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| Thomas Martin, The Circle of the Mechanical Arts, Richard Rees, London, 1813. |
In 1813 Thomas Martin compiled a large handbook outlining the trades and manual skills used in manufacturing in early 19th century Britain. In this post, looking at just the woodworking section, the tools of the carpenter and the joiner are shown on one page:
The tools most useful to the carpenter, the axe (7), adze (6), saw (24), socket chisel (13), firmer chisel (5), auger (1), gimlet (3), gauge (16), square (9), compass (36), hammer (21), mallet (22), hookpin (11), crow (12), plumb rule (18), and level (19 ).
The tools most often associated with joinery; the jack plane (30), trying plane (31), smoothing plane (34), tenon saw (25), compass saw (26), keyhole saw (27), square (8), bevel (23), gauge (17), mortise chisel (4), gouge (14), turnscrew (15), plow plane (29), molding plane (35), pincers (37), brad awl (10), stock and bit (2), sidehook (20), workbench (28), and rule (38). Most of these tools are virtually the same 200 years later. Is the turnscrew (15) a screwdriver?
7 comments:
Yes 'turnscrew' is the archaic name for a screwdriver.
To me, a turnscrew is always a slotted driver. So a turnscrew is always a screwdriver but a screwdriver is not always a turnscrew.
That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
That's a lot of iron or steel tools for 1813.
I'm having trouble making out its number (looks like 25, but it's not the tenon saw). Is the turnscrew (#15) just below the axe and to the left of the gauge (#17, I guess)? Why would it have a helical/pigtail shank?
--rats
Its like a Yankee screwdriver.Just push it down,twists the screw in.Slotted screws only, Philips wasnt invented yet.
It's a decorative twist; blacksmiths liked to do that back then for some reason (maybe it's less likely to roll away, or easier to turn with your fingers to start a screw without slipping?). Here's a larger scan that's easier to make out:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Woodworking_Hand_Tools.jpg
I've seen (and used) plumb lines but never the vertical and horizontal level like numbers 18 and 19. Simple, functional, no fragile glass vials.
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