This Is How the Amish Use Power Tools (2024)

Credit: flickr / flattop341

Not every Amish person completley shuns modern technology. Attitudes vary from community to community, and an increasing number of Amish business owners—especially those who run factories, carpentry operations, and stores that cater to non-Amish clientele—use lights, computers, and power tools so they can make a living in a tech-centric world. But rules are rules: No Amish person will use tech powered by standard electrical grids (it has to do with not allowing outsiders to have influence over their lives and families).

Nevertheless, the stereotypical image of an Amish barn raising, with crews of men building with hand tools, isn't quite accurate. In fact, some Amish people will use diesel generators and batteries as a common solution for electricity. And, as NPR's Planet Money recently found out while visiting an Amish trade show in Ohio, they'll use power tools, too—but only pneumatically powered ones.

Many PopMech readers are familiar with pneumatic tools, which have been in use for years. The system starts with a diesel engine connected to an air compressor. The engine burns fuel to power the compressor, which then fills a connected reservoir with highly pressurized air. High-pressure hoses connect the reservoir to power tools; air is forced through to power their modified motors.

A pneumatic motor can either be linear or rotary. A linear motor produces linear motion, as you'd see in a jackhammer. A chamber housing the shaft of a piston fills with the compressed air, which forces the piston to move down the chamber. Once the piston reaches its maximum length, the air pressure is released and the piston drops to its original position.

The rotary motor is used to make a shaft rotate, so it's used for drills. A slotted rotor is mounted onto the main shaft, with each slot of the rotor holding a freely sliding rectangular vane. When air is pumped in, it pushes the vanes and makes the central shaft rotate.

Tiny versions of these two types of motors can be retrofitted to virtually any motorized tool, from a power drill to a table saw, so they can be used off the grid. They've even made their way into household appliances like blenders.