Lost Art Press

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The Historic Evidence for Tool Selection and Use

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“The Jointer … is the largest sort of Plains by them used, it is perfectly straight from end to end; its office is to follow the Fore-Plain…” Image Courtesy of the British Library


This is an excerpt from “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” by Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee. 

There are several sources we use to learn about a 17th-century joiner’s tool kit. The surviving furniture retains many tool marks left by the joiners. These marks can include those from riving and hewing, layout marks for stock dimensioning and joinery, and even the types of plane blades used in surfacing the stock.

Probate inventories taken at the time of a person’s death often itemize details of their household belongings. Many examples of inventories include a tradesman’s tools listed in detail. For example: John Thorp of Plymouth died in 1633, and his estate included the following tools:

1 Great gouge, 1 square, one hatchet, One Square, 1 short 2 handsaw, A broade Axe, An holdfast, A handsaw, 3 broade chisels, 2 gowges & 2 narrow chisels, 3 Augers, Inch & 1/2, 1 great auger, inboring plaines, 1 Joynter plaine, 1 foreplaine, A smoothing plaine, 1 halferound plaine, An Addes, a felling Axe

William Carpenter, Senior, died in Plymouth in 1659. He had many tools listed in his estate:

Smale tooles att 10s; one axe and a peece of Iron att 7s; 4 Iron wedges att 8s; a foot and an old axe att 1s; …one old axe…; the Lave and turning tools att 13s; 3 Crosscutt sawes 15s; smale working tooles 12s; smale sawes 8s; an adds and 2 turning tooles att 6s; three Joynters 3 hand plaines one fore plain 10s; one bucse a long borrer one great goughe 10s; Rabbeting plaines and hollowing plaines and one plow att (pounds)1; 3 Drawing knives att 7s; 2 spokeshaves att 3s; Chisells a gouge and an hammer and a Round shave att 19s; 2 adds att 8s; one vise… 2 beetles…; a grindstone 15s; 2 axes att 6s #

The above inventories are found in C.H. Simmons, Plymouth Colony Records: Wills and Inventories. The values are expressed in pounds, shillings (s), and pence, (d). At this point in 17th-century New England, a joiner usually could expect about 2 shillings 6 pence for a day’s wages, a farm laborer about half that. A day’s work would be 12 hours in summer, and eight in winter.

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The inside surfaces of this stool’s aprons were only roughly worked. Riven and hewn textures are just as they came from the froe and hatchet, with only minimal planing. Careful examination of the stiles’ inner faces shows the mortise layout done with an awl.

Inventories can be enlightening and they can also be confounding. Some terminology is rather general. “Broad” and “narrow” are descriptive enough in some cases; yet in the same document the appraisers list the augers by size. The “inboring” planes Thorp had are moulding planes for decorating furniture and interior woodwork. William Carpenter’s planes were described better, hollows and rabbets among them, as well as the plow plane necessary for any panelled work. “Lave” is a phonetic spelling for a pronunciation of lathe.

Two detailed 17th-century English sources that are pivotal in the research concerning joiner’s tools are Joseph Moxon’s Mechanick Exercises; or the Doctrine of Handy-works Applied to the Arts of Smithing, Joinery, Carpentry, Turning, Bricklaying (1683) and Randle Holme’s Academie or Store house of Armory & Blazon (1688). Moxon’s book was published in serial form starting in 1678 in London, and it outlines the tools and techniques of several building trades. While these writings outline the tools used and some of the techniques, neither is strictly a “how-to” on the craft of joinery. It is important to remember that Moxon’s joinery section concerns itself with architectural joinery; making paneling, or “wainscot,” for rooms. He makes no mention of furniture at all. Holme’s work is more complicated. It is a guide for heraldic painters, detailing any images that can be found on coats of arms. However for our purposes it has a wealth of detail about all aspects of woodworking. Holme cites Moxon as one of his many sources, and both men probably also drew from Andre Felibien’s The Principles of Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting, and Other Related Arts. (Paris 1676). Like Moxon, Felibien’s work is concerned with architectural woodwork, not furniture.

