# Primitive tools



## wtxprepper (Jul 30, 2013)

Just thinking about it and wondering if there was no electricity etc what primitive tools are y'all buying to make life a little easier?


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

I love Primitive tools ... and have be acquiring them for years.  My husband hates with I say ... I found a auction we need to go see.

Or I put Lehman's on the trip plan when we go to the draft horse sells ... (What can I say ... everyone needs a hobby. )

https://www.lehmans.com/


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

We've been stocking up on non-electric tools for years. Auctions, yard sales, friends and relatives who ars cleaning out their "junk" are all good sources as is Lehmans and other retailers. Do some research and go for quality! Axes, for example, vary greatly in quality and workmanship. Some are much better for clubs than cutting!

My prize non-electric "tool" is my treadle sewing machine. It's in excellent shape.

Learn how to put new handles on tools. Often you can get the metal parts ( saw, ax head, maul, pick, mattock, etc.) for almost nothing.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

wtxprepper said:


> Just thinking about it and wondering if there was no electricity etc what primitive tools are y'all buying to make life a little easier?


Just standard stuff for woodcutting, carpentry, and blacksmithing. Solar panels and batteries/inverters to run sewing machine, blender, mixer. etc.

Enough chainsaws, bars, chains, oil and stabilized gas to last for a decade.


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## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

Well to start with this.l confession, I am a certified tool whore! It hard for me to pass on any old tool I think may be of use one day, as long as it is in decent condition. I am trying to get into blacksmithing and have been gathering equipment to outfit an 1800's forge. Wood working tools, gardening tools, most anything I can get my hands on.


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## wtxprepper (Jul 30, 2013)

I have gardening and wood cutting/working tools, gun smith told etc, just looking to expand that like blacksmithing tools would be a good investment, I am a mechanic so I'm overloaded with tools in that department

But like I said the blacksmithing tools, and even the older sewing machines

Keep em coming


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

When the OP said Primitive tools, you all know where mind went! Bone and Stone. Hey, what can I say? LOL


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

camo2460 said:


> When the OP said Primitive tools, you all know where mind went! Bone and Stone. Hey, what can I say? LOL


I had the same thought! I was thinking I didn't have any 'primitive' tools but I do have a lot of manual tools.

I have gathered mostly yard tools, shovels, rakes, hoe's, bars and such. For carpentry, a good selection of hammers, bars, cat's paw, hand saws (finish and rip). For wood: axes, bow saws, Peavey (Not sure if that is correct spelling though), Go Devil, mauls... Gardening: hand trowels, rakes, cultivators...

You would be surprised at the number of different shovels that come in handy! Long handle round, short handle round, long handle flat, short handle flat, trenching, sawdust... Sure, a short handle round shovel will do any of the jobs the other ones will do, but why?

Hammers too! A general 16 ounce curved claw will suffice for pretty much everything but why? 12 ounce, 16 ounce, 24 ounce (make sure you have a straight claw in each too!) 3#, 5# and the old reliable 12 pounder. Any home that does not have a 12# adjustment device has never had to make any minor adjustments to stuff. Well, maybe they have but they have not adjusted it with the correct tool.


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## lilmissy0740 (Mar 7, 2011)

What is the best primitive tool for weeding a garden? 



Sent from my iPad using Survival Forum


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

lilmissy0740 said:


> What is the best primitive tool for weeding a garden?


My favorite one looks like a cross between a flat hoe and an action hoe. not sure what its called....


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## Momturtle (Nov 2, 2009)

The best primitve tool for weeding a garden is a good hoe and a good hoer. Don't ever let it get ahead of you. I like a big cast iron grape hoe with a long handle. Not a lot of work to use it and very comfortable. Keep it sharp and use it often. 

We have crosscut saws, bow saws, many axes and hatchets, lots of hoes, rakes, shovels, tunneling bars, garden forks, broad forks, bush axes, and just about anything else you can think of. I myself do not buy anything that requires gasoline/electricity. My dear one stocks up on gasoline powered and electric tools all the time. I am preparing to line all the dead lawnmowers, tillers, and such along the property line and plant vines to twine them together. My bowsaws and broadfork still work just fine.


