Old Tools

The Slick

The slick may hold one of the more unique places in the history of wood-cutting tools. It was the basic tool in every boat builder’s and house builder’s toolbox before the advent of power hand tools. Today it is a tool wooden boat builders search for, and it often becomes their prized possession. In wooden ship building, it was “the” multi-purpose cutting tool. From removing bark to slicing off bungs to shaping timbers, the slick was and is a very versatile tool.

The British called it a “slice.” When it was first used is apparently lost to history, but tool collector, boat builder and old tool dealer Jeff Pearson of Searsport, Maine, said, “Noah might have used a slick building his Ark.”

Timber frame house builders still use the slick for a range of tasks and covet them, as do boat builders. House builders shaped timbers, cut mortises, shaped tenons and cut scarfs to join two timbers. A well-honed quality slick in capable hands can do some fairly precise work. Pattern makers who carve wooden patterns for sand casting use slicks.

Clapboard slicks are another breed. The tool with blades up to 4"-5" was pushed. to split out clapboards.

Slick lengths are about 30"-32" inches and blade widths average about 3 inches, but can range up to 6 inches wide. The handles are traditionally maple. Ship building slicks have a handle that ends in a rounded knob. These slicks were pushed and 75 percent of the original handles have survived, said Pearson. The house building slicks were struck and its shorter handle end had a steel ferrule to preserve the end.

The Swan Tool Company in Seymour, Connecticut, was a highly regarded cutting tool maker

from 1877 to 1951. They made augers, draw knives, hollow augers, a boring machine and a line of chisels and slicks. Witherby’s of Connecticut, Peck, Stowe and Wilcox, Hubbard Hardware and Buck Brothers also made good-quality slicks. The steel was the focus of that quality.

Pearson recalled a slick he bought when he was building ships at the Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. At the time he had 190 logs delivered to a site where he was going to build a log cabin. He debarked 50 percent of the logs and never needed to hone it. In fact he has only honed it a couple of times in all the years he has owned it.