Post by Scrit on Dec 25, 2007 2:43:33 GMT
Edit: Correct answers to the quiz have been added in green whilst unanswered questions are highlighted in red
We had 1 unanswered question, which is amazing. I'm obviously not making them hard enough! I've now posted the unanswered one below
A second quiz (this time 20 questions) has now been posted so take a peek and see if you can answer them
I got to thinking (bad news, that) that over the Christmas period it might be an interesting idea to publish a sort of rolling Christmas woodworking quiz to test our reader's knowledge of the subject. With that in mind every day or two over the period between December 25th and 31st I'll be publishing 20 or so woodworking-related questions for those of you still capable of so doing to answer, or comment on. I'm hoping that I can find at least a few questions to catch you out........
So without further ado here's the first lot for you to try out:
1. Who (which company) invented the hand circular saw?
In the 1924 the Michel Electric Hand Saw Company created a portable corded circular saw to harvest sugar cane. After several redesigns and a change of ownership of the company the product was eventually rebranded as the "Skil saw" a name which persists to the present day. The original saws had in-line motors with bevel gear drives, quite unlike the portable saws we're used to in the UK (and which were originally created by the Porter-Cable company to circumvent Skil's design patents), although the design persists in North America for house framing where the extra torque of this style of circular saw is preferred by many tradesmen:
These days Skil Power Tools are a division of the German power tool firm of Robert Bosch -- First correct answer by Dom
2. And what was it's original purpose?
See answer in (1.) above -- First correct answer by Dom
3. What is the common name for fagus sylvatica?
The European beech -- First correct answer by Dom
4. This well-known machinery maker, now based in France, started making woodworking machinery just after World War II. They were originally called Redhill Engineering. Who are they?
Multico -- First correct answer by Dom
5. What is the main purpose of a badger plane?
Panel raising. A badger plane is a similar size to a wooden jack plane but the blade is skewed and comes right to the edge of the body on one side, rather like a rebate plane's blade -- First correct answer by Dom
6. What are the primary uses for a "drunken saw"?
A "drunken saw", otherwise referred to as a "wobble saw" is a circular blade held between a pair of wobble washers (wedge-shaped washers) on the arbor of either a radial arm/crosscut saw, circular saw or spindle moulder. Its' main purposes are to work rebates, grooves and housings as it can be set to cut a wide range of different widths in a single pass. It does, however, suffer from the disadvantage that the grooves it cuts have cambered bottoms -- First correct answer by Mel
7. Where on a hand tool would you use "spurs"?
Spurs are found on dado planes, combination planes and some rebate planes (such as this Stanley #289 skew rebate filletster plane):
where the tool was designed to work across the grain, as you might expect when working tenon, panel edge or housing. The action of the spur before the cutter cuts the grain and allows the plane to lift the shaving away cleanly and with less effort.some rebate planes -- First correct answer by Mailee/Mel (1/2 point each, I'd say.....)
8. What chemical is used for fuming oak?
Ammonia -- First correct answer by Mel
9. What is the main cause of "cissing" when finishing?
Breaks in the coating where the surface is not wetted properly mainly due to contamination of either the surface or the finish. One of the most common contiminants is silicone, which is why its' use as a table lubricant is to be avoided -- First correct answer by 9Fingers
10. Give me an alternative, often used, for "cissing"
Crawling, fisheyes and orange peel -- First correct answer by 9Fingers
11. Which British tool manufacturer was taken over by the American company Stanley to become Stanley Works GB?
J(ames) A(Arscott) Chapman who were taken over by Stanley in 1936. They were famous for their braces, although they also made Acorn brand planes as well as manufacturing tools on behalf of other Sheffield firms such as GTL and Spear & Jackson -- First correct answer by Alf (of course!)
12. A Yorkshire firm who manufactured woodworking machinery from the 1860s we were also well-known for our railway engines and other engineering products. Who were we and where were we from?
