A Quick Lesson On the History of Power Tools

For the vast majority of us, power tools have been around as long as we can remember in one form or another. When we look back to see such items of our childhood, it's funny how they seem so primitive, yet at the time they were the most up-to-date invention making the lives of our families so much easier than those of past generations.

Centuries before the wheel was invented, the Egyptians built the pyramids with nothing more than copper tools to quarry and cut the colossal blocks. It's believed that this was one of the first uses of a copper drill, sharpened by the many metalworkers of the day, spun by twine attached to a cross piece that was moved back and forth like a bow. One theory for physically moving the blocks to the site was that the laborers drilled holes through the blocks, placed either twine or a dowel through the block, and pulled the giant blocks up that way.

Somewhere around the first century B.C., the first screws came into existence. They were made out of wood, had a corkscrew design and were used in various presses of the day, like wine and olive oil. The drivers of the times were basically anything that would twist the screw to get the desired result, eventually leading to a slot in the head of the screw and a coordinating driver with a tip that fit in the slot to ease the twisting process. Metal screws and nuts used for fastening two items together weren't seen until the fifteenth century.

Henry Phillips developed the Phillips head screw as a need came for screws to take greater torque and grant tighter fastenings to coincide with the 1930's automobile assembly lines and their automated screwdrivers. Phillips' screw fit in nicely and created a new generation of screws and drivers in the process. Of course, it only took a few more decades to add power to the screwdriver, either as a single driving device or as an attachment for an electric drill.

The history of saws takes us back to 1777 England where Samuel Miller invented the round metal disk type of saw that cuts by spinning, also known as the circular saw. 1813 saw a vast improvement to the two-man pit saws that were used in the production of lumber when Tabitha Babbitt invented the first circular saw used in a sawmill. The band saw came into the scene in 1807 with its invention by William Newberry.

It's been said more than once "necessity is the mother of invention" and "with age comes wisdom". Combining both of these proverbs to come up with easier, simpler ways to do things more quickly and efficiently is what has changed these uncomplicated tools of the past into the higher-tech power tools of today, and will help to create the next generation of power tools for tomorrow.