History of the name "iron"

Re: History of the name "iron"

Wiley Horne

1. Moxon, ca. 1700, consistently uses the word ‘iron’ for blade.

2. Josef M. Greber, in ‘The History of the Woodworking Plane’ (Die Geschichte des Hobels), includes a Table 6 which shows the prices of different sized plane irons. These prices were from Stuttgart and Goppingen in the early- to mid-1600’s. In the German of the time, the blades are identified as ‘eyssen’, as in ‘schlicht eyssen’, the iron for a smoothing plane. Compare with the modern German ‘eisen’ for ‘iron’. German toolmakers were of course laminating the iron backing with a steel bit, as described in Greber’s text.

Wiley

Re: History of the name "iron"

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Moxon, ca. 1700, consistently uses the word ‘iron’ for blade. ....in a plane. Anywhere else? Spoke shave "irons"? saw "irons". Knife "irons"? Is the name exclusive to plane "blades" and are all the varieties of plane "blades" called "irons" for example in molding planes and scrapers ?

Is the name anything to do with the fact the rest of the devise is wood?

In a still earlier age were they plane "bronzes"?

When we go to modern means of wood removal the cutting part is a planer and molding "knife", not blade.

Re: History of the name "iron"

Wiley Horne

In Moxon,

—the gauge has a ‘tooth’

—the ‘piercer’ (which is a brace and bit) has a ‘bitt’

—the ‘gimblet’ and ‘augre’ also have a ‘bitt’

—saws have ‘blades’

—chisels have ‘blades’

Best I can tell, only planes have ‘irons’. The very uniqueness of the term seems to indicate that it is older than memory.

An interesting point, unrelated to Bill’s question, is that in 1700 England, there were iron saws and steel saws—Moxon strongly recommends the steel type. He comments that the iron saws can be distinguished from steel ones at a glance, because the steel saws are bright and polished, whereas the iron saws are ‘only hammered’. Perhaps the hammering was for work-hardening—I’m guessing.

Wiley

Re: History of the name "iron"

joel moskowitz

The OED lists

1582 Rates Custome House (new ed.) sig. Dvijv Plane Irons for Carpenters the dozen xii.d.

as the first recorded use of "plane iron" in English

The word "iron" is used in a lot of contexts.

iron as in "I have an iron to iron clothes"

waffle iron

the OED under "iron" as a noun lists a lot.

if I am in a workshop and as you to pass me the iron on a benchtop I would expect

you to give me a plane iron.

If I am in a laundry I would expect you to pass me something to press clothes

IF it was Elizabethan England and I said "pass me the iron" I would expect you to give me a sword.

Etymology of the word "iron" *LINK*

Chris Scholz

Here's what an etymologic dictionary says (literally writes) about the term iron (not specifically plane iron):

iron (n.)

Middle English iron, iren, yron, from Old English iren, variant (with rhotacism of -s-) of isen, later form of isern, isærn "the metal iron; an iron weapon or instrument," from Proto-Germanic *isarn (source also of Old Saxon isarn, Old Frisian isern, Old Norse isarn, Middle Dutch iser, Old High German isarn, German Eisen).

This perhaps is an early borrowing of Celtic *isarnon (compare Old Irish iarn, Welsh haiarn), which Watkins suggests is from PIE *is-(e)ro- "powerful, holy," from PIE *eis "strong" (source also of Sanskrit isirah "vigorous, strong," Greek ieros "strong"), on the notion of "holy metal" or "strong metal" (in contrast to softer bronze).

It was both an adjective and a noun in Old English, but in form it is an adjective. The alternative isen survived into early Middle English as izen. In southern England the Middle English word tended to be ire, yre, with loss of -n, perhaps regarded as an inflection; in the north and Scotland, however, the word tended to be contracted to irn, yrn, still detectable in dialect.


https://www.etymonline.com/word/iron#etymonline_v_12229

interesting.....

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

and Scotland, however, the word tended to be contracted to irn, yrn, still detectable in dialect. Natives here in East TN pronounce the word "irn".

seems to answer the question

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

"an iron weapon or instrument"

Weren't some sort of "shackles" also called "irons" or has my memory failed again.

Re: seems to answer the question

William Duffield

Yes, for example, leg irons, to keep you from running, ore even walking fast. From which the term "in irons" or shackled evolved. This term was then adapted by sailors, for the condition of a sailing vessel turned bow into the wind, from which it could not make headway

more irons

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

gold clubs and when a hockey puck rings off the pipes they can be referred to as iron. I see now the term iron gets used to describe lots of stuff made from it.

Re: History of the name "iron"

Oskar

An observation, not sure how valuable a data point. In swedish (my mother tongue) we call the blade of a plane a "steel", and seldom (and possible incorrect swedish) iron.

Re: History of the name "iron"

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

The Swedish nomenclature is consistent with other places naming the tool by the metal the tool is made from. What is a saw "blade" called.

I thought of another example, the thingy used to sharpen knives is called a "steel", not a knife sharpener.

Re: History of the name "iron"

Oskar

the saw blade is called a blade in swedish. unspectacular

Do you know any good Sven and Ollie jokes?

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

The snowing outside reminds me of my time in MN and that in turn remined me of endless Sven and Ollie ice fishing jokes....

That name is more interesting

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

If saw thingies are "blades" and plane thingies named for the metal does it suggest some common origin of the naming of woodworking tools? What do the French say?

Re: That name is more interesting

Warren in Lancaster, PA

The French word is fer. A double iron plane is rabot a fer double.

The German word for double iron is doppeleisen.

Both of these languages have used the word for iron for centuries. The traditional word for a saw blade for a frame saw is a web. The word for a hand saw is a plate.

Re: Do you know any good Sven and Ollie jokes?

Bruce, a MN Galoot

That’s Sven and Ole, and I know many, most of which are not suitable for print on this forum. Also, they need to be told with the proper Norwegian brogue.

Re: That name is more interesting

Charlie

Particularly meaningful to refer to it as the iron, since the rest of the plane would have been of wood. Nobody would have been confused about what part of the plane was being referred to by using the generic term.

Did too many irons...

Leo Cuellar

in the fire lead to the production of steel?

Re: Did too many irons...

Wiley Horne

Probably from heating iron bars on a bed of charcoal, the carbon migrating into the iron, case-hardening them. And so on from there….

Wiley

I thought steel was the other way around

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Isn't steel made from pig iron (a product of reducing iron oxide with carbon) by blowing oxygen through it to rid it of excess carbon?

Re: I thought steel was the other way around

Warren in Lancaster, PA

Pig iron has a carbon content around 4% and is brittle.