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## talob (Sep 16, 2009)

I've been working on getting setup with hand powered tools a pic, of the grinding wheel I just set up and a hand cloths wringer I built, got a hand crank grain mill and meat grinder set up and just orderd a handcrank corn sheller this morning.


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

LincTex said:


> My favorite one looks like a cross between a flat hoe and an action hoe. not sure what its called....


I had to look up 'action hoe'!!! I've always known it at a stirrup hoe. Love it! Mine always need a stroke or two from the file between each use. Maybe it is the clay and small granite rocks still in the amended garden. If I do not regularly sharpen it it 'smunches' weeds not cuts them off.

Speaking of that... Remember to add an extra (or two!) mill bastard file to your primitive tool stable.


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

wtxprepper has a great point, we here always talk about shtf events and mix those events with solar power, generators, etc, we keep going back to civilization like there is no problem when in fact a real shtf event is living without civilization, is a primitive event requiring skills from the past, tools from the past, a wood stove, heater, braces, auger bits, chisels, manual cutting tools; we all get the idea here, surviving a dooms day scenario will required lots and lots of primitive tools, I myself wouldn't go anywhere without my manual blender and solar power ice maker, frozen margaritas you see. :beercheer:


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## JustCliff (May 21, 2011)

Many different firewood cutting tools including one and two man saws, axes, mauls, wedges of different sizes. Gardening tools of all types. A recent addition is an awl. It's pretty interesting. It has several different needles and there are different thread weights that can be used. I think it will come in handy in mending shoes and boots.


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## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

I love going to antique stores and looking for useful stuff. Cast iron cookware, hand crank blower for the forge, anvil, hand drill and bits, all kinds of stuff. I even found 6 compasses at one place. Prices aren't always the best, but quality is usually good. Old hardware stores can be a great place to. Really you can find stuff most anywhere if you look and can think outside the box a little.
One thing I really want is an old hand crank apple peeler. The new ones don't hold up for more than a couple bushels.


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

Anything for woodworking, hand tools (screw drivers, saws, etc.), gardening, chopping/splitting wood or kitchen gadgets. Mostly garage sale and estate sale finds... although I just got a good deal on a splitting maul head from ebay.


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## musketjim (Dec 7, 2011)

Firewood is crucial here at BOL, so all lumber tools. Gardening is important so those tools also. Tools I'm gathering are blacksmiths, like everyone else here it sounds like.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

*Only one Problem...*

Okay, after a lifetime of being a tool addict, I've collected all the old stuff. Got manual tools for everything--gardening, blacksmithing, grass/weed/hay cutting, a grain cradle, sheet metal work, carpentry, woodworking from the axe and crosscut saws, broadaxe, and adze, to the jointer plane, hand saws of all types, and all the fine woodworking tools like a Stanley #55 combination plane. Got drawknives and spokeshaves and cabinet scrapers of several kinds. Enough to start with a standing tree and finish any piece of furniture you might want.

The metal shop includes a crank powered blower on the forge, a crank powered drill press, and a pedal powered grindstone. There is a lever shear that will cut 1/8" x 6" flat stock and up to 1/2"diameter rounds. A stomp shear that will but 4 ft. x 16 gauge, a corner notcher for making sheet metal boxes, a finger brake that will do 4 ft. x 10 gauge (about 1/8" thick), and a turret punch that will do holes in 1/6 gauge from 1/8" to 1 1/2". There's a bead roller for up to 16 gauge, and an English Wheel that will handle 16 gauge and make a new floor pan for your Model A Ford, complete with the transmission tunnel.

The heck of it is, I'm getting pretty old and have rickety joints and a distinct lack of ambition to use a lot of that stuff! It is HARD work to make things the old ways. All that manual labor is not bad when you are in your 20's through your 50's, but late 60's and older it gets to be a real drag.

I spend most of my shop time trying to figure out the easiest ways to do things now, or how to eliminate the chore altogether. I'd suggest you all plan for old age in some way. Maybe have some big, strapping boys to do the grunt work, or some pretty daughters that marry some big strong young men.

I went the latter way, and have a son in law who is 6' 6" and about 230 lbs. Whatever he grabs hold of seems to work out just fine, having skills to go with the strength.

