Special Sub-Topic: Traditional Hand Tools Authored by: qcobb Sub-topic of: Homes & Gardens

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work I go, With a peavey, cant-hook, spud & dogs Hi-ho, hi-ho, hi-ho, hi-ho, hi-ho, hi-ho What kind of project am I off to work on?

Build a log cabin. A peavey is used to move logs around by levering and rolling, a cant-hook is for turning and positioning logs that have been sawn (cants). Spuds are broad curved chisels used to remove the bark and dogs are large staples for holding logs in position.

Oh I forgot my froe, I'll need that to...

Split shakes. Shakes (wood roofing 'tiles') are similar to shingles except that shakes are split from a cedar block – not sawn like shingles. Shakes are hand made, using a sharp bladed steel froe and a mallet. The natural shingle-like taper is achieved by reversing the cedar block, end-for-end, with each split.

What kind of woodworker would use a howel?

Cooper. A howel is a speciality plane used by coopers (barrel makers) for smoothing and chamfering the inside of casks.

Planes come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes. These bench planes all look similar except for their different lengths. Arrange them from shortest to longest.

Smooth, Jack, Fore, Jointer. Typical lengths for bench planes: Smooth 10" Jack 14" Fore 18" Jointer 22

This tool is named after the thing it's used to make, so this is an easy question - if you know Japanese! What am I making with my Dozuki?

Tenon. The Dozuki is a backed tenon saw (dozuki=tenon or shoulder), Japanese saws have aggressive teeth but produce nice clean cuts. Japanese saws (indeed most Japanese tools) cut on the pull stroke, so the blades are a lot thinner - and faster cutting - than a traditional European saw.

I look in my workshop and see something with a frog, cheeks, and mouth! What is it?

Plane. The frog is the assembly that holds the blade, the cheeks (sometimes called wings) are the side faces and the mouth is the slot in the sole.

My Warrington hammer is ideal for this job. What am I likely hammering?

Panel pins. A Warrington hammer has a flat peen that allows you to hold and drive short nails - without hitting fingers!

It's a bit of a mystery how some tools got their names. You don't make jigs with a Jigsaw (which came first - the saw or the puzzle?) and how does a Coping saw cope? So what would you cut with a Gents saw?

Dovetails. A Gents (Gent's or Gentleman's) saw is a small brass-backed saw with small teeth (35-40 tpi) for fine detail work such as small dovetails.

"Hand me that bastard", No, I'm not swearing - that's the right name for this:

File. A mill bastard file is a rectangular section flat file, usually slightly tapered towards the tip. The "bastard" refers to the type of cut.

I decide to finish a fine piece of furniture with French polish. It's strange to think this nice gloss finish comes from:

Beetle secretions. Shellac is a resin secreted by the lac beetle (Coccus lacca )from India and southern Asia. After feeding, the beetle secretes a resin, which dries and hardens into a protective covering called lac. The lac is collected, crushed, washed, and dried. After cleaning and heating, it is drawn into thin sheets of finished shellac. Shellac mixed with alcohol and applied by rubbing is French polish.