Best small Neanderthal tool collection to complement power shop

[george wilson]

The very first thing I taught my apprentices to do was to sharpen tools. That gave their skills a quantum leap immediately. I agree that sharpening should be your first concern. The trouble with tools is that they need FREQUENT sharpening. Sending your plane out to be sharpened is totally impractical. It may stay sharp for an evening or less. Then,you are back to square one.

What you don't need to do is spend a fortune on exotic sharpening stones. For years I used a coarse/fine India bench stone followed by a barber's razor stone. You could find them in flea markets,though a large variety was around,and some were more suitable than others. If you could find a used Arkansas stone,and make a strop,you'd have a good start-combined with the India stone.

We were very poor all the time I was growing up. I used a cheap gray hardware store stone,and was stubborn enough to strop it on a piece of paper until the tool was pretty sharp(not as sharp as I get them now!!)

Use some silver polish on your strop. I use leather glued to a flat piece of wood. Some use MDF with polishing compound on it. Silver polish will be fine until you get your shop together better.

[Ari Friedman]

Lots of great advice that I'm still digesting. Just to clarify: I intended to learn to sharpen when my brother next visits. I was definitely not planing on sending them out or only having them sharpened when he visits (every 6 months or so). He has a really astounding knowledge of metal and sharpening, so I figured it would be a good way to learn.

I've added my location (Philadelphia, PA) to my profile. Thanks for the suggestion to do that.

Given all the advice, I'm currently leaning towards buying the Veritas dovetail saw and waiting on chisels and planes until I get proficient at using and sharpening what I've got.

[Don Jarvie]

See if there are any woodworking/sharpening courses in your area that you can attend. It goes so much faster with someone showing you than learning from a book or video, not that the book or video are useless. Once you have sharp tools the work gets easier.

I use both hand and power tools. I have a basic set of hand tools, Lie Nielson tenon, Hand planes - Stanley equivalent of #3, 4, 5 and 8, Marples Blue handle chisels and crown marking gauge. Remember, you have to start somewhere.

[Jim Neeley]

Ari,

I'm sure this is getting to sound like a broken record but getting *one* sharpening system and mastering it is the single most important "tool" you can get and will take you further than any other. Fettle your plane, learn to sharpen it and your chisels and get *really* good at it as you are saving for more tools.

You said you have some lower-end chisels already. I don't disagree that you'll want to replace them but thise chisels, with a very sharp edge, will cut. Even the best chisel without a sharp edge, will not. This from a guy who has retired a set of cheap chisels for good ones. The cheap ones required more frequent sharpening but they work.

Once you think you've mastered sharpening, use your tools for a while and then go back and learn sharpening again! It really is that dramatic and important of a step.

[Steve Bates]

Ari, I'm just starting woodworking myself. I understand the steep learning curve. Also, this is on my time and money so it's got to be cheap. I learn better by reading than listening because I can reread until I understand. So I watch the newstands for magazines.

I picked up WOODCRAFT magazine, April/May issue because the top of the cover states Mastering The Chisel. I reckon it's a good article. I've got a couple of cheap chisels I've sharpened and using bits of pine and fir clamped in a Workmate I can follow along with the article.

Just my two pennies,

Steve Bates

[Ari Friedman]

Ok. Watson book is ordered and learning how to sharpen my chisels is on the agenda. :-)

[Gary Herrmann]

A lot of picture frames? In addition to a shooting board and a block plane, consider a mitre box. Walt (Brasscity Records) has had some good ones recently. Not affiliated, just a frequent customer.

And definitely learn to sharpen as has already been stated. I did scary sharp for a long time before moving to stones. Enjoy the slope.

[paul cottingham]

If I were to start again, I would start by reading Chris S. anarchists tool chest, and Aldren Watson. Both are indispensable. Then I would get some sharpening gear. Before my hands went, I used a 1000, a 4000, and an 8000 grit stone with a guide. Sharpening is a gateway skill, get good at it, and you will love woodworking.
i think you, at a minimum need chisels, (I have the Narex ones, if you can afford them, the new LV or Lie Nielsen ones are lifetime tools) a good carcass saw, rip and crosscut, again, the LV ones are an awesome value. I would also get a marking gauge or two.
I figure if you round that out with a low angle jack with a few blades, and you are well on the way.

