The Carpenters Shop. #7. on the map.

The Carpenter's Brace.

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My story now moves onto two very skilled craftsmen, whose work to a very young boy who was very fascinating. They were, Sid Burrfoot and Lawrence Smith, who were also known to one and all as "Lal." their work covered making or repairing anything that was wooden. Even, when it came to putting up the isolation fencing, for they TT herd regulations.

As a little boy, I used to watch these two men at work. Using only hand tools to perform the task in hand, whether it was a tailgate for a wagon or making a gate for a new section of the field, their skills were never wanting.

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From the hand tools, such as the large saw or small tenon saw, down to box planes and brace and bit drills. Most of these tools had been with them since their apprenticeship into the trade. Each man had his own toolkit. In those days there was no power machinery in the Carpenter's Shop, everything was done by hand.

Sadly, I have no photographs of these two men working away in their shop, wearing the traditional white bib and brace apron to protect their clothes.

Luckily I have found some pen and ink drawings to demonstrate some of the mortise and tenon joints that they used in constructing whatever job they had in hand. In most of them work. The joints were so tight that they only needed a tusk or dowel pin to complete the joint. The use of nails were frowned upon by these two men, and if needed were used very sparingly. It is very sad to say that the skills of these fine craftsman are dying out with the advent of power tools.