Hand Tool Books?

[Zachary Bulacan]

Hi all I want to know more about going neander. What good books are out there on hand tools both western and Japanese? There use as well as tuning.

Thanks

[harry strasil]

The Complete Woodworker - Edited by Bernard E. Jones - ISBN: 0-89815-022-1
The Practical Woodworker - " " " " " - ISBN: 0-89815-106-6
Audels, 4 Vol. set of Carpenters and Builders Guides, an old set from the early 1900's

The above are my bibles, especially the first two.

Japanese tools I have no interest in. To me they are the power tools you buy at the borgs etc, but China is wupping up on them in that market.

[Robert Rozaieski]

Anything by Roy Underhill.

[Wilbur Pan]

These are the books on hand tools that got me started. Both of them are from the "New Best of Fine Woodworking" series:

• Selecting and Using Hand Tools
• Working with Handplanes

For Japanese tools, these books by Toshio Odate are very good:

• Japanese Woodworking Tools: Their Tradition, Spirit, and Use
• Making Shoji

The first book is more a survey of the types of Japanese tools out there. The second book has a lot of information on how they are used, even though the primary goal is to show how to build a Shoji.

In addition, the two workbench books by Scott Landis and Christopher Schwarz deal not only with the workbench, which you'll need for your hand tools, but also how hand tools are used on the workbench. For Japanese tools, Scott Landis' book has a very good chapter on the Japanese workbench.

It's good to keep an open mind in terms of learning. Even though I mainly use Japanese tools, I have learned much from reading about their western counterparts. I would think that if you are interested in using western hand tools, the same would apply.

[John Erhardt]

Hi all I want to know more about going neander. What good books are out there on hand tools both western and Japanese? There use as well as tuning.

Thanks

Hi Zachary:

This isn't a book, but I've found it a great resource for hand tool use:

http://www.cianperez.com/Wood/WoodDo...DEX_How_To.htm

Also, free.

Hope that helps,

J

[Michael Fross]

My favorites:

The Handplane Book - Garrett Hack
Traditional Woodworking Hand tools - Graham Blackburn
Hand Tools - Aldren Watson
Classic Hand Tools - Garrett Hack
The Complete Guide to Sharpening - Lenard Lee

I guess I've really yet to find a bad one, although there is a lot of overlap between the books.

Michael

[Brent Smith]

Hi Zachary,

There are more indepth books, but two good ones to start with for western (and some info on Japanese) are;

http://www.amazon.com/David-Charlesw...9521506&sr=1-2 or any of his books for that matter.

http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Tool-Esse...9521589&sr=1-2

Two to look at for Japanese tools;

http://www.amazon.com/Care-Use-Japan...9521706&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Woodw...9521706&sr=1-1

[Don Pierson]

David Charlesworth books and his DVDs are really excellent!

[Johnny Kleso]

I am happy to say I am friends with David Charlesworth and love reading his books.. I think it is because of him I love hand tools so much..

I'll ask him to sign in here and ask him to recommend his pick for best hand tool book..

[Tom Wiarda]

Make a Chair from a Tree: An Introduction to Working Green Wood by John D. Alexander, Jr.

Finding this book inspired me to start working green wood with hand tools. So for I have completed 3 chairs.

[Zachary Bulacan]

WOW everyone thank you so much for all the info I have the handplanes book and it is really good thankfully lots of pictures I will check out those books and buy some and the website is chock full o stuff! I am getting some cash soon (i hope) so will be looking at getting most of my needed handtools LV and LMI are going to be seeing some $$$$ Thanks!

[Johnny Kleso]

I have a lot of info on hand planes on my site too
www.rexmill.com

If you buy at Amazon they have some awesome deals on used books.. All I have ordered have looked brand new and about 1/2 price..

[Danny Thompson]

Try "Hand Tool Essentials" from Popular Woodworking, which includes articles from David Charlesworth, Chris Schwartz, Adam Cherubini, and many others. Covers planing, buying, restoration, sharpening/honing, and use. Less about history.

[Joe Cunningham]

David Charlesworth books and his DVDs are really excellent!

+1. I found his DVDs to be excellent and I think I get more out of DVDs than books. Something about seeing the technique through the entire motion rather than still photos or line drawings.

Everyone learns different, so maybe try a single book and a single dvd/video.

[Narayan Nayar]

Zachary,

I think anyone on this board is happy to rattle off the neander classics, but perhaps you can tell us a little more about yourself and how much experience you have working wood already so our recommendations are a bit more focused. Are you currently a power woodworker looking to "go neander" (as you put it) or are you looking to come into woodworking through handtool work?

I ask because while both approaches may bring you to the same destination, I do think that they require different curriculum, at least at first. Power tool woodworking has a skillset which is primarily focused on using machines, as the machines mediate the interface with wood. For me, at least, hand tool woodworking is largely about learning about wood, as the hand tools used to work wood are very much contingent upon the woodworker knowing how that wood will be worked best.

The usual disclaimers--I'm not trying to be pedantic nor am I saying that power tool woodworkers don't know anything about wood. What I'm saying is that I think your first few books might be different if you're coming to this from power tool woodworking than if you're a blank slate. What I'm also saying is that if you're coming from power tool woodworking, I'll assume you have a shop in which you can work wood, and "going neander" might just involve slowly bringing over one task at a time from the power tool world (e.g. this time I'll plane instead of sand, next time I'll cut that mortise and tenon by hand, etc.). It's a great way to learn how to work wood by hand and maintain a sense of accomplishment.

That said, we know that minimally you'll need to know how to cut and dimension wood, how to create joinery, how to prepare wood for finishing, and how to sharpen the tools you use. For these things I have to say, take advantage of the fact that we're in the 21st century. There are fantastic DVDs which show you in ways that books cannot how things are done and what they look like when done. The books and magazines will bring a depth to that knowledge later--teach you fundamental principles, method, etc.

DVDs I recommend:

• Coarse, Medium, Fine (Chris Schwarz)
• Rough to Ready (Rob Cosman)
• Building Furniture with Planes (Schwarz)
• Hand Tool Techniques (Charlesworth) -- there are 4 of these: sharpening, planing, shooting, and chisels.

Watching these several times will give you a variety of perspectives on what working with hand tools looks like and sounds like (the auditory component of hand tool woodworking is often overlooked), and Schwarz's videos will give you an excellent idea of how a piece comes together with handtools.

Anyway, my $.02. There are myriad books which follow this list, but I think that unless you're really "going neander" and pulling your house from the electrical grid, DVDs are a really, really fantastic way to come into the craft.