PatandMelOakesFamilySite

The gold standard of a woodworking case. Photo from Fine Woodworking magazine.

Below is a gallery of woodworking projects done by Mel Oakes and of some projects done by friends of his.

Woodworking Gallery
Silverware Chest-Walnut Made for Mardie Oakes	Silverware Chest-Walnut Made for Mardie Oakes
Cradle-Cherry made for first grandchild, Emily Jinsook Buck	Cradle-Cherry made for first grandchild, Emily Jinsook Buck Plans Here: Cradle Plans
Maple Easel for grandchildren Emily & Ethan Buck from a design by Norm Abrams, "The New Yankee Workshop."	Maple Easel for grandchildren Emily & Ethan Buck
Piano Bench-Honduran & Ribbon Mahogany for Buck family.	iano Bench-Honduran & Ribbon Mahogany for Buck family.
Blanket Chest -Walnut & Cherry Panels for Sarah Oakes to store her beautiful quilts that she makes.	Blanket Chest -Walnut & Cherry Panels for Sarah Oakes to store her beautiful quilts that she makes.
Shaker Table-Ribbon Mahogany from design in "New Yankee Workshop"	Shaker Table-Ribbon Mahogany from design in "New Yankee Workshop"
Cutting Board-Osage Orange Osage Orange wood came from fallen limb near Chemistry Bldg. at U. of Texas. Roger Bengtson and I cut the limb up early one Saturday morning, very hard work.	Cutting Board-Osage Orange
Tissue Box-Walnut Made a number for family members.	Tissue Box-Osage Orange
Cutting Board-Osage Orange Osage Orange wood came from fallen limb near Chemistry Bldg. at U. of Texas. Roger Bengtson and I cut the limb up early one Saturday morning, very hard work.	Cutting Board-Osage Orange
Cutting Board-Osage Orange Osage Orange wood came from a fallen limb off this tree near Chemistry Bldg. at U. of Texas. Mel Oakes was driving to work on a Friday morning and noticed that the limb had broken off and was on the ground. He knew this was an Osage Orange tree. Ariving at work he told colleague and fellow woodworker, Roger Bengtson, about the limb. They called the UT Physical Plant and ask what the plans were for the limb. We were told that they would hire an outside firm to cut it up. We asked if they would be interested in an" inside" firm His response was "I know where you are coming from, just let me say, as far as I am concerned it is yours, however, if the UT Police show up then it is your problem." I told Roger, "Early tomorrow morning dress in your arborist employee looking clothes and bring your chainsaw and meet me there." We worked all day cutting up the limb and stacking carefully the waste. During the day, the UT Police showed up several times and chatted, but did not question us. We transported the wood to Roger's home and stored it under his back porch to dry out.	Cutting Board-Osage Orange
Outdoor Bench & Table-made from cypress. The wood was kindly given to me by Rambie Briggs who harvested it from a water tank on a family ranch in South Texas.	Shadow Box for Charles F. Oakes’ Hammer, Courtesy Donald. Oakes Hammer given to Ethan Buck, great-great grandson of C. F. Oakes.
Pat’s grandfather, Robert S, Winter, made for Pat’s first birhtday, June 8, 1941
Pat’s grandfather, Robert S, Winter, made for Pat’s first birhtday, June 8, 1941
Pat’s grandfather, Robert S. Winter S , made this model of their house on Winter St., Wrentham, MA. Pat's grandmother, Velma, made the curtains, spreads, etc. Pat has the house.
This workbench is based on an old Scandinavian design. I saw a very old version in a shed in Oslo at the Fram Museum. Tag Frid a celebrated Danish woodworker, who taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, required his graduate students to make the bench. My colleague, Roger Bengtson, and I each made a bench. We purchased the maple from Alamo Hardwoods in San Antonio. the vise hardware was purchased as a kit from Woodcraft. We found a cabinet shop of an architect and were able to get them to plane the rough maple. The reason Frid chose the bench as a graduate requirement was that it required so many woodworking skills, e. g. chisels, planes, saws, drill press. Roger and I greatly enjoyed the project and our benches played a big role in our woodworking for nearly 50 years. The pages below are from the Fall 1976 magazine, "Fine Woodworking." The left-handed version of the bench shown above is from a blog by Paul Van Pernis, entitled "Sinister Workbenchs." A pdf version of the article is here WorkBench
This workbench is based on an old Scandinavian desigh. I saw a very old version in a shed in Oslo at the Fram Museum. Tag Fried a celebrated Danish wood worker, who taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, required his graduate students to make the bench. My colleague, Roger Bengtson, and I each made a bench. We purchased the maple from Alamo Hardwoods in San Antonio. the vise hardware was purchased as a kit from Woodcraft. The reason Fried chose the bench as a graduate requirement was that it required so many woodworking skill, e. g. chisels, planes, saws drill press. Roger and I greatly enjoyed the project and our benches play a big role in our woodworking for the nearly 50 years. The pages shown here are from the Fall 1976 magazine, "Fine Woodworking."
Workbench 1
Workbench 2
Workbench 2
Workbench 3
Workbench 4
Veneering Church Door, Clamp Shortage	Resourceful Don Brown, Fellow Woodworker, too few clamps for a door repair.

