History of Woodworking Tools

Turning a piece or pieces of raw wood into a treasure is the art known as wood-working. This may also include the process of carving something from wood or whittling. All of these require woodworking tools and they have evolved over centuries of crafting out of wood.

Wood has been used by centuries and is one of the first substances manipulated by early man into tools and accessories. Along with mud, stone and parts from animals, wood was used to make the things that were useful to early man. As civilizations developed, so did their tools and the way they were made. This is in direct relation to the degree of skills involved by the people who lived in these civilizations.

Wooden tools created by our primitive ancestors an be found all over the world. Some spears were found in Germany. Wooden weapons for hunting and tools for carving and cutting show that early primatives were already adept on how to create tools that would help them obtain their needs. These were the first attempts of early woodworking. The first two ancient civilizations that are often mentioned when early woodworking is the topic are the early Egyptian and the Chinese civilizations. This is because many woodworkings from these cultures have been unearthed and have been shown in their ancient sketches and drawings.

Also, a large amount of Egyptian furniture like stools, chairs, tables, beds and chests have been encased in ancient tombs of the pharohs. Because these artifacts were so well preserved, it has shown researchers the expertise of these early woodworkers. Coffins that were located in the tomb were also crafted out of wood.

Egyptians utilized metal in many of their woodworkings. Copper and bronze were the main tools for used in their woodworking. They often used the two materials for saws, axes, chisels and bow drills. Ancient Egyptians were the first civilization to utilize veneering. They were also the first to use varnish or sealants resulting in what is now termed as “finishes". They used native acacias and the wood from the sycamore and tamarisk trees.

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In the modern times, these are the tools a woodworker must possess:

1) Measuring and Marking tools
2) protractors, tape measures, rulers
3) scratch awls, marking knives, marking gauges
4) plane gauges in order to figure out how flat the surface it
5) hygrometers
6) levels
7) combination squares, try squares, straightedges

Cutting tools - hands saws like the rip saw, cross cut saw, keyhole saw, bow saw, coping saw, tenon saw, gent’s saw and dowtail saw

Power Saws - chainsaw, radial arm saw, miter saw, band saw, scroll saw, hole saw, table saw and circular saw.

Shaping tools - hand planes like the smoothing plane, shoulder plane, spear plane, rabbet plane, scrub plane, block plane and jointer plane.
- jointer and thickness planer
- router
- rotary tools
- gouge and chisel
- drill press and chisel mortiser
- knifer
- rasp
- lathe
- other hand shaping tools like the adze, axe, froe, drawknife and spokeshave

Woodworking Assembly tools
- screwdriver
- mallet and hammer
- hand or power drills
- clamps like the F-clamp, G-clamp, C-clamp, miter clamp, bar clamp, band clamp and sash clamp

Woodworking Finishing tools
- sandpaper that can be used alone. It can be used with power sanders like belt sander, palm sander, orbit sander, disc sander or sanding blocks
- steel wool or bronze wool for polishing and applying stain
- file
- scraper
- spray guns used to apply lacquer
- brushes for applying varnish

Accessory tools and furniture - workbench or the bench or table where one sits or stands. This is where the woodworking process takes place

Different types of Workbenches -
1) Dog hole or a round or square hole that allows clamping and holding devices to be attached
2) Bench dog or a peg that is inserted into a dog hole that lets in the clamp pressure
3) Hold fast or the rod that is bent when put into the dog hole. It is used to put boards into position
4) A vise or a clamping apparatus that holds wood in various positions during woodworking
5) Bench hooks that are laid against the wood that can be pushed during woodworking.
6) Sawhorse is the four legged stand that often comes in pairs. It supports long boards, sheets and panels.

Modern woodworkers of today have many tools at their disposal and the ancients would be amazed at the progression woodworking has taken over the centuries. Although the process of woodworking has evolved over time. some would argue that the quality of woodworks produced don't compare to that of the older woodworking techniques. Regardless, in the age of the internet, it is now possible to purchase all your woodworking tools online and in many instances, cheaper than you can at brick and mortor stores.