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If we saw this plane with no context, we would be certain it is Dutch. Its appearance in Randle Holme’s book raises questions about the transmission of craft techniques between England and the Continent during the 17th century. There were many hundreds of documented foreign craftsmen in and around London in the 16th and 17th centuries. Their effect on both furniture and tools is often understated. Image Courtesy of the British Library

Both Moxon and Holme illustrate and discuss the necessary tools for joinery, some in more detail than others. Planes get extensive treatment; both works describe the parts of the plane, their function and the features that distinguish one from another.

Randle Holme described a fore plane. “…called the fore-Plain, and of some the former, or the course Plain; because it is used to take off the roughness of the Timber before it be worked with the Joynter or smooth Plain; and for that end the edge of the Iron or Bit, is not ground upon a straight as other Plains are, but rises with a Convex Arch in the middle of it; and it is set also more Ranker and further out of the mouth in the Sole of the Stock, than any other Bits or Irons are.” (Author’s italics.)

Both authors identify the jack plane as being the carpenters’ version of a fore plane. Yet the term “jack plane” does not appear in any probate inventory we have seen, it is always listed as a fore plane.

— MB

Making the Twist Leg Without a Lathe

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TYPICAL SINGLE-TWIST LEG Apart from the obvious usefulness of being able to make a twist leg it is a most fascinating job to do.


This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume I” published by Lost Art Press. 

It may interest readers to know that the best twist-turned legs are still a combination of turning and carving, and that when they were first made in the 17th century the lathe played a quite secondary part in the manufacture. In this article we are going to assume that you have no lathe at all and are going to rely upon normal hand woodworking tools plus one or two carver’s gouges. Even the last-named are not essential, but are certainly a great convenience.

Rounding the Wood. Prepare your wood in the form of a square as in Fig. 3, and mark in the centres at both ends with the gauge. Continue the lines along the length of the wood as shown, using a pencil. Mark in circles at the ends, using dividers, and plane off the corners so that the square is reduced to an octagon as in Fig. 4. Finally take off the remaining corners, so rounding it, leaving the pencil lines untouched.

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FIG. 2. PITCH AND DEPTH OF TWIST; FIG. 3. MARKING THE SQUARE; FIG. 4. CORNERS PLANED OFF; FIG. 5. PRELIMINARY MARKING OF RINGS; FIG. 6. MARKING THE SPIRAL; FIG. 7. WHERE THE GROOVE IS WORKED; FIG. 8. USING V TOOL; FIG. 9. TAKING OFF CORNERS; FIGS. 10 AND 11. FINISHING OFF WITH THE HALF-ROUND FILE


Pitch. We have now the pitch and depth of the twist to consider. When a nut is revolved upon a bolt it rises by a certain amount at each complete revolution. That is its pitch, and a similar idea applies in a twist leg. Glance at A, Fig. 2. The rounded part of the twist at the top of the arrow passes spiralwise round the leg and when it reaches a point vertically beneath it has completed one revolution, and the distance down it has travelled is the pitch. There is no definite ruling about it, but generally the pitch is made to equal the diameter of the wood as in the present example. You can vary it, however, by way of experiment if you prefer.

Now for depth. The hollowed-out groove of the spiral can be cut in so deeply that it passes more than halfway through the wood, as at B, Fig. 2. This would be graceful enough, but would have little strength and would so be impracticable for most jobs. On the other hand, it could be shallow as at C, in which case it would appear as little more than an indeterminate ripple along the surface. Obviously something between the two is needed, and you can take into account the work the leg is expected to do. For instance, a heavy chair or table leg would have to be shallower than a spindle which carries no weight. This depth, by the way, does not affect the pitch.

