ID-DOC: general search

Wooden spoon (approx. 20 cm) with a ribbed, concave blade. It is used to take butter from a larger butter block. Sometimes it is also used for kneading and working up the butter, but usually this is done with a butter paddle. See also butter knife. [MOT]

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

The button hook is a small (approx. 10 cm) iron hook - often with a (decorated) iron, wooden, bone or ivory handle - with which the ladies' boots used to be tied (1). There is also a model with two hooks of different sizes. Another model is foldable. Sometimes the button hook is fitted with a shoehorn at the other end. See also pocket knife. [MOT] (1) The button hook was sometimes used as a hook for eviscerating poultry (PETITPRERE: 2131). See further the folding hunting knife. EMMET: 187 states that the button hook was used for gloves.

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

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

Drill resembling a small nave borer (approx. 20 cm long) that is used to drill the core out of a cabbage before cutting it into pieces. [MOT]

Large vegetable plane (approx. 1 m long and 30 cm wide) with which you can slice half coals into fine pieces for the preparation of sauerkraut. She has several planer knives that are oblique to the axis of a large wooden board. A wooden tray without a bottom in which the half cabbage is placed, slides over the slicer. [MOT]

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

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

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

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

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

The baker or the customer takes pastries from the counter with a shovel or with cake tongs. Her jaws are 3-5 cm wide and sometimes open. The tongs close around the pastry when the arms are pressed shut. The arms are not crossed. [MOT]

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

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

Can openers can also be combined with a bottle opener, a corkscrew or a pocket knife. See also can pierce. [MOT]

The can pierce is an elongated, flat and short (approx. 10 cm) metal kitchen utensil with a pointed and bent bottom end with which you can prick pouring and air holes in cans of milk, fruit juice, oil, etc. It is often combined with a bottleopener or a corkscrew. There is also a can pierce with a lid. There are two short nails in a round (plastic) lid. This way, the container can be closed after piercing. See also paint can opener. [MOT]

The cant hook serves to turn logs, sometimes beams (cf. ring dog and sappie). With a modern model, in particular the log jack (1), it is also possible to lift a trunk to cut it. The tool consists of a wooden rod of about 1.20-1.75 m, to which a heavy metal hook is attached by means of a ring. That hook revolves around a spindle. The bottom end is studded with a metal plate or ends in a metal tip that allows the tool to be pushed (2). Holes are sometimes drilled in the hook; it is then fixed by means of a bolt and can be adjusted. The cant hook is used like the ring dog except that the rod is attached to the ring. In general, two or three men work together. When working alone, sometimes two cant hooks are used that alternately roll the log further. The cant hook is mainly used in the sawmill or at the warehouse. The lumberjack prefers the lighter ring dog. [MOT] (1) FORBES 1961: 16.17; HUGGARD & OUWEN: fig. 2.7. (2) The tool with point is called peavey in English. It is said to be of American...

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/300?lang=nl>

This tool places a capsule - i.e. a metal cap with pegs at the bottom (1) - over the spigot of a wine barrel, so that it is sealed and ready for transport. The tool is knocked with a hammer and the capsule is driven into the wine barrel. (1) The capsule can be marked with the mark (number) of the seller or with motifs related to wine growing such as a bunch of grapes. Yellow capsules are used for white wine, while red capsules are used for red wine (BRUNET 1925: 262).

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

This text can only be consulted in Dutch <https://www.mot.be/resource/Tool/carpenters-adze-hollow-cutting-edge?lang=nl>

The carpenter's adze with straight blade

This designation indicates a number of different axe shapes, which are mainly used by carpenters. However, these axes are also used by other craftsmen, eg the mason to make scaffolding. It is usually an axe of about 0.6-1.2 kg, with an eye, two bevels and a hammer; the track of the latter is sometimes split in order to pull out nails. The stem is approx. 30 cm long. This axe is used for all kinds of purposes during construction: to cut a notch, make it shorter, hammer a nail, etc. The tool can be distinguished from the broad axe. See also the woodman's axe. [MOT]

This text can only be consulted in Dutch. This gouge is to be distinguished from the gouge of the joiner, the wheelwright's gouge and the clog maker's gouge. [MOT]

The carpenter's pincers have strongly curved jaws to pull out nails. Their gripping surface has also been reduced to a minimum so that the jaws can possibly clamp under the head of the nail and penetrate slightly into the nail to get a better grip. Once the pincers hold the nail, they are used as a lever to pull out the nail. Sometimes a piece of wood is placed under the jaw to protect the wood surface. Some models have a square opening between the jaws for loosening nuts. One of the arms sometimes ends in a screwdriver, a sphere - to protect the hand - or a crow bar. In the latter case, the arm may be bent outwards because of too much pressure and the forceps were bent. The pliers are also sometimes used to cut metal wire, but the jaw is actually not sharpened enough for this purpose. It is better to use these thongs. Their mouth is sharper and more flattened than that of the carpenter's pincers. [MOT]

Hand tool for beating carpets, which are then hung on a clothesline (1). It consists of a woven reed leaf (approx. 20 cm by 30 cm) and a straight reed stem (approx. 50 cm). Another model consists of a wooden handle (approx. 30 cm) to which a rubber loop (approx. 25 cm) is attached and another is made of pleated bamboo, which is tied together by means of iron wire. See also the clothes beater. [MOT] (1) There are also horsehair "pillow beaters" (DU CAJU: 240).

