Log Cabin Tool Shed

This photo is of the inside of a tool shed located at the home of Thomas Lincoln. Thomas Lincoln was the father of Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the U.S.A. As you can see, a lot of cutting and shaping tools were needed to build and maintain an 1840s farm. See the big, two-man cross-cut saw with it's huge teeth. This saw was used to quickly tear through large logs. In the corner is a sickle used to cut hay and crops like wheat. There are also an assortment of axes and adzes and smaller finishing saws. I don't see any awls, augers, planes or chisels. . . these tools might have been stored elsewhere as they were more refined and required care in maintaining their razor-sharp edges. A carpenter might have dozens of planes, each with a different cutting profile that could be used to create grooves, rounded edges or smooth the surface of a board.