The medieval tool chest the two man cross cut saw

The two man cross-cut saw appeared first in the 10th century in the Northern Alps, but only became common in the mid-15th century. The saw was mostly used by carpenters, and only after medieval times became an ubiquitous tool for lumberjacks or woodcutters (to cut the tree logs into smaller units).  The saw is worked by two man, which both use the saw on the pull stroke, and relax when the other pulls. This saw is often depicted together with the Apostle St. Simon, who reputedly was martyred by being sawn in half lengthwise. The saw in this period traditionally is shown with a straight blade of the same width throughout, and two large handles into sockets forged onto the blade following the width of the blade. However, the blade could also have a belly, being wider at the middle of the blade. Also the setting of the handle could differ, such that the handles went through the blade, or that the handles were directly riveted to the blade.

Top: Two man sawing a board lengthwise on a saw horse with a two man saw. Around 1300-1340. British Library, Manuscript Royal 10E. IV, folio 99 verso. Right above: St. Simon with a two man cross-cut saw. The handles go through the blade. Baptismal altar, St. Johanniskirche, Luneburg, Germany. Around 1507/1508 by Benedikt Dreyer. Left: A two man cross-cut saw. Building of Salomons temple St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Prudentius: Psychomachia, Codex Sang. 135, page 434. 10th century.

Most of the blades had ordinary peg shaped teeth, but at the end of the 15th century also M-shaped teeth appeared. These teeth allow a better removal of the wet sawdust. A figure of St. Simon with a saw with M-teeth is depicted on a casket of Duke Rene II of Lorraine and his wife Phillipine of Gueldres, which was offered for their wedding in 1477. From the same period dates an engraving of St. Simon by Martin Schongauer.  Slightly later is a sketch of an M-toothed saw in the notebook of Leonardo da Vinci (dated between 1488-1497).

Emperor Maximilian visiting carpenters. Woodcut from Der Weisskunig from Hans Schaufelein, 1517. 

The emperor holds a 2 man cross-cut saw.

Two man working a cross-cut saw on a workbench. The workbench is fitted with a screw clamp. Blockbuch Eysenhuts, 1471. Herzogliche Bibliothek, Xyl III no. 8. Gotha, Germany.

Left: St. Simon with an M-saw on the casket of Duke Rene II of Lorraine and his wife Phillipine of Gueldres (1477). Unterlinden Museum, Colmar, France. Right: Engraving of St. Simon with an M-saw by Martin Schongauer (1450-1491). Museum LOevre Notre-Dame, Strassbourg, France.

 

The sketch of an M-toothed saw in the notebook of Leonardo da Vinci (around 1488). 

Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris, France.

Detail from a woodcut from Von der Dyngen Erfyndung by Polydor Vergil, showing an M-toothed saw. 

Augsburg, Steiner 1537, folio VC r.

We currently have two two-man cross-cut saws, which are antique ones of unknown manufacturing  date. We did have three, but one was given away to be turned into a ‘singing’ saw. Of the two left, only one has recently been fitted with turned handles into the sockets. The other one, needs to have some sockets added first. Actually, these saws do not fit in our medieval tool chest as it they are much too large. The length of the saw blade is almost 2 metres (1.7 m for the complete saw). The blade is belly-shaped with a thickness of approximately 2 mm, as the blade is thicker at side of the teeth. It has peg-shaped teeth of 15 mm, with 3 teeth per 5 cm in a regular cross-cut setting. In comparison, the two-handed push saw has a blade thickness of 3.3 mm and a push-cut setting of 4 teeth per 5 cm.

 Our belly-shaped two man cross-cut saws.

 The attachment of the socket and handle to the two man cross-cut saw.

Left: the peg-shaped teeth of the first (complete) saw. 

Right: the W-pattern of the other saw blade, also providing room to remove the wet sawdust.

The third singing saw worked by Marijn and Bram at Chateaux Vaeshartelt, the Netherlands.

Sources used:

• W.L. Goodman (1964) The history of woodworking tools. Bell and Hyman Ltd., London, UK.
• H.T. Schadwinkel and G. Heine (1986) Das Werkzeug des Zimmermanns. Verlag Th. Schafer, Hannover, Germany.
• F. van Tyghem (1966) Op en rond de middeleeuwse bouwplaats. Verhandelingen van de Koninklijke Vlaamse academie voor wetenschappen, letteren en schone kunsten van België. Jaargang XXVIII nr. 19.

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Cedar Bowl

This is a little cedar bowl I made back in 2012 and put on display at the Sunset River Marketplace.  I really enjoy turning cedar.  The contrast in the wood along with the smell make it a joy to work with. Anyways, it sold last month!!!  Knowing that someone likes your work enough to pay for it is a really awesome feeling.