[Rob Fisher]

I will add to the broken record...learn to sharpen. Also read Chris Schwartz's Anarchists Tool Chest. It's about making a tool chest for hand tools as well as all of the basic hand tools you need to fill the chest and do most furniture related projects.

[James Taglienti]

Hardly any of these planes are going to be of much use without a decent vise.

I would suggest a bench vise, something solid to put it on, a good block plane to clean up the kerf left by your miserable table saw, some new chisels, and a sharpening setup. A lot of guys seem to suggest things like scrub planes and miter boxes, which leaves me wondering, when a child is learning to swim do you drop them in the ocean or throw them into a lake? Or take them to the kiddie pool... (sharpening lessons)

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

James brings up a good point on the vise. Certainly, a lot can be accomplished by working against stops - but a decent vise is probably the most used tool in my shop. Certainly if you have a decent vise, and use it, it goes a long way towards removing the danger from the most dangerous tool in the hand tool shop - the chisel. If both the work is secured, both hands can be on the chisel. If both hands can be on the chisel, neither one can end up in front of it. Clamps can work for a lot of operations, and stops work well for planing work (and I prefer them for some planing operations) but I wouldn't want to be without a vise if I didn't have to.

[David Posey]

I seem to still be able to slightly injure myself with a chisel even with both hands on it. I was cleaning up some dovetails yesterday and ended up with paper cut size slits in my finger exactly 1/4" apart from the side of the chisel.

One thing I've seen left out is is a knife if you don't already have one. It figures in to hand tool work a lot more than power tool work. I don't think there's been a project I've done without using it for almost every step. And if your brother is a bladesmith, he should be able to make you a great one. Take a look at some designs and see what will work best for you. I end up using a utility knife about half the time and it works fine, but if you have someone who can make something better, then go for it.

[Bob Jones]

May seem like weird advice, but could save you time and trouble. Buy a couple of good books on using hand tools and then decide what to get. I would personally recommend The Anarchist Tool Chest (C Schwarz), Woodworking Essentials (Robert Wearing, Lost Art Press) and an easily obtainable out of print book by Wearing about hand tools (i forget the title, but it is great). Read at least the Wearing books and you will have a very good idea about what is needed in a hand- tool shop. I would have wasted much less money if I had started with these books.

[Rick Fisher]

I am a newbie to hand tools but can tell you, I hated my block plane and chisel set until I learned to sharpen them .. Since learning a bit, and being able to get an acceptable ( to me ), I actually find myself using them frequently..

A sharp chisel is an amazing tool, a dull one is a paint can opener ..

[John Coloccia]

Ari, from the short list of projects you listed, my opinion would be to forget about buying anymore tools and just concentrate on a setup to get that block plane razor sharp. I think you'll find that for the kind of work you do a small block plane will get used the most. I'm not sure why you're leaning towards buying a saw. A razor sharp block plane should be your priority. Maybe you can find someone in your area to help you select a sharpening system and show you how to use it. Personally, I've moved away from waterstones, preferring the ceramic Spyderco stones and a strop that George Wilson has been recommending for some time (took me a while to see the light, but I see it now ) Whatever it takes, though, I wouldn't buy one more tool until you can get that block plane absolutely, ridiculously sharp.

Forget about the shaving hairs test...even a dull edge will chop off some hairs (relatively dull, anyway). Take the plane iron and present it to the edge of a piece of paper. Don't slice. PUSH the iron straight at the edge. Does it cut right through the paper? A truly sharp edge will let you push it straight on and chop the paper in half. You can sometimes even hold it at a shallow angle and pare slivers off. Not everything needs to be this sharp all the time, but a decent piece of metal CAN get this sharp.