# Construction before there was power tools



## finakat (Jun 7, 2011)

Kind of a nerdy rant - I was just thinking this morning if there is anyone on CT who could give an accurate description of what jobsites were like before we had power tools.

This past weekend, I was having a conversation with my 96 yr old grandfather, who was a carpenter and super his entire life. He told me about his experience as a 12 yr old helper in Manhattan, when only a select few areas had electricity and it was still being installed. He also told me my great grandfather was a contractor, with a horse and buggy in the late 1800s

I went and googled everything I could on some old info on how everyday work was by hand.

Was it slower? What was framing like? Were tradesman more talented, hardworking, and anal back then - or have we gotten better over the years?

How did they plane timbers and beams? How come when I hold a level up to the brickwork in my apt building that was built in 1910 its still plumb - but when I hold a level to a modern building it seems to have set so soon?

It just makes me wonder if the job was twice as hard back then, did the buildings take longer to build? Or has electricity spoiled us? Idk just a random rant...lol


----------



## NHCremodeling (Mar 20, 2010)

Try to get ahold of an old set of audels. I have a 4 volume set from 1927.

Even though they had some power tools then, there was still an amazing amount of hand work to do. 

Check out the math they used back then too.

Let me put it this way. They were true craftsmen back then. A carpenter would show up with a wooden toolbox full of chisels that he would treat like they were his own children.


----------



## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

Back in the early 60's here, the unions were still visiting jobs, trying to get carpenters not to use power saws.


----------



## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

There was machinery to mill lumber all the way back in the mid 1800's.


----------



## Tom Struble (Mar 2, 2007)

and rope made from the finest hemp:clap:


beer by the bucket that they made you drink:thumbup:


----------



## r4r&r (Feb 22, 2012)

I would think it would have been no different then than it is now. Quality depended on the one using the tools not the tools being used. All any technology does is produce crap faster if you don't have the abilities or talent to use it. 
I am sure time frames on jobs would come out pretty close as I would guess they used larger crews, dedicated cut men, joinery or what have you so the materials were feed at the proper rate to keep everyone moving. 
Speaking for myself there are things I do all the time that I could have done by hand just as fast or faster then I did setting up/tearing down some power tool or combination of power tools to do the same thing, granted this is with the caveat that I was truly skilled at the hand tool method which I am most assuredly not. 
If you have ever seen someone use the truly old school methods that are highly skilled in them it is amazing how fast it is.
In a lot of cases I don't think tools are created to improve quality so much as ease the labor involved and improve the accurate repeatability of a given task.


----------



## GRB (Feb 23, 2009)

NHCremodeling said:


> Try to get ahold of an old set of audels. I have a 4 volume set from 1927.


Isn't that a cool resource? I have what looks like a nearly identical set from the 20's or 30's. :thumbsup:


----------



## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

This guy did some good old-time stuff. If you haven't seen the movie, order the DVD from http://www.dickproenneke.com/. :thumbsup:


----------



## Tom Struble (Mar 2, 2007)

:clap:that guy was awesome


----------



## Tom Struble (Mar 2, 2007)

NHCremodeling said:


> Try to get ahold of an old set of audels. I have a 4 volume set from 1927.
> 
> Even though they had some power tools then, there was still an amazing amount of hand work to do.
> 
> ...


i don't think Audels ever changed any details from the first edition :whistling


----------



## Oconomowoc (Oct 13, 2011)

Go to youtube and key in "roy underhill"


----------



## onthelevel (Apr 6, 2011)

Tinstaafl said:


> This guy did some good old-time stuff. If you haven't seen the movie, order the DVD from http://www.dickproenneke.com/. :thumbsup:


Thanks Tinstaafl. Dick Proenneke Is my HERO. Lived there in ALsaska til he was 83. When men were men. Too many darn sissies nowadays.


----------



## Snobnd (Jul 1, 2008)

Tinstaafl said:


> This guy did some good old-time stuff. If you haven't seen the movie, order the DVD from http://www.dickproenneke.com/. :thumbsup:


I watched him from start to finnish.

That guy is cool:thumbsup: (and one tough sob)


----------



## Seven-Delta-FortyOne (Mar 5, 2011)

Check out a book called "Building Construction Before Mechanization," by John Fitchen. Good info there.

I read alot of construction history, and it's fascinating to read the down and gritty stories of construction from years ago, if you can find them. I know that the general tradesperson, be it mason or carpenter, usually carried all he needed in a leather toolbag, and built some pretty amazing things with a fraction of the tools I carry around with me on a daily basis.

That being said, construction has changed alot over the years, some of it even for the better. :laughing:


----------



## 4 seasons (Jan 4, 2010)

GRB said:


> Isn't that a cool resource? I have what looks like a nearly identical set from the 20's or 30's. :thumbsup:



I have a set of those too, a fun read!


----------



## txgencon (Jan 4, 2011)

I went to see a guy's house he had built himself. It appeared the only cutting tool he had was a hatchet. Does that count?


----------



## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

Snobnd said:


> I watched him from start to finnish.


The clip I posted, or the whole movie? There's a lot more in the movie, like how he sought out just the right wood knots to make his door hinges from.

:thumbup:


----------



## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

My grandfather was a carpenter and he never did buy a power saw. He did break down and buy an electric drill I think in the early '50's if I remember correctly.


----------



## Tom Struble (Mar 2, 2007)

i always wondered how his roof system made out? i think it was plastic then moss then shingles or something like that i forget


----------



## flashheatingand (May 3, 2008)

I like to pick up the old Audell books when ever i run across them. Great historical references.


----------