Marking the Spiral. We will assume that the pitch is to equal the diameter, and the next step must be to make a series of rings around the leg, their distance apart equalling the pitch. Thus, assuming the diameter to be 11∕2 ins., the distance between AB, BC, etc., (Fig. 5) will be 11∕2 ins. The rings are easily drawn by wrapping a piece of thin card with a straight edge around the wood as shown.

To mark the spiral, take a length of thin card having one edge perfectly straight and, holding the true edge at the point A, wrap it spiral-wise around the leg, adjusting the position so that it cuts the point B, then C, and so on as in Fig. 6. A drawing-pin can be used to hold the end temporarily. Run a pencil around the straight edge so marking in the centre of the rounded or high part of the twist.

Now turn to Fig. 5. You will see that AB, BC, etc. are divided into quarters, 1, 2, 3. Actually only the points 1, 3 are needed, but 2 is marked in because it is convenient to divide up into halves first. Using the length of thin card again, wrap it again round the leg to pass through the points 1-1, etc., thus being parallel with the first line. Repeat the process, this time making the line cut the points 3-3, etc. You thus have three distinct spirals passing down the leg as in Fig. 7, and it is the wood between 1-3 that is to be hollowed out. It is shown shaded in Fig. 7, and it is in fact a good plan to scribble between these lines on the actual leg so that there is no question as to what is to be cut away.

Incidentally, we may note that it is always as well to have a hollow at both ends of the spiral as the latter can then die out naturally. Hence the rings XY at the ends in Fig. 5.

Cutting the Groove. A carver’s V tool is convenient for the preliminary cutting out (see A, Fig. 8), but a carver’s gouge can be used throughout if preferred. Gradually deepen the cut until the sides line up with the pencil lines.

Of course, the direction of the cut will have to change during every stroke and it should be in alignment with the spiral the whole time. The best way of holding the work is in the bench vice, cutting away each exposed part of the groove, giving slight turn, then cutting the newly exposed part, and so on until the whole is completed.

The gouge follows as at B, Fig. 8, care being taken to make the depth as equal as possible throughout. The sides should slope outwards slightly as at B. At all events avoid undercutting as at C. Once again let the gouge follow the line of the spiral.

Finishing the Rounds. Using either chisel or flat gouge, take off the corners now as in Fig. 9. You will find that one side will cut easily; the wood will have to be reversed for the other to be done. Working in this way you will find that the work will aproximate roughly to the finished shape.

To take out chisel and gouge marks a large round or a half-round file is used.

If a compound movement is adopted the high parts will automatically be taken out. The flat side of the file can be used for the rounded parts. Rest the work just above the vice as in Fig. 10, so that it can be revolved with the left hand whilst the file is used. Note from Fig. 1 how at the ends the round diminishes into the circular hollow.

Glasspaper is used finally, and it is essential that this is thorough. A shaped rubber can be used, but the fingers are also handy. Follow round the course of the spiral using first Middle 2 grade, then finer until you complete with No. 0. In this way you will finish with a beautifully smooth surface.

— MB

Peg the Seat

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This is an excerpt from “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” by Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee.

Now to fasten the seat to the stool’s frame. By this point, you have checked that the top of the frame and the bottom surface of the seat are both flat. If either needs correction, now’s the time. Once that’s been checked, position the seat in place. You can get this pretty close by eye and feel and then make fine adjustments based on measurements taken with a ruler. If it looks all right, then it is all right.

At this stage, Follansbee departs from period methods and uses a handscrew to clamp the seat in place for boring. We have often speculated and tested different methods for how period joiners might have held the seat in place.

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The brace is angled at the same rake angle as the stile itself. Locate the hole by sighting first down one side of the stile, then the other. No measuring – this we do by sight.

