Nailed oak hearth tinderbox

[tombear]

Made a copy of a late 18 th c early 19th nailed hearth tinder box from the 8mm board we got last week. If I remember right it's one from the reserve collection at St Fagans. I did the drawing so long back I've forgotten!

Im really pleased with how the quarter sawn oak has turned out with just a quick rub with linseed oil.

Very easy to make, the slots in the sides for the lid I ran all the way across and plugged the ends after assembly, it seamed easier to do than leave a 1/8 th of a inch at the end which would have involved some delicate chisel work instead of using my shiny new 043 plough plane ( not one I swapped for a smaller job herself got me MIB. ).

Back in the day every home would have had a variation on them hung up near the fire so it wouldn't get misplaced and so the tinder would stay dry.

Incidentally does any one have a late 18 th C English style strike a light to sell? The one in the pic I had to borrow from my best tin tinderbox for the photo.

ATB

Tom

 

[crosslandkelly]

That's a great looking tinder box, nice work.

 

[Hunkyfunkster]

That's a lovely tinder box.

How big is the belt pouch for it?

 

[badoosh]

I like that a lot,wish I had your patience.

 

[tombear]

Cheers folks! Very easy to do so long as you can do the slots for the lid, either with some sort of router or a couple of saw cuts and a narrow chisel to clear the bit between out. The rest is a case of accurate marking out and cutting of right angles.

I've cut out the parts for a variation on the theme, built around the base board rather than on top of it. I do wish I had written the references I used on the drawings I made, I'm going to have to wade through a lot of material to know where I got the design from. D'oh.

After that I'll move onto some properly jointed designs, now I've my shiny old morticer to play with.

ATB

Tom

 

[British Red]

Beautiful and very authientic Tom - loving your work (again)

 

[Robson Valley]

Thanks Tom. I am convincing myself that I have seen one of those, recently, in an old Canadian house.
Empty, I could not imagine what it was for. There was a raised hearth & fireplace in the kitchen.

Fine piece of woodworking craftsmanship. Could you make the case for using dowels instead of nails in the design?

 

[ozzy1977]

Cracking job mate.

 

[Mesquite]

Lovely bit of work there Tom

 

[tombear]

Cheers folks. 'Never seen a dowelled one, all seam to be nailed or jointed, some with the most equisite concealed dovetails, real cabinet makers stuff I can only dream of doing.

I've seen some that have been reperposed, had the central division removed and been labelled up in the museum as candle boxes. The snuffer lids are often missing which can lead to confusion about the use.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

And here's the alternative nailed hearth tinderbox, a bit bigger and deeper.

I tried to do as much as possible by eye rather than measuring, I didn't want it to look factory made since it isn't! I need to make a big batch of char now and if anyone can point me to a reasonable ( I'm still in shock from paying for the oak boards ) source of 18th / early 19th English style Strike-a-lights ( double curled or crown topped would do me fine ) I would be profoundly gratefull.

Going to let the lads practice their firelighting with them to take the shine off them.

ATB

tom

 

[Toddy]

Those both look so 'right' They just belong, don't they ?
Tidily done Tom; I like those.

I don't have a strike a light of the period, but I have assorted tinders, and a stash of enormous fomes that need to be cleared out. If you'd like one (or two? ) I'll happily post it to you.

M

 

[nuggets]

very nice just had to pay £70 for 10 ft of through cut dressed 6x1 oak

 

[tombear]

Cheers Mary
anything you can spare would be gratefully received!

The only thing that's not quite right is the brads would be more period if they had square section heeds weather than round. You can get them but they are pricey and most suppliers are overseas. Still I've seen round heads on the real thing as well.

iI I can find cheap oak or elm board I may make some as trade goods.

Next I think a candle box, we get through enough No. 10s to merit more accessible storage, currently there's a couple of draws in the shed. Got photos of a few in museums, if I can find where I filed them.

Ow, it is just so dear. I must start using the ex chest of draws oak. Wish I had a thicknesser, that would make life a lot easier!

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

Looking at a site

http://www.oldandinteresting.com/tinderbox.aspx

i was reminded of another variation on the nailed tinderbox, the opened top sort. I'd seen various examples in museums including the Pitt Rivers and the one in the article above was pretty tupical so making the assumption it would be big enough to hold 5 to 6 inch long sulphur matches I cobbled this together from bits of oak from the chest of draws I canibilised.

Its a a bit skew whiff but then so have been most I've seen, although they have the excuse of being battered for a couple of hundred years!

The damper is purely hyperthetical, I reused one of the draw handles from the chest

Thats all folks!

Tom