I was priviladged to know a consumate craftsman, Arthur Nash Hale. He was a master model maker. Pat’s parents lived in a retirement home, Tryon Estates in Columbus, NC. Arthur and Ethyl Hale were good friends of theirs. During our visits we were privilege to see some of Art’s models which he had constructed over his lifetime. They were truly exceptional and deserving of a wider audience. While model building was a hobby, it also was a small business sideline for him. Aircraft and ship manufactures would hire him to make model replicas of a new craft to present as a gift to persons who were instrumental in the airplane or ship being constructed. Below are of a number of his projects, some created as a teenage; also shown are exquisite Nantucket baskets and handbags. Most of the pictures were taken during visits with Art and Ethyl. The first two pictures, ship and stagecoach, were kindly provided by his son-in-law Jim Horton. Art died in 2006 and we lost a master craftsman. I have included Art’s obituary below.

Arthur Nash Hale, 89, of Columbus died Sunday, March 12, 2006, at Tryon Estates.

He was a native of Stratford, Conn., the son of the late Arthur J. Hale and Margherita Holmes Hale. He was also preceded in death by two sisters, Madeline Nichols and Janet Cordts. He was a 1938 graduate of Tufts University with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering and a member of Tau Beta Pi, the honor engineering society. His work was in product design of industrial sewing machines. He was employed by Singer Manufacturing Co. for 14 years in Bridgeport, Conn., and 23 years with Union Special Corp. in Chicago, becoming vice president of research, development and engineering. His innovations were responsible for more than 50 U.S. patents, plus foreign equivalents.

During the Chicago years, the family lived in nearby Park Ridge. His civic service included board member and several terms as president of Community Concerts, the Northwest Symphony Orchestra and Park Ridge Public Library. He was co-founder of the Rhythm Club, a Big Band in the northwest suburbs.

Music, woodworking and model making were his hobbies. He was also known in retirement as an artisan of Nantucket baskets and handbags.

Survivors include his wife, Ethyl Hanford Hale; two daughters, Linda and R. James Horton of Sun Lakes, Ariz., and Martha and Martin McDonald-Swan of Columbus, Ind.; a son, Clifford and Cynthia Elswick Hale of Dunwoody, Ga.; grandchildren, Curtis and wife, Krista, Hale, Janet Horton, David and wife, Lori, McDonald and Christine and husband, Jonathan, Keller; and a great-grandson, Elliot McDonald.

Art constructed this model as a teenager. It is the “Sovereign of the Seas”, an American Clipper Ship, 1852. His father thought he might sell it to Franklin Roosevelt to finance his college education. He sent a picture to the Roosevelt, a sailing enthusiast, however he received the suggestion from the White House staff that it be donated. Fortunately he didn’t agree, later, many of Roosevelt’s model ships were lost in a fire. The original clipper ship was built in 1852 on speculation by Donald McKay, East Boston, MA. Launched from the shipyard of McKay June 19, 1852 the clipper ship was sold to Andrew F. Meinke of the ship broker firm Funch & Meinke, New York. Some details of this Clipper ship: Length: 258 feet, Beam: 44 feet, Depth: 25 feet, Speed: 18 knots, Cargo capacity: 2,420 tons.

A towering expanse of sails, a finely curved hull, and a hard-driving captain making full use of heavy winds produced record speeds which clipped days and even weeks from long runs and brought fame to "clipper" ships during and after their brief decade of greatness ending about 1858. With a favorable wind a clipper ship cold pass a steamer...

An overland stagecoach. with working brake. The model looks like a Concord Coach. In 1827, Downing and Abbot built their first coach, and they continued for the next twenty years to run a thriving and expanding business. By 1829 Boston was the hub of 77 stagecoach lines, by 1832 there were 106. Stagecoaches ceased operating between Boston and New York after steamships began running between New York and Providence.