Early Access Video: Woodwork on the Farm
Added 2021-08-21 11:00:07 +0000 UTCFriends:
During my recent trip to see my family in CT, I took half a day and made a video about all the little spots where people did woodwork over the years. I found at least 5 distinct locations where people had benches or workshops and made or repaired wooden items. It's fascinating to see how the craft jumped around from place to place. There's also a wealth of old benches to check out and many of them do not conform to our expectations.
I hope you enjoy this little look into my childhood home and all the woodworking history it contains.
Special thanks to my parents, Paul and Helen, who graciously let me film at their place and share it with you. They're also Patrons, so you might see them in the comments.
Happy Saturday!
--Rex
Comments
Hey I had a passing thought, kind of in the same vein as outdoor woodwork, and the long-ago, far-away gunstock war club video you did: Perhaps you could touch on bowyers and that whole vein of woodworking? I've always found it interesting. English longbow, native bows, even Mongolian bows with the crazy horn/wood lamination... there's a whole field to explore there. Completely off the top of my head, but thought that might be a topic of interest.
DeQster
2021-08-27 19:16:30 +0000 UTCNobodies fault but my own! Just thought I'd make a fun joke 😉
Jeremy Carlsten
2021-08-26 11:59:03 +0000 UTCOnly for a few hours on Wednesday.
Rex Krueger
2021-08-26 11:57:03 +0000 UTCAwesome! You get SO much more here!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-26 11:56:40 +0000 UTCI'm glad you mentioned patreon, as I had a youtube membership and all I got was emojis, and all YOU got was $2. Now you get closer to $4.50 each month, and I get access to free plans et al. MORE Win-Win!
DeQster
2021-08-25 19:06:01 +0000 UTCHuh... So if I fail to watch it before Wed I have to wait for the premier like the non-Patreon peasant's.
Jeremy Carlsten
2021-08-25 17:34:12 +0000 UTChm. wonder if there might be some floating dowels or tenons in there giving it extra strength…
Avi Sato
2021-08-23 15:35:40 +0000 UTCYou're very welcome!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:34:45 +0000 UTCMy pleasure!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:34:37 +0000 UTCThank you!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:34:25 +0000 UTCIt really is!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:34:20 +0000 UTCWhere there's a will....
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:34:11 +0000 UTCYou know, I had my daughter with me and that left me little time for adult socializing. It was a packed trip, but what you suggest sounds fun!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:33:57 +0000 UTCFor sure. It could be nailed to the wall. I may have to knock one up just to see.
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:32:48 +0000 UTCIt was a pretty magical childhood, which was nice since school didn't go too well.
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:32:00 +0000 UTCYou know, it was a working sheep farm for quite a while, so the picture you paint is totally possible!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:31:35 +0000 UTCIt's a great place. Full of history.
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:30:17 +0000 UTCListen, I'm pretty smart, but making ska cool again might be too big a job for me.
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:30:03 +0000 UTCIt's totally my pleasure!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:29:06 +0000 UTCYou're much too kind!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:28:25 +0000 UTCI think the built-in bench is probably under appreciated.
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:28:11 +0000 UTCI lived in West Haven for 4 years! Great town.
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:27:24 +0000 UTCLots of good memories!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:26:18 +0000 UTCI seriously had no idea what any of it was until my 30s.
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:25:41 +0000 UTCI only wish I knew more. There's tons of stuff there that I cannot explain.
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:25:13 +0000 UTCIt was a nice break.
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:24:46 +0000 UTCIt was a very fun place to grow up.
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:24:26 +0000 UTCI've tried to get my dad to give me the vise...no dice!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:24:09 +0000 UTCIt was fun. Good days.
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:23:46 +0000 UTCMan, I need to get out there!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:23:27 +0000 UTCMy pleasure!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:23:00 +0000 UTCYou're very welcome!
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:22:48 +0000 UTCCT is lovely in the summer. Winter? Less so.
Rex Krueger
2021-08-23 15:22:33 +0000 UTCThat's a brill tour, cheers Rex.
Jim
2021-08-23 15:03:20 +0000 UTCThat was a great tour! Thanks so much.
