Neanderthal Orthodoxy, where are you with power tools?

[Chris Thompson]

Out of curiosity, and since I have nothing to do until UPS delivers my planes and my saw, I was wondering where you all stand on the definition of "Neanderthal".

I know there are some, Roy Underhill comes to mind, who eschew any modern tools and build completely with vintage or vintage style tools. I know he makes a bunch of his tools as well.

I know there are some a bit more pragmatic who use only hand tools, but are willing to use something that wasn't once rattling around the back of a Conestoga.

My guess is, and correct me if I'm wrong, that the bulk of the people who describe themselves as Neanderthal have at least some level of power tool usage.

I want planes instead of a big 220v 8" Jointer. I want a good saw and chisels instead of a router based dovetail jig.

But, I want a big honkin' band saw as well. One of the things I intend to build for myself (and a few friends) is an electric guitar. I don't see myself cutting the body shape out of a 2" slab of Korina with a hand saw.

I'm a computer geek, so I ascribe to a tool theory that I adopted in administrating many many Unix machines, "Use the tool that works best. Ignore the hype."

I'm personally moving forward in this process of creating myself a shop/haven in the garage for woodworking with one rule in mind, "Don't buy something new if you can easily buy-old-and-cheap-and-refurb or build myself." I decided to get the Marples chisels, since I had trouble finding old ones, and I'm definitely not ready to build them.

So, here's a poll, how do each of you stand on the electron dependant tools in the shop?

[Tim Sproul]

8 inch jointer doesn't even come close to wide enough....16 inch and I'd get one...but those are lots of $$$$.

I wouldn't give up my power thicknesser or bandsaw. You can take my tablesaw away and I've sold my 6 inch Jet jointer.

I still like routers.........noisy and messy but sometimes their flexibility coupled with their power is nice to have.

Guess'n I'd be more properly labeled as a hybrid....

[Richard Gillespie]

I'll second on being a hybrid. For the most part, I use power tools for stock preparation and finish with hand tools. However, if I get a board with sever cup, bow or twist I use hand planes to flatten it before I run it through my thickness planer. On the other hand, if I'm only say making one cut to length on a board, I'll use a hand saw, not even bothering to pull out the extension cord and skill saw.

In doing work for a paying customer, power tools give you speed and save time/costs to the customer. The trade off is noise and dust. At the present time, I don't intend to eliminate any of my power equipment. I'll have to get a whole lot more proficient with hand tools before taking that step.

[Roy Wall]

I am transitioning away from most power tools because they are making me nervous....(as I grow older). I have table saw, bandsaw, router, & drill press and have always made "BIG" projects in the past. Turning to small items, I will cut with a hand saw. I probably won't do away with the TS, as it is needed occasionally for large panels.... Router is an awesome tool but I'm slowly turning away from using it....

I love the bandsaw & drill press, they will stay for sure. I believe I won't mind making an occasional trip out the back door to use them.

All of these power tools are in the garage - I relish the dream I can set up a nice little shop INSIDE and work quietly / or with music - no humidity, no sweltering heat, no freezing cold, no rusting of metal, etc... Clean up is easy, and I can hear the phone ring.

[Dan Moening]

Chris,

I'm not a complete knuckle-dragging, brachiating, shaved armhair, unibrow, grunting beast who smelts iron to forge my own chisels...yet

I still tend towards using powertools for the grunt work and handtools for the finese end of things. Of course cutting long boards, jointing twists/cups/bows , and a things of that nature I've always done with handtools as its much faster and easier in my small shop.

Personally I would derive tremendous satisfaction from building ONE piece of furniture starting with felling the tree, riving the boards, planing to thickness etc. Really, I would...
Dan.

[Mark Singer]

I like to chose the best technique to get the job done , but without compromise. It is nice to have a variety of tools , both power and and and the skills to choose what method works the best in a given situation. Even purists like Krenov use a bandsaw and tablesaw. Maloof goes for whatever is fastest and best...don't get hung up keep an open mind, but know that the machine that ingests wood and spits out furniture is not a road to crafstmanship or fine woodworking...too many gadgets tend to move you in this direction. At that point you are just processing wood and I don't see the point...

[Dave Anderson NH]

I know a lot of woodworkers because of the forums and our large NH guild. There are very few who are strict constructionalists when it comes to hand tools, probably less than 5% if I had to guess. Like many of you I have a full complement of power tools, both hand held and stationary. For my toolmaking business I do use poweer tools heavily for both the wood and metal working. If I didn't, some of the designs couldn't be done and much of the rest would take forever. For my furnituremaking I tend to use power stuff only for grunt work like rough prep of stock. All of my surfaces are hand planed and all of my joinery is hand cut. I can afford this luxury and enhanced enjoyment because I don't have to worry about making a living at it.

Of the power tools in the shop the most heavily used (in order) are the bandsaw, lathe, drill press, and thickness planer. I think a bandsaw is key and its versatility makes owning a large powerful one a real treat. Prepping turning blanks, resawing, veneer making, curved work, and most importantly safe ripping without fear of kickback, all contribute to its importance. Back in my Normite days I bought two of the most useless hand held power tools I own, the Porter Cable profile sander, and a Dewalt bisquit joiner. Neither has been used in years and both were a waste of money.

Back to Chris' original question though. Neanderthal is in the heart. Like many things in life, we take those parts of an idea which make sense to us and discard the rest. We work wood because we enjoy it and how we choose, has to be based on not only getting the job done, but doing so safely and in an enjoyable manner. Hand tools allow me to enjoy, relax, decompress, and produce in an environment without clouds of dust and the scream and whine of high decibel machines.

