THE KINSHIP OF COMMON TOOLS 127 



was the axe. Its function is to pare, to chop, driven 

 by^ the mallet, and to rend. Its rending action is akin 

 to that of the coarser wedge driven by the heavy two- 

 handed mallet called the bittle. A plane is merely 

 a chisel so set in a wooden block as to take a thin 

 slice of wood, whose thickness can be regulated at will. 

 A brad-awl is a small chisel used without mallet 

 with a wriggling motion ; gimlets, augers, and centre- 

 bits are revolving chisels, the two former having screw 

 action. 



Saw, rasp, and file are nearly the same thing. A 

 thin file, with teeth on its edge only, becomes a saw, 

 while a saw with teeth on the flat as well as the edge 

 is a rasp. 



