Tools vs skill

[Derek Cohen]

A recent thread on the choice of router plane lies behind a question that I would like to pose to the forum.

The thread was ostensibly about buying a router plane to use for trimming tenon shoulders. Warren replied that one should rather learn to saw straight. He also went on to suggest that a router plane is an unnecessary tool, with the implication that there are few tasks that one cannot perform instead with a chisel.

The issue is about tools versus skill. Does one simply pare back all tools to the very basics and learn skills, or does one continue to support tools for specific tasks? Do tools such as a router plane fall into the "special" category, or are they today more among the "common" group (such as a smoother)?

In my own mind there is no simple answer. I consider a router plane to be exceptionally useful and a boon for many tasks, such as tenon shoulders, stopped grooves and dados, inlay, hinge mortices, etc. At the same time I agree with part of Warren's message (if I understood him correctly) that one should strive to develop hand skills and that, as one does, the need for certain aids drops away. For example, while I may correct a badly out-of-square tenon with a router plane, this rarely happens to me these days since I can saw pretty straight, and then I do indeed (as Warren suggested) more often just use a wide chisel. Mostly I sharpen blades freehand, however I do continue to use a guide when specific angles are needed.

The associated question is whether it is actually possible for most, if not all, amateur (i.e. part time) woodworkers to develop the hand skills to forgo tools such as the router plane at the outset? This question assumes that (a) there is a hands-on time frame needed, and (b) that all woodworkers have the same mindset to achieve this objective. In reality these factors differ widely among amateurs, and I believe that laying down commandments will encourage some and discourage others.

In my thoughts there is also an unstated concern for newbies coming to our fine obsession ( ) who believe they must purchase every tool imaginable before they will be ready to build anything. This reflects both the low insight and the insecurity of the inexperienced. We do want to send out a message that says "Just go for it" and "Learn work arounds". Practice does not necessarily mean "perfect"; however the more one practices, the more one develops a broader range of intellectual and practical skills. In time one can and may choose to use fewer tools. I just wonder if this knowledge calms and is meaningful to the heart of those starting out?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Andrew Fleck]

I think with enough skill you could build fine furniture with an axe. The amount of time it takes to get that skilled is out of reach for most people. People use different tools for different tasks because they help them do a better job and sometimes they compensate for a lack of skill.

I think it really boils down to a couple of things for an amateur woodworker.

First, if your like me then you only get so much time in the workshop a week. Most of it is on the weekend with a couple trips during the week for a little while. It would take a very long time to learn the skills to be able to make presentable furniture with very basic hand tools.

Second, some people just enjoy using different tools for different tasks. I guess what I'm trying to say is that some people like the tools themselves. I may be able to saw a perfect tenon, but prefer to use a shoulder plane anyway simply for the satisfaction it brings.

[maximillian arango]

I enjoy working with my hands to make things or fix things, but avoiding frustration is key and a big part of me enjoy the task at hand. Sure having a router plane isn't necessary to do all work like Chris said in that thread but he also mentioned it is a very useful tool to have. I don't have any experience in wood working since I am still in the buying tools stage before to attempt first project. I could have started my first project already a month ago with what I had and made it work but with the tools that I have bought in that time and hopefully with the router plane(yea I'm trying to get one too) that I plan on getting I will be able to make my first project with out popping a blood vessel. I want to enjoy wood working through the whole process making each process as easy as possible helps and as I get more daring I may just try to cut strait to the line like Mr. Warren suggested but I will do that after my sawing skill gets better with other tasks.... Hell I'll take it a step further and do it blind folded. Don't tempt me or I will do it next year by this time with the skills that I have gained.

Tools first skill while waiting for skills to come.

[Adam Cruea]

I'm still starting out, and I don't want to go out an buy all the nifty little do-dads and gadgets that are out there. I'd much rather build the skill, but sometimes I prefer to just solve the problem at hand in the simplest manner possible.

Going off your example, Derek, I could purchase some sort of plane to square up my tenons, but instead I prefer to just saw straight (the simpler of two options). Does it take skill? Sure. But then I will turn around and use a "specialty" tool (router plane) to make a stopped dado, whereas someone wanting to go pure skill may want to use a chisel and marking knife.

