Abraham HyattOffcuts are short posts that I occasionally include at the ends of the newsletter.
A rabbit rabbet plane from Plane Talk vol.1 no. 4, 1976.
Laminated irons were used in planes from the time of the Romans all the way up to Stanley in the early 20th century. Advancements in metallurgy have eliminated the need for lamination. John Switzer at Black Bear Forge (above) shows how these types of irons would have been made by a blacksmith 200 years ago. Japanese planemakers at the Komori Small Plane Factory also make laminated irons, but by a much faster process. The first six minutes of the video below show how they make their irons. Check out that giant sanding/grinding wheel!
How to time travel
Who needs door headers in a load-bearing wall? Not the people who made this house. Yes, it really is that out of square.I’m remodeling our house, room by room, and when I opened up the wall this door sits in a few weeks ago, I realized something: The things we make are a conversation with future makers. I mean this literally. Your creative voice speaks through time, explaining your skills and knowledge, imagination and artistry, to future generations.
The framing on this doorway is horrifying. Rafters in the attic are braced just above this door. That means the 2x4s on the left side and the cheapo 1/2 inch door jamb are carrying the weight of the roof. It’s a miracle the roof isn’t sagging. The parts of this house built in the 1930s have their own issues. But this door is typical for the part constructed in the late 1970s. Every wall I open up, it’s like the people who built this have stepped through a portal and are standing next to me, telling me how they didn’t know what they were doing, how they didn’t take the time to learn more.
It’s not that the work must be flawless. Our mistakes, and how we fix them, hide them, and adapt to them, are all part of this one-way conversation. As the writer and designer Kat Roberts puts it, “Craft involves an awareness of a human having been responsible for an object’s creation, as if the maker’s presence never entirely leaves the object.”
Framing a door doesn’t feel like “craft,” but making something right, something fundamental, feeds something good inside me. I rebuilt the doorway like it should be: king studs, trimmers, cripples, 2x10s for the header. Now the weight of the roof is transferred around the door and down into the floor joists. The doorway is plumb and level, ready for the door I’ll be making myself. I hope the next person who tears open this wall hears what I am saying.
