Atlas Trail
From Log to Joint: Nine Woodworking Hand Tools
This path follows a piece of wood through the hand shop, from splitting a log along its grain, through shaping, flattening and marking, to boring and cutting the pieces so they fit together. Each stop is a tool whose page records how it works and where it came from.
Stop 1 of 9.
Tools and Equipment
The froe cleaves wood along the grain. Its blade is hammered into the end of a piece and the haft is twisted, so the handle acts as a lever and the wood tears apart with comparatively little force.
Stop 2 of 9.
Tools and Equipment
The adze has its edge set perpendicular to the handle, unlike an axe. Its page notes that it has been used since the Stone Age and appears in Egyptian art from the Old Kingdom.
Stop 3 of 9.
Tools and Equipment
The slick is a large chisel with a wide blade and a long handle. It is always pushed and never struck, so the weight of the tool and the user's shoulder drive the paring cut.
Stop 4 of 9.
Tools and Equipment
The hand plane forces an angled blade over the wood so repeated passes leave a flat surface. The earliest surviving examples come from Pompeii, and Roman planes already resembled the modern design.
Stop 5 of 9.
Tools and Equipment
The try square marks and checks 90-degree angles. Its name comes from trying a board to see whether its edges and faces are square, and wooden examples survive from Ancient Egypt and Rome.
Stop 6 of 9.
Tools and Equipment
The marking gauge scribes a line parallel to a reference edge. A headstock slides along a beam and locks in place, with a pin, knife or wheel at the end of the beam making the mark.
Stop 7 of 9.
Tools and Equipment
The brace bores holes with a bit and auger. Its U-shaped crank gives much greater torque than other hand-powered drills, and the earliest such braces appeared in Flanders between 1420 and 1430.
Stop 8 of 9.
Tools and Equipment
The coping saw is a bow saw for intricate outlines and interior cut-outs, and it cuts moldings for a coped joint. Its page says it was most likely invented in the middle of the 16th century.
Stop 9 of 9.
Tools and Equipment
The miter box guides a hand saw for precise cuts, usually at 45 degrees. Its page notes that users still prize its accuracy, safety, quiet operation and low cost against a powered miter saw.
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