Better yet, get all the heavy hard work finished BEFORE you get too darned old!


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## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

Machinest, gettin old is my biggest worry. I'm only 53, but I can already see a lack of stamina that wasn't there just a few years ago.

Did you buy or make your grain cradle? I've been looking high and low for one or some good drawings to make my own with.


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## Bushpig (Feb 20, 2014)

I'm working on gathering leather working tools. I figure boots and gloves being in daily use will need mending/replacing. Also there will be more horse and mule use so saddles and other tack will be in demand as well. The excess leather goods will also make good barter items.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Bushpig said:


> I'm working on gathering leather working tools. I figure boots and gloves being in daily use will need mending/replacing. Also there will be more horse and mule use so saddles and other tack will be in demand as well. The excess leather goods will also make good barter items.


Where will you get your leather?
You may want to get a few books on tanning hides.
You may find a class on it, which would be helpful.
From what little I know of tanning it is messy & hard work, but you would have an endless supply go leather.
You can use rabbit,sheep,goat,hog,cattle,deer & any predator that you kill.
Tanning is not a lot of fun, but it beats clothes from fig leaves.
I have a book on leather & weaving.
"Leather Craft & Weaving" by R.E.A.
It has over 150 drawing with dimension for leather projects & a drawing without dimension for a loom for weaving.
Fiber from plants & wool to weave cloth.
Leather coats & furs for warmth is good too.
A book or list of plants for natural dyes would be helpful too.
Of coarse to stock up on leather now would give you a jump on setting up shop after SHTF.
Speaking of shop you can check out "Modern Black Smith".
This book show you how to make some of the leather tools you will need.
Most of the thing in the book can be made by hand with out electric.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

bacpacker,

I bought the grain cradle, but I had to make some new braces for the fingers. The hard part is finding that LONG 4 foot blade. I can make the rest and bend all the wood parts if necessary. You just cut the wood green, split out your blank, KEEP IT WET, and bend it into a fixture to cure out. At least that is how my granddad did it.

I don't know of any source for those long scythe blades, though. I bought the cradle pretty well complete, minus a couple little braces, for $45. I found a spare blade at a flea market here for $9, IIRC. Those prices are from about 5 or 6 years ago here is southern Indiana. No idea what they go for now.

I can buy new scythe "grass blades" from Seymour Mfg., but they are far too short, and that length makes a big difference--30" versus a full 48". There is no comparison for how much better that long one works. It allows you to swing with a slicing action so the grain is cut off cleanly.

The old original blades are all rusty, so I got them sandblasted and then sanded them somewhat smoother to slick them up where they were pitted. Sharpening took off very little width. I had to stone the back side to get the pits out of the edge. Now they are good and will stay that way with a thick coating of lard on them to prevent rust.

SAFETY NOTE: When a scythe, or cradle blade is truly sharp, they are as dangerous as a straight razor that long. There are gruesome tales of accidents, so don't fool around with them!

Study some of the photos here: https://www.google.com/search?q=gra...&sqi=2&ved=0CBwQsAQ&biw=1438&bih=708&dpr=0.95

I would not try to use wood rods for the braces. The later ones all used wire, often with a head like a nail on one end and the other end threaded for a nut. Use Hickory for the fingers and the standing rod they are anchored to. Split the hickory green (don't forget to keep it WET until it is bent) and don't use the heartwood, but a radial section split from a clear (NO knots) piece that is at least 4" in diameter. You will need wedges and a froe to split these parts out. My fingers are about 1/2" thick and 3/4" wide, bent edgewise to match the blade. The ends of the fingers are whittled to a round about 7/16" diameter and the post they fit into is about 3/4"to 7/8" wide. Some of those posts are flat to save some weight, and some are round. I have seen some that are simply a tight fit and some that arewedged like a hammer handle, with the wood wedge horizontal to avoid splitting the post. Some, the later ones, have a small wire brad to anchor them in the post.

The post is slightly reduced in diameter where it enters the snath (handle), and also usually bradded in place. Figure out your bracing very carefully, and align drill the snath with the brace wires. Each one has a slightly different orientation. I prefer the ones that have braces drilled through the second (spacing) post, rather than through the fingers to retain strength in the fingers. I also like the ones that have that second spacer post mortised to fit OVER the fingers, also to retain 100% integrity of the fingers.