The firm was Wilson Brothers (Leeds) Ltd who were established in 1862 and survived until the 1990s. The firm also known for it's manufacture of saw mills, complete with both stationary steam engines as well as railway shunting locomotives, although they do tend to turn up more in places like Australia or New Zealand than the UK. Wilsons arre reputed to have supplied contractors engines in the UK as well.
Oddly, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Wilson's was a progressive firm with many more modern designs than market leaders Wadkin and White (for example they were an early adopter of fabricated steel frame bandsaws some 10 years before Wadkin followed their lead) -- First correct answer by engineerone (although the amount of fishing there meand I'll only award 1/2 a point
)
13. What is the main difference in design between a sash mortise chisel and a heavy mortise chisel (the traditional "pig sticker"? And why?
The sash mortise and registered mortise styles of chisel are designed to cut relatively shallow mortises whilst the heavy-pattern mortise chisel is designed to cut much deeper mortises. Because of this lighter mortise chisels tend to have parallel sides whilst heavy chiseld are slightly tapered in cross section, getting slightly narrower from flat back to front. This allegedly results in them being less likely to stick when being used to cut deep mortises -- First correct answer by MrGrimsdale
14. What is the general rule of thumb for calculating the cross-sectional area of a softwood flooring joist (used in a domestic setting)?
For a floor with average domestic loading and with 2in thick joists at 16in centres the minimum joist depth will be 1/2 the span + 2 (in inches), so a 12 foot span will require a joist of 12/2 +2 inches or 8 inches. This isn't exactly as the Building Regs require things, but it is a good rule of thumb to see if you are exceeding the loading/deflection allowed. Timber is assumed to be standard structural grade (C15/C16) -- First correct answer by 9Fingers
15. In which direction does wood expand and contract most?
Across the grain -- First correct answer by Mailee
16. Name three common methods of machine mortise making
(Square) chisel morticing, chain morticing, slot morticing -- First correct answer by Mailee
Other methods include Maka-pattern oscillating chisel morting and Alternax-pattern multi-chisel mortising (I was looking for static machine techniques)
17. What is the minimum number of cuts you need to make in order to test if a crosscut fence on a table saw is square to the blade (or alternatively that a radial arm saw is cutting square to the fence)?
5 -- First correct answer by promhandicam
18. Which famous British toolmaker used the Kangaroo as their trade mark?
Robt. Sorby -- First correct answer by promhandicam
19. My name is Robert Landuyt. Which well-known woodworking machinery firm did I start, and when?
The Belgian firm of Robland, now internationally known and also owners of the Knapp name, the firm was started in 1972 -- First correct answer by 9Fingers
20. Name this species, "The exported veneer takes the form of highly figured veneers which are cut from burrs. The unfigured wood is golden brown to reddish brown in colour and has a straight, interlocked or wavy grain with a rather coarse and uneven texture. The density is very variable but average 640kg/ cubic metre (40lb/cubic ft)" . This veneer was incidentally chosen for the dashboards of the last Rolls-Royces to leave the Crewe works.
That veneer was in fact amboyna burr. It was the first veneer used on Rolls-Royce dashboards when they moved away from solid-wood dashboards in the late 1920s, although burr walnut was apparently offered as an option fairly early on. Because it comes from the Phillipines, Borneo and New Guinea Amboyna became unavailable during and for some time after WWII, so post-war Rolls-Royces came with walnut burr as standard until the last 50 or so Crewe-built cars were produced for which amboyna burr was specially obtained -- One to me, the only one! ;D
21. Name three other well-known British-made woodworking vices apart from the Record?
The names I've got are Paramo (a grate-maker who started making copies of the Record vice during WWII under Ministry of Supply instructions), Parkinsons, Rededa and Woden (whose vices were apparently always made by Record - after all Woden were owned by the same familty as Record, the Hamptons) although you could also have added Marples (vices probably made by Record) and Edward Preston. There may well be others lurking out there, so if you know any, post! -- First correct answer by Afterglow
22. Knife-cut veneer has a smooth side and a loose side. Which side is normally glued to the substrate, and why?
The "loose" side, because it has more checking and will consequently accept more stain or stain inconsistently -- First correct answer by Afterglow
23. This British woodworking machinery firm was owned at one time by members of a family associated with silverware and one of it's early directors perished on the Titanic. Who is it?
