It followed me home (Part 2)

My mother in laws house has plaster over sheet rock,lath is the little wood strips behind the screen in old walls.this spell correct is out of control
 
Lath,about 1 1/2" wide,was nailed to the inside of the wall-studs in a close grid(a couple of inches apart),and served as a matrix for a thick layering of assorted finishing materials,most-plaster-based,occasionally further thickened with horsehair:),and ending in a fine finish substrate that could then be painted.

It was a fine and complex trade,the end product(potentially)of an Utmost quality unequalled today,but Extremely laborious,and pretty toxic as far as the breathing of the particulates went...

In my building career i only got to demolish and to remove it,as i was a full generation too late for the actual technique,but even the demolition process was nasty...
 
You know, I'm not exactly sure what a lathing hatchet is used for. I always assumed it was for getting wood down to a manageable size, but I'm probably way off on this

I've heard the steel they used was top notch, so it should be an excellent tool if you can find a good use for it.

The main use of lathing hatchet went out with lath and plaster wall finishing,i.e. turned to pre-fab'd sheet-rock.
Lath(that itself was sawn),needed to be cut to size,sometimes trimmed,and nailed into place.
I the corners/by the ceiling the room was tight,thus the flush top edge on most,to nail close into the corner...

Jake pogg yes I know what you are saying.

My walls are plaster and as mine, most I have seen all have lath at the framing for the wire mesh to be tacked to...some I have come across, probably in that transitional period, have wall board with the wire tacked thru that to the studs.

In tobacco we used lath to hang for drying in the sheds... unfortunately the pace and demand of that work, and my lack of interest at that time in anything other than girls and beer, I didnt take notice of many of the tools that we're already generations old and used to do the job I needed to do. Unfortunately.
 
"In tobacco we used lath to hang for drying in the sheds... unfortunately the pace and demand of that work, and my lack of interest at that time in anything other than girls and beer, I didnt take notice of many of the tools that we're already generations old and used to do the job I needed to do. Unfortunately."

That last "unfortunately" sounds like an after-thought...somehow i don't sense that real contriteness...:)

You're absolutely right:)...

Yep,many times here tools come up that we all may strain at recognising...More and more are now falling by the wayside,as the trade that they relate to does,for better or worse...

But for the most part we're probably lucky for not having done many of these things for a living,and we know it!:)
 
Lath,about 1 1/2" wide,was nailed to the inside of the wall-studs in a close grid(a couple of inches apart),and served as a matrix for a thick layering of assorted finishing materials,most-plaster-based,occasionally further thickened with horsehair:),and ending in a fine finish substrate that could then be painted.

It was a fine and complex trade,the end product(potentially)of an Utmost quality unequalled today,but Extremely laborious,and pretty toxic as far as the breathing of the particulates went...

In my building career i only got to demolish and to remove it,as i was a full generation too late for the actual technique,but even the demolition process was nasty...
Seen it, and now know exactly what that is.
Thanks for explaining :thumbsup:
 
"In tobacco we used lath to hang for drying in the sheds... unfortunately the pace and demand of that work, and my lack of interest at that time in anything other than girls and beer, I didnt take notice of many of the tools that we're already generations old and used to do the job I needed to do. Unfortunately."

That last "unfortunately" sounds like an after-thought...somehow i don't sense that real contriteness...:)

You're absolutely right:)...

Yep,many times here tools come up that we all may strain at recognising...More and more are now falling by the wayside,as the trade that they relate to does,for better or worse...

But for the most part we're probably lucky for not having done many of these things for a living,and we know it!:)

LOL! I had to look up contrite, in my old Webster's dictionary.
You are spot on.
I don't miss the tobacco so much the comradery...and the stories we have to tell.
 
I've heard the steel they used was top notch, so it should be an excellent tool if you can find a good use for it.

I was thinking I may be able to use it as one of the few woodworking tools I have to help shape a handle when I have a go at making my own.
I believe this pole to be hardened, it has two corners that appear to be chipped.

SegjOfk.jpg
 
I am old enough, and had a lot of experience with lath and plaster in renovating historic buildings. In my experience the earliest lath was hand split wood and nailed to the balloon framed studs or studs between timber frame, no metal, and a 3 coat plaster process applied directly over the wood lath; next was lath used as a base for expanded metal mesh that the plaster was applied to; and more recent is metal nailed directly to the studs and then a 3 coat plaster. The lath hatchet was used extensively in the first two techniques, It was used (maybe still is by some old school plasters) in the last style to even up studs to apply the metal lath. It has been a few years, but the last modern plaster work I saw was a sheet rock type backer board (made just for plaster) with just one finish coat applied to the backer board.
 
I was thinking I may be able to use it as one of the few woodworking tools I have to help shape a handle when I have a go at making my own.
I believe this pole to be hardened, it has two corners that appear to be chipped.

