Hello all,
I thought I would introduce myself by starting a new topic thread with a specific intent. My user name is Woodlawn_Warrior... am a 42 year old male out of Eastern Ontario Canada.
I am interested in ways of living in the old fashion ways/days.... I did a thread search for this type of topic and didn't find anything. I am looking for websites with possible downloadable pdf files or word documents with information on pioneer era information on how they did things prior to the industrial revolution. Similarly to Victorian era where mechanization was just beginning but not overly relying on combustible engines as the main power source.
I am just looking for simple information on how to make at home simple gardening tools, general tools, simple farming equipment.... old technology information which I think would be useful for potential future situations.
If this type of thread already exist than please someone steer me towards it(them) and I'll continue my research from there.
WW
Paul
I can't help you on sending you to sites, I will watch for that info as it comes in from others, I tend to haunt the farm sales from within a two hours drive of me, and a little further if needed and I buy older but still very useable human and draft powered farm/garden items.
We don't have much on our little farm that is machine powered, almost all of it is done by hand or critter power.. As for a keen interest in living the old fashioned way, now that I would agree that with..
http://livingmydreamlifeonthefarm.wordpress.com/
Welcome woolawn_warrior.
Try this site...I've downloaded a lot from here...all public domain and FREE...my favorite price!
http://www.pioneerhandbooks.com/
I do have my Grandpa's set of carpentry encyclopedias. All about building and woodworking with hand tools. All the different ways of dovetailing ect.... This was printed before modern tools were available, so it covers pretty much everything.
Odd duck... very interesting story, goes to show the mettle (sp?) of people back then compared to the cushy lifestyle of today don't it?!? People were way tougher back then!!!
Denob... thank you for the link, I've automatically bookmarked and will dissect everything in it and download as much freebe as I can find.
If anyone has ever since a documentary about this old guy who went off alone to go live in Alaska on PBS... it is an amazing documentary. It's called Alone in the Wilderness and I believe the guy's name was Dick Preneki (something like that), and I caught it on PBS. Then this series on TVO called The Victorian Farm which is another very interesting series.
If you go to Amazon.ca you can find the Victorian Farm books. They are from the BBC series, which included the Farm series, the Christmas series and the Pharmacy series and had a lot of interesting information. While they take place in Britain a lot of skills that the historians needed would work in any location. The pharmacy series showed the historians making aspirin, cold cream and performing basic dentistry. It is a good view of the work and skills required when goods weren't as readily available at the local Quikki-Mart. I would really like the time to watch the series again, and since it is viewable on-line you can sit down for an evening and go through a number of episodes.
"It's better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret"
I to have been trying to find and info on this in a PDF form
Preparedness is like a condom , I've rather have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it
I went over the http://www.pioneerhandbooks.com/ website and copied all of the PDF files. Haven't read them all yet but from the titles of each chapter there is a lot of good info.
I don't know if you have ever been to a pioneer village but some of them do demos on various things. I have learned the basics of shingle making, bucket making and black smithing from I think it was the Milon farm. Several of the agriculture fairs also have hands on for things like dealing with animals. Some times is it not just a matter of reading about it but a hands on.
I have over the years bought some books from Lee Valley that are repoductions on old "manuals". Things included in the books are: how to build a windmill and building basic machinery using methods from the early 1800s
I know that Fort Edmonton happily accepts volunteers into their family. They have a blacksmith's shop and a number of other areas where volunteers might learn some "old" skills.
"It's better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret"
Any pioneer village (museum) will have equipment from the pre-industrial age. I always love going to these just to figure out how things were done. One that interested me one was the flax spreader. Flax stem is what linen is/was made from. Hemp was treated in the same way to make rope and material.
"We 'Prep.' to live after a downfall, Not just to survive."