Late 19th Century Woodworking Tools
- A late 19th century woodworker would own a variety of saws.a saw image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com
Saws are tools for cutting or dividing wood, and a journeyman woodworker would have at least one saw and probably quite a few more. Each saw would serve a particular need or manner of cutting the wood. Depending on his specialty in woodworking, 19th century carpenters would own a ripping saw, a half ripper, a hand saw, panel saw, tenon saw, carcass saw, sash saw, compass saw, keyhole saw, and turning saw. Axes, hatches and adzes are also wood cutting tools owned by woodworkers. - Wood carving tools were used to make a variety of decorative items.Ornate Wood Carving Ornament on White Background image by Andy Dean from Fotolia.com
Most carpenters and joiners or cabinetmakers would own and use wood carving tools, including a carving knife, chisels, gougers, a coping saw, V-tool and sharpening tools such as a leather strop and stones. There are many different types of each tool, variously shaped and beveled chisels and gougers. With these basic tools, the woodworker would be able to shape and carve many different items from chairs and cabinets to the decorative touches to a home. - A mallet taps the handle of a chisel, driving it forward to gouge out a section of wood.tool bench image by Greg Pickens from Fotolia.com
Edge tools include many different kinds of chisels, gougers and planers. These tools were used to cut into the wood while it was held in place on the workbench or in the hand or they were used for smoothing the surface of a piece of wood. A 19th century woodworker would own at least a few different types of chisel, gouge and plane. - A boatwright used hand-turned augers to create holes in wood.marine carpentry. image by mdb from Fotolia.com
Bradawls (shaped like a screwdriver, used to cut an indentation in wood to make a hole), gimlets (a small hand-drilling tool), drills and drill bits, brace and bits or augers were used for boring holes or making indentations in wood. Carpenters and joiners would own and use a variety of each type of tool. - Many different types of calipers measured small distances in woodworking.antique micrometer caliper image by Michael Cornelius from Fotolia.com
Try squares measured the accuracy of 90 degree angles, checking to see if a surface on a piece of wood was straight. Bevels were used to measure, duplicate and transfer angles from one surface to another. "Dancing master" calipers were used to measure small distances in wood. Inside calipers measured internal distances and outside calipers measures external distances. Naturally, many types of calipers existed. In the 19th century, calipers were often made by the woodworker, occasionally quite whimsically, with shapely female legs. - A woodworking shop was filled with tools.tischlerei 2 image by fotohansi from Fotolia.com
Vises, holdfasts and clamps belonged in a woodworker's tool chest or were permanently affixed to her workbench. In carpentry and joinery, a piece of wood was held by a vise or clamp while the woodworker worked on it. A work bench might have four or five built-in vises, used for a variety of purposes. - A treadle pole lathe was used to hold and spin a piece of wood while the woodworker held a cutting tool to the wood. The spindle of this preindustrial lathe rotated by means of a cord, which wraps around the spindle, rises up to a bending pole at the top and around the spindle and down to a treadle which the woodworker uses to apply force to the cord. Press down on the treadle, the pole bends and the spindle turns. Let up on the treadle and the spindle turns in the other direction. Circular wooden objects, such as bowls and cups, were carved out using pole lathes.
- Woodworkers used mallets to apply force to the handle of a chisel or gouge.old mallet image by Aleksandr Ugorenkov from Fotolia.com
Hammers and mallets of different types were used daily by woodworkers. A mallet would be used with chisels and gougers to push the tool into the wood. Hammers were used to drive nails or to apply force to join two pieces of wood, as with a mortise and tenon.
