Saws

• For cutting wood to size and shaping large pieces, woodworkers relied on the strength of their arms, the skill of their hands, and the shape and sharpness of their saws. While broad-bladed ripsaws and large cross-cut saws made simple cuts fast and easy, more specialized work required a set of different tools. Back saws, which had thin blades held straight by a thick metal strip, produced fine, straight cuts. Cabinet makers made frequent use of framed saws, which employed a large bow-like frame to stretch a narrow blade for curved cuts.
  
  

Chisels

• Much like modern woodworkers, 18th century craftsmen mounted long sections of wood onto a lathe, where chisels whittled it as the wood spun on its axis. Broad, straight-edged chisels chipped away large bits of wood all at once, while smaller, curved chisels shaped rounded edges and grooves. Woodworkers rarely used chisels for shaping large sections of wood apart from on the lathe, but small, sharp handheld chisels represented the most vital tool for preparing joints, as deep locking grooves could not be created any other way.
  
  

Augers and Drills

• When they needed to drill holes for pegs or pins, Colonial woodworkers used augers to do the job. Generally, augers were shaped like a T, with a metal drilling shaft and crossing wooden handle. At this early stage in technology, the tip of an auger usually looked like a flat-head screwdriver, with its tip sharpened to cut through the wood faster.
  
  Thick 18th century nails frequently split or cracked the wood unless a craftsman first prepared a small pilot hole for them. Woodworkers used a gimlet, a small one-handed version of an auger, to do this. Two-handed drills for heavy and continuous drilling may have existed in the 18th century, but historians disagree on this point.
  
  

Planes

• With a securely mounted blade running through a block of wood, planes acted as a more precise form of chisel, shaving off strips of wood or shaping the edges of boards. The straight blade of bench planes leveled and smoothed flat wooden surfaces. Molding planes came in a variety of blade shapes, each designed to cut a different shape, depth and style of molding. Tongue-and-groove planes were often manufactured as a matching pair, with each shaping one half of a locking joint.