Thread: Floor Planers

They are using scrapers, that would be hell on the hands, fingers, back and knees and given the year probably only earning 1/6d or 2/- (15 to 20 cents) a day
Looks like they are scraping a finish off the boards so a new stain/finish can be applied

My knees hurt just looking at that.
Regards
John

Back then people were not afraid of bit of hard work.

Your right China, except for those yanks we could all be on our knees.
H.

Looks like the boards have cupped and there taking off the highs with the scrapers

On closer inspection it looks like the bloke on the right is planing off the highs from cupping.
The centre guy is the scraping the boards flat.
Dunno what the bloke on the left is up to?
Theres a hammer for punching down the nails between the first two.
Its nice when an artist includes the details.
H.

Originally Posted by clear out

Dunno what the bloke on the left is up to?

Looks to me like he's trimming something with a chisel. Plugging holes or a repairing a damaged bit perhaps?

It'd help if we could ID what he's holding in his other hand... I don't think it's a Smartphone, somehow.

at least they're staying true to their chippy roots and on the drink while on the job

Amazing!!

Looks like they have a good drop there to keep them motivated as well!

I'd need a bigger bottle of wine!

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

I'd need a bigger bottle of wine!

Yup, first thing I noticed. Oh for the good ol days again...

Originally Posted by rwbuild

They are using scrapers, that would be hell on the hands, fingers, back and knees and given the year probably only earning 1/6d or 2/- (15 to 20 cents) a day
Looks like they are scraping a finish off the boards so a new stain/finish can be applied

Those don't look like shavings off a scraper. I suspect the guy on the right is using a smoother (you can see the horn in the left hand) and the guy in the middle is cleaning up with a scraper, but it's held differently so it may be some sort of pull scraper plane... And I think the guy on the left is filling voids left behind. Overall it looks like a floor restoration job somewhere in France.

Much less hard work with a couple generous glasses of wine in the belly...

That is a fairly famous painting and has moved around major art museums in Paris including the Louvre. For the last 35 years it has been in the Musee d'Orsay, Paris.

It was painted in 1875 and probably depicts the renovation of the artists studio and home in central Paris.
Les raboteurs de parquet - Wikipedia

Caillebotte also did another version of the painting in 1876:

Caillebotte.jpg (Private Collection)