It’s quite difficult to determine a species of wood from a 16th-century engraving of it.
So we don’t know for certain what sort of wood would be used to make early squares, rules and levels. One clue comes from W.L. Goodman, who wrote a two-part history of marking and measuring tools for The Woodworker magazine in 1964.
Here’s what he wrote:
“Mediaeval building accounts often refer to the purchase of old wine casks, usually made of Baltic oak or wainscot, for the carpenters to make their straight-edges, rules, and squares from this well-seasoned hardwood.”
Goodman also briefly discusses the Melencolia-type squares in the article and said they were for “setting out.”
So if you want to build some old squares, drink up!
— Christopher Schwarz
in those days beer was kept in wooden casks as well 🙂
Beer is still often kept in barrels. I would imagine that it might be a little tough to make straight edges from curved barrel staves, though.
We should drink it regardless.
The more you drink, the straighter the square!
Relieved to hear the construction material was hardwood. I feared they might be formed from pure teen angst, tears of a raven, or the desire to bury someone beneath the floorboards.
Maybe a future installment of “History of Wood” will provide the definitive answer to this mystery.
I have seen barrels in wineries that are 12 feet in diameter and 15 feet tall, so curvature might not be a problem. One might need a drinking problem to empty it though!
1. Drink lots of wine or beer
2. ?
3. Layout tools!
Interesting that the material in those 2 articles is not in the book by Goodman, also 1964, History of Woodworking Tools. Perhaps edited out by publisher of book, and recycled into The Woodworker the same year.
Interesting. Here in Northern California, there’s quite the trade in used oak wine barrels, and quite the cottage industry making stuff out of them. Yard furniture seems to be particularly popular, typically unpainted with the purple stain still showing; check out the sfbay and sacramento craigslists for some interesting Aridondack chairs with curved purple-stained slats.