Month: February 2009

Workshop Layout

I am in the process of building a new shop. It is basically a square room with large windows all around . He is my first attempt at a layout.

Floor Plan

The windows on the left side are full length have a wonderful view out to the water. I have a jewelry bench for the metal work I have to do for bow making. Next to that is a bench for bow work.

In the middle is my main workbench. I haven’t decided whether to custom build one or buy a ready-built. I’d be interested in hearing what other makers are using for workbenches

My varnish table is in the southwest corner in front of full length windows. I thought this would give me maximum sun exposure for tanning instruments and curing varnishes. I also cure varnishes in a black-light box that will be integrated into the table. I would be interested in hearing what other makers use for curing varnishes and dust protection.

Finally, there is a long counter with a sink and plenty of cabinet storage under neath. I also thought I would mount my lathe/mill here.

 Please share your experiences in setting up a shop and answers to some of the other questions I posed above.

Hill Bows

I have quite a few Hill bows come across my workbench and I thought I would share some knowledge about identifying the dates and makers of Hill bows. This knowledge has been acquired from a number of sources including Lynn Hannings, A write-up (I don’t remember where I came across it) by Thomas E. Florence and the Hill Bows website.

It is not the case that the sticks and frogs were always made by the same maker. The sticks were made first and later matched with a frog as needed. So, to completely identify a Hill bow you need to look for 3 pieces of information. First, the date is stamped on the stick just ahead of the mortice (something like C 57 for 1957). there may also be a registration number stamped on a side facet. Second, The makers mark is stamped on the face of metal tip (all Hill bows I have seen have either a silver or gold tip). Finally, the makers mark for the frog is stamped on slide of the frog.

The makers names, dates and mark are as follows:

Sidney Yeoman 1885 single tick
William C. Retford 1891 single dot
William R. Retford 1919 two dots
William Johnston 1894 two ticks (vertical before 1904 horizonta; after)
Frank Napier 1904 three leaves
Charles Leggatt d.1917 two ticks in center
Arthur Copley 1917 number 1
Edgar Bishop 1917 number 2
Albert Leeson 1919 number 3
Leslie Bailey 1920 number 4
Arthur Barnes 1919 number 5
Arthur Bultitude 1922 number 6
William Watson 1945 number 7
Malcom Taylor 1947 number 8
Ronald Harding 1949 number 9
Arthur Brown 1946 letter x or number 10
Allen Willis 1940 number 11
Garner Wilson 1936 number 12
Arthur Scarbrow number 0
David Taylor number 13
John Clutterbuck number 14
Brian Alvey 1966 number 15
Stephen Bristow number 16
Ian Shepherd number 17
David Earl number 18
Matthew Coltman number 19
John Stagg number 20
Derek Wilson number 21
Timothy Baker number 22

If anyone has corrections or additions to this, please let me know.