Hand tools have been used by humans since the Stone Age, evolving from blunt instruments to works of great beauty in and of themselves. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century in Blue Hill, the Rev. Jonathan Fisher fashioned his own tools, which he used to build his home, farm buildings, furniture, and countless items for his family to use or sell. Today, Maine manufacturers continue to produce hand tools for craftspeople who want to find the joy in creating with these time-honored methods and techniques.
Join the Jonathan Fisher House and the Blue Hill Public Library for a symposium exploring the design and use of hand tools for woodworking throughout time. On Friday, July 26 at 7:00 PM, Nevan Carling and Thomas Lie-Nielsen will give a lecture at the Blue Hill Public Library, “Hand Tools & Techniques, from Jonathan Fisher to Today.” Nevan Carling, Fisher House board member and preservation timber framer, will discuss Jonathan Fisher’s tools and methods of construction for his remarkable plank-frame house and many pieces of furniture, and provide additional historical context. Thomas Lie-Nielsen, proprietor of Lie-Nielsen Toolworks and direct descendant of Jonathan Fisher, will share about the work his company does today designing and creating beautiful, heirloom quality hand tools that inspire woodworkers and other artisans, as well as educating the next generation of builders to use these tools.
On Saturday, July 27 from 12-4 PM, the public is invited to a live demonstration by Nevan Carling as he constructs a replica of Jonathan Fisher’s workbench using period-appropriate tools and methods. Attendees may watch and ask questions along the way, or drop in and out of the demonstration while touring the rest of the house and grounds at 44 Mines Road.
Nevan Carling is a preservation timber framer specializing in the research and repair of historic buildings using traditional tools and techniques. His interests are in the social roles that the built environment played in creating and surrounding identities in the past, with a special focus in the 17th and 18th centuries. Nevan is a recent graduate of the University of York in the United Kingdom with a degree in Archaeology and Heritage Management and is pursuing his MSc degree in Timber Building Conservation at the Weald and Downland Living History Museum in Chichester, England.
Thomas Lie-Nielsen is a direct descendant of Jonathan Fisher, and proprietor of Lie-Nielsen Toolworks in Warren, Maine. The company began in 1981 as an effort to make top-quality hand tools available again from a U.S. maker and to revive discontinued, but useful, designs so the average woodworker could obtain them. Today they make a variety of planes, saws, spokeshaves, chisels, and more, and produce instructional videos that explore a wide range of hand tool woodworking topics and feature many of today’s master woodworkers.
All events in the series are free of charge, though donations are gratefully accepted. Tours of the Fisher House ($10 suggested donation) will also be available on both days from 1:00-4:00 PM. For more information, visit the Fisher House website at jonathanfisherhouse.org, the library website at bhpl.net, or call (207) 374-2459.