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

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

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

The coachmaker uses a special router plane for planing straight, concave or convex edges, for example on doors, and for making laterally curved wooden frames. More technical information on this page in dutch. [MOT]

The cartwright's compass is a six-sided wooden block with three iron points in each direction. It serves the wheelwright to mark the diameter of the wheel hub in order to use the lathe and core the hub. [MOT]

Wooden board with one or more carved figures - such as a drunkard, jester, Saint Nicholas, etc. The dimensions vary from 10 to 75 cm. First, the mould is sprinkled with rice flour or brushed with oil and then the dough is firmly pressed into the mould, cut and beaten to be able to bake it in the oven. The result is a gingerbread cookie, called 'speculaas' in the low countries, or a brown, very chewy cake of rye flour and syrup. [MOT]

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

Metal carver's mallet is a metal hammer with a short handle (approx. 10 cm) in the center of the base of a cylinder or the top of a truncated cone, as with the wooden carver's mallet. It can also be square with sides that diverge wider towards the end of the hammer head. With this mallet you can give powerful blows and it is mainly used on hard stone types in combination with a chisel. See also the stonemason's hammer. [MOT]

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

When you pre-cut a large piece of meat with a carving knife, you can hold that meat with a carving fork. It has fairly long (approx. 7-10 cm) - usually three - sturdy teeth and a handle made of plastic, wood, stag horn, stainless steel, silver or ivory. Between the blade and handle there is usually a bumper to protect the hand if the knife should slip; often there is also a folding stick so that the fork does not penetrate too deep into the meat. See also carving tongs. [MOT]

Large pieces of meat are pre-cut with a carving knife. It has a slightly flexible blade (approx. 25-30 cm long) with a sharp, sometimes curved point with which the meat can be cut loose from the bones. In the past, carving knives were quite wide so that the meat could also be served with them. Most carving knives have a 3/4 or full tongue. The handle can be made of all kinds of materials: plastic, wood, stag horn, stainless steel, silver or ivory. The stiffer knives serve to pre-cut beef, pork or lamb; slightly flexible knives are used for poultry. It is often used in conjunction with a carving fork. See also ham slicer. [MOT]

The carving tongs make it possible to clamp a piece of roast, so that it can be cut easily. The jaws are quite large, wide and arched. They consist of bars that are regularly spaced from each other. You can cut between the bars with a knife to obtain discs of the same thickness.  See also the carving fork and carving knife. [MOT]

The cask-scrub is a brush used in a brewery to sand and wash the barrels on the inside. The working part is made of heather, baleen, etc. and attached to a wooden handle (approx. 100 cm). [MOT]

Chain with square or S-shaped links that is shaken in a barrel to clean it. Often a weight is attached to one end and a wooden or iron toggle to the other. Sometimes the links can be covered with horsehair (1). [MOT] (1) Eg. fig. 30 in QUICKE: 67.

The castration tongs (1) are relatively heavy (approx. 2-5 kg) tongs with long arms (approx. 30 cm) and a wide beak (approx. 8 cm) with strongly curved jaws, which are used to castrate bulls. If necessary, there is a U-shaped bracket on the underside of one of the arms that can be placed on the knee as support. The jaws of the forceps are placed successively behind both testicles - at the level of the spermatic cord - and the forceps are squeezed closed for about thirty seconds. After a few days, the scrotum begins to shrivel; the testicles shrink and die. See also the emasculator scissors. [MOT] (1) See BERTHELON.

This text on the caulking iron can only be consulted in Dutch. [MOT]

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

After the tail of draft horses has been cut with a docking iron, the wound is burned with a cauterizing iron. To stop the bleeding, the heated iron is pressed against the wound with the ring-shaped end for 8-10 seconds so that it fits over the slight bulge of the tailbone. If necessary, this operation is repeated until no more blood escapes. [MOT]

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

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

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

The chain hook is an approx. 80 cm long iron hook with a T or ring handle, with which heavy (anchor) chains can be transported on ships or in the harbor, for example during a check. When the vessel is stopped by a chain when launching a boat, the worker at the capstan catches that chain with the aid of two shorter chain hooks (1). [MOT] (1) FROST: 140.