Foxfire 5

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected it to be
Review: I have the Foxfire two book which goes into detail about how to take sheep's wool, card it, spin it and make something. It also tell how to build a horse wagon. There are lots of pictures and drawings.

This book, Foxfire Five, is more text. Mostly a lot of talking about things back when. Not near as many pictures as in Two, or much talk about how to actually make something. More like a history or monolouge.

They show a fire poker being made and a shingle splitter. But, heck, they both arc weld them together. That isn't 'traditional'.
A good deal about cow bells is discussed. And how to make them.

The gun smith part is more about the history of gun making and about the people than about how to make them. There is some gunsmithing shown, but not much.

They show a iron furnace. But they talk about the people involved in rebuilding it and what they did; nothing about how to make one yourself and run it. And they used a blower donated by a foundry rather than bellows like were there originally.

They do show a few pages about how to make a horseshoe from a bar. Even there, a lot is left out.

This is more like a history rather than 'traditional mountain crafts'. I thought the Foxfire books were trying to preserve the crafts.

If you want to read the mudane history of people that you don't even know, then this book is for you. If you want to learn the art of metalworking or gunsmithing, you won't learn much here. If you are interested in the history of gunsmithing, there is some of that in here and some pictures of gunsmiths.

Perhaps I just don't understand the objective of this book. I have based my opinion upon the earlier books which concentrated more on how to do some crafts. That is what I expected this book to do. Instead, this book concentrates more on the personalities; how they felt about the craft, what their work was like, what they did day by day, places and people they worked for, how much money they made, the people they ran into along the way. Hey, I cound tell stories just as well as these guys do.

Rating:
Summary: Another "MUST HAVE" for your bookshelf
Review: If you enjoy the Appalachian culture, you'll love the FOXFIRE books. Volume No. 5 covers bear hunting, blacksmithing and gun making. If you've never read these books, it may be difficult, since the text is written in the vernacular of the mountain folk, but this adds to the charm and "character" of the books. The bear hunting stories wer entertaining, but I really enjoyed reading about Hacker Martin and Hershall House. If you want to know how life really was in the Smokey Mountains, read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Another "MUST HAVE" for your bookshelf
Review: If you enjoy the Appalachian culture, you'll love the FOXFIRE books. Volume No. 5 covers bear hunting, blacksmithing and gun making. If you've never read these books, it may be difficult, since the text is written in the vernacular of the mountain folk, but this adds to the charm and "character" of the books. The bear hunting stories wer entertaining, but I really enjoyed reading about Hacker Martin and Hershall House. If you want to know how life really was in the Smokey Mountains, read this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Must For Hacker Martin Fans
Review: If you need info on Hacker Martin, the famous gunmaker, this is the book!

Rating:
Summary: As always, a pleasure to read and apply
Review: One of our nation's treasures is being lost one person at a time, and because of Eliot Wigginton, at least some of the treasure is being documented. The people of Appalachia have been marginalized and treated as backwoods hicks and hillbillies, only because of their poverty. That is what makes the richness of their culture all the more amazing. These people live on what an average family throws away every day. They're frugal, resourceful, and highly intelligent. This book only serves to prove it.

If you haven't spent time with hill people, your live is incomplete.

Rating:
Summary: As always, a pleasure to read and apply
Review: One of our nation's treasures is being lost one person at a time, and because of Eliot Wigginton, at least some of the treasure is being documented. The people of Appalachia have been marginalized and treated as backwoods hicks and hillbillies, only because of their poverty. That is what makes the richness of their culture all the more amazing. These people live on what an average family throws away every day. They're frugal, resourceful, and highly intelligent. This book only serves to prove it.

If you haven't spent time with hill people, your live is incomplete.

Rating:
Summary: Just Get It!
Review: The Foxfire Series are Great Books just to read, or to learn the old ( Real ) ways. I had all of them ( The older editions ) these here are the same with fancy covers. If you are between 7-77 get them!