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Originally Posted by playfordtree  Nice work Claw 
Reminds me of my Grandfather, he was a keen woodworker.
He never took a course or read a book, just picked up the tools and taught himself.
He was forever carving stuff or making furniture etc...
Just before his death i can remember him carving a length of chain out of a single piece of wood. It was probably a yard and 1/2 long and took him months, every link was almost perfect and identical.
He was a very patient man.
His favourite work though was making rocking horses, he must of made 50-60 of them, all us grandkids got one.
He also sold them to friends of the family etc.... he used to sell them for $250  which probably only covered the materials, plus a bit left over for some beer 
This is the last horse he made before his death, he was nearly 80 and really struggled with it, this was the second one he made for me, the first one i had as a boy was stolen by some lowlife.
(thats real horsehair too, straight from the knackery)   
Thanks for Sharing your work Clawmute  |
Those old time masters were really one of a kind. Wonderful piece - beautiful. You have a wonderful heritage. My father, Albert - "AC" - Jennings had to leave school in the 8th grade after his farmer father died. WE moved to Little Rock, Arkansas in 1949 and he started an upholstery/refinishing/furniture making shop. He also went on to teach vocational arts at the Arkansas school for the deaf.
He once recovered/refinished all of the furniture at the territorial restoration (original Little Rock -"petite roche") settlement. He did a lot of that old Queen Anne type victorian furniture in velvet, diamond tufting. I learned a lot just watching him.
Too bad that many apprenticeship type programs are going by the wayside. Before going into engineering I was a journeyman tool & die maker and came up through the ranks.
Thanks for showing the great pictures of your grandfather's beautiful work.
