Tools have been used by man for hundreds of millenia to build and improve our surrounding environment. These tools have changed infinitely over time, starting with the earliest sharp stone knives and axes all the way up to the development of modern machinery.
Over the last 30 years Fieldstaff Antiques have collected a number of antique and vintage tools particularly relating to the construction and maintenance of ships and vessels in Chatham Dockyard, which is a close neighbour of ours.
Many of the tools we have collected could certainly be seen as outdated nowadays, given the prevalence of power tools and automation. However, we feel they represent some of the many skills which may have been lost to time; if not yet then potentially within the next generation. The also offer us a glimpse into our industrial past, not only giving us insight into how things would have been made without all the new technology but also where the ideas for more modern tools may have developed from.
Some of our most recently listed examples of these include two different sized hand brace drills and also a metal combination plough plane, with many more to be added soon.
