Dictionary of Tools (used in the woodworking and allied trades c. 1700-1970)

R.A. Salaman

Reviewed by:

Bob Nelson

(NOTE: A slightly expanded 1997 soft cover reprint is available from Astragal Press; the title name on it is: Dictionary of Woodworking Tools)

If anyone interested in the identities and uses of old time woodworking hand tools could only have one relevant book, this is the one. It is widely recognized by tool collectors, historians, and dealers as the reference "bible" for such information. The tools are listed in alphabetic order and most of them have sketches or line drawings picturing them plus descriptions of what they do and how they do it. Besides manufactured tools, the book includes numerous examples of more primitive tools made by users or blacksmiths. Tools are extensively cross-referenced between different names used for them and in writeups of a large number of woodworking trades. Beyond its value as a reference source, the book is written in a style that encourages reading it simply for pleasure.

As a general across-the board book, it covers major variations, but does not go into the detailed distinctions between different makes and models one might find in more specialized books. The author is British. While he has included some of the different names and tools used in the U.S, there is a noticeable U.K. bias of those. This detracts very little from the value and pleasure most U.S. readers derive from this book.

It is natural to question how this book compares to the similarly oriented Alvin Sellens Dictionary of American Hand Tools. While the Sellens book has much to commend it, this reviewer considers the Salaman book to be substantially better.