Can you hand tool woodworkers do everything that a powered tool woodworker can do?

[William Adams]

I think a more interesting question is what hand tools have machines and CNC made possible / more affordable?

- JointMaker Pro (and the Chopstick Master which was inspired by it) --- certainly these two tools can make cuts which power tools are not readily capable of
- DowelMax (and other) high-precision/accuracy jigs

What other woodworking operations could one make jigs / fixtures / specialized tools for which would be transformative in the same way?

[Pat Barry]

I think that is a little bit flippant. There are a bunch of people who have posted pretty high quality work that was done with hand tools. Brian's work (including a picture frame), Kees' recent cabinet, and Derek's dresser or whatever he calls it are all very well done. I would suggest the original poster look at some of the projects that have been posted on this forum and draw his own conclusions.

Yes - flippant. That was in response to the validity of the question and the comments about the 'Zen like' nature of hand tool woodworking. Derek nailed the best answer. To me, tools are tools and having both power tools and hand tools provides the best of both worlds. I do think the question should be asked in the power tool forum where I contend you will get a completely different set of responses.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Somewhere out there is a video where they take a hand tool guy and a power tool guy and have them make... something... I can't remember, but I believe it had dovetails. The power tool guy had to set up for the cuts, and the hand tool guy had to lay out the cuts; in other words, they had to start from scratch. The power tool guy barely edged out the hand tool guy in speed. I say this not to support or condemn either- but I just thought it was interesting. I am mostly a hand tool guy, and I figured the power tool guy would finish much ahead of the hand tool guy. They both agreed that the hand tool guy had more enjoyment.

Anyway, I really didn't see this thread as being one versus the other, but rather a question about can they both achieve the same task? At first I thought the post was trolling, but then I figured it was just a curiosity from someone who wasn't as up on hand tools as perhaps some of the regulars here. My original response was answering can I MYSELF do everything by hand that a power tool can. Ripping is my limitation there. I quite despise it except in small quantities. :-)

Derek was spot-on about tools being tools, but I do disagree with him on one point- hand tools ARE a religious experience! My workshop is a sanctuary. :-)

[Zach Dillinger]

Tools are nothing more than a means to an end. If you can achieve your goals with power tools, than "more power" to you. Some of us have goals that cannot be met if we use power tools so we don't use them. Most people have a goal that allows them to use both, so they use both. There isn't a merit badge for ripping with a handsaw, and there isn't a PETA campaign (of which I am aware) to "Save the Electrons".

Nothing more, and nothing less.

[Prashun Patel]

Well said, Zach.

[Chris Fournier]

I have to agree with Derek wholeheartedly. I have a full compliment of machines and hand tools, I choose which I use based on the task, simple as that.

I would add that "what is the best..." topics are as pointless as the "either or..." discussions.

[Stew Hagerty]

Brian,

I am a former General Contractor. As such, you know I have an affinity for power tools!
Then in 2008, I came down with a rare neurological disorder that left me in a wheelchair. My right leg is paralyzed, my right arm is significantly weaker than it used to be, and I lost some fine motor control in my right hand. Not to mention unimaginably intense nerve pain.
Believe me, after spending nearly 2 years in bed, I was going stark raving nuts! But then I got a pain pump implant that allowed me to get off of the heavy doses of narcotics and be able to do things, even if it was from a wheelchair.
So I spent 9 months laying out and setting up a fully wheelchair accessible woodshop in my attached and over-sized 3-car garage. Naturally, having been a contractor, I had lots of power tools, and figured that I would be primarily using power tools in my woodworking.

Well it's been almost exactly 6 years since I started my shop, and what I discovered is that the more I work, the more I have come to rely on hand tools. You are right about there being something "Zen", as you put it, or more accurately "uniquely satisfying" about using hand tools. I now have a pretty decent sized collection of hand planes, including 19th century wooden planes, vintage Stanley's, plus modern LV and LN planes. I've also found that many times a handsaw can be quicker, more efficient, and effective than a tablesaw or bandsaw. Chisels are indispensable. Whether for paring, fitting, or chopping, chisels are far far more important than I imagined when I was getting started.

Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely use power tools. I have a tablesaw with a 50" fence, bandsaw, SCMS, router table, belt/disk combo sander, drill press, mortiser, and planer. Not to mention a traditional workbench that I inherited from my father-in-law, a secondary bench against one wall that also acts as the extension for the SCMS, and a large Craftman tool chest. I'd have a jointer and possibly a drum sander as well, but for some strange reason my wife insists on wanting to be able to park inside. I know, weird right?

