Hobbies And Interests
Adze
A tool similar to an axe, but with the blade at a right angle to the handle, the adze dates back to the Stone Age. In Northwest America it was used to hollow out tree trunks for canoes.
Brace
The brace is a tool that allows continuous boring by means of a U-shaped grip that is cranked as pressure is applied to a spindle on the top. Before appearing in America, the brace was brought to Europe from the Middle East by the Crusaders during the Middle Ages.
Chisel
Chisels come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, from the narrow mortising chisel made for creating square-shaped holes in wood to accept tenons to wider chisels made for paring and shaving wood from small areas.
Draw Knife
A blade with handles on either end, the draw knife is drawn across the wood toward the woodworker. The control that this tool provides makes it excellent for intermediate wood shaping.
Lathe
A lathe turns wood to make cylindrical objects such as posts and chair legs. Early manual lathes are of two types. A spring pole lathe uses a flexible pole to spin the work, which is wrapped with cord. The woodworker cuts on the downstroke of the treadle and then releases it, allowing the spring pole to lift the cord back up. A treadle lathe, which uses a flywheel to turn the work, allows for much higher speeds and continuous cutting.
Plane
Early American woodworkers used several types of planes for their work. A plane extends a cutter beneath a smooth "sole." The plane is pushed over wood and shaves it off. Depending on the type of plane and on how low the cutter is extended, a plane could be used to quickly flatten raw timber or to provide a finished, glass-like surface to wood. Router planes, with a singe blade extending from between two soles, could be used to cut grooves in wood. Other planes were made to decoratively finish edges.