Point being, it's all about what type of person you are. There's also the physical limitations one may have. My father has arthritis in his thumbs, so trying to chisel out a stopped dado while holding a chisel steady may end up hurting severely, so instead why not just opt for a router plane? Does that mean he has less skill? Certainly not; it just means nature is taking it's course.

[David Weaver]

I'm somewhere in the middle. An amateur, but by no means one who is a threat to make perfect federalist furniture.

When I first started out, I did honestly think that the folks like warren and others were trolling. It was easy to think that. We don't all know who warren is when we first start, and he doesn't exactly self promote. And most of the rest of the folks on the forum are willing to think the same, especially if the blogroll community is telling everyone something different and they, you know, go to dinner with everyone at WIA and smile more.

When you first start out, and you get the "wood show" tools...you know, the ones that are easier to use at first, but have virtues that the more experienced might not love so much (like irons that take longer to grind and lots of extra weight in planes, etc). Anyway, you get the wood show tools and it's hard to believe that something like a common stanley plane with a stock iron is going to become your ideal.

But over time it happens, and gadgets you relied on (like honing guides) become something that you abhor because they break work rhythm and take extra time.

My thoughts about all of the stuff go just about 180 degrees from where they were 5 years ago. If I'm going to make M&T in a respectable amount of time, I can't have anything else other than a couple of chisels around. It just happens that you get that way.

That puts us in a position where we're all looking to get different things out of the forum, and sometimes that causes friction when it comes to advice.

I pound the ground on the stanley 4, and the lack of a need for anyone really to have anything else as a smoother. Want? Sure, want's different. Need probably isn't for most people in the US with the woods we can get cheaply here. I know it turns some people off when I do that. I'm sure it would've to me at the time, but I don't want to go along with the "hey, everyone has an answer and all are equally right". It's just not always true.

Your distinction between why we have different answers at different points is a good one, though. And conditioning a response of "you might want to buy this to do that easily"....with "if you don't feel like you're going to be able to invest the time to develop the skill".....that kind of conditioning is a good thing, I think.

[Bruce Mack]

The brain is also a tool. Many of us have done our 10,000 hours in a discipline and have mentored others early in their training. Good teaching acknowledges that finesse will take years and errors. Good teachers remember how they began and enjoy the enthusiasm and, yes, the reciprocal teaching from their students. There are many approaches to a goal and I support the freedom to choose, when applicable. Hope for passion for your discipline and know that skills will follow.

[Sean Hughto]

Uh, who has ever said everyone has an answer and they are all equally right? Seems rather like a strawman ...

But "right" is not a single thing when it comes to woodworking tool choices. Tools are a means to an end - a quality result - and everyone does not have to take the same route. Now, quality, there is only one of those ....

[David Weaver]

Yes, there is often no single dominant choice. I might phrase it better by saying that such a conciliatory statement is usually made to imply that the answers from everyone are always equally credible.

[Sean Hughto]

Oh, I can think of some incredible statements:

you only need a single edge razor blade to build a Philadelphia secretary.

you can't build a decent highboy until you master the CNC machine.

etc.

[Brian Ashton]

The issue is about tools versus skill. Does one simply pare back all tools to the very basics and learn skills, or does one continue to support tools for specific tasks? Do tools such as a router plane fall into the "special" category, or are they today more among the "common" group (such as a smoother)?
Derek

I must be a freakin woodworking god then because I've traded everything with exception of my hammer and a file (used to sharpen the claw to use as a chisel/adze) on a oneway ticket to the UK. I don't need anything else. There's simply nothing I can't make or fix with my trusty, circa 1980, estwing hammer anymore. Even sorted out what to do with the cat...

I really don't think there's anything to answer to or discuss to be honest. One should do what one likes. To be honest, anyone I've met over the decades that was making high quality stuff and making a good living at it had very unremarkable tool kits - quite boring really.

[Jack Curtis]

I think money and storage space resolve these issues, no human intervention needed.

[Daniel Rode]

I like to think of this as the amateur vs professional. There is a theory that it take 10,000 hours to master a complex skill-set. The idea being that a novice will need to invest 10k hours of work to learn and master photography, golf, programming, woodworking or whatever. The exact number of hours is irrelevant to me. Although 5 years of full time work is about 10,000 hours (think apprenticeships). Regardless, it takes a lot of effort and practice over a long time and a person pursuing woodworking as a career should expect to work hard for years to become competent. Moreover, person working wood full time, will continue reinforce those skills (mental and physical) and typically add and refine skills over time.