The firm was indeed Wadkin & Co. of Leicester who gave the American franchise for their pattern milling (and other pattern-shop) machines to the Oliver Machinery Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1908 (Oliver continued to distribute for Wadkin until the 1930s). The director lost on the SS Titanic in 1912 was Denzil J Jarvis who had married the sister of the company's founder, Joseph Wadkin, and joined the firm in 1900, just 2 or 3 years after it's foundation. Oddly, in 1908 Joseph Wadkin parted company with the original Wadkin company to set-up a new business in partnership with Thomas Scott-King (in Nottingham) called Wadkin Mills. This firm was subsequently sold to the original Wadkin concern following the death of Joseph Wadkin from pneumonia in 1919 -- First correct answer by tigerturnings
24. And what was the name of the silverware family?
Goddard. The Goddards were manufacturing chemists who made their fortune in the Victorian period by inventing a patent silver polish (or plate powders as they were then known). Following the untimely death of Denzil J Jarvis in 1912 J. Wallis-Goddard took over the Leicester firm and invited his son, Joseph Holland Goddard, to return to the UK and join him in running the firm. It was the far-sighted vision and open-mionded appriach of J.H. Goddard which eventually built Wadkin from a relatively insignificant firm into a world class business over a period of some 25 years -- First correct answer by Alf
25. From which common compound is PVA glue derived?
Dr Fritz Klatte, a German chemist, discovered a method of producing a catalysed reaction of acetylene with acetic acid in 1913 which produce a vinyl acetate - the basis of many industrial plastics. So technically there should have been two compounds, acetic acid and acetylene.... -- First correct answer by promhandicam (although I'll say 3/4 point as there are two compounds......)
Good luck
Scrit
We had 1 unanswered question, which is amazing. I'm obviously not making them hard enough! I've now posted the unanswered one below
A second quiz (this time 20 questions) has now been posted so take a peek and see if you can answer them
I got to thinking (bad news, that) that over the Christmas period it might be an interesting idea to publish a sort of rolling Christmas woodworking quiz to test our reader's knowledge of the subject. With that in mind every day or two over the period between December 25th and 31st I'll be publishing 20 or so woodworking-related questions for those of you still capable of so doing to answer, or comment on. I'm hoping that I can find at least a few questions to catch you out........
So without further ado here's the first lot for you to try out:
1. Who (which company) invented the hand circular saw?
In the 1924 the Michel Electric Hand Saw Company created a portable corded circular saw to harvest sugar cane. After several redesigns and a change of ownership of the company the product was eventually rebranded as the "Skil saw" a name which persists to the present day. The original saws had in-line motors with bevel gear drives, quite unlike the portable saws we're used to in the UK (and which were originally created by the Porter-Cable company to circumvent Skil's design patents), although the design persists in North America for house framing where the extra torque of this style of circular saw is preferred by many tradesmen:
These days Skil Power Tools are a division of the German power tool firm of Robert Bosch -- First correct answer by Dom
2. And what was it's original purpose?
See answer in (1.) above -- First correct answer by Dom
3. What is the common name for fagus sylvatica?
The European beech -- First correct answer by Dom
4. This well-known machinery maker, now based in France, started making woodworking machinery just after World War II. They were originally called Redhill Engineering. Who are they?