As others have stated, just look at some of the truly incredible furniture that was built long before the advent of electric power. I don't know about you, but I am unable to adjust my tablesaw to take off .001" at a pass. However, I can easily do that with either my vintage Stanley #4 or my brand new Lee Valley Bevel-Up Smoother. The latter on even squirrely grained figured woods. There are many cuts that I can make with a good handsaw in a matter of a minute or so that might might take me 10 times that to cut on the tablesaw, or even longer if I would need to make a special jig. Yes, I find a router table to be an indispensable tool, However, you are limited to the bits that you have available. And what bits you have available is directly effected by the size of your wallet. Conversely, there is no limit to the designs you would be capable of creating with a half-set of hollows & rounds. Of course that half-set will set you back a few bucks as well, but it's a once & done thing whereas router bits keep on coming every time you need something new. Not to mention that they don't make bits for every shape imaginable, while with a combination of planes you can make pretty much anything you can think up.

I strongly encourage you to get the book "Hybrid Woodworking" by The Wood Whisperer, Marc Spagnuolo. In it he discusses the blending of both worlds to take advantage of the best of each. Use your power tools for the grunt work; breaking down material on the tablesaw, a drill press makes quick work of a whole series of identical holes at a given depth & spacing, thickness your lumber to a given dimension on the planer, etc... Then fine tune your components, cut your dovetails, and remove all the machine marks by hand.

[Art Mann]

Parts within really narrow parameters. And hand tools can match and even best the precision quite often, it's just never necessary for the things most people would use hand tools to build. A cnc is marvelous for spitting out a stack of plywood constructions, but it's utterly useless for turning a pile of rough lumber into a highboy. And beside, if it could, it would no doubt be copying the design of someone who built it with hand tools, which tells the whole story.

Sorry, but I am a CNC router user and you are not very knowledgeable about the capabilities of CNC machines. If you were to buy a fine quality highboy at an upscale furniture store, the finely sculptured wooden pieces would almost certainly have been carved using a multi axis CNC machine. It just isn't financially feasible to hire craftsmen to spend weeks or months carving such a piece. Individuals can obviously do just as well (see my first post) but only in a custom build one off environment.

[john zulu]

I mainly started as a hand tool wood worker. That was when my projects was solid wood. Not MDF or plywood. My current projects are right now plywood..... I won't say that it is impossible to work with plywood with a handplane but the
speed is too slow. I am very familiar using hand tools with plywood but decided against it since it is too time consuming. Modern day material is not that friendly with hand tools.

There are some joinery that was difficult with power tools. Check on japanese joinery. It really depends on the amount of effort you want to use your tool which is power or handtools.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Yes - flippant. That was in response to the validity of the question and the comments about the 'Zen like' nature of hand tool woodworking. Derek nailed the best answer. To me, tools are tools and having both power tools and hand tools provides the best of both worlds. I do think the question should be asked in the power tool forum where I contend you will get a completely different set of responses.

I agree I am not sure what is meant by "zen." I enjoy working with hand tools, but I am pretty sure I was not feeling a whole lot of inner peace when I was ripping some 16/4 stock by hand over the weekend. Logic suggests two feet of 16/4 stock is no different than 8 feet of 4/4 stock (which I have done a number of times), but it somehow did not feel that way by the time I was done!

And I agree the real question ought to be whether you find it rewarding, whether you are using power or not.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

I had never heard of either of those tools before. It looks like a hand cranked table saw. Does anyone have one? Is that basically what it is?

[george wilson]

Try these with power tools. I cannot saw so delicately with a scroll saw. I'd invariably break the thin elements. Nor have I any method of inlaying the silver wire in the neck of the guitar.

The lute rose was hand carved. The flowers are individually hand carved.

The lion's head could not be carved isuch detail with any power tool or CNC machine I know of. And,I also do machinist work.

[Brian Holcombe]

If you are working to realize personal ability, as a craftsman, I think that understanding and utilizing hand tools is one of the most important steps toward getting there. That is ultimately why I decided I needed to work entirely with hand tools. As a hobbyist, if I go into the shop, setup a machine and make cuts then I am not improving my personal ability. If I layout and cut with hand tools and work through fit ups and layout transfers then I am building a personal foundation for complicated and advanced work that I ultimately want to do.

I want to work with the confidence and ability of a sashimono-shi.

[Stew Hagerty]

OK... I just have to post these:

They are 3 of the magnificent works of the German cabinet maker David Roentgen (1743-1807). Not only are they works of art, but that are also mechanical marvels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKikHxKeodA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC5Hqk7wl7U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPyREzrBekg

And this really should need no introduction to any woodworker. It is, of course, the amazing tool chest of the Massachusetts piano maker Henry O. Studley (1838-1925).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-e-SGZ5-0w

[Mike Henderson]

I think most of us are hybrid woodworkers. I don't want to do stock preparation by hand - it's physically hard and takes a lot of time. It's real grunt work. So I use a jointer, planer and table saw to prepare the stock.

But a lot of the finer work I do by hand.

Mike