By Linda C. Reynolds

Lamont "Monty" Saulmon '64, spent hours at a time in his grandfather's blacksmith shop, cranking the forge, wielding the heavy tools, watching as his grandfather shoed mules to pull plows, and making the iron tools with wooden handles used to repair sleighs and log chains for the rural community of Morganton, N.C.

These experiences taught Saulmon to value and respect the plain but effective old tools and machinery he saw modern counterparts replacing. As a young Industrial Arts teacher in the Washington, D.C.-Maryland area, he began collecting old tools and machinery.

Bryan Hartzog '03 works with a double  handled boring machine for the mid to late 1800s, used to dir holed in post and beam construction

The collection burgeoned until "there were so many items," Saulmon admits, "they were stored in, under and over anything that could be used for storage space."

Now retired and living in the frame home his mother designed and father and uncle built, set on the point of a finger ridge flanked by dense woods, he decided to part with some of the pieces. But he wanted to be sure they would go where they could be appreciated. So he thought about Berea College.

After talking with Technology and Industrial Arts Chair Gary Mahoney, and professors Don Hudson and James Yount, Saulmon made the department an offer it couldn't refuse.

"Monty offered the College one piece of machinery--a wooden lathe that was missing its bed," says Mahoney. "We made arrangements to go to Monty's home to pick up the lathe. By the time we left, we had a full truck load."

At last count, eight truck loads, a van and a trailer full of "goodies," as Saulmon refers to the collection, has been donated. "This translates to over 30 large pieces and a variety of more than 1000 hand tools," notes Yount.

Technology and Industrial Arts majors, Bryan Hartzog '03 and Steven McKaig '02, worked full-time summer labor positions cataloging and repairing the equipment. With so many items, it was easily a full-time job getting everything organized and repaired.

During Saulmon’s years as an industrial arts student, his study of antique tools and machinery was limited to print sources and pictures, as nothing else was available.

Now Berea won't have to depend on those limited resources. According to Mahoney and Yount, Berea will have the only "Early Technology Working Laboratory" in the country. "Berea students will work with some museum-quality tools and machinery while having access to other valuable items on display."

Besides the unique laboratory, no other institution houses the quality, number and variety of antique hand tools and machinery that Saulmon has collected from Appalachia, across the U.S. and even other countries, such as Sweden.

"Now students will be exposed to 16^th, 17^th, and 18^th century technology," Mahoney comments. "Instead of looking at a textbook or video, they will be able to utilize the piece. Basics haven't changed that much but students can see how things were done as compared to how they're done today. This is a background you won't find anywhere else."

Future plans are for furniture-making courses such as Appalachian Crafts or Materials and Processes to be offered utilizing the old equipment.

"Instead of looking at a slide show, we can actually have demonstrations of how the 'people-powered' equipment is used," Yount adds.

Saulmon marvels at the "ingeniousness the people exhibited in bygone times. These tools show the old-timers’ creativity in fabricating complete pieces of equipment basically from wood, with little or no metal.

"The hand cranked equipment with wooden springs and foot treadles is slower than its modern day counterparts" he acknowledges, "but you are in ultimate control, and you have absolute power."

Mahoney and Yount call Saulmon a "walking encyclopedia" regarding the collection's history and repair. Nathan Castonguay, '02, agrees. "He traces the history of every item he buys," says the technology and industrial arts major, who has traveled to Saulmon's with Mahoney and Yount. "If he hasn't seen an item before, it probably means it's been custom made or improved from the original. Many patents are on the items, and can be traced to the original owners."

For some items, students must rely on the Internet as a primary information and repair source. Missing or dilapidated parts cannot be bought, so they must be fabricated in the technology department.

Saulmon is pleased with Berea's reception of the collection.

"I'm just tickled to death I've been able to find a home for all the items," he says. "I've always felt it behooves us to find a good place for treasured items after we're gone, because whether we're an individual or the Smithsonian, we're still a temporary custodian. This way I'm passing some memories on down."

Steven McKaig, '02, demonstrates a mid 1800s scroll saw used for intricate wood  work on house trim or musical instruments, while Nathan Castonguay,'02, and Bryan Hartzog, 'o3, observe. The saw is powered by a foot pedal which students reworked.

Nathan Castonguay '02 learned more about the collection from Saulmon (right), during a visit to Saulmon's home