Tools Through The Ages

We’ve become accustomed to tools which are designed and manufactured with high quality materials, using the latest technology to ensure they’re fit for purpose and give professional results time after time. However, how did our ancestors manage with DIY without access to modern materials and advanced manufacturing processes? Alan Wadkins Toolstore explores the very first tools which had a heavy influence on today’s versions.

Hammer

The earliest evidence we have found of tool usage is from around 2.6 million years ago in the stone age. In its infancy, tools were incredibly simple and perhaps the least complicated was the hammerstone which, as the name suggests, a large stone that was used for hammering items such as coconuts and for killing animals for food.

Whilst the basic principle of hammers has stayed the same and they haven’t evolved much in recent times, they’re now manufactured using specialised materials which absorb the shock and vibration to reduce the risk of wrist injury, such as this example by Roughneck.

Axe

Another example we’ve found evidence of is a handaxe, which were made by striking small rocks against a surface to chip away a layer at a time – eventually ending with a sharp surface which could be used in hunting and creating spears with fallen tree branches.

As for axes, modern manufacturing techniques such as laser cutting has allowed us to produce a polished blade which is hardened and tempered to create a clean cut through wood. They also have features such as fiberglass handles which makes them more durable than their wooden counterparts.

Saw

The first saws appeared during the Paleolithic Era, roughly sixty thousand years ago – so there was quite a gap from when the first hammers were used. In the beginning, saws were made by creating many flints or sharp stones, created using the same technique as early axe blades, which were attached to a bone handle. It wasn’t until the discovery of copper around 4000 years ago when the ability to manufacture metal blades became possible.

However, these were still incredibly inefficient compared to today’s handsaws, which have many more raked teeth made from tungsten hardened steel which allow you to cut through many materials with ease.

It’s fair to assume that as our manufacturing improve even further, we’ll be producing tools which are even more efficient than todays. Here at Alan Wadkins Toolstore, as the leading tool store in the UK, you can be confident that you’ll have access the latest tools, machinery and accessories.