Multico -- First correct answer by Dom
5. What is the main purpose of a badger plane?
Panel raising. A badger plane is a similar size to a wooden jack plane but the blade is skewed and comes right to the edge of the body on one side, rather like a rebate plane's blade -- First correct answer by Dom
6. What are the primary uses for a "drunken saw"?
A "drunken saw", otherwise referred to as a "wobble saw" is a circular blade held between a pair of wobble washers (wedge-shaped washers) on the arbor of either a radial arm/crosscut saw, circular saw or spindle moulder. Its' main purposes are to work rebates, grooves and housings as it can be set to cut a wide range of different widths in a single pass. It does, however, suffer from the disadvantage that the grooves it cuts have cambered bottoms -- First correct answer by Mel
7. Where on a hand tool would you use "spurs"?
Spurs are found on dado planes, combination planes and some rebate planes (such as this Stanley #289 skew rebate filletster plane):
where the tool was designed to work across the grain, as you might expect when working tenon, panel edge or housing. The action of the spur before the cutter cuts the grain and allows the plane to lift the shaving away cleanly and with less effort.some rebate planes -- First correct answer by Mailee/Mel (1/2 point each, I'd say.....)
8. What chemical is used for fuming oak?
Ammonia -- First correct answer by Mel
9. What is the main cause of "cissing" when finishing?
Breaks in the coating where the surface is not wetted properly mainly due to contamination of either the surface or the finish. One of the most common contiminants is silicone, which is why its' use as a table lubricant is to be avoided -- First correct answer by 9Fingers
10. Give me an alternative, often used, for "cissing"
Crawling, fisheyes and orange peel -- First correct answer by 9Fingers
11. Which British tool manufacturer was taken over by the American company Stanley to become Stanley Works GB?
J(ames) A(Arscott) Chapman who were taken over by Stanley in 1936. They were famous for their braces, although they also made Acorn brand planes as well as manufacturing tools on behalf of other Sheffield firms such as GTL and Spear & Jackson -- First correct answer by Alf (of course!)
12. A Yorkshire firm who manufactured woodworking machinery from the 1860s we were also well-known for our railway engines and other engineering products. Who were we and where were we from?
The firm was Wilson Brothers (Leeds) Ltd who were established in 1862 and survived until the 1990s. The firm also known for it's manufacture of saw mills, complete with both stationary steam engines as well as railway shunting locomotives, although they do tend to turn up more in places like Australia or New Zealand than the UK. Wilsons arre reputed to have supplied contractors engines in the UK as well.
Oddly, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Wilson's was a progressive firm with many more modern designs than market leaders Wadkin and White (for example they were an early adopter of fabricated steel frame bandsaws some 10 years before Wadkin followed their lead) -- First correct answer by engineerone (although the amount of fishing there meand I'll only award 1/2 a point
)13. What is the main difference in design between a sash mortise chisel and a heavy mortise chisel (the traditional "pig sticker"? And why?
The sash mortise and registered mortise styles of chisel are designed to cut relatively shallow mortises whilst the heavy-pattern mortise chisel is designed to cut much deeper mortises. Because of this lighter mortise chisels tend to have parallel sides whilst heavy chiseld are slightly tapered in cross section, getting slightly narrower from flat back to front. This allegedly results in them being less likely to stick when being used to cut deep mortises -- First correct answer by MrGrimsdale
14. What is the general rule of thumb for calculating the cross-sectional area of a softwood flooring joist (used in a domestic setting)?
For a floor with average domestic loading and with 2in thick joists at 16in centres the minimum joist depth will be 1/2 the span + 2 (in inches), so a 12 foot span will require a joist of 12/2 +2 inches or 8 inches. This isn't exactly as the Building Regs require things, but it is a good rule of thumb to see if you are exceeding the loading/deflection allowed. Timber is assumed to be standard structural grade (C15/C16) -- First correct answer by 9Fingers
15. In which direction does wood expand and contract most?
Across the grain -- First correct answer by Mailee
16. Name three common methods of machine mortise making
(Square) chisel morticing, chain morticing, slot morticing -- First correct answer by Mailee
Other methods include Maka-pattern oscillating chisel morting and Alternax-pattern multi-chisel mortising (I was looking for static machine techniques)
17. What is the minimum number of cuts you need to make in order to test if a crosscut fence on a table saw is square to the blade (or alternatively that a radial arm saw is cutting square to the fence)?
