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Not many of us go out and buy columns or restore old buildings, just sad to see trades like this disappear…
Sad, but a fact of life…
- Thread starter Darren Wright
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Mike Stafford
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I have worked with wood almost all of my life. My father was a contractor and I played with wood scraps as a kid. I used to build stuff out of the scraps he brought home from jobs. Then as I grew up I learned more and more about carpentry and home building. As an adult I started building furniture for our home. We still eat at the kitchen table and chairs I built as a wedding present for my wife over 50 years ago. I have read extensively about woodworking in all forms but today I learned something new.
Not only was it something new, it was something sad. In almost 70 years of woodworking experience I have never read about or heard of a business that did exactly what this firm does. And to learn about it just before or as it is closing is very sad. To lose all that experience, all that knowledge is a tragedy to me. I am guessing if Mr. Lupo had children they did not grow up in the business as he did so there is no one to take over. And it sounds like none of the people who work there are interested in taking over as they are too old as well.
So where do you go to get reproduction/replacement composition elements for these aging houses that are being bought up and restored? As businesses like American Wood Column disappear we lose more than just the things that are made there we lose the skills of the craftsmen who made those things. I have never known anyone with any of the skills that I saw demonstrated in that video. How sad to lose all that knowledge. One day all those molds and all those specialized tools will end up in a junkyard or a landfill to never be seen again. I hope someone will buy this business but where will the buyer get the knowledge to use all of those things? I cannot imagine that there are many people out there with those skills and specialized knowledge.
Maybe I am just ignorant but I am amazed that I have not encountered anything about this kind of business/manufacturing before in my life. I have seen reproduction plaster moldings being made but this composition work is quite different. How sad to see it lost.
Not only was it something new, it was something sad. In almost 70 years of woodworking experience I have never read about or heard of a business that did exactly what this firm does. And to learn about it just before or as it is closing is very sad. To lose all that experience, all that knowledge is a tragedy to me. I am guessing if Mr. Lupo had children they did not grow up in the business as he did so there is no one to take over. And it sounds like none of the people who work there are interested in taking over as they are too old as well.
So where do you go to get reproduction/replacement composition elements for these aging houses that are being bought up and restored? As businesses like American Wood Column disappear we lose more than just the things that are made there we lose the skills of the craftsmen who made those things. I have never known anyone with any of the skills that I saw demonstrated in that video. How sad to lose all that knowledge. One day all those molds and all those specialized tools will end up in a junkyard or a landfill to never be seen again. I hope someone will buy this business but where will the buyer get the knowledge to use all of those things? I cannot imagine that there are many people out there with those skills and specialized knowledge.
Maybe I am just ignorant but I am amazed that I have not encountered anything about this kind of business/manufacturing before in my life. I have seen reproduction plaster moldings being made but this composition work is quite different. How sad to see it lost.
Dave Hawksford
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There's a plaster shop in Bladensburg Md. These guys are just as old or older.
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I get what you're saying, but when you break it down, it looks like most of the work involves large diameter spindle turning and pressing plaster into a mold. Both of those skills can be learned, although I could see the plaster work eventually being replaced with 3D printing.
Mike Stafford
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I thought I heard him say they are composite moldings. Is that not different from plaster? I thought composite was wood dust/flour mixed with glue.
The fact is I don't know enough about it to even ask a question.
Paul Douglass
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Thanks for posting. I really enjoyed the video. Kinda sad. Somehow, some of that needs to be preserved in a museum.
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You could be right. I was thinking "composite" meant wood and plaster, but my knowledge of the craft/art is about equal to yours.I thought I heard him say they are composite moldings. Is that not different from plaster? I thought composite was wood dust/flour mixed with glue.
The fact is I don't know enough about it to even ask a question.
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Claims:
Tthe overly complicated and often intentionally mysterious earlier recipes were now reported to be comprised of a few basic ingredients: animal glue, oil (usually linseed), a hard resin (pine rosin or pitch was cheapest), and a bulking or filling material, generally powdered chalk or whiting. (full process described at link above).
Which mostly matches the brief appearance of what I see them kneading into the mold in the video appearance wise... Although it's also possible that they're now using more modern analogs..