Plan on spending a lot of quality time with a spokeshave to get these parts all as perfect as you can. 

ON SHARPENING: I would warn you to NOT try to peen these antique blades. The temper is often uneven so what you will get is a chipped blade. In the interest of preserving a rare blade, I would only use a stone on it. Even experts sometimes work harden a blade too much by peening and cause it to break out a chip = a ruined blade. Peening was done to intentionally work harden the blades for a longer lasting, and thinner cutting edge. If you want to try to learn to peen a blade, choose a cheap new one that has been uniformly hardened and tempered.

Stone strokes should go toward the point of the blade. That leaves microscopic "teeth" at the cutting edge that tend to grab the grass or straw so it does not slide along the blade, but is cut off instead. It is a mistake to use too fine a stone for sharpening. This is where another safety warning is apt to do some good. DO NOT get in a hurry stoning a blade! It is easy to cut yourself seriously if you deviate in the least as you stroke the stone. Forget the slick videos of lifetime experts who try to make a competitive event, or an art form of stoning a blade. Save your fingers by being very careful.

Keep your sharpening strokes at a very shallow angle to the blade to get that much desired thin cutting edge, and you will be rewarded with a blade that will cut tender young grass cleanly.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

machinist said:


> Okay, after a lifetime of being a tool addict, I've collected all the old stuff. Got manual tools for everything--gardening, blacksmithing, grass/weed/hay cutting, a grain cradle, sheet metal work, carpentry, woodworking from the axe and crosscut saws, broadaxe, and adze, to the jointer plane, hand saws of all types, and all the fine woodworking tools like a Stanley #55 combination plane. Got drawknives and spokeshaves and cabinet scrapers of several kinds. Enough to start with a standing tree and finish any piece of furniture you might want.
> 
> The metal shop includes a crank powered blower on the forge, a crank powered drill press, and a pedal powered grindstone. There is a lever shear that will cut 1/8" x 6" flat stock and up to 1/2"diameter rounds. A stomp shear that will but 4 ft. x 16 gauge, a corner notcher for making sheet metal boxes, a finger brake that will do 4 ft. x 10 gauge (about 1/8" thick), and a turret punch that will do holes in 1/6 gauge from 1/8" to 1 1/2". There's a bead roller for up to 16 gauge, and an English Wheel that will handle 16 gauge and make a new floor pan for your Model A Ford, complete with the transmission tunnel.
> 
> ...


I am 54 this year.
I have two horse drawn mowing machines.
One was my fathers & one was my father-in laws.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/sea...pigot-yhp-sfmac&va=Horse+drawn+mowing+machine


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## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

Thanks for the reply. Very good details in there. I had planned on wooden spacers between the fingers. Glad you mention using wire instead. Made me think of some I had saw at a museum down here. They had metal rods for spacers. Sound like this will make a good winter project. I need to make me a shaving horse first thing. One other question, how is your cradle attached to the snath?

I planted some wheat Last year and harvested it using my 30" scythe with no cradle. It cut fine, but was a bear to get up. I gotta come up with something better. Thanks again for the info.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

My cradle has a wood rod, about 5/15" to 3/8" diameter for a spacer and the fingers are drilled for that. Not the best, but that's what I have. Mine also has wood brace rods to the snath. 

My fingers are tenoned into the vertical post, and the post is tenoned into the end of the snath. There's a ring that retains the tang of the blade on the snath and the wood snath extends about 3" below that ring. The extended part of the snath has the hole for the post tenon. 

If you plan to drill the fingers for braces and spacer, I'd make them at least an inch wide at that point.

Mine has been repaired many times and has wood screws retaining the finger brace rods. It is something of a mess, but it does work. 

NOTE! Even if you don't plan to work on this until next winter, you need to cut and split out, then bend the fingers while the wood is green. Make a bending fixture to put them in until they dry. You will get maybe 10% to 20% spring back when they come out of the fixture after drying, so allow for it. They can sit in the fixture until you are ready to work on the final shaping.