Alexander has come up with a method that avoids the modern clamp. First, secure the seat with two cut nails, driven down through small pilot holes bored into the seat and stiles. These nails are set into diagonally opposite stiles. They must be angled to follow the rake of the stool’s frame exactly where the pegs will be. Don’t drive them all the way in; you need to be able to pull them out and replace them with the square wooden pegs. Once the nails hold the seat down, bore holes in the other two corners and drive those oak pegs in place. Now pull one nail, bore the peg hole and drive a peg home. Then remove the final nail, and repeat.

For most stools, we bore the holes so the square pegs fix the seat to the stiles. Some stools have pegs driven into the rails instead. Both methods work. Sight the holes in line with the stiles, aiming for the area between the joints – it turns out to be a small target. Align the brace and bit to bore at an angle close to that of the end frame of the stool. This way the pegs are pinching the seat down. Sooner or later, someone picks a stool up by the seat, and if the pegs are driven straight down into the stiles, then the seat can come off. Use a larger bit than you did for the pin holes in the joinery. We try for about 3/8″ diameter.

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This single-board seat is pegged down into the stiles. A critical point is that the pegs need to hit the area in the stile inside the joinery; you don’t want to drive the pin into the mortise and tenon. It’s a pretty small target, but you can hit it. We’ve never measured for it, you can sight it with some careful alignment of the bit.

Bore one hole, peg it and then bore the next. The pegs are fashioned in the same way as the pins that secure the mortise-andtenon joints, except for one critical thing – these are square with essentially no taper. They must fit as tightly as can be, without being so tight as to split the stile. Drive some into test holes to check their size.

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A seat peg should have no visible taper, and its tip is pointed. Cut the point with the chisel, just snipping the ends a bit.

Work your way around the stool, boring and pegging each corner as you go. Hold the peg firmly while hammering. Any errant blow can split the peg apart. Best to have the shop quiet, so you can listen to the sound it makes. When the sound deadens, the peg is home. Trim it .” or more above the seat then hit it again. Sometimes the peg can go just a bit more, and being trimmed short makes it less likely to shatter. The peg needs to fill the entire hole; there should be no gap beyond the faces of the peg.

If you have time, leave the pegs proud of the seat and come back in a day or two and hit them one more time. Then trim them with a backsaw and chisel to pare them flush with the seat. Next, take one or two more passes on the seat itself with a very sharp plane set to take a light shaving. To hold the stool for this step, you can jam it against the front of your bench with your hip and plane it. Or stand it on the floor, and step on a stretcher to keep it from jostling about.

— Meghan B.

From the Head

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(Jonathan Fisher’s) notebooks are also full of artistic flourishes. For Fisher, mathematics was more than raw numbers – it explained the beauty of the world around him. – JONATHAN FISHER MEMORIAL.


This is an excerpt from “Hands Employed Aright: The Furniture Making of Jonathan Fisher (1768-1847)” by Joshua A. Klein. 

Fisher’s biographers have dealt extensively with his academic interests, especially mathematics and science. The archives at the Fisher House are full of notebooks of geometry lessons, surveying formulas and navigational methods from his studies at Harvard. Notebooks from his time in Blue Hill also show elaborate calculations and scale drawings – even for simple projects such  as outbuildings.

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Fisher made an orthographic projection of his barn in one of his notebooks 30 years after it was built. – JONATHAN FISHER MEMORIAL.

His fascination with natural science is evident from weather records, drawings and notes about animals he studied, and the almost-clinical observations he made in his journal about his ailments and physical condition. One of the most vivid examples of his analytical mind can be seen in a journal entry from Nov. 29, 1824, only days after the death of his daughter, Sally. Here he wrote, “In the evening while calm in mind and not then thinking particularly of my deceased daughter, a great heat came over my breast, which followed with restlessness; then a prostration of strength, or nervous debility and faintness, from which I was gradually restored within 2 or 3 hours. A sympathy, I suppose, between the nervous system and the mind, but in a manner to me inexplicable; something similar but less in degree I experienced several times after the death of my eldest son. We are fearfully and wonderfully made.”

