How to become a Neander

[Bobby O'Neal]

What is your story? Do you start out as a hybrid type like me and eventually find your way across the line? Initial buy in price? Dust and danger dislikes?

I find more and more better uses for hand tools all the time. Who knows where this could lead...

[Brian Kent]

I saw Frank Klausz do a dovetail joint. I was hooked.

I love seeing something that I can't picture doing, and then learning to do it.

[Bobby O'Neal]

I saw Frank Klausz do a dovetail joint. I was hooked.

I love seeing something that I can't picture doing, and then learning to do it.

Very true, Brian.

[Zach Dillinger]

Started with the common power tools. Decided I hated the noise and dust. I realized that I can't replicate the work of the past using the technology of today. That, and sticking the end of my right pinky into a spinning router (don't ask... no permanent damage) sealed it. I got rid of all of my power tools and I haven't used one in years (excepting a drill for home improvement stuff and a powered grinder for sharpening). All hand tools here, no hybrid stuff.

[Jamie Bacon]

I started out as a power tool woodworker when I was about 18, influenced by the guy in the flannel shirt on tv every Saturday. Worked that way for quite a few years until about 4 or 5 years ago I started to transition into the hand tools, inspired by the guys at the Anthony Hay shop in Williamsburg, my love of history and traditional ways, and Roy Underhill. I just get so much more of a sense of accomplishment in doing something with traditional hand tools. And I don't miss the noise and dust of the power tools.

[Jim Koepke]

My wife and I wanted some chairs for the back yard.

I had a saw, hammer, electric drill and mostly tools for automotive and electronics work.

The bug bit me.

I do have some electric tools, but mostly do not like the noise. Working swing shift also had me in the shop late after work.

After figuring out how to make a hand plane work my use of sand paper is way down.

Different people may have different ideas about what being a neander woodworker entails. If it is only using human powered tools, then it cuts me out of the league. I like my bandsaw, wimpy though it may be. The drill press and the lathe are also going to stay. The router, scroll saw, circular saw and sanders I would be happy to get rid of, but my wife might not like that.

jtk

[Mike Kelsey]

As a newbie, I asked the same question here: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ith-hand-tools

What really drove me toward hand-tools I think ultimately, is slowing down. (Disclaimer still use power tools but only if I have an "excuse". Right now I'm in the process of building Schwartz's saw bench - spent the whole day planing the 8 legs to 2 true flat 90 degree surfaces. I cross cut all the pieces to length with handsaws; I cheated & ripped them with my table saw to width. (If I was retired I would have used handsaws for that also - there’s always the clock, the end of the weekend, etc to contend with for so many of us).But you can learn so much about “working with the wood” as well as yourself, your sense of patience, & your degree of how “good is good enough”. While using the hand plane LN #8 I kept adjusting my hand holding the leading edge, as a fence, till I understood how to adjust for a 90 degree planning surface. I watch the plane shavings; I lean to one side or another to take a high edge down. I check the edges for flatness and right angle & finally get there……

With power tools I would have expected all this to happen automatically. My measure would have been something like: “look how much I got done today” rather than what did I discover, what did I learn about my skill level, about my sense of accomplishment...

I’m not saying anything to most of you who know this innately but rebelling against time I found to be healthy, with the right attitude and a satisfaction in doing it “by hand” as unmatched.

[Eric Brown]

I find that hand tools makes me slow down and think more. Fewer mistakes. It's also provides a higher satisfaction than power tools ever have. Like others, I too have a bandsaw, drill press, etc. but they are best on repetitive tasks. I don't like the noise or dust of power tools. Now if I could just find an Excelsior machine to turn the scaps into something useful.

Enjoy. Eric

[Joey Chavez]

For me it was when I found myself having buyers remorse when I realized my newer 6" jointer was too small for some of the work I wanted to do, and not having the amount of time in the shop that I wish I had, ripping and gluing 6 inch boards was not what I wanted to do. My choices were to buy a larger jointer (couldn't justify that), build a large sled for the planer (made a small version to test, didn't like that either), deal with it (no), or learn how to face plane a large board with a hand plane. Research on the Creek, watching Roy Underhill got it started. It was more for neccessity to save money. I sharpened the iron of a $10 block plane that I had never used, took one swipe of the edge of a small piece of scrap and the rest is history. The sound of the cut, the shaving coming over the top. Seriously one swipe changed my entire view of woodworking. WIthin two weeks my little bench was the center or the shop, all power tools rolled to the corners. 6 months later I "feel" like I am Lee Valley's best customer. The entire process is more rewarding with hand tools.

