Chisels and gouges, of which Dickinson had a total of 53, have not changed in appearance or structure over many centuries. Like other tools, they come in different shapes and sizes and some possess special designs for special purposes. Of Dickinson’s collection, 47 were carving chisels and gouges, which argues that he did his own carving. However, one of the two carvers known to have worked in eighteenth-century Williamsburg was George Hamilton, a journeyman in Dickinson’s shop in 1774. The other, James Wilson, worked with or for Anthony Hay some twenty years earlier. Dickinson’s “6 Morticeing Chissels”—along with his “tenant” saw and fitting planes—serve as reminders that the basic techniques of cabinetmaking have likewise changed little through the years. In the making of an article of furniture the component pieces must be attached to each other at various points: sometimes side-by-side with grain running parallel, sometimes end to end, or end into side, or crossing one another. At each juncture the cabinetmaker had his choice of a number of joints that were appropriate in such a situation. The eighteenth-century craftsman knew them all and was skilled in the making of all those used today: butt, lap, rabbet, tongue and groove, mortise and tenon, mitre, dado, dovetail, and their numerous combinations and variations. In cabinetmaking the most useful joints are undoubtedly the mortise and tenon and the dovetail, the former for joining structural members at right angles, the latter for holding together adjacent sides of drawers, chests, boxes, and the like. Both kinds of joints are very strong if well made, weak if poorly fitted. Skill and experience, thus, were (and are) prerequisite to good furniture making. _ON THE SURFACE_ Some veneering appeared on colonial furniture at least by the beginning of the eighteenth century. But it was not widely practiced, in part because fine cabinet woods were relatively cheap and in part, no doubt, because making veneer by hand required a good deal of skilled work and labor was relatively expensive. In any case, it was the large and otherwise unadorned surfaces of Hepplewhite and Sheraton furniture that invited matched veneering. Since these fashions came to America after the Revolution and after Williamsburg had passed its apogee, Williamsburg cabinetmakers probably did little if any veneering. [Illustration: _Two men with a good-sized but fine-toothed frame saw here cut a log into thin slices of veneer._ ROUBO] Applying a finish to woodwork is an ancient art and has always served two purposes: to give the wood a protective coating and to enhance its appearance. By the eighteenth century the techniques for applying several different kinds of finish were well understood and widely used in the colonial cabinet shop.