Thread: Making a Reading Table - Part One

Scrumpy certainly did for my guts when I lived in Somerset. I spent five plus years on the stuff and ended up in the 'scrumpy ward' in the local hospital.

Originally Posted by Woodwould

Scrumpy certainly did for my guts when I lived in Somerset. I spent five plus years on the stuff and ended up in the 'scrumpy ward' in the local hospital.

I'm just enjoying a jar of homebrewed cider as I read this. I'll keep your predicament in mind!

Originally Posted by Woodwould

Scrumpy certainly did for my guts when I lived in Somerset. I spent five plus years on the stuff and ended up in the 'scrumpy ward' in the local hospital.

We lived in Devon for a while. One of the truck drivers had a barrel on the back.
Cheers,
Jim

Here i am, no peanuts left and little progress for that!

Still, I did learn a bit about scrumpy. So not all is lost!

I've been working on another table while I'm waiting on the hinges for the reading table to arrive which will hopefully be next Monday or Tuesday.

Stock up on peanuts again for next week. It will be a busy week in my little shed with two different tables on the go.

Originally Posted by Phil Spencer

What is scrumpy?

Not forgetting that the scrumpy was 'done' when the rat that had been added to the mix had disolved. These days it is a far less impressive lump of beef from the commercial manufacturers!

Woodwould, I think I was in that 'Scrumpy Ward' in 1991...

cheers,
B-D.

Originally Posted by Woodwould

I've been working on another table while I'm waiting on the hinges for the reading table to arrive which will hopefully be next Monday or Tuesday.

Stock up on peanuts again for next week. It will be a busy week in my little shed with two different tables on the go.

Looking forward to the next campaign!

Originally Posted by Blue-deviled

Not forgetting that the scrumpy was 'done' when the rat that had been added to the mix had disolved. These days it is a far less impressive lump of beef from the commercial manufacturers!

Woodwould, I think I was in that 'Scrumpy Ward' in 1991...

cheers,
B-D.

I left in 1991... they must have given you my bed!

Brasses have been a particular thorn in my side recently. I rue no longer having my forge and foundry. I don't make a living from restoring antiques any longer now that I'm retired and I only produce pieces of furniture sporadically, so re-establishing casting facilities wouldn't be viable.

Unable to find the exact pattern of handles I wanted for the reading table, I bought a pair of brummagem pea green handles with the mounting hole centres, at least, of the appropriate width. The bails and pommels were poorly finished and required filing and buffing to remove casting flash and refine their shape. The back-plates were equally ignominious, with dulled edges etc., but they were larger overall than I required, so I was able to cut them down, reshape them and accurately file the bevels.

Reshaped back-plates with crisply filed bevels.

After the episode with the pea green hinges I mentioned in Brassed Off, I returned to another old cabinet brass-foundry in England for the reading table hinges. After weeks of emails and assurances, the hinges eventually arrived (a Royal Mail strike was the culprit). The new hinges are a huge improvement on the previous pea green aberrations, requiring only minimal filing of one knuckle to make it concentric with its counterpart. The hinges are tight, of good gauge, square and open and close perfectly. They were cast for me by Marshall Brass in Norfolk and, while their administration could stand slight improvement (I'm advised a new on-line shopping cart is imminent), their foundry work is excellent. The Marshall Brass catalogue is possibly the largest and most comprehensive in the business. Be sure to pass on my regards if you place an order with Marshall.

Marshall Brass hinges – quality reproduction hinges.

All the brassware can now spend a while in the Bucket of Wrath until they acquire the appropriate colour.

They are certainly good looking pieces WW. Just wondering about the hinge front left' It seems to have uneven screw whole spacings on one wing. Or is this just a trick of the photo??

A question: What constitutes a Bucket of Wrath?

Originally Posted by artme

Just wondering about the hinge front left' It seems to have uneven screw whole spacings on one wing. Or is this just a trick of the photo??

It probably isn't perfectly symetrical. These hinges are cast from eighteenth century originals using the lost-wax process. The originals would have been drilled by hand, so there's more than a good chance the spacing isn't 'perfect'.

Originally Posted by artme

A question: What constitutes a Bucket of Wrath?

A bucket of nasty chemicals.

Originally Posted by Woodwould

I have also headed and rusted six screws for attaching the triangle.

What do you mean by "headed"? :dunce:

Originally Posted by tea lady

What do you mean by "headed"? :dunce:

Heading is filing the slot and filing the head of the screw flat.

Originally Posted by Woodwould

Heading is filing the slot and filing the head of the screw flat.

Just a question, Heading is done,

for looks?

to prevent tampering?

Regards,
Bob