Hand Tool selection suggestions please

[Mike Holbrook]

I have been stuck using a miter saw and nail guns for construction type projects for quite a while. I am now going into my cabinet making phase. Just finished a basement, a dog training building, a playroom for my daughter. I am finally trying to make a real shop. I need places to put things, cabinets, bookshelves, tool stations etc.

I would like to make some: nice doors for cabinets, drawers, shelves, later on furniture. I like the idea of making dovetails, finger joints and mortises & tenons by hand. I think it may also be possible to do edge round overs etc. with hand planes instead of a router.

I had a few old basic planes (Jointer, Smooth, Jack) and a few old not so hot chisels, rasps and clamps. I have good power tools that I use on sheet materials, but I prefer working with real wood with the hand tools.

I probably started out with something that many people would never buy. I have always had this thing for sharpening and grinding. I have lusted after a super sharpening tool for ages so I got a Tormeck Supergrind 2006 system for Christmas. I have since added a set of kumagoro Japanese chisels, a Veritas low angle block plane, Silky Woodboy 240 (Dozuki) saw, Veritas Scraper holder & burnisher, Bessey K body clamps (2-31", 2-40", 4 KP Blocks) and good sandpaper and sanding blocks. I got a good workbench for my birthday back in September, the smaller Hammer. One day I will make a bigger one.

Other things on my list are:
Hand saws-I was planing to buy either a Silky Woodboy Kataba or one of the new fangled frame saws with a Japanese blade. My local woodworking hardware Highland Hardware (Atlanta) was out of both of these saws after Christmas. I like the Japanese saws; I have used them for pruning my fruit trees etc. for many years and appreciate their speed & accuracy.

Planes- Those Veritas planes get me going. I saw their low angle "Jack" plane and it was love at first sight, even before I saw the excellent reviews it has gotten here.

Chisels- I am not sure whether or not I should invest in a couple mortising chisels or not. I am planing to make some heavy duty outdoor picnic furniture and dog training obstacle course stations (climbing wall, cat walk etc.) I think the Japanese chisels (30 degrees) will handle the inside stuff I have planned and I sort of doubt that mortises and tenons will come into play in the outdoor woodwork. I am also thinking about cranked neck, swan neck, Veritas detail and skew chisels.

I am hoping some of you old "handy" guys can help me with other hand tools that will make life easier on the projects I have in mind.

[Roger Bell]

You might consider getting some nice layout tools including squares (double square, machinist squares, miter square, saddle square), a small bevy of precision rules, perhaps a straightedge or two....think Starrett or perhaps Lee Valley. Eschew your carpentry layout tools (speed squares and retractable tapes) for those of the cabinetmaker.

A nice layout and marking knife or two is essential. Lee Valley, Chester, Blue Spruce. A step up from utility knives or carpenter's pencils. Marking and mortise gauges are also essential. There are some nice Japanese ones out there that might complement your other Japanese tools. A greater compliment of Japanese saws, particularly those suited to finer work, might be nice.

Braces, bits and hand drills are often overlooked. Very handy for boring large mortises used in outdoor furniture. I use heavy pigsticker mortise chisels quite a lot for outdoor projects and prefer them to the drill out and pare method. A spokeshave or two will be useful as might a drawknife, a couple of wasting gouges or a well balanced hatchet.

At least one full size and one small hand router. Finally, maybe a shoulder plane. Consider a vintage Record/Preston or one of the new Lee Valley.

[Mike Holbrook]

Sounds interesting, I am not sure I know what some of these things are though. Are layout & marking knives, knives both used to mark cut lines? I have a Japanese marking knife somewhere that I need to dig out. I have seen what I think must be marking & mortise gauges. I am guessing that these are used to lay out mortises and tenons, maybe dovetails and finger joints.

Is there somewhere you might suggest that carries braces and hand drills? What is a heavy pigsticker mortise chisel? Do spokeshaves and drawknives have uses other than making round rungs like in chair backs? Maybe I need a good book on using hand tools Are hand routers planes, something like a shoulder plane? I have a Lee Valley link and have several of their products, I will search for some of those things there.

