www.popularwoodworking.com: I wouldn’t typically give away free on our site an article that hasn’t yet been seen by magazine subscribers. But this is not a typical situation, and time is of the essence. Don Williams, whose latest book, “Virtuoso: The Tool Cabinet and Workbench of Henry O. Studley” (with photographs by Narayan Nayar) will shipping in just few weeks from Lost Art Press. But the book will be available for the foreseeable future.
3 comments:
I had no idea who Studley was until reading this article and it does not surprise me that another fine craftsman came from Lowell. Being in Lowell at any point in time from the founding of America to the mid 1900s gave enough inspiration for all the handy people that went on to have kids that also grew to be very handy and creative - a life, that Studley had lived. I cannot believe he crafted everything so intricately by hand and I would be beyond honored to go out and see his tool box and workbench. I find the crafting of instruments to be especially impressive and the fact that this man had time to do that and establish one of the most famous tool benches and work spaces in the world astounds me. I hope to one day have a barn or something of my own that holds as much craftsmanship as his work place.
The Studley Tool Cabinet, I love it. I watched Norm make one on an episode of New Yankee Workshop and my favorite part of the episode was how excited Norm got when he was looking at the original. He talked about how in the past you couldn't really hand someone a resume or pictures of past work. You walked into the house where you might be building something and you go with your tool case. your tool case is your resume, it displays your craftsman ship. If you want a desk built for you who do you want to build it? A guy with this Studley Tool Cabinet, or a guy who walks in with a plywood box. Now a days guys carry systainers and name brand tool bags but I think there is still a place for a beautiful tool case. Same goes for a bench, the best way to judge a woodworker is to judge his bench (if he built it himself).
That cabinet is really a beautiful feat of human skill, and it seems almost as though it’s too beautiful to keep in a shop. I think it’s really cool that it’s still around, and that it’s now going to be open for viewing by whoever bought these tickets. It’s a piece of history, and it’s a piece of astonishing craftsmanship. So much of what happens in shops today lacks that sort of personality, which can be lost behind technology and the advent of CNC tooling. There are still some articles on this page though that describe incredibly well-crafted custom workbenches that are made using plain plywood and modern tools. It’s a different kind of carpentry, but it still shows you who built it. The article spent a long time describing the beautiful desk and cabinet, but I wish that it had up close pictures of all the detailing. It teased me with vivid descriptions that it couldn’t illustrate.
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