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Fisher’s geometry exercises retain the foot holes and scribe marks of his dividers during layout. The parson was trained in geometric design, and his body of woodwork reflects it. – JONATHAN FISHER MEMORIAL.

His time alone in his study was sacred. This wood-paneled room, opposite the front parlor, was where Fisher spent much of his time. Most mornings he sat near the fireplace working on his Hebrew or on sermons.

His daughter, Nancy, recorded once how his “little room [was] consecrated to learning, Devotion and perhaps sometimes to the Muses.” Fisher commended academic pursuit not only to his own children but to the community he ministered. His involvement was critical in bringing about the Blue Hill Library and Blue Hill Academy. He also served as a trustee and regularly  gave money to Bangor Theological Seminary, “the palladium of truth in this region.” He wrote several books and broadsides, the most ambitious of which, was his 350-page self-published, “Scripture Animals” (1834), which contained descriptions of every animal recorded in the Bible, accompanied by a woodcut that he engraved. Besides his native English, he was proficient  (or at least moderately so) in several languages: Latin, French, Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic and Malay, as well as that of the local Passamaquoddy tribe. He preached all throughout Massachusetts and Maine, and devoured newspapers and books, saving or transcribing interesting anecdotes or recipes for future use.

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Opposite his parlor, Fisher spent much of his time in his study preparing sermons, performing mathematics and learning new languages.

His preaching tone was heavily influenced by his academic training and was described as more instructive than inspired. An excerpt from his conclusion to “Scripture Animals” illustrates this well. In defending the good character of God despite the existence of predation in the natural world, he writes, “To illustrate the subject, I will suppose that by means of the several kinds of carnivorous animals, three animals subsist where otherwise but two could have subsisted. I will suppose that each of these animals enjoys as much as either would have done; if there had been but two; in this case the enjoyment is as three to two. I will next suppose the comparative enjoyment of animals to be, on an average, nine degrees, for one degree of suffering; this gives eight degrees of positive enjoyment for each animal. If there are three animals for two, there are eight degrees of enjoyment for twenty-four. Let us suppose the suffering under this economy diminished one third, which I think probable, then in the case of three animals the degrees of suffering will be but two, and the degrees of positive enjoyment by means of rapacious animals twenty-five, instead of sixteen. Is it not then real evidence of benevolence in God, that there are rapacious animals?”

Winsomeness was not his forte.

— Meghan B.

Door Construction: Five-Panelled Door

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FIG. 1. ELEVATION WITH SCALE The same construction could be used for other panelled doors

This is an excerpt from “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Volume II” published by Lost Art Press.

Although the five-panelled door described in this article may interest only a small section of our readers, the construction is applicable to most other panelled doors. With small doors, such as are used in cabinets and cupboards, stub tenons would be employed, that is to say the tenons would not be taken right through the stiles

Before commencing work on a door such as that shown in Fig. 1, the careful worker will prepare a “rod,” (Fig. 2). This comprises a clean, unwarped board on which are set out vertical and cross sections of the door in full size. A rod is very useful since the work can be laid on it and the various dimensions quickly marked off.

Stiles. In preparing the stuff for the stiles, it is imperative that the edges should be square and the faces out of winding. If only one stile or rail is slightly twisted it will cause the whole door to wind—a defect that cannot be easily rectified. Assuming that the stuff has been trued up and the face sides and face edges marked, lay one of the stiles face downwards on the rod and strike up the sight lines for the rails on the face edge, the lines being made with a pencil. The stile is then rested with its face edge upwards and the mortises marked with pencil lines, allowing 1∕2 in. where necessary for the plough grooves.

