ID-DOC: general search

Hand tool with a crescent-shaped or slightly curved blade (approx. 20-60 cm), the edge of which is sometimes provided with small teeth - oblique to the handle - and attached to a short handle (approx. 10-15 cm). The sickle, which weighs about 200-500 gr, is used to harvest (winter) grain, grass, beans, etc. With one hand you hold the stems, with the other - in which you keep the sickle - you cut them off. In general, therefore, cutting is done by friction. However, chopping is also done (1). Exceptionally, a toothed sickle was used as a knife to cut a clod of butter in all directions to get the hairs, straws and the like out (2). The Japanese sickle has an elongated, relatively short (approx. 15-20 cm) blade that is attached at right angles to an approx. 30-40 cm long stem. The edge is slightly concave; the back is convex and relatively wide (approx. 2-6 mm). That sickle weighs about 150 g and is used to cut grass and to harvest rice; a heavier version (approx. 500 g), for pruning shrubs...

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/side-cutting-wire-cutter?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/side-rabbet-plane?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/side-round-and-side-hollow-plane?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/sideways-plane?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/sideways-rebate-plane?lang=nl>

Brush with stiff bristles or steel wire, often fan-shaped, and a straight or button-shaped handle. It is used to scrub the sink and dirty pots and pans. Modern dish brushes are made of plastic. See also the pan scrubber. [MOT]

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/319?lang=nl>

Chisel with one bevel at an angle to the axis of the tool and not perpendicular as with the regular chisel. The skew chisel makes it easy to work in the corners. Especially the joiner and wood engraver use this relatively rare chisel. The tool can be distinguished from the hook and side tool which has two bevels. [MOT]

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/skimmer?lang=nl>

Use a skimming scoop to wipe off the excess foam from a tapped pint. It is a flat, elongated (approx. 20-25 cm), light (approx. 50 gr), full metal plate with a narrower handle. The skimming scoop is used to stroke the edge of the glass in order to obtain a smooth, level foam layer. [MOT]

The skinning knife has a sturdy, saber-shaped blade attached to a wooden or plastic handle. The cut is rounded upwards, which makes the cutting surface larger. With the skinning knife it is possible to separate the skin in one piece from the meat. The skin is pulled away from the flesh and the knife is drawn over and over again along the thin membrane between flesh and skin. [MOT]

Hand tool with a wide rectangular blade (6 to 10 cm) with a very sharp, straight cut and a firm handle. With the skiver, the leather is processed before it is cut to size. The leather worker places the blade almost horizontally on the leather when planing and pushes the skiver forward. In this way, it scrapes away unevenness on the surface of the leather and the leather becomes evenly smooth and shiny. To prevent the skiving knife from slipping, the part of the leather to be processed is dusted with flour. In this way, the edge of the tool grips well on the leather. The skiver is stored in a sturdy leather or cardboard cover.The tool can be distinguished from the lace cutting knife. [MOT]

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/slab-lifter?lang=nl>

The slate ripper is used to pull out the nails that hold the slates to a roof. It is a metal sheet of approx. 30-50 by 4-5 cm with lateral backward notches, one end of which is bent perpendicularly. A metal handle is forged at that end that ends in a hook. The slater pushes the sheet under the broken slate, grabs the nail into a notch and pulls the tool towards him; sometimes he hits the right-angled part with his hammer. [MOT]

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/slate-splitting-chisel?lang=nl>

The slater's stake is a tool for cutting slates to size. It has a sharp straight edge at the top and a sharp point at the bottom that can be hammered into the roof boarding. The slate is placed on the sharp top and cut off with the roofer's hammer. There are different models: round, triangular, rectangular, straight, curved. The straight models are made entirely of metal and have no handle, while the triangular models have a wooden handle. [MOT]

Heavy hammer to stun cattle to be slaughtered, and then kill them with the neck cut. The stunning can be done with a slaughter mask, a shooting device or this slaugther hammer (1). It can be a wooden hammer (approx. 5-6 kg) with a long handle (see sledgehammer). The working part can also be made of metal and resemble a stone hammer. Or a hammer with a metal head that has a rod-shaped end on one side, which can be used to punch through the skull to crush the brain. Another model consists of a hollowed-out pin and a hook at the other end. The hook would serve to pull the pin out of the skull when it gets stuck. See also the punch. [MOT] (1) Banned since 1920 (by Royal Decree of 5 June) in the Netherlands. In France since 1964.

The sledgehammer is a heavy (up to 5 kg) wooden hammer with a long handle (70-100 cm) for driving posts into the ground, splitting wood, driving a thick peg into a hole, tamping soil (1), etc. The sledgehammer can be made of a rough piece of wood or be fitted with a metal strap. It is made from a knotty piece if possible. See also the slaugther hammer. [MOT] (1) Eg. DE MAS: 382. See also the soil tamper

The sledgehammer is a heavy hammer (between 2 and 12 kg) with wedge-shaped peen, which in some cases lies in the same plane as the handle. The handle is long (approx. 60 to 100 cm) so that it can be gripped with both hands to hit with great force. The sledgehammer is used by the blacksmith for heavy forging work; many other professions use it too, such as the quarry worker. When the blacksmith works with one or more helpers, he uses a forging hammer to indicate where to strike. The helpers then each handle a sledgehammer to do the actual forging work. [MOT]

A sleeker has a rectangular (approx. 10-15 cm long) blade of stone - usually slate - metal or glass (1), one long side of which protrudes into a wooden handle that must be gripped with two hands. The tanner uses the sleeker to stretch, smooth, polish and push the moisture out of the leather. [MOT](1) See SALAMAN 1986: 313.

