1set bench planes$6.00
1Broad Axe3.00
1Adze2.25
1Panel saw1.50
1Panel saw1.58
1fine do—1.58
1Drawing knife.46
1Trying square.93
1Shingling hatchet.50
1Hammer.50
1Rabbet plane.83
1Halving do.50
1Backed fine saw1.25
1Inch augre.50
1pr. dividers or compasses—.71
1Panel saw for splitting2.75
1Tennon gauge1.42
1Bevel.84
1Bradd Hammer.50
1Architect Book6.50
1Case Mathematical Instruments3.62-1⁄2
1Panel saw2.75
1Grafting saw1.00
1Bench screw1.00
1Stamp2.50
1Double joint rule.62-1⁄2
1Sash saw1.12-1⁄2
1Oil Can.17
1Brace & 36 straw cold bits9.00
1Window Frame tool4.00
1Blind tool1.33
1Glue Kettle.62-1⁄2
1Grindstone without crank1.75
1Machine for whetting saws.75
1Tennoning machine4.50
Drafting board and square Bevel—1.25
1Noseing sash plane with templets & copes4.50
1pr. clamps for clamping doors2.17
1Set Bench Planes—double irons.—7.50
1Grindstone 300 lbs @6.25
1Stove for shop—$7.25, one elbow .37 & 40
lbs second hand pipe $4.0011.62
1Bed moulding2.00
1Pr. shears for cutting tin.—.17
1Morticing Machine10.75
1Grecian Ovilo1.13
1-3⁄16beed.67
1Spirit level2.25
1Oil stone.42
1Small trying square.48
1pareing chisel.37
1Screw driver.29
1Bench screw.75
1Box rule.50
1-3⁄4Augre.41
11Gouges1.19
13Chisels1.17
1small iron vice.52
1pr. Hollow Rounds.86
4Framing chisels1.05
1Grove plough & Irons—Sold at 4.505.00
1Sash plane for 1-1⁄4 stuff1.50
1Copeing plane.67
1Bead 1⁄4—.75
1Bead 3⁄41.00
1Rabbet (Sold at .92).92
1Smooth plane1.50
1Strike Block.92
1Compass saw.42
6Gauges1.83
1Dust brush.25
1Rasp, or wood file.25
1Augre 2 in..76
1Augre 1 in..40
1Do 3⁄4.30
1Spoke shave.50
1Bevel—.25
1Box rule.84
1Iron square1.42
1Box rule1.25
1Spur Rabbet (Sold—1.17)1.33
1Pannel plane1.25
1Sash plane1.25
1pr. Match planes2.25
1Two inch chisel or firmer—.42
1Morticing chisel 3⁄8.25
1Large screw driver1.00
1Pr. small clamps.50
1pr. Spring dividers.92
1do-nippers.20
1Morticing chisel 1⁄2 in..28
1Ovilo & Ostrigal 3⁄4—1.25
1Scotia & Ostrigal 5⁄8—1.08
1Noseing—1.08
1Pr. Hollow & rounds1.33
1Ogee— 1⁄2 inch1.00
1Ostrigal 7⁄8 inch1.00
1Bit—.15
1Beed 1⁄2 inch.83
1Claw hammer.67
1Fillister2.50
2Beeds at 5⁄81.83
1Pair Quirk tools1.50
1Side Rabbet plane.83
1Large steel tongued sq.1.71
1Saw & Pad.67
1pr. fire stones.50
1small trying sq..50
1Set Bench planes double ironed without smooth plane6.00
1Bench screw.75

Figure 13.—Early 18th century: In addition to their special function and importance as survivals documenting an outmoded technology, the hand tool often combines a gracefulness of line and a sense of proportion that makes it an object of great decorative appeal. The dividers of the builder or shipwright illustrated here are of French origin and may be valued as much for their cultural significance as for their technical importance. (Smithsonian photo 49792-G.)

By 1900, the carpenter's tool chest, fully stocked and fit for the finest craftsman, contained 90 or more tools. Specialization is readily apparent; the change in, and achievement of, the ultimate design of a specific tool is not so easily pinpointed. Only by comparing illustrations and surviving examples can such an evolution be appreciated and in the process, whether pondering the metamorphosis of a plane, a brace and bit, or an auger, the various stages of change encountered coincide with the rise of modern industrial society.

Figure 14.—1688: Frontispiece From John Brown, The Description and Use of the Carpenter's Rule, London, 1688. (Library of Congress.)

Configuration

Hand tools are often neglected in the search for the pleasing objects of the past. Considered too utilitarian, their decorative appeal—the mellow patina of the wood plane or the delicately tapered legs of a pair of dividers—often goes unnoticed. Surprisingly modern in design, the ancient carpenter's or cabinetmaker's tool has a vitality of line that can, without reference to technical significance, make it an object of considerable grace and beauty. The hand tool is frequently a lively and decorative symbol of a society at a given time—a symbol, which, according to the judges at London's Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851, gives "indications of the peculiar condition and habits of the people whence they come, of their social and industrial wants and aims, as well as their natural or acquired advantages."[8] The hand tool, therefore, should be considered both as an object of appealing shape and a document illustrative of society and its progress.

Figure 15.—18th century: Cabinetmaker's dividers of English origin. (Private collection. Smithsonian photo 49789-B.)