On 8/15/2015 7:32 AM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
On 8/14/2015 8:28 PM, Electric Comet wrote:
i was doing some drilling with the drill press today and appreciated
the fact
that i just applied downward force to drill a big hole with a forstner
bit and the
motor did the rest

compared to an attempt with a brace and bit recently i am very aware that
a drill press is good

but it got me thinking about the succession of power tools in a
historical
perspective

i figure the saw was the first one to get some power behind it with those
big lumber mills saws

but what was next
i think power drills must have been the next one

power in this sense is not animal powered


I suspect you are right about the first power tools being those used in
sawmills. However I suspect that the reciprocating saw was used before
the circular saw. A reciprocation saw could be connected to a water
wheel and operated with a cam. The circular saw would need a complicated
set of gears to make spin


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabitha_Babbitt
Circular saw was invented by a woman and used water power. 1813.