Any favorite underrated tools/makers?

[Matt Lau]

Dear fellow Neanderpeople,

I was pestering Stan again (poor guy) about what tools he recommends.
He'd shipped me some recommended chisels from a smith that I'd never heard of that blew me away.
It made me really realize that there's some hidden gems amidst the dross.


Do you guys have some favorite underrated/unknown tool/makers?


Here are a few of mine:
1. Best carving knife-- Del Stubbs at pinewood forge.
These take a great edge, fit well in the hand, and have graceful proportions. They are also inexpensive. While I've bought more expensive blades from fancier makers, a lot of them don't really *carve* as a lifestyle. Del's knives were nice enough to make my italian guitar building teacher/maestro to tears in a really good way.

2. Best rasp-- Udo Pechar.
I've tried the Auriou rasps and like them. I haven't tried Lioger or Gramercy rasps, but expect that they're as good as the Auriou. I've tried the "dragon rasps" from Stew mac, and also the red handled iwasaki milled files/floats.

The Pechar rasps blow them away.

Udo Pechar is largely unknown in the luthier community (for now, I'll be spreading his name to Ervin's apprentices), but he is *very* highly regarded in the violin making community. He was trained as a dental lab tech in Germany, before switching to making high quality surgical bone rasps and high quality hand struck wood working rasps. He only uses stainless steel, and all his rasps are autoclavable (something that I appreciate as a dentist)
His rasps are notable for being extremely versatile and precise. You can maintain the line of a carving or a neck like using a razor on butter. There is almost negligible chatter. His grain 7 (finest) can be almost as aggressive as my shinto saw rasp, but can leave a burnishable almost 80 grit finish even on nasty, figured karellian birch.
I have a flat rasp (grain 5 and 7) that acts like a float on steroids).

3. Mujingfang palm smoother set
These really excel in "scraper" mode for adjusting the soles of wooden bodied planed.
The steel is tough HSS that outshines A2 for times when you really need to abuse a blade at a nasty angle.
You can drop these off a workbench (or off a roof) all day long, and not suffer major damage.


I'd love to hear yours!

-Matt

ps. Giddy off rosewood dust. I finally had over 2 days off work in a row for the first time in a year!
Fulfilled 3 longstanding promised projects that've been languishing for over a year!

[Chris Fournier]

Frost laminated steel knives. Hold a keen edge and are very inexpensive. I use them for carving guitar necks and other such projects.
Collins Tools spring mitre clamps. Not cheap but brilliant to use. I have made several dozen picture frames using these, flawless.

As an aside, I have eaten a fair bit of rosewood dust over the years and aside from mild nasal congestion I have suffered no serious side effects. I do know several other woodworkers however who have developed serious wood dust sensitivities and I mean debilitating! Be careful. And so: 3M dust masks, not sexy but under rated!

[Kees Heiden]

Can it be vintage stuff too?

Because I live in The Netherlands it is hard to avoid Nooitgedagt stuff. It's literally everywhere. They started somewhere around the 1870's and quit about 1985 or so. The last couple of decennia they were among the largest chisel manufacturers, but I'm not talking about this modern stuff. The older ones with laminated blades are really very good. I have a mixed set of Berg and Nooitgedagt bevel edge chisels and they are about equal. Get sharp very easilly and have good edge retention. Likewise the laminated plane irons, very good stuff, doesn't need to hide themselves among the well praised English brands.

[Lasse Hilbrandt]

Kees. I never heard about Nooitgedagt before. They made laminated chisels ? I love laminated edge tools. Not even Berg chisels were laminated. Where can you buy Nooitgedagt laminatet chisels. ?

[Matt Lau]

I thought the Berg and Nooitgedagt were considered very highly regarded chisels?

I've not been super impressed with my (limited exposure) to British steel.

[Jim Koepke]

One of the tools in my accumulation that is becoming more appreciated is the simple gimlet.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

In my opinion, modern Nooitgedacht were low end chisels (more firmer than bevel edge), and Berg about the same as vintage Stanley #750, both of these decent steel. I've had sets of all these chisels, and sold the Nooitgedacht and Berg. I happy with the #750s.

