Content submitted by Dan Lacroix. Email news to news@westfordcat.org.
The Westford Museum and Historical Society, 2 Boston Road, will host a program on 18th century woodworking on Sunday, April 30, from 2 to 4 p.m. How did tradesmen fashion wood into the decorative elements of period homes and public buildings? House building in the colonial America was a labor intensive process that required the skills of many tradesman. While the carpenter hewed and joined the timber frame “bones” of the building, it was the house joiner who crafted the fabric of its interior woodwork.
With a basic set of hand tools, the house joiner produced the raised and feather edge paneling, wainscoting, decorative moldings, and window sash so familiar in period buildings. Many also made their own tools.
Dan Lacroix will discuss and demonstrate the work of the period house joiner and plane maker through the use of his reproduction hand planes, saws, and other period tools. In addition to his working reproduction tools, Dan will also bring examples of 18th century hand planes. Free admission.