[Bryan Schwerer]

I'll start off by saying I'm not one to deny anybody a right to make a living. I understand why professionals and manufacturers use power tools because they need to optimize their time. As a hobbyist, I have no reason to do so.

I had limited space/funds. Being a lefty, a lot of the big power tools were optimized for righties and they never felt natural to use. There's a couple of hand tools that are optimized for righties, but a Stanley hand plane and Disston saw are pretty much ambidextrous.

Although he had a table saw, my father had a few old hand planes from the 30's that I always liked. One thing that struck me was my father could operate a circular saw in a closed garage without being bothered by the noise, I had to leave. He needed a hearing aid by the time he was 65.

The commercialism of the power tools industry (Binford tools, more power) always seem to bother me, always some new and fancy device to do things someone did years ago with just a backsaw. The irony of how the devices that were supposed to make thing simpler, actually made them more complex.

Reading Jim Tolpin's New Traditional Woodworker. He focuses on working wood rather than machining it. He also gets into thinking geometrically rather than arithmetically, appeals to me as a lefty.

[Jim Matthews]

Less dust is a huge deal in my house (asthmmatic kid).

The fact that I can work with MUCH larger boards this way was liberating. The surprise that it is considerably cheaper opened my eyes: the magazines I read in the '80s & '90s were geared toward the interest of advertisers -not consumers.

The surprise was that I finish projects now, as there's no set up time with my bench, and I can make incremental progress.

I also have less waste due to operator error.

Jim
Wpt, ma

[john brenton]

Going back to when I was in the trades, the only thing worse than not being able to work because of a power issue was having to unload the generator and unroll the cord just to drill a little hole or thread one piece of pipe. I ended up cruising the swap meets for old hand tools, and I got a taste for rust hunting and rehabbing. I had a whole truck to myself with all the power tools, and all the hand tools. I could perform any task with hand tools with the exception of threading pipe larger than 2", and soon found that I used the power tools only when necessary, and sometimes not at all.

With woodworking it's the same...but I really need to lean into the power side a little more...I'm getting tired of all the grunt work.

[Bob Strawn]

Making a low penny whistle out of cedar was what got me started on toolmaking.




Every time I ran into a problem the solution was building my own hand tool. Drilling a straight hole in endgrain, meant I had to make a shell bit. Reaming required a handful of custom reamers. Undercutting holes, adjusting tone, every single problem had an expensive, sloppy, unpredictable and poor solution with power tools and an inexpensive, easy and reliable method with hand made hand tools.

About the same time, I ran out of room for all the jigs I had made for the table saw and router. Some of the jigs were detailed with articulate adjustments. A lot of the jigs cost more to make than the hand tools I had made. I could not remember what some of the jigs were for doing. I could look at my most obscure shop made handtool and see where I could use it again and again. About this time, I saw this:



Yeung Chan's lovely tool case with lovely and useful tools he made.

The realization that I could make all my tools pushed me right over the edge.

Bob

[Archie England]

wow!

Sharpening is what helped me turn the corner. Really! Power tools made hobby work faster but not better. I still had blow out and needed to sand greatly after machine cuts. Dull blades require sharpening no matter whether tailed or not. So, once I discovered how to sharpen hand tools blades--and sharpen handsaws, then everything just started falling into place. I'm not that far along in the craft, but I'm having fun rehabbing old tools and developing skills with these old tools. They're fun!

[Joe Hillmann]

I got started by needing to adjust some doors so I picked up a cheap, brand new, Stanley block plane. It was worthless, it couldn't cut at all. I did a little research online about how to make a plane work properly, I spent hours flattening the sole and sharpening the blade and got it all adjusted properly and was amazed at what it could do. I quickly bought a jack plane to play with, from there I started playing with chisels and saws and just practiced making dovetail joints. Since then I have been slowly making and buying more hand tools and with almost every hand tool I am surprised at how efficient it can be when used properly.

I do have to admit that I do use a lot of power tools still and plan in the future to as well.