Old Ways of Working Wood: The Techniques and Tools of a Time-Honored Craft

by Alex W. Bealer

A revised edition of a classic guide to woodworking methods that have been refined and developed over many many years. It teaches and preserves techniques and historical information that were lost when modern woodworking technology, dedicated to mass production, displaced the craftsman. Every woodworking operation "chopping, splitting, using the workbench, sawing, hewing, boring, chiseling, shaping, planing, turning" is described in detail. There is also information on the role of various tools in the evolution of wood products, the types and characteristics of wood, the preparation and maintenance of tools, collective tools of antique value, and instruction on the subtleties of the craft, from rabbeting to molding. The professional woodworker, the hobbyist, the collector, the antiques dealer, and the craft enthusiast will discover valuable information in this definitive work. It is reference, guide, and history all in one volume. This book contains over 200 line drawings by the author to illustrate age-old, yet fascinating, ways of working with wood. With chapters that describe the ways to fell a tree, methods for splitting wood, and more, along with a complete appendix and index, this is a great reference for anyone interested in the ways of wood working.

Genres: Woodwork, Reference, History

255 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Koen Crolla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Smugly pretentious and rife with inaccuracy. Bealer writes like a Restoration-era plantation owner (though this book was written in 1980) and does research like a programmer writing outside his field (though he was an advertising executive)—and dispenses advice with commensurate confidence and accuracy.

Almost inevitably given the subject matter, Bealer romanticises the past (and specifically 18th-century America) to the extent of drawing most woodworkers in his illustrations wearing powdered wigs, but he peculiarly also romanticises modern Europe in the same way: I've lost track of how often the phrase ``in olden days, and still in Europe'' appears. He's almost always wrong, of course.
Bealer apparently did have a woodworking workshop in his basement (he died in it); I have no idea what he used it for, but it wasn't woodworking. He barely knows what common tools look like, and usually doesn't really know how they're used. At best, most of his explanations read like someone explained them to him years ago, but he never got a chance to try them out for himself. More often, they're along the lines of claiming that the distinguishing feature of paring chisels is that they have ``a knife edge sharpened on both sides'', or that boiled linseed oil is just linseed oil that's been boiled.

Bad history and bad woodworking. Par for the course, you would think, but it's really on a level of its own. Skip.

[Ray Savarda · Rating 2 out of 5]

More for the historian than anything current or practical, talks about cutting down trees by hand, hand-sawing trees, old tools, hewing, boring, chiseling, shaping, planeing, but all in a historical sense, little of which applies to the way woodworking is done today (even given today's hand tools).

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

What will we do when all our power runs out? Well, this book is written by a chap who, in 1980 apparently had no power tools in his workshop.It's a handy book to have around - just in case. I like to read it anyway.

[Allen Riley]

Well, I don't work with wood, but this guy sounds like he knows what he's doing.