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/sleeker-moulding?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/sloyd-knife?lang=nl>

Hand tool that resembles a garden hoe, but whose thin, sharp blade is usually not symmetrical and the swan-neck shaft and short (approx. 15 cm) wooden handle - is located on the left or right part of the working part . There are also straight models (V Dv 0851). With the small garden hoe, the roots of the weeds are cut just below the surface of the earth, while pulling. The tool is also used in agriculture for hand weeding and beets thinning. See also the scuffle hoe. [MOT]

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/smiths-tongs?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/smoothing-plane?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/snail-fork?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/snail-plate?lang=nl>

About 50-60 cm long and about 5 cm wide saw with usually very large teeth (1) - compare with the frozen-food knife - with which snow blocks are cut to build an igloo. The length of the hand tool is decisive for the size of the blocks that can be sawn; the width to be able to exert enough force when loosening those blocks (2). Not infrequently, the snow saw is made yourself (3). [MOT] (1) Although long knives without teeth are also used. (2) HAGEN: 56-59. (3) For example PRATER: 82: "use a piece of tempered aluminum alloy about 1/8-inch thick, 2 inches wide and 26 inches long. Attach a wooden handle to one end, leaving 20 inches for the cutting blade. Hacksaw serrations in it for the cutting teeth."

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/soap-saver?lang=nl>

Flat grater made of sheet iron (approx. 25-35 cm long; approx. 10-12 cm wide), sometimes with a wooden frame, in which fairly large holes have been punched and which is used to grate brown soap for suds. On a flat kitchen grater with grating surfaces with holes of different sizes, one sometimes finds a grater part for soap. [MOT]

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/socket-wrench?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/sod-cutter?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/sole-knife?lang=nl>

Spade with long (approx. 30-40 cm) and narrow (approx. 10-17 cm) blade that is slightly curved in relation to a T or D handle (70-95 cm). To make it easier to penetrate into the ground, the edge of the blade is often slightly curved and usually narrows a few centimeters downwards (1). The top is sometimes provided with a footrest to prevent damage to the user's shoe. To prevent the clay soil from sticking to the blade, the latter is dipped into a bucket of water before each stitch; sometimes dents are punched in the concave side of the blade with a hammer. In the 19th century, a wooden, studded blade was also used in light soil in addition to the steel spade (2). Exceptionally, an extension piece is sometimes attached to the top of the blade of the garden spade instead of the sting spade in order to dig deeper (3). A spade is used for digging or digging deep, i.e. working the soil two, three or four stitches deep (4). It is also used to extract peat or to transplant plants or crops with...

To dig clay, a spade is used with a short T handle and a small iron blade that is in the same plane as that handle. The stem length is adapted to the user; the length of the blade decreases as the digger digs out the clay deeper (from about 18 to about 12 cm). The worker forcefully pushes the spade into the ground without using his foot. That is why he makes sure that the edge is always sharp and he regularly visits the blacksmith. [EMABB]

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/1104?lang=nl>

With these tongs you grab the spaghetti from the bowl and put it on the plates. The jaws are broad and serrated to grip the top layer of spaghetti. When one grabs too deep, the spaghetti is difficult to grasp or one takes too much at once. The jaws are slightly slanted on the axis so that one can easily enter the bowl and still use the full width of the jaws. See also the spaghetti or pasta spoon. [MOT]

The ordinary span saw comes in various sizes: from 35 to 120 cm. Depending on its height and the shape of its teeth, it is used to cut large or small shelves and battens. Contrary to the rip saw, the wide (approx. 4-5 cm) blade of the span saw is fixed in the straight frame. Nowadays there are also foldable models. See also firewood saw and bow saw. [MOT]

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/spark-lighter?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/spark-plug-spanner?lang=nl>

The spatter sieve is a tool for spattering paint with a stencil brush. For example, "spat a leaf, i.e. place a plant leaf on a paper and then sprinkle watercolor on it through a metal mesh (spatter sieve); afterwards, the shape of the leaf has remained white and the paper around it is finely speckled." (1) It consists of a small (approx. 13 by 8 cm) metal sieve (mesh width approx. 1 mm) with a short (approx. 5 cm) metal wire handle. [MOT] (1) Dictionnary V.D. (Van Dale)

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/cake-turner?lang=nl>

Strong spatula to remove soil from the working part of a soil auger. It has a short (approx. 15 cm) flat curved top, attached to a straight wooden handle. See also the key for soil auger. [MOT]

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/speculum?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch. See also the hackle for purifying flax. [MOT]

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/spiral-whisk?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/splinter-tweezers?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/split-pen-drawer?lang=nl>