"Tools of Change in Wooden Shipyards"

Nathan Lipfert, Curator Emeritus, Maine Maritime Museum  

As ship design and construction techniques developed over the last 250 years, the tools used in wooden shipbuilding also changed, both to ease labor and improve shipyard efficiency. While some hand tools changed very little, others evolved significantly, and entirely new machines found their way into shipyards. These changes altered the work and daily life of shipwrights from the beginning to the end of the 19th century. 

This presentation examines a small selection of tools that illustrate both major and minor technological evolution. The auger, for example, developed from the 18th-century pod to the later screw, and from the T-handle to the crank, improving both worker comfort and the speed of boring the thousands of fastening holes required in wooden shipbuilding. 

Special attention will be given to World War I, when new shipyards employed inexperienced workers, and newly developed pneumatic and electric tools were instrumental in improving efficiency for the war effort. 

Nathan Lipfert is Curator Emeritus at the Maine Maritime Museum, where he worked from 1971 to 2017 in curatorial and research library positions. He studied at Hofstra University, Vermont College of Norwich University, and the National Archives Institute. A nautical and maritime historian, he is the author of Two Centuries of Maine Shipbuilding: A Visual History, Lobstering and the Maine Coast and other publications. His current project is a reference work on the tools of wooden shipbuilding.