Ok...say you were an apprentice Carpenter....between 1880, and 1920.....What tools would you be having in your tool kit? (remember the date span..)
What would the Journeyman tell you to pack in your tool kit?
[OP]
Contributor
An Apprentice's Tool Kit
Ok...say you were an apprentice Carpenter....between 1880, and 1920.....What tools would you be having in your tool kit? (remember the date span..)
What would the Journeyman tell you to pack in your tool kit?
[OP]
Contributor
Maybe I should have asked Roy Underhill, instead?
Simple...make up a list of what an apprentice from back then would have had in his tool kit. After all, they had to start with some tools, didn't they?
( I know what was in mine, just asking everyone else..)
Fill it up...
tool tote.jpg
[OP]
Contributor
Hmmm...guess I'll start...
handsaw.jpg
Full sized handsaw....would have been either a rip, or a crosscut...and maybe both....
Member
A jack plane and a safe bet would be a marking gauge?
Member
A rule, and or tape measure, a square, pencil, chisels, a mallet, hammer, marking gauge, perhaps a plane, cross and rip cut saw, sharpening stone, a gimlet, flat blade screwdriver, a level, perhaps a compass, nail puller, brace and bits. There are many other possible tools, depending on what the apprentice is put to work on.
Contributor
Hi All,
After I got the list below completed, I realized that it was probably the list a master carpenter would have had. I put down what I use and used doing my own carpentry over the years (had to leave things out that require electricity and replace those with the hand tool equivalent, for example I can't imagine carpentrying without a 1/2" electric drill. The list of all the carpentry tools I use from time to time now for various projects would fatten the list up a ton with things like a combination square, bevel square, etc., that said I don't need all of those more specialized tools, and can more than adequately make do with the lists below.)
Having carpentered a little back in the day, and having done almost all of our carpentry since for building and remodeling, my list for an apprentice would be pretty pricey for back in the day, but he would not have to start out with the complete list. He would add things as he went along through the journeyman process, and could pay for them. To start out with he would probably only need 8 to 10 of these items on my "basic" list. My list is not in any particular order, but would include, and I am sure that I am leaving things out, the following:
The basic list: would include many of these but probably not all initially, for example he probably would not have the 12 point crosscut saw, the bow saw, the stones, and probably not the planes either:
1. Three hand saws, 8 & 12 point cross cuts and a 4 1/2 point rip
2. 16 ounce claw hammer
3. Plumb bob/line
4. String line/chalk block
5. Jack plane, draw knife, and spoke shave
6. Nail sets
7. Framing square and try square
8. A small finish size bow saw (I don't know when the coping saw came along)
9. Push drill, small set of bits, and a couple of flat bladed screw drivers.
10. Tape measure and pencils
11. Marking gauge
12. A carpenters knife
13. A plastering trowel
14. Oil stones, course and fine, for sharpening, and small can of sharpening oil
15. A couple chisels and mallet
16. A shingling hammer for cedar shingles
After a year or two add:
17. 30" level
18. More chisels to have 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1", and one somewhat larger, socket chisels
19. Brace and basic set of bits (1/4" to 1" by quarter inches)
Later on he should add:
1. Three small back saws, a 10" 15 point rip, a 14" or 16" 10 point rip, and a 14" 12 point crosscut
2. A Stanley 45 combination plane and maybe a couple of molding planes
3. Eventually a miter box and saw
4. Carpenters hatchet/ax
I noticed that my basic list is a whole lot like Bill's above. You could do a great deal of carpentry with this list, and it could be shorter....I probably only had 10 or 12 of the items on my list, but did have the saws, a drill, brace and bits, a skill saw, a jack plane, the miter box, and a 20 oz framing hammer when I started out doing all of my own carpentry work, remodeled our first house, etc. Some of those were inherited from my grandfather.
At first, when I started working for a carpenter, I used his tools that were the more expensive ones on the list, for example the miter box. I was more trusted than a young apprentice would have been because I was older than an apprentice would have been, being: college age, very careful, and had worked with tools prior to working for him, had worked in a lumber yard, etc.
My list is for the carpenters in a small town like I grew up in, where the carpenter did everything to do with the carpentry....there were none of the specialized carpentry trades in those types of small towns. A carpenter I knew when I was young and he was quite old then, described how they did much of their own mill work, built the windows for a house using a Stanley 45, etc., going back into the 20s and 30s.
When the apprentice started out he would have to use some of the tools of the master carpenter once he got to the stage of being trusted with them, that is until he could afford to buy his own. Again, his starter set would have been maybe 8 or 10 of the items from the initial list.
Regards,
Stew
Last edited by Stew Denton; 08-17-2020 at 12:03 AM.
Member
FWIW, Lost Art Press's "Anarchist's Tool Chest" book has lists derived from several periods/sources for just this question.
Contributor
IIRC There is an appendix with a chart that has a comparison of lists of tools from period sources — Moxon, Roubo, Nicholson, etc.Originally Posted by Erich Weidner
Contributor
As does their "Joiner and Cabinetmaker", albeit from an earlier time -- though the list would likely be similar.
Member
First, Swartz's list is not a house carpenter's list, but more of a list for an aspiring cabinetmaker.
I served a four year carpenter/joiner apprenticeship in the mid 70's, and I was given a comprehensive list of tools needed before I began. Though similar in several regards, a house carpenter is not a cabinetmaker, or vice versa. It would be my opinion that Roy Underhill could give a well qualified response, but since Roy isn't here, I add a few items to those already mentioned.
