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Well, you can do a lot with a little. However, some times it is nice to have specialized tools for 'details'. Kind of like my lathe tools. Some times the specialized tools make the job easier. Depends on how much money you want to spend.... And, there is no limit to how much you can spend.
robo hippy
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The eggbeaters....Each seem to have a different range of either Speed, or how big, or small a bit used..one even has a way to shift gears.
Braces.....IF you need torque to spin a larger bit...a bigger "sweep" size will do...if you need speed ( like spinning a counter-sink bit) the smallest braces will have more speed.
Each of the jack planes is set up a hair different, in terms of camber...from none up to 8" radius camber...
Block planes? Yep, always find a need for one....standard angle...low angle...depends on the job.
Maybe a size of try square is too big, or too small for a job. Bevel gauges..again, according to the size of the job. Along the back edge of my bench, there is a rack to hold most of my selection of chisels.
Handsaws? I do have a few...and will make use of them as the need arises...
The shop is a Hybrid Shop in a small basement...that also shares space with the Laundry Room, the furnace for the house, and the hotwater heater...along with a 10' x 10' storage space...when I am sitting down on the Shop Stool, doing Joinery work....the Washer also serves as a backrest. Cramped? Maybe, I still make things work.
Usually, the doors for the tool cabinet and the other tils are closed....I open them to get out a tool I need, then close the doors...
Tool Chest Tour, close the doors.JPG
same with the "Specialty" planes, and the Plane Til..
Tool Chest Tour, Box lots.JPG
Eggbeaters...Been using one to drill pilot holes for the small hinges I use.....Have another that will handle up to 3/8" bits...but can't crank down tight enough for the 1/16" bits..
There is a 10" sweep brace I keep handy for a Stearns adjustable round tenon cutter...
There is a set of Irwin Expansive bits in the Tool Cabinet.....that I will use with either the 12" Samson brace, or, the 14" Stanley brace...as I needed to drill a hole for the front deck's Umbrella's post, through treated 2 x 8 railings....had more control than trying to use a hole saw.
Do NOT set 2 block planes together in a drawer.....because the next time you look into that drawer ....6 block planes will be staring back at you....
Tool Chest Tour, Lower Left Corner.JPG
Yeah...worse than Mice....
Tool Chest Tour, Lower left door details.JPG
Just hanging around...
A Planer? I'm the Planer, and this is what I use
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Warren is the man.Originally Posted by Michael Bulatowicz
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I am not a great woodworker, but I am a heavily hand tool one these days. What I have noticed as the more hand tool only work I've done, the simpler I prefer my tools. This is my entire plane collection, minus a couple block planes, a couple routers, and a shoulder plane. You can see my entire chisel collection as well. Most of the time I could get by with three of those chisels. Add a handful of hand saws, and that's my entire working tool set pretty much.
~mike
happy in my mud hut
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As others have said, Warren is a gold mine. Forums like this aren't a busy as they once were but there is good advice to be found.
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Very interesting and thought provoking thread.
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Some purchase tools because we are at an estate sale and things have ridiculously low prices that we just can't refuse. (that's my story and I'm sticking to it)Joel, some purchase tools when they need them. Some in anticipation of a need. Some just because the tool(s) are beautiful and art.
Of course, when getting down to business and getting it done four different size smoothers or three different size jack planes aren't going to make for a better job or bring as much advantage as the burden of all the time they take acquiring and keeping up to top performance.You don’t need a block plane or a shooting board plane or a#62 plane. What you need are about four bench planes.
I am a long time professional hand tool woodworker; I have only ever owned five bench planes.
Though I do prefer a Low Angle Block Plane when working end grain. It is easier to push through the cut and leaves a smoother surface. Warren is right, it isn't absolutely necessary for use on a shooting board. Almost any bench plane will do the job.
My ulterior motives are my children and eight grandchildren. Some of them have expressed interest in woodworking. There should be enough tools to go around for any of them who are truly interested.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
[OP]
Contributor
Very useful input and thank you to all that have given me advice. In my case, I purchased 2 Holtey planes at the equivalent of an estate sale. I am a member of a machinery forum where a member who provided many wonderful contributions over the years unfortunately passed away. He and his wife had visited Karl Holtey on a couple of occasions and his wife was hoping his planes would find a good home. I discovered a couple of weeks ago that she posted in November on the forum that they were for sale for $2000 or best offer. I figured they would be gone, but it would not hurt to reach out. She said a couple of people were interested and no one purchased them, and she offered them to me at a price so low, I was shocked. For those of you who do not know, these planes sell for over $8,000 USD each new, and are in short supply. I am really not sure when I should use one vs the other vs my #4 or #62, and so I better learn more about them and about sharpening to be deserving to be the owner. It is one of my motivations to sign up for the Garrett Hack workshop and reorganize my shop to make a good space for them and additional hand tools.
