Basic tools across the ages?

[Chris152]

I've been trying to come up with a design for a sculpture that refers to the history of woodworking and, seeing a beautiful axe-hewn box lid by Pete M a couple of days ago, the penny dropped. I want to design something that has separate sections, each shaped by a historical or contemporary tool that is most basic or fundamental. I thought maybe a turned section, axe-hewn section, cnc routed section, and a woven section (willow).

I'm looking for a couple more, or to replace ones I already thought of. Obviously there are hundreds of ways of shaping wood, but which are too important or fundamental not to include?

ps Making it'll be a joint effort - I'll only be trying to make one of the sections!

Thanks for any thoughts

Chris

 

[Just4Fun]

I want to design something that has separate sections, each shaped by a historical or contemporary tool that is most basic or fundamental. I thought maybe a turned section, axe-hewn section, cnc routed section, and a woven section (willow).

Clearly we all approach things differently but I have never done anything turned, axe-hewn, cnc routed or woven so it would never occur to me that any of those are basic or fundamental. On the other hand I don't know if I have ever made anything without using a saw, plane or chisel. Can you get any tool more basic & fundamental than those?

 

[Chris152]

Clearly we all approach things differently but I have never done anything turned, axe-hewn, cnc routed or woven so it would never occur to me that any of those are basic or fundamental. On the other hand I don't know if I have ever made anything without using a saw, plane or chisel. Can you get any tool more basic & fundamental than those?

You're right, I'm being too vague - I think it's because I'm not sure what I meant. And weaving isn't a tool.

So, to try to be a bit more clear -
I'm thinking of tools and methods that whose invention have changed the course of woodworking, kind of like the invention of the printing press and the computer changed the course of written communication.
So, the invention of the axe would be fundamental, as would cnc routing (I'm just guessing at the latter).

But there's another thing which wasn't clear to me til you replied - the tool or method needs to leave its mark visible in the wood, and hopefully be interesting to look at. So a gouge/ chisel could be good, but a regular handsaw I'd find less interesting. In fact, I reckon a carving gouge could be on the shortlist.

Obviously you can't guess what'll be interesting to me, but are there any other tools that have had that historical importance that I could think about?

 

[AndyT]

The most fundamental tool across the ages must be the knife, so I think you need something whittled or carved.
Once you get onto metal tools, the file is one of the most essential - you can't have a saw without a file. (To make a file, you need a hammer, an anvil and a chisel.) But you don't see much in the way of filed wood, so probably not relevant to your project.

 

[HappyHacker]

What about an adze? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adze

 

[sunnybob]

Youre all too civilised.
The first tool was a rock, which later became a hammer.
Then a sharp stone, which became a knife. which morphed into a ragged edge stone (saw)

Chisels and planes are far too modern.

 

[AndyT]

This article might help. It looks at woodwork from 7000 years ago and investigates the tools used.

https://www.archaeology.org/issues/152- ... ic-toolkit

Includes mortise and tenon joints!

 

[screwpainting]

I once saw a ancient cave painting of what appeared to be a man holding a Beavers head against a tree, one hand gripping the scruff of its neck and the other hand grasping its genitals.

This was hypothesized to be the earliest evidence of man beavering away to produce crotch cut timbers.

How about a carving of that scene. :idea:

 

[Chris152]

This article might help. It looks at woodwork from 7000 years ago and investigates the tools used.

https://www.archaeology.org/issues/152- ... ic-toolkit

Includes mortise and tenon joints!

That must have been a fantastic project to be involved in. And the m&t joints after 7500 years still look tighter than any I've done. And the knife/ whittling suggestion is great - not just for its place in history but because I guess most of us did it when we were kids - for sure, whittling was my first contact with shaping bits of wood, back when I was in primary school. Definitely need to find a place for it in the piece.
The problem with the adze is finding someone I know locally who uses one - I'm going to ask around, it seems to have been used extensively all over the world?
Still trying to get my head around the image of the beaver... :shock:
Thanks all,
C

 

[bourbon]

Our medieval group covers from around 1415 until 1485 (Bosworth) I have posted a picture of our carpender before. His tool kit is reasonably comprehensive for a jobbing carpenter of the period. One of my 'tricks' is to ask the bored looking dad of the group,if he has a workshop or garage, and to name me a modern woodworking tool. "bear in mind sir, I have be doing this for 20 years, and no one has beaten me yet". Most tools are indeed, derived from the humble stone, rock or antler. One thing that hasn't changed, is man's (and woman's) ingenuity to find new ways of using them. Sorry, that doesn't help the OP one bit.

 

[lurker]

If you want to get really basic, with a tree branch (for a mallet) and a wooden wedge (I admit I cheated and cut this on a bandsaw ) you can do surprising things with a tree trunk.

I made a bunch of garden posts with nothing else ...... Just cos I could.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Not much doubt that the first 'proper' woodworking tool was the axe; stone ones to start with, metal ones later. There was also it's sideways brother, the adze. Chisels are a fairly simple development of the axe - a refined shape, perhaps, but same sort of idea.

Then came saws, some time in the Bronze age.

The next big step is the refinement of surface and dimensional accuracy made possible by planes. It seems that nobody is quite sure of the origins of the plane, but the Greeks or Romans are often credited. We certianly know from archaeology that the Romans developed what were in effect high-angle infill planes.

Then there's the auger, which seems to be one of the inventions of the Dark Ages. (The brace was later - middle ages.)

I think those are the four fundamentals from which all other tools are developed. The CNC router, for example, is a high-speed specially shaped computer-controlled auger. The spokeshave is a specially-shaped plane. All saws are basically a piece of thin metal with a frilly edge.

So that's what I'd go for - axe, saw, plane and auger.

 

[bourbon]

Further to my reply. I have just been down to see my carpenter mate and asked him the same question. He replied, without hesitation...................THE PENCIL. A knife line, is very difficult to see and follow. In medieval times, we could have used a chalk line or a piece of charcoal, but they can be 3-4mm thick. And finally, have you ever tried to fill in a screwfix order form with a scribing knife?

 

[Chris152]

Sorry, that doesn't help the OP one bit.

Maybe not, but that comment made me laugh...

Thanks everyone, now I just need to get on with drawing. Thing is, it's not so easy drawing the various marks that these tools are going to make so I'm thinking to do some sort of photo composite. If I get this together, I'll post it.

C