I get a lot of questions about new bed bolts and old beds. In my quest to improve the blog I am going to post some e-mail questions I get on a regular post along with the answers. For the record, I didn't think of this, it was suggested to me by Eric Saperstein of Artisans of the Valley
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Question:
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I recently ordered 8ea H-73 bed bolts (3/8" diameter) bed bolts for our 4 poster antique bed to replace the original bolts. Unfortunately, the original bolts appear to be 7/16", or at least have a thread count of 14/in. Do you also stock 7/16" in. bolts?
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Answer:
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We do not make 14TPI bolts or 7/16" bolts. It is more likely that the old bolts had a different thread count. The 3/8" diameter is pretty standard for old beds-even as couple hundred year old beds. There are a few things to consider here:
1. You can try www.ballandball-us.com. They may make, or be able to make, a 14TPI bolt.
2. Even a bolt with the correct thread count might not work. Old bolts and the nuts embedded in the rails are often worn out together so any new bolt will not thread properly. If this is the case you will need to remove the old nuts and put new ones in. There will be plugs on the inside of each rail. They can be tricky to remove but once you do it should be pretty straightforward to take the old ones out and put new ones in.

Six finishes are great. Seven are even better. Horton Brasses is again introducing something new, and this introduction is huge. It's not as simple as a new product or size, instead we are offering an entirely new finish for every piece of brass hardware we make.

Light Antique is now a standard, stock finish! Light Antique is lighter than our regular Antique but not so bright as to look new. The beautiful gold color shines through the soft antique brown. Once again, this is a customer driven improvement. We have provided Light Antique by special request for a few years. Adding it to our extensive product list as a standard finish is a large undertaking, but a project whose time has come. In stock at all times; no minimum order; no upcharge; quantity discounts available. Check out the website: www.horton-brasses.com.

I am lucky in this business to get to know a whole lot of exceptionally talented craftspeople. Lately I have run into a bunch of them and would like to introduce you to two of them. Artisans of the Valley
and Peter Michelinie
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Artisans of the Valley is a shop in New Jersey that does an amazing number of different things. Eric Saperstein and his fiancee Terri are the operation with some help from Eric's Dad and an army of local craftspeople. The number of skills and talents they have, or are able to offer, is tremendous. They include, but are by no means limited to, fine reproductions, antique restorations and repairs, and wood carvings. I won't even discuss the paintwork on a WWII tank. In addition to all this, their website may be the most innovative woodworking website I have ever seen. Check it out and be prepared to spend some time there. Eric's essay, for a lack of a better word (manifesto maybe) on being "green" was brilliant. It was one of the few I have ever seen that is not hype, just an honest assessment and statement of fact documented with clear cut rationales. Their quarterly newsletters are a pleasure, along with their travelogues, and their mini portfolio.

Peter Michelinie is a Boston based cabinetmaker and graduate of the North Bennet Street School's very fine Cabinet and Furniture Making program. His styles seem diverse, his kneehole desk is about as fine of an example as you will find, while his Mission cases stand out among many. There are not too many furnituremakers who can create in as many styles as Pete. If you are in the area-check him out.

I decided to introduce you to two craftspeople today for a reason: To show that quality work is still being done in America. Many people doubt that things are being done here, and I am here to say that it just isn't so. There is a new generation of artists coming up in this great country of ours-I urge you, my reader (note-not readers) to seek them out. You are in for a surprise.

Press release:
New: hammered iron knobs
Never content to rest on our laurels-Horton Brasses has more new products! In response to customer requests, we now offer larger, hammered iron knobs. In case you are keeping track-we have now introduced 35 new products since the summer of 2008-!!!-while others are sleeping we are finding new products. This knob is made in England-it has a beautiful hand done wax finish. It matches our hand forged iron hardware perfectly. This knob is, ahem, larger. The biggest size measures 1-1/2” in diameter, the small one is 1-3/16”. We have heard from time to time that our proportions were a little “traditional”. Larger makes a lot of sense considering the scale of hand forged iron in general. Customer input drives us, thanks to all for giving us feedback. In stock at all times; no minimum order; quantity discounts available. Check out the website: BK-8 and BK-10

