Since 1795, when USS Constitution‘s keel was laid, to the current restoration, skilled craftspeople have used specialized tools to build and then restore “Old Ironsides.” These tools have evolved over time.

In the 1790s, shipwrights used axes when building USS Constitution at Edmund Hartt’s Shipyard in Boston’s North End. Different varieties of axes were used to shape timbers. Shipbuilder’s axes often had a forged iron axe head mounted on wooden handle. The handle was offset, so that when the axe was swung, the cutting edge came down to the side of the hewer’s work.

In 1927, ship carpenters from Bath, Maine, skilled in the use of traditional ship building hand tools, such as side axes and adzes, were brought to the Charlestown Navy Yard to restore Constitution. Although gasoline and electric-powered hand tools were becoming available at this time, these men worked efficiently with equipment that was little changed from the time of Constitution‘s building.

Carpenters work in the Charlestown Navy Yard during the 1927-1931 restoration. [Courtesy U.S. Navy]
Ship carpenters pose with side axes used during Constitution‘s 1927-1931 restoration in the Charlestown Navy Yard. From left to right: William A. Bruce, Fred Colby, Samuel Stowe, all of Bath, Maine; Frank Atkins, Kennebunkport, Maine.[Courtesy U.S. Navy]
Adzes are used to chip away at the surface of the timber, either to reduce its size or to shape it to a particular dimension. Depending on the size of the adze and curvature of the blade, a skilled adzeman could plane the surface of the timber quite smoothly with little trace of the adze blade.

Carpenters work in the Charlestown Navy Yard during the 1927-1931 restoration. [Courtesy U.S. Navy]
Ship carpenters use adzes on structural timbers for Constitution‘s extensive 1927-1931 restoration. [Courtesy U.S. Navy]
Beginning around World War II, electric planers replaced the adze in the Charlestown Navy Yard for speed and efficiency. During the 2007-2010 restoration of Constitution, light-weight electric planers were used to fashion new deck beams.

[Courtesy Naval History & Heritage Command Detachment Boston.]
Detachment Boston ship restorers using an electric planer to fashion a new deck beam, April 2008. [Courtesy Naval History & Heritage Command Detachment Boston.]
While the knowledge and skill necessary to restore this historic ship is very similar to that of Edmund Hartt’s shipyard workers of the 1790s, the equipment has evolved from heavy manual tools to light-weight electric and gasoline-powered machinery for greater speed, efficiency, and safety.

The Author(s)

Margherita Desy, Historian, Naval History and Heritage Command Detachment Boston
Historian, Naval History and Heritage Command

Margherita M. Desy is the Historian for USS Constitution at Naval History and Heritage Command Detachment Boston.


Kate Monea
Manager of Curatorial Affairs, USS Constitution Museum

Kate Monea is the Manager of Curatorial Affairs at the USS Constitution Museum.