In my carpenter work I have many odd jobs, which makes it necessary to call a drayman for hauling the chest of tools each way, and this added expense on small jobs makes them unprofitable. To eliminate this expense I constructed a tool-chest cart that can be easily pushed along on a sidewalk, paved street, or smooth roadway, by hand.
The frame of the cart is made from 1/2-in. pipe set on 20-in. bicycle wheels using pneumatic tires. The wheels are set far enough forward so that there is considerable weight on the post at the rear when standing still. When lifted, the handle is of convenient height for pushing, and it balances well on the wheels.
It is much easier to push the cart than to carry a few tools in a hand box on the shoulder, and when I arrive at the work I have everything I need, including screws, brads and nails of various sizes.
– Contributed by Sim Goddard, Sheridan, Wyo.
The village joiners outside their shop in Eschelbronn, Germany – May 1911.
Which tool will you choose to identify with for your next group portrait? Will it be the try square or the jointer plane? Or will you be in the bathroom when the photographer arrives and wind up holding the glue pot because all the cool tools were taken?
Adam Kaiser and his Journeymen – Joiners from Eschelbronn, Germany – 1882
(from left to right starting with the back row)
Konrad Grab, Johann Rumig, ? Kirsch, Adam Kaltenbrunner, Christian Wolff, Adam Lenz, Jacob Steiß, Christoph Canz, Adam Kaiser junior, Adam Kaiser senior, Georg Wilhlm Kirsch, Wilhelm Echner, Johannes Filsinger.
It falls through the Sawing and Axe Violence,
The fresh, joyful free Forest;
What Wonder, when at last the Tree takes revenge.
And his Murderer is sawed in Pieces.
The World is inverted!
Fliegende Blätter – 1852
An illustrated weekly magazine published in Munich.
This photo was recently sent to me by antique tool dealer Jim Bode. We were having a conversation at a local tool museum last Sunday when he mentioned a photo that was given to him by one of his customers. The image shows seven carpenters posing in a field with their tool chests circa 1910. These were full service country carpenters who could build a house from the foundation to the roof. They have the usual selection of handsaws, planes, bit braces, breast drills, augers, spirit levels, hammers, steel squares, mallets, chisels, etc.
The specialty tools reveal the range of their carpentry activities. The boring machines, framing chisels, lifting jack, and adzes show that they were still building mortise & tenon timber frames during an era when most of the country had long since converted to balloon framing. The expensive miter boxes and combination plane show that they were also doing exterior trim, cornice work, and possibly interior trim & flooring as well. The slate ripper is only used for roofing and siding.
The planes are a mixed group of cast iron and transitional. The wooden soled planes were often preferred by site carpenters because they dramatically reduced the weight of the traveling tool kit. Most of the transitional planes in this image are stock models, but one of them appears to be a user modified plane. It looks like somebody took the hardware off of a Stanley No. 26 Jack Plane and added their own custom four foot sole to make a super jointer.
As for the date, I suggest circa 1910 because the miter boxes in this photo appear to be Stanley models with patents issued in 1904. For that reason the photo can not be earlier than 1905. Several years ago I put together a research paper on miter box patents. If you need help with the identity or age of a miter box, then this document can help. Miter Box Patents – (2812 pages – 160MB pdf) Right Click – Save As
