Planer, Wood

Description

Square-headed planer with two blades. A corrugated roller under the blade pulls the board through the planer, which planes the top side of the boards. Water-powered with wooden pulleys and tensioning devices for both blade and feeder. Base painted red. Base and pulleys Shaker-made. The mechanism may be commercial. Planes boards up to 12" x 3". Bed is made of cherry, and the rest of iron, steel, and possibly other woods.

Notes

The Church Family at Mount Lebanon planed boards for their own needs as well as the needs of other Mount Lebanon families and the world. In 1845 alone, the Church Family shop planed almost 2,000 feet of flooring for the world.[1] Planing was essential for boards used in house construction, especially for flooring, but also for other Shaker industries as well. In 1846 the Church Family charged Daniel Copley (1792-1864) of the North Family $3.00 for "one days planing timber for charebacks."[2] In 1852 the shop charged Clawson Middleton (d. 1888) of the Canaan Family $1.75 for "Planing Bedstid stuff."[3] The Church Family probably used their machine for these tasks because in 1857 they sold to the North Family for $18.80 an "old planing machine to be paid for in planing when wanted."[4] A board is pulled toward the blades by a cylindrical roller. Two blades powered by water plane the top of the board as it passed below. Shavings and dust are directed by the curved hood away from the person operating the planer. The wooden frame of the planing machine may have been constructed by the Shakers, but the mechanical parts were purchased from the world. The blades bear the stamp "A. Wheeler, Brattleboro Vt Warrented." [1]Work and Weather Journal, Church Family, Mount Lebanon, NY, 1886-1889. Emma King Library, Accession Number 3265, inside front cover. [2] Ibid [3] Ibid. Clawson Middleton lived with the Canaan Family Shakers for 34 years, but he did not sign the Covenant. [4] Ibid