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How to Identify Old Tools

Old tools are really amazing when we consider the thousands of electronic gadgets available today. Most antique collectors and craftsmen derive great joy from seeing a tool that a blacksmith in a little rural town hand-forged a hundred years ago. A few tools carved from wood or hand-forged when our country first began are still around, but most of them can be seen in museums.

Instructions

- 1
  Search the outside of the tool for engravings, markings, a manufacturer's name or a patent date. If the item is made from wood, an initial or a symbol may be carved in the wood. Some blacksmiths and craftsmen made a special mark on the items they created.
- 2
  Determine what material the tool is made from. Older tools will consist of wood and hand-forged metals. Some tools, such as planes for shaving and smoothing wood, may have inserted metal blades with identifying markings or writing on them.
- 3
  Research the patent date at the U.S. Patent Office web site. These listings help determine what year a product was made in. A hand-forged tool may not have a patent date or a manufacturer's name .
- 4
  Check your local library for reference books on antiques that describe old tools. You can check out one or two books for your research.
- 5
  Check the directories of businesses and companies for the name of any manufacturer you find written or engraved on a tool. These directories should also be available at the library. You can also get more information from antique dealers, especially if they have old tools.

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