Jeff Stauffer
2021-08-23 13:31:32 +0000 UTCThank you for this nice tour. Enjoy your vacation, Rex!
Otakar Schön
2021-08-22 20:13:42 +0000 UTCSuch a lovely place! Full of memories and full of history.
Csongor Halmai
2021-08-22 14:41:19 +0000 UTCOn vacation and still put out a fantastic video! You are the Man Rex. Thank you and your parents for the wonderful tour of your parents farm. The desire and need to do woodworking will always find a space to work.
Matt Evans-Koch
2021-08-22 06:23:41 +0000 UTCRex! I wish I knew you were coming to CT, I’m down here in Mystic and I’d love to buy you a beer. We could visit the shipwrights at the Mystic Seaport and with enough heads up I might be able to get you to the carpenters shop on the SUBASE and maybe even Electric Boat. We have full wooden mock-ups of the Seawolf Class submarine. Might make a good video. At the very least, I could tell you sea stories about my time in the Navy. We had carpenter’s shop on every ship I was stationed in. Three different Submarine Tenders. My first ship had some of the last Navy Pattern Makers on board.
Raymond Earl Parker
2021-08-22 01:52:46 +0000 UTCthanks for that! the first workshop reminds me so much of the outbuilding i worked in with my grandparents as a young child just getting introduced to woodworking and metalwork. that last bench truly does seem far stronger than a freestanding nailed bench has any business being, doesn’t it?
Avi Sato
2021-08-22 00:00:43 +0000 UTCYou grew up in a magical place! What history! I loved this video. Thank you!!
Derrill Dersch
2021-08-21 23:35:56 +0000 UTCMy Grandfather served in both wars, and in Korea. He wasn't "wealthy" by any means, but between times he was a surveyor and not unwealthy. He owned a place in small town Alberta that had some land, and his wife raised 3 kids there, with a lot of gardens, small fruits and some animals. They had "a man" who came by regularly to do repairs and maintenance. And there was my grandfather's shop, and a shop for the farm. I know that they sat down over a pipe of an evening and talked about life, and about the sunset, the farm and so on. Maybe the US is different from Canada in that regard, probably not though. I imagine that farm owner in Connecticut coming down to the chick coop shop, and pulling up a chair and a pipe, and for a time, just being one of the guys. Ya, apart and the boss, but also, with them of an evening on a cold winter night, maybe waiting for that cow to calve. Ya, I can see that conversation happening.
William Allen
2021-08-21 23:04:40 +0000 UTCAlways love seeing the history of a place… anyplace… and your folks place is no exception! Thanks!
Gerald Eddy
2021-08-21 21:59:57 +0000 UTCThat was lovely. Thanks, Rex and to your parents. I like to think it's a testament to the utility of old workspaces that they were quite literally part of the furniture (or even the structure) and can easily blend into the background. If you're stuck for ideas for future content, how about figuring out how to make ska cool again? ;)
Mark Thornton
2021-08-21 18:26:22 +0000 UTCFascinating stuff Rex, I grew up in an old house in a small town south of San Francisco where almost everybody lived on farms/ranches and grew plums for prunes, apricots, walnuts or cherries. There were also a lot of row crops like strawberries and cucumbers. We lived in a 1890's house with a garage and well house and a chicken coop. My dad was a diesel mechanic/butcher/feed store operator and had auto mechanics tools in the garage. Woodworking was unknown at our place. Next door was an elderly gentleman who had a chicken coop that he had converted into a woodworking shop. When he was out there I would go over and sit an watch him work. He was into small projects and toys for his grandkids; basically. just doing what needed to be done and filling in the time with whatever crossed his mind. I learned some rudimentary wood working skills in his shop "helping" him with stuff. Seeing where you grew up brought back memories of those times that had lain unthought-of for many years. Thanks for the reminders of my youth. Ed
Edward Conway
2021-08-21 18:20:07 +0000 UTCMy wife watched this video with me and we both loved it! Many thanks to your parents for allowing us to take this lovely, historical tour. And, Rex, you are a superb presenter and tour guide.
