Good Scores On The Road

During some recent travels I made some good acquisitions for the shop.

When I have the time and opportunity I browse through the stacks of textiles at antique shops in the hope of finding some nicely worn linens that have been used enough to no longer be stiff, but not so much as to lose their “tooth,” thus making them the preferred tool for pad finishing.  Otherwise I have to purchase new linen and run it through the washer and dryer a few times to soften it up.

The best antique store bargains are usually plain, un-embroidered table cloths with an incomplete set of napkins.  At a tiny antique shop in central Ohio I found such a package.  It was a full sized table cloth in near pristine shape, with seven napkins.  I think the price was around $15, whereas had there been eight napkins the price would have been more like $75-100.  This set will become part of my finishing rag inventory and went into the bin straightaway.

Then I found this little jewel of a turning bow saw at the SAPFM tool sale/banquet in Williamsburg during the WW18thC confrence.  My long time friend John Davis had this on his table and I snapped it up.  This petite beauty was just the right size and shape for me to use almost every day, and I will chronicle its tarting up in the coming weeks.  The only thing not perfect was the replacement paddle, and I am thinking of either ebony or ivory for that.  I am pretty certain the bow frame is beech and the handles are boxwood.

Stay tuned.