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Both beginners and expert craftsmen will find the answers to many such technical problems in The Complete Woodworking Handbook by Adams and Stieri. (The Handbook, unfortunately, is out of print but may be available from your local library.-MOTHER.) This work covers all aspects of the subject; project planning, types of wood, gluing, the use of power tools, etc. and is illustrated with over 500 pictures and diagrams.

Finishes are, of course, especially important in the creation of handsome, authentic-looking reproductions. This topic is covered thoroughly in Chapters 15 and 16 of The Complete Woodworking Handbook but if you come across an unusual problem (the best treatment for old, gray basswood, for instance), you may want to consult the du Pont people (du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc., Wilmington, Delaware 19898). This firm not only advised me but was kind enough to send samples of wood, finished to my requirements, with detailed directions on how the work had been done.

Just what artifacts are best copied is something you'll have to learn by experience, as we did by making up samples and discovering which items are most in demand in your area.

My first sale was to our mail carrier, who came into the shop with a form to be signed, saw my display, and ordered a salt and pepper set striped with narrow green and yellow bands. He seemed satisfied with the price ($6.00) and later commissioned two more sets. Another early job was two trenchers-12 and 15 inches in diameter, at $16.00 for the pair-for a retired math teacher who originally dropped in to make a Fuller Brush delivery. (I split a number of wooden plates and trenchers in attempting to form them on the lathe, and eventually ordered a good rout& for the preliminary work on such pieces.)

Our bread-and-butter article has proved to be ox yokes. We stock a selection of miniatures up to 18 inches in length, but make the real money from the three-quarter and full-sized yokes which we handcraft to order.

Also among our best sellers are the two and three tine wooden hayforks of the type used in the salt marshes of Massachusetts. We began to receive requests for these items soon after we went into business, and I learned to make them during two weekends of study and practice with a noted Connecticut crafter.

The handle and tines of the hayfork are roughed out of hickory or ash with a saw, and a removable bolt is inserted through the shaft just above the division of the prongs to prevent unwanted splitting. The wood can then be shaped with a drawknife or one of Stanley's new "Surform" tools. Since the woodworking shop we once used closed last year, we've been heating and bending the forks in an old washtub. We have no jigs, but simply fasten the pieces with clamps and U-bolts until the shape "sets".

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