skilled mechanical work; trade work; hence, a system (usually called the sloyd system) of manual training in the practical use of the tools and materials used in the trades, and of instruction in the making and use of the plans and specifications connected with trade work.
1947,Unesco, International Bureau of Education,Proceedings and Recommendations, Digitized edition, published 2009:
He asked what exactly was the position given to the "sloyds" (handicrafts) in teaching …
a knife for carving
1910,William Noyes,Handwork in Wood, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2007:
The sloyd knife, Fig. 84, is a tool likely to be misused in the hands of small children, but when sharp and in strong hands, has many valuable uses.
1933 June,W. Clyde Lammey,“Tricks of Sharpening Knives”, inPopular Mechanics, volume 59, number 6, page 951:
… woodcarvers' knives or sloyds, chisels and plane irons, …
References
Etymology
Borrowing from Swedishslöjd(“handicraft, handiwork, skills”).