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FIG. 2. ROD WITH DOOR SET OUT IN FULL SIZE

These lines are now squared over to the back edge where further lines are squared across on either side of the mortises for the wedges. For hardwood, 1∕4 in. wedges will suffice, but for a softwood the wedges should be 3∕8 in. It is as well to arrange that the face-edge marks of the members of the frame should be towards the inside of the frame since this will enable the frame to be put together without having to mark the various joints. Having set out one stile, pair the other with it, placing the face edge marks upwards and the face side marks to the outside. It is as well to clamp the stiles together with G clamps while they are being marked out so that they will not shift. The lines marked on the first stile can be squared across the second stile and the setting out completed.

At this stage, lay each muntin in turn on a stile and mark the shoulders, the marking being done with the knife. The shoulder lines should be made a little full so that when the door is put together the shoulders will be hard up against the rails.

Rails. The middle rail is laid on the width rod and the sight lines of the stiles and muntins are marked and squared across, the shoulder lines for the tenons being knifed. This done, the mortises are set out, allowing 1∕2 in. for the plough grooves. The proportions of the tenons are indicated in Fig. 3. The other three rails are clamped together with the lock rail and the lines squared across, the shoulder lines being squared all round. In setting out the top and bottom rails, it should be arranged that the face edge marks will be towards the inside of the frame when assembled. A mortise gauge is now set to a chisel having a width approximating 1∕3 the thickness of the stuff, and the mortises and tenons gauged.

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FIG. 3. VIEW SHOWING JOINTS

Care should be taken not to allow the gauge lines to go beyond the sight lines, otherwise they will show when the door is put together. The widths of the tenons should be gauged and the haunches marked with the knife.

Cutting the Tenons. It would seem that the work can be made easier by cutting out the haunches before sawing the tenons, since by so doing the saw cuts are made through a smaller width than otherwise would be the case. It will be apparent that if the haunches of the top and bottom rails are cut first, the side gauge lines will be cut away. This is of no great consequence to a skilled worker who will be able to cut the tenons having the end gauge lines and those on one edge to guide him, but the inexperienced worker will find it necessary to start sawing the tenons by making oblique cuts on either side and finally finishing each cut by sawing level. He will therefore need the gauge lines on both edges.

For one who is not accustomed to cutting tenons, it is as well to saw down for the tenons before cutting away for the haunches. The whole success of the job is dependent on cutting the tenons parallel with the face sides. If one is out, it is almost sure to put the frame in winding. As the mortises will be chopped out from both edges, in the case of the stiles, there should be little chance of their being out of parallel.

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FIG. 4. TESTING FOR LEVELNESS


Testing the Joints. When the joints have been made, individual joints should be tested for levelness with a straightedge as shown in Fig. 4. It will also be found if any of the shoulders require easing. The frame can then be knocked together in the following order. First the muntins are fitted in the rails and these are stood on end and a stile is knocked on. The frame is then inverted and the other stile fitted. A test for winding can now be made and any faults corrected.

Fitting the Panels. Some workers prefer to cut the panels 1∕8 in. narrow in their length and breadth, but it is only necessary to make this allowance in the widths.

In gluing up, the muntins should be first clamped to the rails commencing with the lock rail. The stiles are then knocked on and clamps applied as shown in Fig. 5, the clamps being positioned as close to the tenons as possible. The wedges should be cut so that they pinch harder on the inside.

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FIG. 5. DOOR BEING ASSEMBLED

By so doing, the stiles will tend to move from the outside towards the shoulders when they shrink. The wedges of the frieze and bottom rail tenons should be driven in harder on one side than the other so that the muntins pinch the rails.

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FIG. 6. SECTION SHOWING BOLECTION AND PLAN MOULDINGS


Mouldings. Typical door mouldings are shown in Fig. 6. The lower “planted in” moulding is fixed by bradding to the frame. If the mouldings are attached to the panels they will tend to draw away from the frame when the panels shrink. In order that the mouldings should make a good fit against the panels and frames, it is a good plan to clean up the square faces of the mouldings so that the corner angle is a shade greater than a right angle. This will ensure the mouldings coming hard up against the panels and frame.

— MB