Stealing a good idea from Pat Barry here. I'm personally a mix of both, depending on the operation at hand.
Stealing a good idea from Pat Barry here. I'm personally a mix of both, depending on the operation at hand.
Last edited by Frederick Skelly; 07-04-2017 at 4:39 PM.
I use the right tool for the job. I don't get people who don't. In fact, I see people on YouTube who will literally apologize to their audience for daring to even touch a power tool. These people have problems.
I have a few hand tools, but Im mostly power tools.
If at first you don't succeed, redefine success!
I'm mostly a power tool guy but will use Neander when called for.
Please help support the Creek.
"It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone."
Andy Rooney
Though I own and regularly use a lot of hand tools my power tools produce most of the work. So I voted mostly power tools.
"Anything seems possible when you don't know what you're doing."
There are not that many power tools in my shop; bandsaw, drill press, lathe, hand sanders and DeWalt hand drill is about it.
I like listening to music while working and power tools tend to drown out the music.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
I'm a "hybrid" woodworker.... I use a combination of stationary and hand-held power tools. I do have one old rusty chisel, which I use to open packages of new power tools or power tool accessories...
As a progressive I'm embarrassed to say, I'm into ---POWER.
If I had a sig it would be "Everything I know about tools. I learned from Tim Taylor"
---
However, I had to cut corners (45 degree) on some very thin (3/8th wide, 1/8th thick) maple strips recently and used a Stanley #246 classic mitre saw I got for $5 at a garage sale to do it. Power tools just splintered the wood - so it's horses for courses for me but I'm mosty on longer, cruder, courses where power works.
About 70% hand tool, and the rest a few power tools.....quite forgotten what a "Tablesaw" even looks like......
Most always hand tools unless it is something I have to do or just plain lazy like resawing. Even then it depends on the size of the work.
Jim
I fully agree with Brian. I use the right tool for the job. There is no ideology here. Doing a job the best way is what counts and that is not even the same way each time necessarily. If you are stuck on one way, it's time to open your mind and experience a fuller life. Cheers
Same here. Some jobs are so much easier with had tools. Some are easier with power tools. Some with portable cordless vs corded.
Sometimes the right tool for the job is whatever the guy I've hired to do the job is using.
Two good reasons I can see for absolute power tool abstinence: 1) when none are available, 2) when there is no power.
JKJ
I think I used a chisel once .. can't remember what I used it for. The distribution of answers was pretty predictable.
My preference is using large, heavy stationary power tools if that is suitable for the work being done. A large stationary machine is generally going to be more solid, quieter, have better dust collection, faster, and yield more consistent results in my hands than a portable or jobsite power tool, a handheld power tool, or a nonpowered hand tool. I also prefer corded to cordless unless the cord is really a hassle or there is no power. For example, a drill press is going to be much more accurate and quiet than using a handheld corded drill. A handheld corded drill of the same size as a cordless unit is going to be more powerful, sometimes considerably so, and be faster in drilling larger holes as a result. A cordless drill is going to be much faster to drill holes than using a hand-cranked drill, although the hand tool in this case IS quieter. But using a cordless drill-driver is just the ticket if you are say, up in a ladder at a jobsite driving screws to put in a downspout.