Whatever is the fastest....... power wins most of the time. Hands tools does have its place often times.
Member
Whatever is the fastest....... power wins most of the time. Hands tools does have its place often times.
Contributor
Great idea to make a poll here Frederick! I'm a complete mixture of hand and power tools. I suppose I might be migrating more to hand tools for joinery, but for basic ripping, cross-cutting etc it is table saw, possibly miter saw or bandsaw for me. I also have a planer for surfacing and thicknessing. Got no interest in making life more difficult when I have nice tools of convenience that can do the job far more accurately that a hand tool could do (in my hands anyway LOL).
Contributor
I like using hand tools but my body does not. My hands and wrists have arthritis and I have worn out my wrist joints. Thankfully, my wrists were repaired but now avoid strain and impact on them. So, while I use hand tools, I predominantly use power tools.
Member
I own a table saw, band saw and a drill press. They get me close to where I need to be. My hand tools get me where I need to be.
Eric
I use both. I'm not on a campaign for the exclusive use of either. I wouldn't feel the need to apologize for using either but, people are free to approach the craft in the way they choose.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
Member
I use both in my work. I like to use hand tools, but a bad back hinders sometimes, so I use power tools as well. Until I need it, the table saw stays covered with leftovers and tools that need to be put away. From some of the pictures on SMC you use it the same way. Same with a drill press table. Hummmm, Let's face it I've got stuff stuck everywhere including the ceiling.
You never get the answer if you don't ask the question.
Joe
Member
Originally Posted by rudy de haas
So you've figured out how to use a Chevy big block V-8 to power your thickness planer?
Contributor
I responded "Mostly Hand Tools." For me it's two things: (1) I don't have room for a bunch of power tools, and (2) I enjoy using hand tools. There is no bravado. I see some sites for hand tools with warnings at the top (I'm not kidding here) "This is a hand tool only site- mentioning power tools will result in your being banned." Wow- really? I think there are extremes to everything. The same I would say if someone had a power tool only site with hand tools being forbidden.
For me, I can joint a board fairly quick with hand tools and I love the workout I get. That said, planing and matching thickness is much easier for me with a thickness planer. I usually joint by hand and run it through a thickness planer, then final finish by hand. I do this even for 13' long by 18" wide boards, except I rip them to 12" width first. Oh, and absolutely I use a power saw for ripping. I'm not so much of a purist that I am going to build a pit and use a pit saw to dimension large timbers. I'll gladly kill some electrons for that.
I hate sanding, and I almost 100% scrape now. I love chopping mortises, but I have my limits, so for mortices I usually drill out the waste first- but not for small mortices. Whacking a mortise chisel is therapeutic. Even if I drill out, I always chop the first bit by hand so that I can easily see where I am going to be drilling and also because I just like doing it. I love planing by hand, and I love the finish I get from planing followed by scraping. Shop cleanup is 50% by broom, and 50% by vacuum- simply because sometimes a broom is actually quicker. I say all this to say I use hand tools, and I use them more than power tools, but I'm not a purist. I have done entire projects start to finish by hand only, but that was for the challenge and enjoyment of playing with hand tools. I will one day have a shop big enough for an array of power tools, and I will probably get a Felder or similar multi-use tool.
Member
It depends on the project and/or the task.
For me, milling stock by hand wold be to simply prove a point. Its way too much work and time for me. That being said, almost every top I do is flattened by hand because I like the look and feel.
But I can't imagine building cabinets with hand tools.
And I can't imagine telling people I carved something if I used a CNC.
Contributor
80/20 here, meaning 80% power tools for the heavy lifting, 20% hand tools for refining and details.
It seems like the 20% hand tool part is often what makes the project special, and sometimes more satisfying.
Last edited by Edwin Santos; 07-06-2017 at 12:53 PM.
Member
That's the observation I made early on. There's a point where hand tool work goes from being an interest into being a religion. I'd never go to such a site, even if I was a primarily hand tool user, just because I have no interest in being around fanatics.
[OP]
Contributor
Just a bump to bring this poll to the top again...
Contributor
As a wood butcher, I prefer power tools but will use a hand tool every once in a while. I really tried to incorporate the Neander into the workshop, but after planes sitting in boxes for years, I sold them.
Contributor
Keeping planes in their boxes seems to be a self fulfilling prophesy. They need to be ready to hand, I think, so they are easy to use.
"Anything seems possible when you don't know what you're doing."
Member
I would add that you need to sharpen them once finished with them, so that they are ready to go when you need them; otherwise, they will be too much trouble to use.
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