ERIC SLOANE'S BOOKS

"The Carpenter who builds a good House to defend us from Wind and Weather, is far more serviceable than the curious Carver who employs his art to please his Fancy" is taken from an old tool pamphlet  -  1719.

Being the son of a carpenter I submit there's much truth to the quote.

A Museum of Early American Tools Eric Sloane is a wonderful book of illustrations and explanations of antique tools that made American homes. Long before power tools the hand-forged hand tools were truly an extension of the hand!

As an estate auctioneer I handled antique hand-tools. They are collectible and reveal the ingenuity and cleverness of blacksmiths and others before the Industrial Revolution.

When I see all of those beautiful Victorian Mansions here in the Brookfields I think of the men who plied their trades. Sloan's book  is rife with categories:

• A World of Axes
• The Hatchet
• Hammers
• The Axe and the Log House
• The Adze
• Wedges and Froes
• The Fine Art of Splitting The Drawknife
• The Chisel
• Planes
• The Moulding Plane
• The Rabbet Plane
• Early American Saws
• Bits, Braces and Bitstocks

Today, antique tools may be found in flea markets such as Rietta.
Looking for a new hobby? Collect antique tools!

ROBERT LOUIS POTVIN