The Sandal Woods video podcast and blog

An old piece of Americana at the Sloane-Stanley Museum, but what is it?

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:57:16 +0000

The Sloane-Stanley Museum in Kent, Connecticut, is a terrific place to see not only old tools, but also unusual pieces of Americana from Eric Sloane’s collection. The following is but one very unusual piece – can you guess what it is? As displayed in the collection: No guessing is allowed, unless you wish to guess. [...]

Now into the third year writing this blog

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:22:10 +0000

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be able to do it, friends. It has been fun, and your encouragement, comments, suggestions, everything you have done along the way has helped me stay focused. And when I have started to lose that focus, you brought me back with your e-mail messages asking how [...]

Stanley, Black & Decker in Deal

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:35:41 +0000

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Stanley will acquire Black & Decker in a deal worth $4.5 billion deal: …Stanley is the smaller company, based on sales and employees, but will be the acquirer in the deal… …Stanley Works includes a range of brands, including the familiar black-and-yellow Stanley Tools and Mac Tools for auto mechanics. [...]

The Orco Model 70 two-harness loom

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:12:06 +0000

A great mystery has been revealed to me, simply by watching Sandy operate the loom this morning. She cranked it up by tightening the loom apron around the carpet roll, and started inserting sewn-up rags (the filling) between the warp (the white threads that run lengthwise in the following photos). In less than 30 minutes [...]

In celebration of “International Dress Like Norm Day” (today)

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:07:02 +0000

Click on image to enlarge. You will find the background at the Woodworking magazine blog, in a recent blog entry by Christopher Schwarz. And in another blog entry, he stated: …send in a photo of yourself dressed like Norm Abram and send it to me by midnight Monday, Nov. 2, at chris.schwarz@fwmedia.com. The person who sends in [...]

Woodworking in America at Valley Forge: A 17th century carved box by Peter Follansbee

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:52:53 +0000

I invite you to step back in time. Step back to the 17th century, please, and admire the carving in this little box by Peter Follansbee; the attention to detail in the delicately scalloped edges of the lid; and the joinery, enhanced by the beautiful nails used to assemble the box. I also recommend Peter’s web [...]

A bit of leather and old glue

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:15:49 +0000

Our daughter knits for her girls, for her husband, for Sandy, for friends, and for me. For a while she used a drop spindle, a tool similar to a top, to spin small quantities of yarn. But using the drop spindle was slow, so her target became to somehow get a full-size spinning wheel. As [...]

Old wood pipe and fittings at the Sloane-Stanley Musem in Kent, Connecticut

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:16:44 +0000

I have shared many tools in the Sloane-Stanley Museum, from the personal collection of Eric Sloane, the renowned artist and collector of Americana artifacts. It would be very easy to spend many more hours than Sandy and I spent at the Museum, as the sheer number and variety of items is staggering; and many of [...]

Woodworking in America at Valley Forge: Dovetails – the details, with Roy Underhill

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:30:18 +0000

Download this episode in Quicktime format (In Windows, right-click on link above, then | Save Link As…) Duration: 17:12 minutes Funny. Entertaining. Hilarious. Serious. Supreme raconteur. What else? Oh, yeah – historian of our craft. If you have never watched Roy Underhill perform, be prepared to be entertained, and to learn important aspects of the history of dovetails. Also, [...]

Woodworking in America at Valley Forge: Making and fitting drawers, with Mario Rodriguez

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:51:27 +0000

Download this episode in Quicktime format (In Windows, right-click on link above, then | Save Link As…) Duration: 19:34 minutes You can read a short description of the work by Mario Rodriguez at the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop web page, and at FineWoodworking.com. Making drawers, and fitting them well, separates a good piece from a great workpiece. As a [...]