Popular Woodworking 2005-11 № 151, страница 42
Arts & Mysteries The Plane My Brother Is How (and why) you should use the broad hatchet in the modern shop. Estate inventories of cabinetmakers' shops often include hatchets. Likewise, most of the admittedly few images of period shops depict hatchets prominently. It could well be that these tools were used solely for the preparation of firewood. But the 15th-century poem "Debate of the Carpenter's Tools" provides us with an important clue regarding the use of hatchets in period shops: "The broad ax said without a miss, He said: 'The plane my brother is;' We two shall cleanse and make full plain..." The broad ax has a long (broad) cutting edge. While our notion of axes naturally centers on tree chopping, the broad ax is a delicate tool. Its short, sometimes offset handle allows only a compact swing. Its wide blade, often flat on one side, rubs against the wood while its sharp edge removes the high spots in a manner not wholly unlike a plane. This tool, or a smaller version of it sometimes called a j oiner's or broad hatchet, may have been used in early craft shops for the rough preparation of stock. These aren't tools for firewood. Coincidentally, the poem above suggests a relationship between two otherwise unrelated tools (the broad ax and the plane). Here again we get a glimpse of the cooperative nature of the tools within the period workshop suggested in a previous Arts & Mysteries article. I know hand planes are quite popular among this magazine's readers, but I'm less certain about the popularity of hatchets. Modern planes have setscrews and brass adjusting wheels enough to satisfy the gadget hound lurking in each of us. But hatchets reside much lower on the gizmo scale. They also conjure images of a breathless, possibly bleeding, red-haired man in suspenders. I recognize that this isn't exactly the mainstream image of modern The broad hatchet is well suited for roughly preparing stock. There's good evidence that this tool was put to use in early craft shops and there's good reason to incorporate it in modern shops as well. woodworking. So I'm going to ask for your indulgence just once more. If you work with solid wood, I think you should own and use a hatchet. Please allow me to tell you why. I started using a hatchet in my shop several years ago in an effort to save time roughing at the lathe and to reduce wear on my roughing gouge (which I have trouble sharpening). by Adam Cherubini Adam makes reproduction furniture using the tools and techniques of the 18th century. He demonstrates his crafts at Pennsbury Manor in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Historic Trades Days. You can contact him at adam.cherubini@verizon.net. I had no faster or safer way to remove stock. In a short time, I found I could rough shape stock from the firewood pile for a whole host of projects. Tool handles split from an ash log were strong, light and easy to finish with a spokeshave. I chopped beautifully straight-grained drawbore pegs for frame-and-panel work. As my familiarity with the hatchet grew, I found I could remove an inch or two from a board's edge faster with my hatchet than I could with my saw. Either way, the rough surface would be planed smooth. The speed with which I could remove stock was the first thing that attracted me to the tool. 40 Popular Woodworking November 2005 |