5 -- First correct answer by promhandicam
18. Which famous British toolmaker used the Kangaroo as their trade mark?
Robt. Sorby -- First correct answer by promhandicam
19. My name is Robert Landuyt. Which well-known woodworking machinery firm did I start, and when?
The Belgian firm of Robland, now internationally known and also owners of the Knapp name, the firm was started in 1972 -- First correct answer by 9Fingers
20. Name this species, "The exported veneer takes the form of highly figured veneers which are cut from burrs. The unfigured wood is golden brown to reddish brown in colour and has a straight, interlocked or wavy grain with a rather coarse and uneven texture. The density is very variable but average 640kg/ cubic metre (40lb/cubic ft)" . This veneer was incidentally chosen for the dashboards of the last Rolls-Royces to leave the Crewe works.
That veneer was in fact amboyna burr. It was the first veneer used on Rolls-Royce dashboards when they moved away from solid-wood dashboards in the late 1920s, although burr walnut was apparently offered as an option fairly early on. Because it comes from the Phillipines, Borneo and New Guinea Amboyna became unavailable during and for some time after WWII, so post-war Rolls-Royces came with walnut burr as standard until the last 50 or so Crewe-built cars were produced for which amboyna burr was specially obtained -- One to me, the only one! ;D
21. Name three other well-known British-made woodworking vices apart from the Record?
The names I've got are Paramo (a grate-maker who started making copies of the Record vice during WWII under Ministry of Supply instructions), Parkinsons, Rededa and Woden (whose vices were apparently always made by Record - after all Woden were owned by the same familty as Record, the Hamptons) although you could also have added Marples (vices probably made by Record) and Edward Preston. There may well be others lurking out there, so if you know any, post! -- First correct answer by Afterglow
22. Knife-cut veneer has a smooth side and a loose side. Which side is normally glued to the substrate, and why?
The "loose" side, because it has more checking and will consequently accept more stain or stain inconsistently -- First correct answer by Afterglow
23. This British woodworking machinery firm was owned at one time by members of a family associated with silverware and one of it's early directors perished on the Titanic. Who is it?
The firm was indeed Wadkin & Co. of Leicester who gave the American franchise for their pattern milling (and other pattern-shop) machines to the Oliver Machinery Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1908 (Oliver continued to distribute for Wadkin until the 1930s). The director lost on the SS Titanic in 1912 was Denzil J Jarvis who had married the sister of the company's founder, Joseph Wadkin, and joined the firm in 1900, just 2 or 3 years after it's foundation. Oddly, in 1908 Joseph Wadkin parted company with the original Wadkin company to set-up a new business in partnership with Thomas Scott-King (in Nottingham) called Wadkin Mills. This firm was subsequently sold to the original Wadkin concern following the death of Joseph Wadkin from pneumonia in 1919 -- First correct answer by tigerturnings
24. And what was the name of the silverware family?
Goddard. The Goddards were manufacturing chemists who made their fortune in the Victorian period by inventing a patent silver polish (or plate powders as they were then known). Following the untimely death of Denzil J Jarvis in 1912 J. Wallis-Goddard took over the Leicester firm and invited his son, Joseph Holland Goddard, to return to the UK and join him in running the firm. It was the far-sighted vision and open-mionded appriach of J.H. Goddard which eventually built Wadkin from a relatively insignificant firm into a world class business over a period of some 25 years -- First correct answer by Alf
25. From which common compound is PVA glue derived?
Dr Fritz Klatte, a German chemist, discovered a method of producing a catalysed reaction of acetylene with acetic acid in 1913 which produce a vinyl acetate - the basis of many industrial plastics. So technically there should have been two compounds, acetic acid and acetylene.... -- First correct answer by promhandicam (although I'll say 3/4 point as there are two compounds......)
Good luck
Scrit
Although you still haven't found the one I'm looking for - none of the names you've quoted were makers of woodworking machinery to my knowledge. A clue or two, though: the firm I'm after existed until the early 1990s at which time they were the oldest continuously running firm of woodworking machinery manufacturers in the UK (and probably the world), the business was originally set-up by relatives and the railway engines they built were mainly industrial/shunting type engines
cause unless we then go up to the scots