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Primary Source of the Month
Plate XXI in Johann Bernhard Basedow, Elementarwerke für die Jugend
und ihre Freunde, Berlin, Germany, 1774. From the Collections of the Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation.
Johann Bernhard Basedow was a German educational reformer who presented his
plan for the education of children in Elementarwerke fur die Jugend und ihre
Freunde (Elementary Work for Youth and their Friends) and put it
into practice at his school called the Philanthropinum, founded in 1774. The
illustrations in the book, rendered by German painter and engraver Daniel Nikolaus
Chodowiecki, include maps, plans, views, plants, animals, minerals, trades and
professions, musical instruments, the arts and sciences, historical scenes,
scenes from daily life, and all sorts of objects, implements, and utensils.
Plate XXI in Elementarwerke (above) shows the interior of a German cabinet
shop. Though some of the details and tools are different than those in shops
in the American colonies, the engraving yields a wealth of information about
the tools and techniques that were generally employed by eighteenth-century
cabinetmakers. The tools illustrated in the engraving include:
- Brace & bit (used to drill holes) and carpenter's square (used to lay out right angles and make sure work is square)
- Hammer and nails
- Clamp (used to hold parts together during assembly and/or until glue dries)
- Frame saw [Note: A regular handsaw was usually used in English shops.]
- Rasp or file (used to shape or smooth surfaces)
- Bench plane (used to make surfaces consistently flat, straight, and smooth)
- Glue pot and brush (used to keep hide glue warm until it can be applied to joint assemblies)
- Chisel (used to chip, carve, or cut into wood) and wooden mallet (used to strike another tool or strike a surface without damaging it)
- Assortment of chisels and gouges (used to cut joints, cut decorative designs, or shape wood as it turns on a lathe)
- Hand ax (used to split, chop, or trim down to size)
Historic Triangle
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