Tuesday, May 23, 2006

I Did Not Know That!

If you have received your latest copy of "This Old House Magazine" then you already know this because it was featured as their trivia question. I was surprised to learn that plywood was invented by the ancient Egyptians and patented in the United States in 1865.
Here are the papers to prove it!





It wasn't until 1934 when waterproof adhesives were developed that the invention really took off. I know that plywood began to appear in furniture in the 1930s. Much of the depression era and waterfall styles of the 30s were constructed from plywood. So I was amazed to see that the stuff was around 70 years before. Who'd-a-thunk-it? Maybe I should show this to people on the Landmark Commission.........

3 comments:

K said...

I didn't know that either. Plywood has its uses, but I sure wish the POs hadn't laid it down over the perfectly good wood floors in the whole back half of the house, and then covered it with ugly vinyl. Why? Why?

Anonymous said...

Did you also see the comments about bondo not being good for fixing windows because it cures rock hard and doesn't flex with the expanding and shrinking of the remaining wood of the sash?

Gary said...

Did you also see the comments about bondo not being good for fixing windows because it cures rock hard and doesn't flex with the expanding and shrinking of the remaining wood of the sash?


I love anonymous put-down comments!

I read the single write-in comment by someone who claimed to restore wood windows for a living. Then I thought about it. They claim to have removed bondo from many windows but then so have I. They never claimed to have ever used it themselves. I have never had a problem and if I do it won't be a big deal to me. It is just sandable resin. I suspect the windows had more problems than just bondo repairs. Besides any time someone claims to do something for a "living" I question their integrity. It is like when someone claims to be an "artist" and especially if they attended art college. (I'm not trying to insult artists but if you know you are good, you don't have to brag about what you do.)

Restoring wood windows is alot of work, and expensive if you had to pay someone to do it. Either they charge an awful amount of money to the very few who would choose doing this versus having their windows duplicated at a wood shop (which might be cheaper)or they are already financially independent because I know I couldn't make a living restoring just windows! There aren't enough customers. Most people install wood or vinyl replacements.
I met a guy in the business of historic restoration with a specialty in wood and wood floors. He has only used shellac once, on a door in his own house, but was having trouble with lap marks and so continues to use stain and urethane. He claims to be a "Historic Restoration" guy when in fact he is the wood re-finishing guy.
What is that old saying? "Believe nothing that you hear and half of what you see!" Go try to burst someone elses bubble because after five years of extensive work and exhausting research I am way too confident to be disturbed by your remark.