Interestingly, the Nooitgedacht and the Berg had very similar handles. An old photo (Nooitgedacht on the left, Berg on the right) ...



Kees, I would exclude vintage tools here if Matt's thoughts were along the lines of "what new/available excellent tools are available for less than excellent money?".

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Kees Heiden]

Well, Matt didn't exclude vintage stuff explicitly, and I don't have much experience with new tools. But of course, the older, very well made Nooitgedagt tools are not easy to find outside of Holland. The picture above I would say are pretty modern ones. That chisel handle shape is a very common continental European model.

[Chris Hachet]

I would say the basic vintage Stanley Baily bevel down smoothing planes. They will perform astonishingly well when sharp. Was plaining curly cherry and curly maple this weekend, no troubles at all....plus they are lighter and more nimble IMHO than the modern replacements. The thread said under rated, not unknown, so I think this is fair.

[Mike Holbrook]

Blum Tool Company- makes under appreciated hand planes, portable and carpenter's torsion workbenches, sharpening devices, clamps, mallets & holdfasts.

WoodJoy Tools- Glenn makes wonderful custom tools for very reasonable prices and is a great resource. Glenn makes great "chair making" tools: some of the best spokeshaves, excellent bowsaws, drawknives, scorps, scratch/beading tools, layout tools...

Vesper Tools- makes some of the best quality best thought out layout/marking tools on the planet. These tools are not cheap but you can't beat the quality or serviceability.

Country Workshops/Drew Langsner- Drew is the real deal and imports a wide range of tools hand made by individual tool makers in Sweden. He also offers shavehorses, plans and great classes.

Then there are our own posting tool making/restorers here at SMC: Steve Voigt makes very nice planes, Ron Bontz makes fantastic saws, Mike Allen gives old hand saws new life.....there are many others.

[Chris Hachet]

Blum Tool Company- makes under appreciated hand planes, portable and carpenter's torsion workbenches, sharpening devices, clamps, mallets & holdfasts.

WoodJoy Tools- Glenn makes wonderful custom tools for very reasonable prices and is a great resource. Glenn makes great "chair making" tools: some of the best spokeshaves, excellent bowsaws, drawknives, scorps, scratch/beading tools, layout tools...

Vesper Tools- makes some of the best quality best thought out layout/marking tools on the planet. These tools are not cheap but you can't beat the quality or serviceability.

Country Workshops/Drew Langsner- Drew is the real deal and imports a wide range of tools hand made by individual tool makers in Sweden. He also offers shavehorses, plans and great classes.

Then there are our own posting tool making/restorers here at SMC: Steve Voigt makes very nice planes, Ron Bontz makes fantastic saws, Mike Allen gives old hand saws new life.....there are many others.

I have three of Ron's saws, they perform fantastic! Want one of Steve's planes, but this will have to wait for next eyar. I plan on getting some of the wood joy tools, as I am ramping up to build some chairs.

[lowell holmes]

I have three of Ron's saws, they perform fantastic! Want one of Steve's planes, but this will have to wait for next eyar. I plan on getting some of the wood joy tools, as I am ramping up to build some chairs.

Remember when ordering one of Steve's planes was one of Steve Knights planes. I have three Steve Knight planes.

[Mike Holbrook]

Lowell,
As do I. I have kits from Steve Knight and a couple planes Steve built which I bought from another SMC member. They still work quite well too.

[Paul Saffold]

Kestrel tools. They make knives, adze, hook knives or you can just buy the blades. Their website has directions for adding your own handle. A small company on Puget Sound catering to the north American native wood sculptures. I bought one of their adz blades and am very happy with it. http://www.kestreltool.com

[Luke Dupont]

One of the tools in my accumulation that is becoming more appreciated is the simple gimlet.

jtk

I agree! I bought the Robert Larson set of four gimlets, and I absolutely love them. Better than the egg-beater type hand drills, and extremely small and convenient; always within arm's reach. I have them hanging on a hook in my tool-tote.

The only thing I don't like about the Robert Larson set is that there are no "standard sizes"; ie, 1/8", for example. Everything is about 1/16th under/off sized. I guess that makes sense, but the truth is, I usually need those standard sizes, and buy my hardware to fit. Maybe I'll find a more complete set at some point.