You mentioned large mortises in outdoor furniture, can you suggest somewhere to find plans for that type furniture using those joints? I know I need several solid picnic type tables and some outdoor chairs that can stand being outdoors full time.

The Silky Woodboy saw I have is 27 tpi with a reinforced back. That saw cuts much faster than I would have imagined with all those small teeth. The other one I was planing to buy is 19 tpi and no back. I am not sure what size bow saw might be appropriate or whether I will find uses for one.

Thanks for all the good ideas. I have lots to look for now.

[Roger Bell]

For starters, send off for the Lee Valley, Garrett Wade, Japan Woodworker and Woodcraft catalogs (and there are others as well) and keep them as reference. Between the four of them, they will stock most of the hand tools mentioned. You can also get most of the tools used or on ebay.

You can find plans for outdoor furniture and structures in some of these catalogs as well as in Wood, Popular WW and other magazines. There are several books out there as well that have plans for outdoor stuff. Try Woodworker's Book Club (online) for a listing of books. The catalogs will also stock a few of these books. An internet search will also yield other sources, no doubt.

Yes, marking knives mark cut lines as well as to scribe saw lines....as do marking and mortise gauges. Spokeshaves are for smoothing and final shaping of any curved work....drawknifes for rough shaping. Pigstickers excavate the entire mortise to width and are thick and heavy in cross section, unlike typical "registered" or "sash mortise" chisels that are often recommended as substitutes for the real thing.

For a good introductory book try "Hand Tools, Their Ways and Workings" by Aldren Watson or "Traditional Woodworking Handtools" by Graham Blackburn. These authors explain the differences among and the usage of these common hand tools in considerable detail. See Amazon or Borders online.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Roger Bell has given you some great resources for finding hand tools and learning about their ways and workings. I would also add Joel Moskowitz's catalog from Tools For Working Wood to the list. Andy Rae's book on Hand Tools (the title escapes me right now) is also a worthy addition. You might also want to check out some of the wonderful articles that Bob Smalser has written and are in the archives of these pages. Just remember that you will probably never stop learning as long as you work wood. There is always more.

[RichMagnone]

You might consider getting some nice layout tools including squares (double square, machinist squares, miter square, saddle square), a small bevy of precision rules, perhaps a straightedge or two....think Starrett or perhaps Lee Valley. Eschew your carpentry layout tools (speed squares and retractable tapes) for those of the cabinetmaker.

Roger, you "hit the nail on the head" with that last sentence! Since coming over here to the hand tools side of things, I have realized that the terms "neander" and "galoot" are really just a self-effacing front for the power tool crowd. The truth is, hand tools are where it's at in regard to the more "gentile" art of woodworking. "Carpentry" is what you do with a circular saw while "Cabinetmaking" is what you do with a wood plane.

I don't blame you guys - if the power tool fellas knew what was going on over here, that place that shall not be named (oy-vey) would be totally out of control.

[Mike Holbrook]

This is great, now I have some books and catalogs to get and pore over as well as tools to think about.

Regarding the more refined marking and measuring tools, I made a start at Christmas. I got a nice little Japanese Combination Square that is already starting to feel like an old friend. I bought a Veritas Large Saddle Square which I can easily see the value in. I had an Engineers Square, several adjustable squares and a Sliding Bevel.

I am thinking about ordering the Lee Valley 3-in-1 Brass Marking Gauge. It has a wheel, knife and pin, so I can experiment with all three. I need some better rulers. Highland Hardware (not far from me in Atlanta) has a good selection. Are the rulers with the slots to mark in good?: Seems to me they would help those of us who's arms are starting to get too short I think I will go ahead and get a couple heavy duty mortising chisels and a shoulder plane ( I like the Veritas Medium Shoulder and Bullnose Sholder planes), as I am planing to make mortise & tenons, rabbits and dados. I have been agonizing over Spokeshaves for sometime and drawknives are so cool, as soon as I find a real use for one....

Ok, ohhhhk eaaaasy, I have to remember that my shop floor is covered in things without a home already. "You can't have everything, where would you put it" is already ringing true in my little shop, even if most of my homeless items are construction materials and tools. I need to get some shop cabinets up so I have a place to store all those tools.

