Research

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]

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]

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]

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/slate-splitting-chisel?lang=nl>

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/skimmer?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/snail-fork?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."

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]