And I can tell you why. First though let me say that I have a number of pictures and comments to post as well as a furnituremaker to introduce you to. I'll get to all that in the coming days.
Anyway, the cliche goes that minor surgery only happens to other people. In this case, the other person was my 9 month old daughter Alyson. Alyson was born with a cleft palate back in April. She was lucky in that she only has cleft palate and not a cleft lip as well. The cleft palate is repaired with one surgery and theoretically she is set for life. A cleft is simply a hole in the roof of the mouth. Because of this she couldn't nurse, much to the sadness of my wife, and had to drink from special bottles up until this point. When she ate baby food most of it came right out her nose. She is such a happy child it really didn't seem to bother her much, fortunately. We discovered this in the hospital at birth when she wasn't able to nurse and we got hooked up with Connecticut Children's Medical Center's cranio-facial team. I have to say, the cranio-facial team and every single person we met at CCMC was absolutely amazing. The take care of kids like a religion. I am sure most, if not all, children's hospitals are the same. Alyson's surgery was Friday January 30th. It was routine to them but certainly not for us. She went in at 11AM and was done about 1:20PM. In that time she had tubes put in her hears and three sets of sutures put in her mouth. One for the cleft, one for a pit in her lip, and one to free her tongue (she was tongue tied a bit too). It was a pretty bloody surgery, as this procedure is, but I am happy to report that she is doing great. We stayed at the hospital one night and by Saturday afternoon she was drinking enough (from a cup) to come home.
We are very happy to have the surgery over and done with. She is on the road to recovery and should really start to develop verbal skills now. One of the challenges of a cleft is speech, and by fixing before she starts speaking it should take care of any impediments. Alyson is drinking well from a sippy cup and is eating baby food like its going out of style. We are thankful for CCMC and the cranio-facial team. Our surgeon, Dr. Castiglione, was absolutely amazing. And I must say this too: A visit to a pediatric hospital is both an amazing and frightening thing. As tough as this was for us, we had it easy compared to many. It is heart breaking to see the children and families suffering there. My heart goes out to all of them. I am amazed at the quality of care the nurses, doctors, and staff provide for every child and family there.
That's all for now.

Well I am always excited about adding new stuff. We now have a beautiful small box hinge in nickel. It is the same PB-405 extruded brass hinge we have had for years in a new finish. It just came in today so I don't have a picture, but you can see the brass one and order them all here PB-405 Box Hinge. It is exceptionally well made and sized for wood as thin as 1/2" thick. I hope you like it. As always, comments are welcome.

There is a first time for everything. We have done custom hand forged iron work for many years now, and in that time we have made a lot of unique items. Most of the time we make strap hinges, latch sets, cane bolts, etc, to fit any number of special applications. From 10 feet tall barn doors to hatchway doors and everything in between. But this is new. We made this very nice box stand for a customer in New Jersey. The stand fits and antique wooden box that they wanted off the floor. The piece is 18-1/2" square and sits 6" off the ground. We are quite pleased with the result, and more importantly, the customer is too.




Now the other bits: I am a little sheepish to say, but this morning I got an e-mail, one of the feet came off in shipping. There must have been a void in the weld where it was attached. Suffice to say, it shouldn't have come off and we will of course fix it immediately. Sometimes welding can be tricky. Second, if you find this interesting, it took 4-1/2 hours to produce and we charge $75.00 per hour for time and materials.

What are you looking for? Any products you can't seem to find? Something you wish we made or carried? In these trying economic times, it seems the best thing I can do is listen. If anyone reads this, which I admit I doubt, I would love to hear from you. Any and all suggestions are welcome. On an related note, have y6ou bought from us? If so, can you tell me about the experience? Good stories are great, but I want to hear the bad too. We cannot do any better unless we know. Again, I am open to suggestions.

We have been back from our vacation for about a week now. Its good to be back at work, hopefully doing what we do best. After nearly two weeks off I was ready. Don't get me wrong, time with the kids is great but I've got a job to do and I love it. I have been spending a little time on Charles Neil's woodworking forum. Charles and his right hand woman, Sherri Miles, run a fantastic forum dedicated to woodworkers of all stripes. It is a great resource to anyone interested in woodworking and general banter-heck they even gave me a warm welcome. Does anyone out there use any other wood forums? I am interested in checking them all out.