Help me spend $800-1000 on hand tools

[Chris Griggs]

Thanks, Chris. It would cost Jared a bit more for get the lathe and skew, I probably should have mentioned that. I was picturing a shaker sort of table for him. Maybe some tapers or tapering octogons. Then again, he could buy a rasp or carving chisels I suppose and make shapes to suit himself.

Indeed! Turning comes later. That's a whole other money pit! I really want to jump into that pit, but haven't had a chance yet. Plenty of stuff to buy and learn that will keep Jared busy in the meantime.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

If all the comments in this thread just obfuscate the subject for you, I'll be more than willing to help you spend 800 bucks on tools; let me know and I'll tell you were to send the check.

Oh, you wanted help spending money on tools for you? Sorry.

All the suggestions here are good. I second Andrew's suggestion for Tom Fidgen's book. I also thought Jim Tolpin's last book (the new traditional woodworker, or some along those lines) might also be something nice for someone in your shoes.

I've also seen the videos for the "Exercises in Woodworking", one with Chris Schwarz and one with Bob Lang, although I haven't seen the book. It's been a while, but I remember thinking they'd be good in your situation as well.

Depending on your level of comfort (do you have any experience with woodworking at all?) You may want to tackle a few lower-key projects first. I think one of my first entirely-by-hand projects was building a sawbench. That was a great start to skills building, and can be done with a saw, a knife, a chisel and maybe a plane. "Boarded" furniture can be another low key entry. These types of projects taught better how to handle a saw and a chisel, and a bit of planing, and the style of construction using nails and screws meant mistakes, while ugly, where still solid. Picking back up at the dovetailed and mortise and tenoned things I had left behind ended up being easier after having a few less fancy jobs like this under my belt. It was amazing how much learning to rip and crosscut properly (and this takes paying attention, and learning to get it spot on, paying attention to technique - not just rough-breaking down - especially as you learn, practice accuracy even where it doesn't matter) in large stock aided in my joinery cuts.

On the saw front, as much as I love western-style saws that cut on the push stroke, I've been really impressed with the quality of cut of my cheap Gyokucho pull saws. Much better than what you get at the hardware store here, but for almost the same price. I think being able to use both pull and push saws is a good skill to have, but one or two cheap pullsaws`of this caliber could serve you very well. I could probably get by doing 90 percent of my sawing with one of my pullsaws, even though I don't.

[Jared Walters]

Wow I wasn't expecting such excellent advice. This forum is great. I will consider vintage planes. Someone mentioned getting them at a reputable dealer, are there places which specialize in selling restored tools?


I will also look into the hand tool school. $15 a month isn't bad, it's way cheaper than the classes I found locally.


What vintage planes are your favorites? I suppose finding some on ebay to work on would give me practice in maintenance and sharpening (which I have gathered is critically important).

[Chris Griggs]

Wow I wasn't expecting such excellent advice. This forum is great. I will consider vintage planes. Someone mentioned getting them at a reputable dealer, are there places which specialize in selling restored tools?


I will also look into the hand tool school. $15 a month isn't bad, it's way cheaper than the classes I found locally.


What vintage planes are your favorites? I suppose finding some on ebay to work on would give me practice in maintenance and sharpening (which I have gathered is critically important).

Don't worry to much about brand. I guess my preference would be for Stanley or Miller Falls, but I have a pretty nice Sargent and I think the Union planes are generally regarded as pretty good as well. As far as sizes the most common "standard set" would be a 4, a 5, and a 7. That said 6s can make great jointers and a big ole no. 8 can be a joy as well. Depends on the size of your work.

Don't use ebay until you know what to look for.

Contact one or all three of these people. All of them are reputable and offer fair prices.

http://www.hyperkitten.com/contact.php

http://brasscityrecords.com/toolworks/new%20tools.html

http://www.sydnassloot.com/tools.htm

[Jim Foster]

One more reputable dealer in old tools;

http://www.supertool.com/forsale/janlist2013.html

Several #4's available. Leach tends to sell collectable brands I think, so he may be a little on the pricey side, but I think he knows enough and describes things accurately enough so that a buyer should not be surprised when opening a box from him.

[Zach Dillinger]

A final reputable dealer to buy from: Lee Richmond of The Best Things.

[Jim Matthews]

+1 on taking a class.

It's the best way to try things on for size.
Every time you grab a tool, make a tick mark to count it's frequency of use.

The things that get the most tick marks should be purchased first.

Do not buy power tools, really large or really small tools at first.
These should be added if, and only if, you cannot find a co-op to use the infrequently needed tools.

I have migrated to a hand tool shop, and don't need much in the way of dust collection other
than a dust pan and a fan in the window.

Jim Tolpin's "The New Traditional Woodworker" is a very reasonable approach to setting up shop.
There are some basic exercises to make some shop implements that get you familiar with the tools and their use.

[Charles McKinley]

The Schwartz actually recommends buying used tools from a reputable dealer. He advises against buying a pig in a poke on ebay for as much or more than you will spend with one of the good dealers listed above.