SegjOfk.jpg
As far as I know any time a tradesman's type hatchet has a hammer shaped poll especially a milled one, it will be hardened.
I'll bet it wouldn't work too bad if you squared off the bit and maybe gave it a single bevel like grind it might work pretty well for this.
 
I am old enough, and had a lot of experience with lath and plaster in renovating historic buildings. In my experience the earliest lath was hand split wood and nailed to the balloon framed studs or studs between timber frame, no metal, and a 3 coat plaster process applied directly over the wood lath; next was lath used as a base for expanded metal mesh that the plaster was applied to; and more recent is metal nailed directly to the studs and then a 3 coat plaster. The lath hatchet was used extensively in the first two techniques, It was used (maybe still is by some old school plasters) in the last style to even up studs to apply the metal lath. It has been a few years, but the last modern plaster work I saw was a sheet rock type backer board (made just for plaster) with just one finish coat applied to the backer board.

Exactly what I have come across here in my area of New England.
My own house is the second style you described, and also being constructed with the balloon framing...no fire blocks as you know.
In the trade and due to the age range of homes here I have been fortunate to have retrofitted, repaired or replaced heating and plumbing equipment in all three styles you describe.
Thank you for the eloquently direct description and explanation of each. You brought back memories to me of projects I have worked specific to each lath plaster wall you listed.
 
In my experience the earliest lath was hand split wood and nailed to the balloon framed studs or studs between timber frame, no metal, and a 3 coat plaster process applied directly over the wood lath.
i took an art credit a while ago and they went over european architecture. i think the ancestor to lath? lathing? lathes? anyway, they called it waddle and daub.

they had uprights every few feet, then they twisted small sticks and vines in between to make a basket like structure. they covered that in mud or clay and let it dry
 
I purchased an old one room schoolhouse that I am rehabbing into a studio. It has a hard lath and plaster finish on the exterior and a soft lath and plaster finish over the interior. When I purchased the building, due to time and money constraints, I was not able to do much to it until about 3 years ago when we put a new roof on it. Since then, I have gone completely through the building, putting in a new ceiling, new windows, rewiring, new electrical components from breaker box to lights, fans,sockets and switches, refinishing the floor and the old yellow pine trim and doors, and last but not least, patching about 800 sqft of the interior plaster which was loose because of the roof leaks. Pretty amazing the amount of work that went into a lath and plaster finish. The plaster I was removing was a 3 coat system - you could see that as you were tearing it out and it was reinforced with horsehair. The folks that did the lath/plaster were real craftsmen as the lath had been carefully installed - spacing between the lath was precise. Some of the lath had to be replaced as it was rotting. I just went over the old lath with a scratch and finish coat and it looks pretty good. The interior turned out very nicely and it is a really great space to get away from the ratrace. I did not have a lathing hatchet but you could tell that's what was used by the way the lath was cut. I did not attempt to replaster the ceiling as that is a bit beyond my skill set - a layer of 1/2" sheetrock and a spray textured finish was about all I needed to do.
 
Underhill Edge Tool Co. made excellent tools. Their 1859 catalog shows three lathing hatchets, a No 1. No 2, and a heavy, there is no other info. Your is of course not that old with the milled head.
 
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A couple drill bits I picked a while ago,I think they are drill press bits, they need a lot of energy to operate and to stay perfectly upright. I think it's the world's first spade bit.

The other one is a morticing bit I think, it's slightly conical and the edges are sharp. I guess it was used in conjunction with those tenon cutters.

Either way they don't work too well with a bit and brace
 
I am old enough, and had a lot of experience with lath and plaster in renovating historic buildings. In my experience the earliest lath was hand split wood and nailed to the balloon framed studs or studs between timber frame, no metal, and a 3 coat plaster process applied directly over the wood lath; next was lath used as a base for expanded metal mesh that the plaster was applied to; and more recent is metal nailed directly to the studs and then a 3 coat plaster. The lath hatchet was used extensively in the first two techniques, It was used (maybe still is by some old school plasters) in the last style to even up studs to apply the metal lath. It has been a few years, but the last modern plaster work I saw was a sheet rock type backer board (made just for plaster) with just one finish coat applied to the backer board.
I've renovated a few lath and plaster houses dating from the early 1900s. I'm imagining that one or two carpentry apprentices had full time jobs onsite doing nothing but carrying/sorting out wood strips, cutting and trimming them and banging them on (via mountains of fine nails!) across the studs and joists. The amount of time and effort that went into building old houses must have been impressive. A good prank for teaching/learning the properties of wood would have been via slipping in a bundle of hemlock or Doug fir lath and watching the pieces split or the nails fold over. The young lads would have quickly learned how to recognize that stuff!
 
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