It just doesn't seem to work to let it dry and then soak it, or steam it for making fingers. They won't last. The dry wood is damaged too much by bending, even if it is well steamed. Green wood can allow the fibers to "slip" past each other and still retain their integrity. Best to cut it in the Spring and make blanks then, according to my great granddad who made wood baskets out of white oak splits. He said he cut the green white oak and never let it out of water unless he was working on splitting a piece. Kept it wet until the basket was finished.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

crabapple,

When I ran a farm repair shop at home a few years ago, I had several Amish customers who had me work on what they called "trucks" to put on their mowing machines. The tongue was cut short and this pair of wheels put under it. That supported the heavy weight of the mower on the front end. The wheels could swivel, like the "crazy wheel" on the back end of a Bush Hog. The long tongue for pulling it was attached with a big hinge like the tongue of a tractor drawn farm wagon so it could be steered by the horses. It looked like a horse drawn disk, except with a longer tongue attached in front of the wheels. 
https://www.google.com/search?q=hor...wBw&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1438&bih=708&dpr=0.95

Without trucks, a mower will bear too heavily on the horses' necks. (For those not acquainted with this, the tongue has a ring at the end and a "neck yoke" like a doubletree. The neck yoke is attached to the horses' collars by snaps at the hames, thus all the tongue weight is transferred to the horses' neck via the collar.) It rubs all the hair off their manes at the collar and causes terrible sores there.

Yeah, been there, done that. Back when our kids were little, we worked 45 acres with a pair of Percherons. We used an IH 5 foot mower with "regular gear" (wheel drive gear ratio) and front trucks. Never had a sore neck on a horse, either.


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## Bushpig (Feb 20, 2014)

crabapple said:


> Where will you get your leather?


Without commercial slaughterhouses there should be local sources again for hides aside from the ones we produce. I have training and limited experience in butchering so sourcing hides should be fairly easy. I have several books on tanning that use various methods to tan and dye the leather. I have done some brain tanning which you are correct is messy, tough work and time consuming.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Bushpig said:


> Without commercial slaughterhouses there should be local sources again for hides aside from the ones we produce. I have training and limited experience in butchering so sourcing hides should be fairly easy. I have several books on tanning that use various methods to tan and dye the leather. I have done some brain tanning which you are correct is messy, tough work and time consuming.


https://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/locations/storesearch.aspx

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Crafts-/14339/i.html?_nkw=leather+craft+supplies

http://leatherunltd.com/leather/oak/oak.html

http://www.theleatherguy.org/RAWHIDE-LEATHER-141431.aspx

I used Tandy for years & a western company, but do not have the old catalog or name. It had lots of horn & bone, too.
By the way horn, bone & Ivory dust are VERY bad for the lungs, you need a special bio-filter to cut or grind it.
I have been putting off doing tanning myself, I have a friend who has rabbits & I am going to help him do some skins.
After all the stores close, I will have to harvest skins & make my leather.
It will not be fun like hunting or gardening, but can not afford to waste the skins.

I dryed some rabbit skin on a 1/2 gallon milk jug as a kid.
Caught the wild rabbits in a rabbit box- 6"(5.5") X 1" (3/4") X 14" lumber & a few nails, a handsaw is all you need.


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## ONEOLDCHIEF (Jan 5, 2012)

lilmissy0740 said:


> What is the best primitive tool for weeding a garden?
> 
> A gallon of gas and a match!!!


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## rf197 (Jul 19, 2009)

ONEOLDCHIEF said:


> lilmissy0740 said:
> 
> 
> > What is the best primitive tool for weeding a garden?
> ...


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

lilmissy0740 said:


> What is the best primitive tool for weeding a garden?
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Survival Forum


I use leaves,pine straw,grass clipping, sawdust, tree bark as mulch.
I also use burlap bags, cardboard boxes also, never pull weeds most days.
1 or 2 will come though, but not many.


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## wtxprepper (Jul 30, 2013)

Well picked up some more tools that I thought I would share, was at the hardware store and picked up a new weed and grass cutter, have got a couple shovels and hoes that work was going to trash but I took em home and am working on new handles for them, also been in eBay quite a bit looking for harder to find tools picked up a 10" draw knife for woodworking, and a primitive cultivater and the search never ends

Thanks everybody for yalls input


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