I don't see a saw vice, saw set or files, though in the union, once a week, the general contractor was to have gathered all handsaws for sharpening. But, if the apprentice is not working for a large contractor, who will mind his saws (I had to have a Stanley 42X sawset, but didn't have a teacher that knew saw sharpening)? As far as a hammer goes, the type will depend upon what type of contractor the apprentice is working: In the mud (form work), you better have a 20 oz. rip hammer, or the journeymen will put the boot to you. You also better not have a "wonderbar", but a wrecking bar, as well as a 90 degree angle nail pulling bar (stripping forms!). Also, remember that many times you'll be working on top of scaffolding, or sometimes up a ladder, so scale the tools to be easily carried in your coverall apron or nail apron (oh yeah, you need one of those!). You'll need a tool tote (Steve pictured a dandy, and I made one of those decades ago, but also have a long metal tool box). The GC will frown on goomers that carry their tools in an empty drywall bucket (specialized tools, but might be needed sooner than later, as GC's like to get first year apprentices to hang board (young & foolish, with strong back & weak minds-I was one once). Don't forget to add a horsehair bench brush!
Anyhow, I left the trade in 1989, but in the final 3 or 4 years I was still a journeyman, I was running fairly large commercial & industrial jobs. Though I was the boss, I still carried my toolbox on the job. I was given an apprentice on one of the final jobs I ran and whenever I would give him a task, he would dash out to his truck to retrieve whatever tool he needed. I let this go for a day or two, as I and a few of the other journeymen were humored by him. I finally told the kid he was not to go out to his vehicle to retrieve tools. So the next time I gave him something to do, he just went over to my toolbox (without asking) and took what he needed. Before I canned him, I asked why he thought he could just take what he wanted from my tools, and not bring his toolbox in. He replied that he was scared that someone would steal his tools!
If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.
Contributor
Ironic, funny, and yet sadly true.. all at the same timeSome of my tools are still painted bright pink.
It's funny, because you do end up with a completely different set of tools for different jobs. Even totally different bags, but all of that is moving further down the line.. and some of it is learning what works best for you.
~mike
happy in my mud hut
Member
My dad had safety yellow as his color - all of his handtools! After he passed in 2004, I gathered up what he had left, which amounted to a #5 Bailey, a couple of handsaws and some smaller items. Like an idiot, I cleaned the yellow paint off those tools.Ironic, funny, and yet sadly true.. all at the same time
It's funny, because you do end up with a completely different set of tools for different jobs. Even totally different bags, but all of that is moving further down the line.. and some of it is learning what works best for you.
For me, it was different tote bags/boxes. I still have most, if not all of them. I hope I never, ever have to hang another sheet of drywall, let alone finish it. It is well over 35 years since I worked setting forms for a footer, in an 5' trench in below freezing weather, and, I really don't miss that!
If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.
[OP]
Contributor
new tool bely, with suspenders.JPG
What I was wearing, last year, building the deck onto the front porch.
By the time one gets one of these loaded up for the day....they weigh over 50 pounds.
Could not keep a cat's paw...someone always wanted more than me...
I worked both on stick-builts ( but, I wasn't a roofer) and factory builds....both from the footers up.....
Carried a 24oz, wood handled rip claw hammer. One item not mentioned...as I also ran the "steel crew" (rebar).....was supplied with a "twister" to tie the bag-ties.....others used a reel & pliers method....
Yes, I carried 2 five gallon buckets.....one for the usual tools, the other carried my concrete tools. Tool bucket had a bunch of "drain holes"... the concrete one did not, as it was also the wash-up station for the trowels and such.......
May dig out a few of my tools, and lay them out for a photo shoot....
BTW, the nail bag rig? I gave it to my grandson...as he will need it more than me....
Member
My apprenticeship was house building based, but the contractors I worked for, were commercial/industrial! I was on a few house projects, different methods, same frenzied pace. I still have most of my tools, though most will never be used again. My oldest daughter is an architect, and is quite handy with tools. She has been slowly sneaking tools out of my shop. I pretend I don't know!
If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.
[OP]
Contributor
Threw together a small Kit....
Apprentice Tool Kit, larger items.JPG
A few larger items. 24" level, 16oz claw hammer..block plane, 6' folding ruler..and a small square...Then..
Apprentice Tool Kit, small tools.JPG
Figure a few chisels, a scratch awl, something to pull nails with( with a tack puller and screwdriver tip) a Yankee screwdriver, and a small hand drill...
Apprentice Tool kit, brace and bits.JPG
A 10" sweep brace, and a few bits...along with a countersink and screwdriver bits...
Apprentice Tool Kit, No. 7 Rip saw.JPG
Would need a Rip saw....the is a 7ppi No.7 (with a nib) and..
Apprentice Tool Kit, D-8 Crosscut saw.JPG
A cross cut saw..maybe a D-8..10 or 11ppi...
Maybe a larger square, like a framer square...
Apprentice Tool Kit, Framing square.JPG
maybe a box with 1/2 sheres of chalk and a string line? Or just all in one..?
Apprentice Tool Kit, chalk box.JPG
Maybe just a jack plane..for now?
Apprentice Tool Kit, Jack and drill.JPG
maybe build a box to hold all of this, the ones with the long round handle and maybe a webbed strap to sling on your shoulder...leave enough room for any new tools, along with a place to stash the rolled up nail apron....
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