Frames and supports in 15th and 16th-century Southern Netherlandish painting

CHAPTER I 28 108. David 1977, 162-178. 1. Tools for (re)splitting, squaring and cutting The axe is one of the oldest tools used by man. It was used to cut down trees and split wood for beams, planks and boards. We distinguish, for the period that concerns us, different kinds. Axes having their cutting edge parallel to the handle. From the largest to the smallest: felling axes, broadaxes, splitting axes and hatchets. Within each of these categories we find various models. The felling axe (fig. 6: 1-2) served to cut down trees and lop the branches before removing the bark with the broadaxe. Small cross-notches were scored into the trunk and the bark then removed or “joggled”/”juggled”. In this way the bark was cut away in chips without the axe getting stuck. The splitting axe (fig. 6: 3-6), with a generally shorter handle and a wider cutting edge, struck the wood with less force but with greater precision. It was used to split wood in the direction of the fibre (the opposite end of the head from the cutting edge, or “poll”, often had a square head, which could be struck with a hammer, leaving the cutting edge embedded in the wood, increasing the efficiency of the tool and avoiding loss of energy. We can note here that wooden wedges (fig. 6: 64) hit with a mallet (fig. 6: 62-63) were used for the same purpose. A smaller version of the same axe served to square the wood. The head could be recessed on the handle side (fig. 6: 4) for lightness. The haft was sometimes curved (fig. 6: 5) making it safer to use by taking the workman’s hands further away from the wood to be split. The head could have a long sleeve (fig. 6: 6). The head itself could be very long so as to avoid bending when working with wood placed on the ground (fig. 6: 7). The accuracy of the squaring was checked using squares (fig. 6: 44). Hatchets (fig. 6: 8-9), a smaller version of the splitting axe, were used for small jobs. Axes having their edge perpendicular to the haft are called adzes (fig. 6: 10). This tool moves more or less parallel to the work surface, the cutting edge is sometimes slightly offset from the axis of the handle: in French this is known as a doloire (fig. 6: 11). These tools were used to trim or “dress” a wood surface by removing small, superficial chips in the direction of the fibres. For completeness’ sake we mention here two tools used more by carpenters than by joiners: the mortise axe (fig. 6: 12) and the twibill or double-headed axe (fig. 6: 13). 108 The mortise axe consists of a straight or slightly curved metal blade, roughly 50 cm in length, with the haft attached in the centre. The cutting edge is perpendicular to the plane of the haft and the tool is used perpendicular to the work surface. This tool was used to dress the large timbers wood used by carpenters, and also used for smoothing mortises and tenons in large timber pieces. The twibill consists of a straight blade roughly 1.20 m long and 3 to 4 cm wide, with a cutting edge at each end. On one end the blade is bevelled parallel to the handle, and on the other side has the shape of a mortise chisel, perpendicular to the handle. This tool is generally provided with a sleeve; it is used without a haft, and struck axially into the wood. The use of twibill is similar to that of the mortise axe.