I think what I will do in my shop reorganization is to allocate wall space near the bench to 6-8 planes at MOST, and for any planes with infrequent use like the Veritas hinge plane, they will go in a drawer. That is similar to what I see Garrett Hack does according to a shop tour video in Fine Woodworking.
2.jpeg982s side.jpg982s top.jpg
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Those planes demonstrate exquisite workmanship, but I have to wonder at the omission of a chipbreaker.
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Looking at that flake board would drive my eyes crazy! I would take it all down and paint the wall a very pale blue, then put it back up.
You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!
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I believe the thickness of the iron addresses that issue. I've heard a number of people comment that the chipbreaker is a cost savings measure to avoid a thicker iron.
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No. That is what is said by those who do not understand the function of the chipbreaker. The cost of a chipbreaker is more than a thicker iron.
Single iron planes rely on either a tight mouth and very fine shavings, or a high cutting angle to control tearout. It is not as effective as a closed up chipbreaker.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Last edited by Derek Cohen; 01-29-2023 at 10:39 AM.
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Good advice here. I'll add that I wouldn't think about the number of planes. It's not whether you have 3 or 7 or 14 or 700, it's if you have what you need to do what you want (and if that's collect, then the sky's the limit). Honestly it sounds like you've got a great setup already. Maybe add a jointer, and some joinery planes if you want to move in the hand tool direction. It really depends on how much you want to compliment vs replace the machines.
The standard jack-jointer-smoother is truly all you need for bench planes. I have duplicates of the smoother and jointer and never use them. I like having a block plane to use one-handed. I have a rabbet and plough, they're super useful when their applications come up, but it's much less frequent than the bench planes. If you're a wiz with a router table and dado stack you may not need those joinery planes until you want to explore that area of hand tool working. A router plane is useful. And that's about it. A shoulder is nice sometimes, but you can definitely never own one and not really miss out.
Same goes for chisels, saws, measuring and marking tools, etc. You only need a few. You can end up with a lot.
An effective sharpening setup is absolutely foundational for hand tools. A good workbench is, too. If yours is light, moves, racks easily, etc., you may want to address that. Dull edges and the wrong type of bench make hand tools a chore to use.
The English Woodworker has a good explanation of the minimum viable set of hand tools to do most work. It's obviously nice to go beyond that, but it's good to have a baseline. I'm not a Schwarz acolyte like some, but recently on the Lost Art Press blog I believe both Chris and Meghan did a ten year (or whatever) update of what they keep in their tool chests, which is a good glimpse into what people who do make stuff (and mix in machines) actually use. The Anarchist's Tool Chest can also give you a good conceptual grounding of the range of things that can make up a full compliment of hand tools, though some of the specifics on the list are kinda funky and/or rarely used.
Hope that helps! Enjoy the Holteys
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This is an excellent idea: Garrett is an excellent teacher. I had the good fortune to attend a weekend hand tool class he gave years ago and it was a revelation. Here is a picture of his shop: he is a professional and his tool arsenal looks pretty modest to me (compared to some amateur shops I have seen).
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Go and read along some of my build along stories here....and see just what I use during any project. You will soon find out, I vary the tools used according to the size of the job...
The same tool set might do a small Keepsake Box....but..not when building a large Chest of Drawers. Where a 5-1/4 might work as a Jointer on one project...other ones would require the Stanley No. 8c to be brought and used. The same with chisels....what will work for box joint work by hand....may not always work when chopping a mortise. The other night, I needed a 1" wide chisel to pare a half lap joint...and the 6mm one just would not do.
Yes, there IS a lot of hand tools in my shop..and they do get used....but....The Dungeon Woodshop is a Hybrid style shop...where I will use the best tool for a task, regardless of whether it is a hand tool or a power tool.....
Yes, it does use eggbeater drills...it does use a brace drill...it does use a corded drill..and it does indeed use Cordless drills....all according to the task being done.
My Mitersaw? Is the "cordless" Stanley No. 358 Mitre Box that uses a Disston No.4 Mitre saw...5" x 28".....both are older than half the people on this site....yet still works well enough, I don't seem to ever use a chuting board jig..not needed. Learn to saw better. Merely takes a wee bit of Practizing....
So...how many here will sit down on a shop stool, while working at their bench? At least for doing most joinery tasks?
The most important tool in the shop.....is PLENTY of light....doesn't matter whether it is by candle light, up to the latest LED banks of lights....being able to SEE what you are doing matters.
Some might say "..I have been doing this for X amount of years!"....fine....I have been doing this sort of stuff since the mid 1960s......
Have often been accused of working too fast...yes, it happens. Thing is, when I go to the shop, I have a set plan of Tasks that NEED to be done during that "work session". No messing, just get the tasks done....focus is always on the task at hand. Task might take 15 minutes..might take 3 hours....then I can stop and think about the next Task. Sometimes..I might even put away the tools used in the last Task...before bringing out any tools needed for the next.
Yeah....go back and read a few of my Build along Stories....
A Planer? I'm the Planer, and this is what I use
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