The Millwright’s Apprentice

While I haven’t been able to make it back to the shop for the past two weeks, I’ve kept working on our...

We’ve been overlooking some of the most important tools in our chest: chisels. Like today, chisels were an indispensable tool for 18th...

Last week, those of us who work in the Millwright Shop finally got back to work on the water wheel and flume....

Today we’re going to cover some of the less-discussed tools in an 18th-century millwright’s tool chest: axes and hatchets. While they might...

We’re taking a break from tools again to discuss research. While studying mills we rely on a variety of sources of...

As we build our tool collection, it needs a home. In the 18th century, that was likely in a chest of tools,...

One conundrum of studying 18th-century trades is determining what they would be wearing. Clothing is just as much of a tool as...

Now that we’ve moved past planes, it’s on to saws. This gets a bit tricky; in the 18th century there were multiple...

I want to take a quick break from our “Tools of the Trade” series to discuss goals and research with you. The...

Now that we’ve flattened our stock with the jointer plane, it’s time to smooth it to prepare it for joinery and finishing....