Russell Gough
2021-08-21 17:58:59 +0000 UTCMy mind is spinning in three ways right now. I'm really happy for the nostalgia of being an 8 year old kid banging scraps of 2x4 together and thinking about some of the junk I've seen that really is iconic stuff. I'm right there with you. The other thing is I'm thinking about those benches. I've got a Low Roman Workbench built and I'm still thinking about a stand up bench. My garage is small, I'm going to have to work in a tight space, so I'm debating a knock down bench versus something built in along the wall. It's an appealing thought to me. Lastly - for me - I'm thinking of my direction with woodworking. I'm seeing a lot of the Gentleman Woodworker idea in lots that I'm doing, but I really strongly feel that connection to the guys building the gates and the rough and ready projects. I'm mostly going where my nose guides me, but I'm really happy to be working on skill advancement right now and this is a huge relief and joy to be working on. Next project is almost done, I hope to post it on discourse tomorrow. And I'm really loving these videos too, Rex. They're making me think about what I'm doing, that's pretty amazing. - Mark
Mark Zaugg
2021-08-21 15:51:14 +0000 UTCLove this look at the history and evolution of work in one family farm. I grew up in CT as well, more coastal (west haven and stratford) but I grew up fascinated by the farms in our state. We were back in CT in early June, during that lull in Covid where it looked like the world would recover. There are some great antique tools scattered throughout the tourist trap stuff.
Jeanine Hoffman
2021-08-21 14:43:21 +0000 UTCThis was so much fun. Reminds me of the last place in Wisconsin I lived as a kid. Machine sheds full of beyond-rusted-out farming equipment, left over silo with no barn, all the farm stuff. I went back a few years ago when I was living in Wisconsing again, and it's all gone: the big rambling house, the sheds and equipment, even the trees from the top of the drive down to the lake a quarter mile away. On the map, it was the same place, but there wasn't one single thing left of the place I'd lived as a kid. Especially not the 49 Chevy my dad left in the driveway with the keys in the ignition, because we could only take one car to California, and it was the 57 Buick Roadmaster that started that morning, not the Chevy. (And that's why we were an early version of the 2-car family—so my dad always had a pretty good chance of getting to work without having to do car repairs before breakfast.)
Joel D Canfield
2021-08-21 14:23:20 +0000 UTCGreat video. I really like how you can be surrounded by amazing things, and never realize their importance until you have an understanding of what they are. Have a great vacation.
Kevin S Thomas
2021-08-21 14:14:38 +0000 UTCFascinating tour Rex, it’s like a museum there. Certainly many more secrets to uncover at your parents farm! You’re the perfect one to investigate, thank you for sharing. I find that kind of work highly interesting and worth documenting. Good work!
Pete seddon
2021-08-21 14:09:21 +0000 UTCThat was fascinating. It reminded me of my childhood years living in an old farmhouse with a horse barn in Beamsville, Ontario, Canada. As kids we played in the tack room. It had all sorts of left over tack, tools and benches. It's gone now, but I would have loved to go back and explore it like you did. Thanks Rex for the trip down memory lane. Enjoy your vacation.
John Hiemstra
2021-08-21 13:26:18 +0000 UTCThanks for the tour, Rex. I've been wondering what the place looked like ever since seeing your grandpa's homebuilt garden tractor video. Nice place your parents have.
Mike Washburn
2021-08-21 13:24:47 +0000 UTCThat gentleman’s bench may not have been the best but it has some sweet hardware! I believe Chris Schwarz mentions that quick release vise in “The Anarchist’s Workbench” and how awesome it is. I love how you tie everything together at the end there, quite profoundly, actually. Thank you!
Aaron Wasielewski
2021-08-21 13:04:19 +0000 UTCYeah ska band!
Michael Nawrot
2021-08-21 12:19:47 +0000 UTCI am currently on vacation also! I am in Colonial Williamsburg to visit the carpenters and blacksmiths! Enjoy your vacation Rex!
Trampis Porter
2021-08-21 11:53:17 +0000 UTCLooks great, thanks Rex.
Gareth McMahon
2021-08-21 11:45:11 +0000 UTCThis was fascinating. I enjoyed every second. Thank you, Rex.
Jeff Tinsley
2021-08-21 11:40:09 +0000 UTCEnjoy your time with Family, My son lives in CT too.
Marc Barash
2021-08-21 11:28:18 +0000 UTC