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Two strycsittens and some chests

Just an occasional library loan of a book on Dutch furniture happened to contain an image of an thus-far unknown strycsitten. More surprisingly, it was found at the place of an antique dealer! So it can happen that these rare pieces of medieval (or in this case 16th century) furniture are still for sale....

This 16th century strycsitten has a width of 130 cm, height of 87 cm and is 52 cm deep. The legs also serve as holds for the moving backrest. The model is typical of the French strycsitten type. Image from Het Nederlandse Meubelboek by A.C.H. Hofstede (Waanders Uitgeverij, Zwolle, the Netherlands, 2006). Located at Aad Penders. De Eenhoorn Aniek, Zaltbommel, the Netherlands.

Anne encountered the second strycsitten during a trip to Innsbruck, Austria at the Tiroler Landesmuseum. In this museum a range of original small houses (stuben) with their interior from previous centuries has been built. The strycsitten comes from a house dating from the 15-16th century.

 This stycsitten is of the German type, with a chest beneath the seating planks.

There are more medieval type furniture pieces to be found in the Tiroler Landesmuseum. Below some examples of chests.

Two arks or Dachtruhen. These type of chests were already found in the 13th century, and remained popular in farming communities during later centuries. The lock of the top ark is medieval.

An iron plated Kastentruhe (plinth chest) with a small Dachtruhe (ark) on top of it. The ark and the plinth of the iron chest are decorated by chip carving

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Two More Ornaments!

The latest addition to the ornament family of 2013.  They have already been adopted too!  What a happy Christmas story. 

On the left is ebonized oak with holly finials.  It is 4.5" tall and weighs .933oz.

On the right is lacewood with sapele finials.  It is 5" tall and weighs .837oz.

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Two identical chests from the citymuseum of Koln

There are two large identical medieval chests in the city museum of Cologne, Germany  (Kolnischen Stadtmuseum), which originate from the medieval tax office. The chests were used to hold the payments and taxes, as well as the documents relating to it. One stood in the so-called Wednesday tax room, the other in the Saturday tax room. At each office (and day) different types of taxes and rents were collected, for instance rents or wine and beer taxes.

 The chest of the Wednesday tax office: height 108.5 cm, width 185 cm and depth 62 cm.

The chest of the Saturday tax office: height 110 cm, width 190 cm and depth 62 cm.

Both chests have the look of a hutch type chest, though the construction is partly different. They are made of oak and reinforced with iron bands. The wood of the chests has been dendrochronologically dated at either 1296 or 1410 +/- 5 years. As the latter date coincides with the date of the furnishing of the City council tower in 1414 (the place where the chests were kept), this is the most likely construction date. Wood from the same tree has been used for both chests. What is most astonishing is that all sides of the chests are made of single planks, with a thickness between 3 and 4 cm. They show cracks nowadays, and some have been completely split, but you can still see by the continuing grain pattern or the irregularity of the split that they once were one piece. Thus, the tree providing all the boards must have been very large .... (at least by modern standards).

 

Left: The side of the Wednesday tax chest, the side board is split in two, as is the lid. No dowels are visible on the side. Right:  The floor board is also a single piece of wood. The underside of the Wednesday tax chest. There used to be a wooden rail in the middle supporting the floor board (see light coloured wood and holes).  You can see that the sawn-out front decoration is thinner than the  main board and inserted in a groove. At the back of the photos the other tax chest can be seen.

Furthermore, no dowels can be seen that secure the sides to the front legs or the front legs to the front board. Although for the latter the place where dowels are to be expected is a bit obscured by the iron bands to be absolutely sure of the absence of dowels. It is most likely that the complete chest is hold together by iron nails - a more primitive construction than dowels.

Left: The left decorative triangle of the Wednesday tax chest. Right: The same corner for the Saturday tax chest. You can see part of the groove where the triangle is attached to the leg.

The decorative triangles are part of the front board. Looking at both chests feels like looking at find the 10 differences images. One of those differences is that the Saturday chest also has some decoration on the lower parts of the sides, while the Wednesday chest does not have elaborate carvings. Furthermore, there is a small size difference between both chests.

The decorated underside of the side board of the Saturday tax chest which is missing on the other chest.

The number of iron strips reinforcing the chest is the same, and they are placed approximately at the same places. Each chest has two locks with lock-plates that are integrated with the chest, and two hinges and rings that can be closed with a padlock.

 Left and right: The locks of the Wednesday tax chest.

 One of the lock plates of the Saturday tax chest.

We took the photos during our visit to the museum in 2012. Some details on the tax chests can be found in the museum catalogue Mittelalter in Koln. Eine Auswahl aus den Bestanden des Kolnischen Stadtmuseums edited by W. Schafke and M. Trier. Emons Verlag, Koln, Germany. ISBN: 9783897056541.

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