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NM Freemason · Skills & Drills · Chapter 14

The Working Tools as a Set

Drawn from published Masonic monitor content. See site Credits for source citations.

Vocabulary (6)

Three sets of tools
The published monitorial scheme assigns a discrete set of working tools to each of the three degrees: the twenty-four-inch gauge and common gavel to the Entered Apprentice; the plumb, level, and square to the Fellowcraft; and the trowel (with all the tools of the prior degrees) to the Master Mason.
Self → fellow → Craft
Mackey reads the progression as a moral arc. The Apprentice's tools order the man's own time and his own passions. The Fellowcraft's tools order his dealings with his fellow workmen. The Master's trowel orders his contribution to the body of the Fraternity itself.
Cumulative, not exchanged
The Master Mason does not put down the gauge or the gavel when he takes up the trowel. The published lecture is explicit: the MM has all the prior tools at his command. The set is cumulative: the trowel is added on top of, not in place of, the earlier work.
Operative and speculative
Every tool is given an operative meaning (what the medieval mason actually did with it on a building site) and a speculative meaning (what the modern Mason does with it on himself and on the Fraternity). The monitorial lectures keep both readings side by side rather than discarding the operative.
Drafting board
Mackey notes that the medieval Master of the Work laid out his plans on a board with chalk and charcoal before the day's labor. The drafting board image gathers the tools into one place, giving a published image of the Lodge itself as the place where the Mason draws up the plan of his life.
Tracing board
A related published image: the painted board that depicts the working tools and other emblems of a degree, used to instruct the candidate. American practice tends to call this the trestle board; English practice distinguishes trestle (the plan) from tracing (the picture).

Multiple-choice (5)

1. Which working tools are appointed to the Entered Apprentice?
  1. Plumb, level, and square
  2. Twenty-four-inch gauge and common gavel ✓
  3. Trowel and chisel
  4. Compasses and square
2. What does the published lecture say the Master Mason does with the prior tools?
  1. He sets them aside in favor of the trowel
  2. He has them all at his command, in addition to the trowel ✓
  3. He returns them to the Apprentice and Fellowcraft
  4. He keeps only the gauge
3. Mackey reads the progression of the three sets of tools as a moral arc from:
  1. Stone to wood to metal
  2. Self to fellow to Craft ✓
  3. Apprentice to journeyman to merchant
  4. Earth to water to sky
4. What does Mackey call the board on which the medieval Master of the Work drew up his plan?
  1. Mosaic pavement
  2. Trestle board (or drafting board) ✓
  3. Ashlar plate
  4. Lodge floor
5. Which best describes the relationship between operative and speculative meanings of the tools?
  1. The speculative reading replaces the operative one once the lecture is given
  2. The published lectures keep both readings side by side ✓
  3. Only operative meanings are used in American jurisdictions
  4. Speculative meanings are reserved for the third degree