Figure 64. — 1867: The drawing accompanying B. A. Blandin's specification for an "Improve- 

 ment in Bench Planes" retained only the familiarly shaped handle or tolc of the traditional 

 wood-bodied plane. This new shape rapidly became the standard form of the tool with 

 later variations chiefly related to the adjustabihty of the plane-iron and sole. (Wash 

 drawing from U..S. Patent Office, May 7, 1867, Record Group 241, the National 

 Archives.) 



axes, broad axes, and adzes were standard items, as 

 witness Haminacher, Schlemmer and Company's 

 catalogue of 1896.'* Disston saws were a byword, 

 and the impact of their exhibit at Philadelphia was 

 still strong, as judged from Baldwin, Robblns' 

 catalogue of 1894. Highly recommended was the 

 Disston no. 76, the "Centennial" handsaw with its 

 "skew back" and "apple handle." Jennings' pat- 

 ented auger bits were likewise standard fare in nearly 

 every tool catalogue.-^ So were bench planes manu- 

 factured by companies that had been cited at Phila- 

 delphia for the excellence of their product; namely. 

 The Metallic Plane Company, Auburn, New York; 

 The Middletown Tool Company, Middletown, Con- 

 necticut; Bailey, Leonard, and Company, Hartford; 

 and The Sandusky Tool Company, Sandusky, Ohio.-" 

 An excellent indication of the persistence of the 



-< Tools for AH Trades (New York, i8g6), item 75 [in the 

 Smithsonian Institution Library]. 



25 See Baldwin, Rabbins & Co.: Illustrated Catalogue (Boston, 

 1894), pp. 954, 993 [in the Smithsonian Institution Libroi-y]. 



26 Walker, op. cit. (footnote 19), p. 14. 



Centennial influence, and of the tool catalogue as 

 source material, is seen in Chandler and Farquhar's 

 illustrated pamphlet of 1900. Their advertisement 

 for Barber's improved ratchet brace (fig. 66), a tool 

 much admired by the Centennial judges, amply 

 illustrates the evolution of design of a basic imple- 

 ment present in American society since the first years 

 of settlement. The Barber brace represents the ulti- 

 mate sophistication of a tool, achieved through an 

 expanded industrial technology rather than by an 

 extended or newly found use for the device itself. It 

 is a prime example of the transition of a tool from 

 Moxon to its perfected form in the 20th century: 



These Braces possess the following points of superiority: 

 The Sweep is made from Steel; the Jaws are forged 

 from Steel; the Wood Handle has brass rings inserted 

 in each end so it cannot split off; the Chuck has a hard- 

 ened Steel antifriction washer between the two sockets, 

 thus reducing the wear. The Head has a bearing of steel 

 balls, running on hard steel plates, so no wear can take 

 place, as the friction is reduced to the minimum. The 

 Brace is heavily nickel-plated and warranted in every 

 particular. We endeavor to make these goods as nearly 



PAPER 51: WOODWORKING TOOLS, 1600-1900 



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