[Jim Becker]

I am not a Neander by any stretch of the definition, but have come to realize that hand tools play a very important part in all woodworking. It's one of the major reasons I lurk in this form often, even though I don't participate all that much here--I have a lot to learn. There are just some things that machines can't do, so even a staunch electron-breathing woodworker can and should embrace basic hand woodworking skills. They often make the different between a "nice" project result and an "outstanding" project result.

[Don Kugelberg]

I have a complete shop of power tools (thanks Norm!) but find I am using them less and less. I am much more apt to pick up a hand saw for a cross cut than flip the switch on my table saw these days but when ripping its still the tablesaw or bandsaw for me. I have a complete assortment of bench planes which are slowly relegating my jointer and planer to the corner but I still use my router more than occasionally. I sand much less often than I used to favoring scrapers. For me it all comes down to the quiet in my shop which allows me to listen to my CD player and the fact that shavings are much easier to sweep up than sawdust (easier on the lungs too)!

[Chris Thompson]

Thanks guys, the responses were pretty much what I expected. This seems like a pretty pragmatic group and very much a "Whatever is the best tool for the job." kind of bunch.

I originally started down the "Slippery Slope" when I realized that hand tools were probably more efficient for finish work. Then when I read a description of how someone on another forum took an old, cheap, #7C and did a gorgeous refurb on it, I was hooked. I've always been in love with the concept of taking something old or underpowered and redoing it to make it prime. In my bass guitar playing days I took a $299 Yamaha beginner bass and replaced electronics and bridge, stripped the paint from the body and the glossy lacquer off the neck and created a bass that one friend described as "An incredible tool."

I'm trying to keep this in mind as I now seriously begin designing and carving a shop out of my 2 car garage. There are about seven #4 and #5 Bailey, Record and No-name planes in need of electrolysis and TLC headed my way. There's an old Disston backsaw that's about to become a dovetailing monster.

And, I began to simplify. I just sold my nearly unused Porter Cable 557 Biscuit Joiner to my father who enjoys doing casework. I realized as I began my downward neanderspiral that biscuits just weren't something I'd be doing alot of, and the money I got from it paid for my planes, the saw, and it's sharpening.

Now, I still want that bandsaw, and I'm in a "Bigger is better" mood. Should I be asking questions about refurbing old Rockwell 20" bandsaws here or in the tool forum? Is "refurbing old" enough to be neander, or does the fact that it's a power tool trump that and push me over to the other side?

[scott pollack]

i have a table saw , miter saw circular saw and a router. i use my saws ONLY to rough cut to length and width. i thickness plane and cut all joints by hand as well as smoothing all surfaces. i dont have the space for many power tools and i dont need to deal with the noise. and besides its hard to call something handmade when its all shaped with power

scotty

[Tony Zaffuto]

Chris,

I think if all who post on the various forums would be entirely truthful, there are actually very few total "neanderthals". With that said, I believe everyone who works wood ought to take a project from start to finish entirely by hand, at least once. I did this past spring--building a bedside table, that is, perhaps, my most pleasing and satisfying project to date. I've built far more complex items, but somehow, that table is my favorite.

Up to that table project and since, I've have found myself thinking more on what is the best tool for the project. I've also learned that handtools do not necessarily mean longer build time either! In some cases, doing by hand was actually much quicker. A case in point was the beading I placed on the apron/sides of the bedside table: My LN 66 cut those beads on all 4 side pcs. quicker then the time it would taken to set up a router table.
This past Saturday, while trimming rafters on an addition I'm putting on my garage, my old D16 did the cuts as quickly, as accurately as my circular saw would, without the noise and sawdust, and not to mention the potential safety hazard of the using the circular saw while standing on the top rung of a ladder!

[Ernie Miller Topeka]

I must be a hybird. I have no problem using the table saw to rip all of my boards to width. I veen use a planer to get stock close to thickness. but most allways finish up with a plane. I have two shops one for power tools in the garage one for hand tools in the basement. I do a quick and dirty in the power tool shop getting every thing to width carry the parts to the basement shop for final demensioning with hand tools and glue ups I hardly ever carry somthing back up to the power tool shop once it is dow in the nander shop. If a panel get glued up and needs riped to width out comes the hand saw. Most every thing gets cross cut by hand. But on the other hand Toy season is fast aproaching and then it is all power tools. The idea is to make as mant toys as fast as possable using as much scrap as I can. I like listening to books on tape in the shop where it is heated and cooled. but even with AC and a fan I still work up a sweat planning boards. Life is good!

[Mark Singer]

A certain dialouge occurs between the woodworker and the piece when its worked with hand tools that is not experienced by using machines. Once a woodworker experiences that feeling, he can choose his technique accordingly. I love making things fast and efficently, but I would never want to lose the feeling , peace, and crafstmanship that working with hand tools offers. Since for most of us this is a hobby...we should experience these feelings often.

[Pam Niedermayer]

I've got mostly ancient machinery (Barnes mortiser, Craftsman 10" table saw, Duro bandsaw), and one new Dewalt CMS I won from Woodcraft. Like Ernie, they are separated from the hand tool shop, have been banished to the outside under a tarp. I do some basic milling with them, but it's mostly been on carpentry tasks so far. After using all kinds of machine tools in the local community college classes, I dislike machines even more, all the noise and sawdust, yuck.

Pam