this was one of the "kid" tables.

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    Chr's
    __________
    An ethical man knows the right thing to do.
    A moral man does it.
  • LCHIEN
    Internet Fact Checker
    • Dec 2002
    • 20883
    • Katy, TX, USA.
    • BT3000 vintage 1999

    #2
    That's very nice.
    Loring in Katy, TX USA
    If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
    BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

    Comment

    • Jim Frye
      Veteran Member
      • Dec 2002
      • 1051
      • Maumee, OH, USA.
      • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

      #3
      I like it. Pretty good CV for an apprentice. I wonder if any of our work will last a century and if any of our descendants will keep and cherish any of it?
      Jim Frye
      The Nut in the Cellar.
      ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

      Comment

      • ballard770
        Established Member
        • Jan 2016
        • 140
        • Washington State
        • Ryobi BT3000

        #4
        I don’t think this meets the century mark. My dad was born in 1897 and left Norway for the USA in 1923. Before he left Norway he went to a woodworking training called Sloyd Skule in a small village on Sognefjord, across the fjord from the mountain farm where he was born. The Sloyd school instructor had a young daughter who shyly peeked around the corner at my dad many times. Long story shorter, in the 1930s a mutual friend in Seattle reintroduced that little girl (then a young attractive lady) to my dad and they soon got married. I’ve included this backstory because my grandfather apparently taught my dad many woodworking skills including woodcarving. I don’t know if my dad carved this mirror frame in Norway or after he came to the USA. He spent the first 10 years or so working at a cannery in alaska and logging jobs such as a flunky in a logging camp and cutting cord wood using a donkey engine powered saw. When he moved to Seattle he had saved $3000 so obviously he didn’t spend time and money carousing in logging towns so he may have sp3nt his time carving various items like the mirror frame. I have several other artifacts that he made but all are smaller. He always said he was going to teach me to carve wood but life got in the way. The closest he got to teaching me was to sharpen his carving tools by having them ground but never honing them for final preparation - I have these tools but I’ve never used them. I also have paper patterns of what I believe is what he used to layout the design on wood.

        Another old item that my dad may have made but I am not certain. I found a picture of my uncle, his brother, with two of these that look like the two I have. It is called a tinne which is for a container for storage. The little bowl is something that I made in wood shop in the ninth grade - I threw that in just for drill!

        A comment made by Jim Frye applies here: ‘I wonder if any of our work will last a century and if any of our descendants will keep and cherish any of it?‘ if my granddaughter and/or various cousins don’t want the items I may just donate them to the Nordic Museum in Seattle or to the Leif Erikson lodge of the sons of Norway in Seattle (Ballard).

        If anyone is interested in copies of the paper patterns or photos of the other hand carved items please respond accordingly and I’ll try to get them together and post or send via personal message.

        Lee

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        • atgcpaul
          Veteran Member
          • Aug 2003
          • 4055
          • Maryland
          • Grizzly 1023SLX

          #5
          Originally posted by twistsol
          I just ran across this item from a century or so ago. This was at my great aunt's house when I was a kid, went to my parents, and I've had it in storage for about 15 years or so. The story behind it is that it was presented to my great grandpa as a resume from a young woodworker that was looking for a job.
          Wow! And nowadays I feel honored if someone mails a paper resume versus just sending it by email or LinkedId. Your great grandfather got to keep it and the young woodworker got the job?

          Comment

          • LCHIEN
            Internet Fact Checker
            • Dec 2002
            • 20883
            • Katy, TX, USA.
            • BT3000 vintage 1999

            #6
            Yeah, you get to keep the JPEG file.
            Loring in Katy, TX USA
            If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
            BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

            Comment

            • capncarl
              Veteran Member
              • Jan 2007
              • 3563
              • Leesburg Georgia USA
              • SawStop CTS

              #7
              Now sending something like this to a job interview would be considered a bribe! We’ve sunk to an all time low haven’t we?

              Comment

              • atgcpaul
                Veteran Member
                • Aug 2003
                • 4055
                • Maryland
                • Grizzly 1023SLX

                #8
                Originally posted by ballard770
                ...The Sloyd school instructor had a young daughter who shyly peeked around the corner at my dad many times. Long story shorter, in the 1930s a mutual friend in Seattle reintroduced that little girl (then a young attractive lady) to my dad and they soon got married...
                I love a good love story! It's even more surprising that with that much distance and that long ago, they were able to reconnect.

                Thanks for sharing
                Paul

                Comment

                • twistsol
                  Veteran Member
                  • Dec 2002
                  • 2888
                  • Cottage Grove, MN, USA.
                  • Ridgid R4512, 2x ShopSmith Mark V 520, 1951 Shopsmith 10ER

                  #9
                  I rubbed down the table with some denatured alcohol, added a couple of light coats of 1 pound cut clear shellac and then some paste wax with #0000 steel wool. I didn't want to do too much to it, but it looks infinitely better.

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                  Chr's
                  __________
                  An ethical man knows the right thing to do.
                  A moral man does it.

                  Comment


                  • atgcpaul
                    atgcpaul commented
                    Editing a comment
                    That cleaned up real nice!

                  • nicer20
                    nicer20 commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Wow !! So nice !!
                • Black walnut
                  Administrator
                  • Aug 2015
                  • 5436
                  • BT3K

                  #10
                  I missed this the first time around. The inner mitered field almost looks 3 dimensional. The work of an apprentice, I would love to see his work later as an accomplished journeyman. Folks just don't try that hard anymore.
                  just another brick in the wall...

                  Boycott McAfee. They placed an unresponsive popup on my pc.

                  Comment

                  • nicer20
                    Established Member
                    • Sep 2007
                    • 365
                    • Dublin, CA
                    • BT3100

                    #11
                    Originally posted by Black walnut
                    I missed this the first time around. The inner mitered field almost looks 3 dimensional. The work of an apprentice, I would love to see his work later as an accomplished journeyman. Folks just don't try that hard anymore.
                    Yeah I noticed that 3D effect too. Is it the grain pattern that is used cleverly to achieve it?

                    Comment

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