I feel sure that certain items will be "justifiable" in light of my current projects though I think I am catching the Neander-disease bad. So many planes and so little time, but I just have to have that LV LA Jack plane, from the second I saw it I thought now there is what I.........there I go again, cabinets, keep repeating CABINETS, CABINETS.....!

[James Mittlefehldt]

Mike, I am in a similar postion to you in that I just moved this year and I am in the process of setting up a new shop, ie remodelling a 1937 garage beside my new old house. I know it is 1937 because it had the date painted on the wall and it even came with vintage pinups. I started into this woodworking stuff about six years ago and one of the first things I bought was a book by Mark Finney, called the Stanley Book Of Woodworking Tools, Techniques And Projects.

The basic premise of this book is that there is nothing you cannot build with handtools, and the only methods they discuss is how to build with handtools, the recommended tools are of course Stanley but you can ignore that. It works on the premise you know little or nothing, which at the time was me, and then goes from getting started and with each chapter or section at the end it offers a list of must have tools for that specific discussion, and optional stuff you might want to get later.

The last part of the book offers projects and what techniques are required for them. It was an invaluable aid to me starting out and occasionally I still refer to it. I made a list for my old workshop of the must have and optional tools and as I got them I crossed them off.

I would get the very basic stuff you need right now to get going and then buy tools as you need them for specific projects. I also advocate as do many others here to buy the best you can afford at the time. I have old planes as they are sometimes cheaper than the new ones, mainly Ohio Tool oddly enough but I also have a couple of new Lee Valley Veritas planes and cannot say enough good things about them.

[Mike Holbrook]

Hi James,

I like your book's basic premise, I will check it out. I do have a wife and as you may be aware they can be a little impatient with the completion dates on projects they conceive I will do all I can do in reasonable time frames with hand tools though. Fortunately the wife does not like dust or noisy tools and she knows my buddy lost the end of his finger on a router table not long ago.

I do need to shave down some doors to the storage space in the knee walls of my daughter's new room. Goooosh I guess I need to mark some fine lines on the those doors and shave them down with a plane, helllllo Lee Valley

I need to do a refurbish on my old plains, but that will require some study, preparation and a considerable amount of elbow grease. I am thinking I will go ahead and get the LV LA Jack, it seems like the perfect answer to my short term needs. I like the Block plane I got from LV and I think I can get buy with those two until I can refurbish the old rusty, never tuned Records I have. A few marking and measuring devises are also warranted now. The rest I can wait on, although that LV Bullnose sure would come in handy......

[Roy Wall]

Hi James,

I am thinking I will go ahead and get the LV LA Jack, it seems like the perfect answer to my short term needs. I like the Block plane I got from LV and I think I can get buy with those two until I can refurbish the old rusty, never tuned Records I have. A few marking and measuring devises are also warranted now. The rest I can wait on, although that LV Bullnose sure would come in handy......

I think that's smart plan........those two planes will serve you well. Also, do try your hand at tuning up those old records.......at least one---it will give you experience and confidence when working with the newer (and more $$$) LV or LN planes of your future.

Also check out Taunton publishing--------great books on Joints and techniques..

Also..."woodworking basics" by Peter Korn - a good reference for hand tool work.

[Mike Holbrook]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Roy. My library list is pretty impressive now. I ordered the LV LA Jack today, unfortunately it is back ordered but they are expecting to have more to ship in the next week or so. I ordered a couple measuring and marking devices that I think will allow me to work with the greater degree of precision necessary for joinery.

I also lucked out at the Depot. They had a sign up for 18 MM(-3/4) Birch Plywood at $25 a sheet. Unfortunately what was in that bin was 1/2 Sandeply. Inventory claimed they had 45 sheets but they could not find it and finally determined that it had all been sold. I bugged them until they checked and found that there were 100 more sheets due in soon. I have a receipt for 10 sheets that they will call me on as soon as they walk in the door. Its not a high grade birch ply, but more than good enough for the Shop, garage and basement cabinets I am about to start on and for less $ than I could have spent for 1/2 inch Sandeply.