WOODWORKING PLANS
Along
with stone, mud and animal parts, wood was one of the primary materials
worked by early humans. Microwear investigation Mousterian stone tools
utilized by the Neanderthals demonstrate that many were used to work
wood. The introduction of civilization was closely linked with the
creation of increasingly greater examples of skill in working these
materials.
Woodworking shop in Germany in 1568, the staff member in-front is using a bow saw, the one in the background is planing.
Among
early finds of wooden tools will be the worked sticks from Kalambo
Falls, Clacton-on-Sea and Lehringen. The spears from Schningen (Germany)
provide a few of the first examples of wooden hunting gear. Flint tools
were used for carving. Since Neolithic times, carved wooden vessels are
known, for example, from the Linear Pottery culture wells at Kckhofen
and Eythra.
Types of Bronze Age wood-carving include tree trunks
worked into coffins from northern Germany and Denmark and wooden
folding-chairs. The website of Fellbach-Schmieden in Germany provides
fine examples of wooden animal statues from the Iron Age. Wooden idols
in the La T�ne period are known from your sanctuary on the source of the
Seine in France. WOODWORKING PROJECTS
The ancient civilization that first used
woodworking was the Egyptians. Woodworking is depicted in lots of
ancient Egyptian drawings, along with a tremendous amount of ancient
Egyptian furniture (for example stools, chairs, tables, beds, chests)
has been preserved in tombs. Too, the interior coffins perfectly located
at the tombs were also made from wood. The metal employed by the
Egyptians for woodworking tools was originally copper and finally, after
2000 BC bronze as ironworking was unknown until much later.[1]
Widely
used woodworking tools included axes, adzes, chisels, pull saws, and
bow drills. Mortise and tenon joints are attested in the earliest
Predynastic period. These joints were strengthened using pegs, dowels
and leather or cord lashings. Animal glue came into existence used only
in the New Kingdom period.[2] Ancient Egyptians invented the skill of
veneering and used varnishes for finishing, although composition of
these varnishes is unknown. Although different native acacias were
utilized, as was the wood from the local sycamore and tamarisk trees,
deforestation in the Nile valley triggered the necessity for the
importation of wood, notably cedar, but also Aleppo pine, boxwood and
oak, starting from the Second Dynasty.[3]
The progenitors of
Chinese woodworking are considered to be Lu Ban (??) and his wife Lady
Yun, from the Spring and Autumn Period. Lu Ban is said to have
introduced the plane, chalk-line, and other tools to China. His
teachings were supposedly left behind in the book Lu Ban Jing (???,
"Manuscript of Lu Ban"). Despite this, it is believed that the text was
written some 1500 years after his death. This book is filled largely
with descriptions of dimensions for use in building various items such
as flower pots, tables, altars, etc., and also contains extensive
instructions concerning Feng Shui. It mentions almost nothing of the
intricate glue-less and nail-less joinery for which Chinese furniture
was so famous.
Damascene woodworkers carving wood for hookahs, 19th century.
Materials[edit]
Historically,
woodworkers relied upon the woods native to their region, until
transportation and trade innovations made more exotic woods available to
the craftsman. Woods are typically sorted into three basic types:
hardwoods typified by tight grain and derived from broadleaf trees,
softwoods from coniferous trees, and man-made materials such as plywood
and MDF.
Typically furniture such as tables and chairs is made
using solid stock, and cabinet/fixture makers employ the use of plywood
and other man made panel products.