Videos of Pre-Industrial Crafts

March 9, 2015 9:44 AM

In case you haven't had your fill of pre-industrial craftsmanship in a while, watch some videos of folks at Colonial Williamsburg & Jamestown doing their things: A gunsmith, a silversmith, a cabinet maker, and a glass blower.

And a video of Stephen Fry learning about the Gutenberg printing press, thrown in for good measure

posted by cmchap (8 comments total)

Not 30 seconds into the gunsmith video and the dude puts his palm on the end of the ramrod to tamp. Ouch.
posted by Faux Real at 10:01 AM on March 9, 2015

Great to see more Roy Underhill! (the new window link is broken though)
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:49 AM on March 9, 2015

Check out Mastercrafts! It's a 6 part BBC show about traditional crafts. A bit reality show, but there's some good stuff in there. Green woodcraft looks super fun.

1 Green Woodcraft
2 Thatching
3 Blacksmithing
4 Stained Glass
5 Weaving
6 Stonemasonry
posted by Lighthammer at 12:27 PM on March 9, 2015 [2 favorites]

I haven't had a chance to see the others yet, but the gunsmith video is fascinating. A bit of research seems to show that the gunsmith in the video, Wallace Gusler, pretty much single-handedly revived the craft. In particular, with research, he rediscovered how the gun barrel was made, as the technique had been forgotten by then.
posted by jamincan at 5:03 PM on March 9, 2015

I have this sudden craving for silver shoe buckles.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:47 PM on March 9, 2015

Here's some more about Ironbridge coracles, mentioned in the Greenwood video.
posted by plinth at 8:55 AM on March 10, 2015

Wallace Gusler retires (the colonial gunsmith)

Two rifles made by Wallace Gusler in 1967
posted by Sintram at 5:12 PM on March 10, 2015

I'm in the process of learning stamping and hammer forging metal to make cowbells. There is a lot to learn.
posted by boilermonster at 9:32 AM on March 11, 2015