The word dowel comes from the Middle English equivalent of doule, meaning “part of a wheel”, which also seems to originate from Middle Low German for dovel, for “plug”. Despite being a possibly mundane tool, wooden dowels have been used in a variety of ways throughout history, earning them a place in the metaphorical “hall of fame” when it comes to tools and technologies that They have continued to be useful throughout the centuries. Website design By BotEap.com690 AD: A traveler visits a famous shrine at Ise in Japan and recounts the tradition of building shrines every 20 years according to specific ancient beliefs that call for the use of pegs and interlocking joints instead of nails. Website design By BotEap.com1000: Leif Ericson rowed and sailed across the North Atlantic, from Norway to Newfoundland, in a sturdily built Viking ship of overlapping planks held together with wooden dowels and iron nails. Website design By BotEap.com1394: Master mason Henry Yevele rebuilds Westminster Hall, including a 660-ton hammer-beam roof. This roof was not supported from below and was held up solely by the laborious use of wooden dowels. Website design By BotEap.com1509: Reports reach the West of ships from Southeast Asia that are built of tropical timber and wooden lugs with the ability to sail to the eastern tip of Africa, allowing for trade in “Ming Dynasty” vases and glassware from what we hear today. Website design By BotEap.com1641: When a Dutch fleet sank in the Sargasso Sea, survivors fashioned lifeboats out of wooden dowels and recounted how their capsized ships failed when the wooden nails and spikes holding them together disintegrated. Following this, the Dutch king built a ship that was made entirely of wood, fully incorporating hardwood dowels. Website design By BotEap.com1954: A ship was discovered in Egypt supported entirely by peg rods, indicating the use of pegs throughout history. Website design By BotEap.comAs you can see, cleats have been used throughout history to hold our world together. Look around. How do you take advantage of this piece of history every day?
Wooden dowels: an invisible piece of history
Website design By BotEap.comWhat is a wooden dowel you ask? It may look like a simple wooden peg, and to be honest, it is. But, like many other tools that appear to be utterly insignificant on the surface, dowel rods have undeniably changed history.
Website design By BotEap.comToday, they are used to hold everything from boats to bookshelves together, but they also claim much deeper historical significance. The wooden dowel has been used for centuries to hold our things together and, for better or worse, it is the things around us that have carried us as a people throughout history. Read on to learn more about the wooden dowel and how a completely invisible and seemingly harmless tool is more important than we think.
Website design By BotEap.comA piece of wood, a piece of history
The word dowel comes from the Middle English equivalent of doule, meaning “part of a wheel”, which also seems to originate from Middle Low German for dovel, for “plug”. Despite being a possibly mundane tool, wooden dowels have been used in a variety of ways throughout history, earning them a place in the metaphorical “hall of fame” when it comes to tools and technologies that They have continued to be useful throughout the centuries. Website design By BotEap.com690 AD: A traveler visits a famous shrine at Ise in Japan and recounts the tradition of building shrines every 20 years according to specific ancient beliefs that call for the use of pegs and interlocking joints instead of nails. Website design By BotEap.com1000: Leif Ericson rowed and sailed across the North Atlantic, from Norway to Newfoundland, in a sturdily built Viking ship of overlapping planks held together with wooden dowels and iron nails. Website design By BotEap.com1394: Master mason Henry Yevele rebuilds Westminster Hall, including a 660-ton hammer-beam roof. This roof was not supported from below and was held up solely by the laborious use of wooden dowels. Website design By BotEap.com1509: Reports reach the West of ships from Southeast Asia that are built of tropical timber and wooden lugs with the ability to sail to the eastern tip of Africa, allowing for trade in “Ming Dynasty” vases and glassware from what we hear today. Website design By BotEap.com1641: When a Dutch fleet sank in the Sargasso Sea, survivors fashioned lifeboats out of wooden dowels and recounted how their capsized ships failed when the wooden nails and spikes holding them together disintegrated. Following this, the Dutch king built a ship that was made entirely of wood, fully incorporating hardwood dowels. Website design By BotEap.com1954: A ship was discovered in Egypt supported entirely by peg rods, indicating the use of pegs throughout history. Website design By BotEap.comAs you can see, cleats have been used throughout history to hold our world together. Look around. How do you take advantage of this piece of history every day?
The word dowel comes from the Middle English equivalent of doule, meaning “part of a wheel”, which also seems to originate from Middle Low German for dovel, for “plug”. Despite being a possibly mundane tool, wooden dowels have been used in a variety of ways throughout history, earning them a place in the metaphorical “hall of fame” when it comes to tools and technologies that They have continued to be useful throughout the centuries. Website design By BotEap.com690 AD: A traveler visits a famous shrine at Ise in Japan and recounts the tradition of building shrines every 20 years according to specific ancient beliefs that call for the use of pegs and interlocking joints instead of nails. Website design By BotEap.com1000: Leif Ericson rowed and sailed across the North Atlantic, from Norway to Newfoundland, in a sturdily built Viking ship of overlapping planks held together with wooden dowels and iron nails. Website design By BotEap.com1394: Master mason Henry Yevele rebuilds Westminster Hall, including a 660-ton hammer-beam roof. This roof was not supported from below and was held up solely by the laborious use of wooden dowels. Website design By BotEap.com1509: Reports reach the West of ships from Southeast Asia that are built of tropical timber and wooden lugs with the ability to sail to the eastern tip of Africa, allowing for trade in “Ming Dynasty” vases and glassware from what we hear today. Website design By BotEap.com1641: When a Dutch fleet sank in the Sargasso Sea, survivors fashioned lifeboats out of wooden dowels and recounted how their capsized ships failed when the wooden nails and spikes holding them together disintegrated. Following this, the Dutch king built a ship that was made entirely of wood, fully incorporating hardwood dowels. Website design By BotEap.com1954: A ship was discovered in Egypt supported entirely by peg rods, indicating the use of pegs throughout history. Website design By BotEap.comAs you can see, cleats have been used throughout history to hold our world together. Look around. How do you take advantage of this piece of history every day?