Now consider the amateur who can dedicate some time on the weekend and maybe a little on a weekday evening. If one could spend a consistent 20 hours per week, it's going to take 10 years to reach 10k hours. The reality is worse. Most amateurs are not surrounded daily with masters of the craft. That kind of support is weaker, less frequent and often coming from other amateurs. In addition, there is a time delay between learning an practicing; between feedback and application. I think this delay also affects the rate of improvement. Add it all up and I see a span of 15-30 years of diligent work as an amateur to become a fully competent woodworker. Slow down a little more, say 10-15 hours a week and that number might approach never.

I'm sure I'm somewhere in the 20-never range but I have several years under my belt already. In addition, I have other work in the trades I did as a young man that helped me jump ahead with some of the basic skills. Reading a ruler and simple mechanical drawing, for example. Even still I will probably never master woodworking. I'm OK with this because mastery is not my goal. My goal to to enjoy working with my hands. I also enjoy having a house filled with things I built myself.

Onto the specific question about the ability for a part time woodworker to develop the skills necessary to use only the most simple tools. Yes, no, maybe. I was pretty sure that I could not learn to hand sharpen chisel and plane irons. It's a physical skill. A kinda of "feel" thing. Muscle memory from lots of practice. I would need to guess at how it's supposed to look or feel and then practice the, maybe, right way until I could repeat the process on demand. I'm doing to to some degree now, so it can work. The questions is can I maintain it across the times when I am less active. Maybe.

I think I can learn a subset of skills and maybe over time, layer more on top of those.

The last comment I have is about choice. I choose to do some of my work with tools and techniques that are more suited to 1814 or 1914 than 2014. I do this not because it's faster or more efficient but because it's more enjoyable. Some of that enjoyment is learning how to use a particular tool well. Sometimes, it's finding a way to work around an under-developed skill or a missing tool.

[Jim Koepke]

an unnecessary tool, with the implication that there are few tasks that one cannot perform instead with a chisel.

This could be said of many tools. Imagine some of the old timers were saying the same thing when the first hand plane was being proudly shown to all the other carpenters at work. "Those young whipper snappers always trying to find a way of getting out of doing some honest work."

Could I get along without a router plane? Of course.

Does it make some tasks easier or more accurate? Of course.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

I do this not because it's faster or more efficient but because it's more enjoyable. Some of that enjoyment is learning how to use a particular tool well.

For me there is joy in seeing a translucent shaving curling out of a plane. There is even more joy when that shaving is curling off the bevel of a chisel going across a tenon.

There is also joy in pulling shavings from the bottom of dados with a router plane knowing all the dados match and will line up square with the the pieces that will end up inserted in to the dados.

jtk

[Brian Ashton]

I like to think of this as the amateur vs professional. There is a theory that it take 10,000 hours to master a complex skill-set. The idea being that a novice will need to invest 10k hours of work to learn and master photography, golf, programming, woodworking or whatever. The exact number of hours is irrelevant to me. Although 5 years of full time work is about 10,000 hours (think apprenticeships).

Well lets take that idea and unpack (as mice wife likes to say)... Say a kid likes *insert sport here*. Practices 3 hours a day 4 times a week (0n average) for 48 weeks a year (excluding holidays away and being grounded), total about 580hrs/year. 17 years to become an expert. Does anyone really think it took Gretzki, Elway, Messi, or Jordan till they were in their mid to late twenties to be experts in their fields? Considering none of them really got going in their respective sports till they were at least around 10, but probably later.

Then lets consider an apprentice working 8 hours a day for 4 years, like Thomas Chippendale, Thomas Sheritan, James Krenov... At the end of 4 years do you really think they were top experts in their respective fields - I don't, not even close. At that point they were only just starting to stretch their wings on becoming real experts.

Do you think anyone coming out of university with a 4 year degree actually knows anything and is an expert in their chosen field - I know I don't, in either degree. Any expert will tell the new graduates to forget everything they've learned because now it's time to learn what you really need to know...

To be honest I think the most important factor in determining someone becoming an expert in anything is their level of obsession (or passion, what ever you want to call it) with what ever it is.