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Thread: Anthony Hay shop floor

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
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    southeast U.S.
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    Anthony Hay shop floor

    I just put down yellow pine 1x6 floor in my workshop; I was planning
    a penetrating oil finish, but now I'm thinking about no
    finish at all. This would be historically correct; has anyone done this?
    What does the Colonial Williamsburg Hay shop have on the floor?

  2. #2
    Mostly shavings with a little bit of sawdust. Oh yeah, visitors watching Kaare, Bill, Brian, Ed, and the new apprentice work.
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  3. #3
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    Funny Dave...you must be from Penfield!

  4. #4
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    Jan 2009
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    Williamsburg,Va.
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    There is nothing on the bare wood of the shop's floor. It would get worn off anyway. I must say,I can't recall any floor in the historic area being varnished. They must have relied upon rugs even in the finest houses. I know for certain that there is bare wood on the Apothecary shop's floor. Their floor got so thin from all the traffic that a woman's high heel went right through it. Hearing that,I took a more careful look at their floor. Of course,the floor in my musical instrument maker's shop was not varnished either. It was connected to the Hay shop.
    Last edited by george wilson; 02-11-2016 at 2:54 PM.

  5. #5
    Not for the last 50 years Greg. We moved the day I graduated from Allendale (now the Allendale-Columbia School).

    George- Ed now has an apprentice instrument maker, a female graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Viola.
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  6. #6
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    I'm from West Webster, moved South 20yrs ago
    I took Driver's Ed at Allendale

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Delaplane, VA
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    To continue the hijack...

    I spent 25 years up there, mostly in Pittsford. Escaped South for warmer weather and a warmer economy as soon as I could after college (U of R).

    It's a great area to be from, as they say.
    -Dan D.

    Ray's rule for precision:

    Measure with a micrometer, mark with chalk, cut with an axe.

  8. #8
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    Dave,I know he has. Over the years I had 3 or 4 female apprentices. All but 1 did very well. One became a schizophrenic about age 22 or so. She disappeared after lunch one day. I called all over the place trying to locate her. Finally I had to call her parents in Washington(I think),to tell them what was going on. Finally about 11:00 the girl called me. Was in a motel,and did not know where she was. I had her go outside and tell me what the signs said. Turned out she was in Yorktown. I went and got her. About a few months later,she did it again,waking up in New Jersey. Then she resigned,as she knew she was no longer fit to work. I don't know what happened to her. Sad story.

    The others were made into quite excellent craftsmen. One visited me after over 20 years a while ago. She brought a violin she had made in the shop. I must say,I was very impressed with the flawless craftsmanship!! Her purfling was as good as any I have ever done myself,with perfectly aligned "bee stings" on the points of the body. She wanted to get into violin making again. Had been painting portraits for years. I gave her good German wood I'll never use,a mold,and several tools.

    She recounted the story I had forgotten how she had trekked through the snow to my house on my day off to get a job as a NON BUILDING interpreter in my shop. I had informed her that she would not be building instruments. But,she hung on and insinuated herself into building anyway! I made her a smallish bench(not much room in my shop). She wanted to make violins,and I began to teach her,as did the 2 other journeymen in the shop. She was a bit of a strange learner,because she'd build a good violin,then the next one would have an unrepairable foul up(I remember one where she fitted the neck wrong). After several years she left to work in an art foundry(she was wanting to make bronze sculptures,and had been doing so before arriving in my shop). A foundry subsidized by Johnson's Wax,I believe. But,she had asthma,and soon found that she could not stand the fumes. After that I lost track of her. She had the most ambition of anyone I had ever taught!

    Now,she has visited us with her husband who plays violin. She wants to get back to it.

    Another young woman I taught was fresh out of college. She was the most intelligent person
    i have ever met. She could speak 3 languages fluently,easily conversing with French,German,or Spanish visitors(+ English,of course). She studied classical guitar in Spain for some years,living with a family. She said they ate garbanzos (chick peas) so often she was sick of them! I was impressed with how her very small hands could get around on the large neck of the classical guitar. But,they did!

    I could open any art book I had and show her a painting from any period. She could identify the painter,and the painting,and give a biography of the painter! Really amazing!!

    This girl was also an excellent craftsman soon. But,somehow she lacked what my wife calls a "motor". Not ambitious. She stayed several years,and went to work in the personnel department of the Smithsonian. Her parents had been civil servants,and somehow that was in her blood. I thought it was a big waste of her remarkable talent. She married a big (as in large,not fat) guy in the Air Force band! She was washing a big bowl and broke it,cutting her thumb nerve,and cannot play guitar any more. Too bad. She was talented.

    Anyway,I could tell more stories of especially the violin maker,but this is OT as it is! Instrument making is not physically hard work,and the women I trained out of about 22 did as well as the rest,better than most. Miles better than a few. I enjoyed teaching them. One reason was,they would take instruction better,without hard headed but bad ideas that guys often get. Even though they were beginners with undeveloped aesthetic senses. The women made better progress because of this.
    Last edited by george wilson; 02-12-2016 at 10:41 AM.

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