As I said earlier you have entered one of the best places on the planet for nice and knowledgable people.

On sharpening pick a system and stay with it until you can do it. A lot of it is muscle memory and you will waste money jumping from system to system until you develop that muscle memory.

Again welcome to the Creek and enjoy the experience.

[Joel Goodman]

In the plane department I would get one LN or LV plane -- a block plane (or low angle jack) so you get the feeling of how a proper plane works. Or find a creeker near you who can show you. It's hard to tune up old planes if you haven't go the feel of what you're aiming for.

[Hovey Moore]

I am going to go against the grain and suggest a new Stanley 26" shortcut as your first saw. No they aren't as nice as a vintage Diston, but other than a handle designed for torture, they work decently. A rasp/file/sandpaper fixes the handle and you don't have to learn how to sharpen a vintage saw before you can start your first project. They are induction hardened so you cant sharpen them so keep an eye out for a good user for later. Plus its nice to have a beater saw for things you don't want to use your good saws on later. For a second saw a Japanese style pull saw is the best bang for your buck to start with for joinery work.

Please buy a LN or LV plane just so you understand what a plane should work like. A LV apron plane is a great block plane for not a lot of money but you cant go wrong with any of their bench or block planes. Knowing what a plane should be like will save you a lot of frustration later.

EDIT: Avoid eBay!!!!!

[Jim Koepke]

Please buy a LN or LV plane just so you understand what a plane should work like. A LV apron plane is a great block plane for not a lot of money but you cant go wrong with any of their bench or block planes. Knowing what a plane should be like will save you a lot of frustration later.

EDIT: Avoid eBay!!!!!

You can go to a tool event, maybe a local woodworking supply store or woodworking show to see how a plane should work and feel. Another would be to connect with someone in your area. A few people have come to my shop to learn a bit about using planes and help setting up their planes. The great thing about that is they weren't the only ones to learn something during their visits.

Almost all of my planes came from ebay. Things have changed, but there are still some bargains to be had. One just has to know what they are looking at and how much they should be willing to pay. There are low lifes trying to push junk, learn to not fall for the junk.

Some of my best deals on ebay came when my goal was to purchase parts planes. Some of them are not my better users.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

I'm actually a beginner. For years now I have been interested in furniture making, and now I allocated some money to get started. I have crazy noise restriction, so I can only use hand tools. This is fine because its what really interests me anyway.

So what tools should I buy to get started with my $800-1000. I only want excellent quality tools, even if that means just buying a few at first and adding some more every couple paychecks.

From what I gathered I need some good measuring tools and good chisels. I know top quality planes are expensive, so is there any exceptionally versatile one I could buy that would be adequate as my only one? I already have a basic workbench, but no vise. Unfortunately that is all I have, so I need everything you can think of haha.

I look forward to advice from experienced woodworkers. Please be specific, I'm overwhelmed.

Hi Jared

I think that I will weigh in on this. You may not like my recommendation, however.

$800 is a lot more than I spent on handtools when starting out. However, over the course of the years I have spent a lot more than that! Frankly, you could go out and spend the lot and get a decent set of tools for the money, but most of us did not start out that way, and I believe it would not be in your best interests anyway. Instead, we began with one or two tools and added to them as we developed a need. This gave us the chance to learn to improvise, to understand what a tool was intended for and what it was capable of.

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

I'd say that for many of us the project came first, and then came the tools. Go and find a project that you find interesting. Keep it simple to start. A bench is good - use lap joints instead of mortice-and-tenons (that's what I did). Watch a few videos on building a bench (I wish I could have). Watch other videos on building with hand tools. Chris Schwarz has a good selection, as has Paul Sellers.

Buy a few tools - get a Stanley #5 and a couple of blades. Set up a sharpening area and practice getting your blades razor sharp. Buy 2 or 3 Narex chisels (1/4", 1/2", 3/4"). Then vintage 12" rip and 12" crosscut backsaws that are freshly sharpened. You can do a lot with these, and learn to appreciate the more expensive backsaws you will purchase later on. Look on eBay for a 12" Starrett combination square. This lot may set you back about $150 - $200. That is enough on tools when starting out.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Bobby O'Neal]

Hi Jared

I think that I will weigh in on this. You may not like my recommendation, however.

$800 is a lot more than I spent on handtools when starting out. However, over the course of the years I have spent a lot more than that! Frankly, you could go out and spend the lot and get a decent set of tools for the money, but most of us did not start out that way, and I believe it would not be in your best interests anyway. Instead, we began with one or two tools and added to them as we developed a need. This gave us the chance to learn to improvise, to understand what a tool was intended for and what it was capable of.

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

I'd say that for many of us the project came first, and then came the tools. Go and find a project that you find interesting. Keep it simple to start. A bench is good - use lap joints instead of mortice-and-tenons (that's what I did). Watch a few videos on building a bench (I wish I could have). Watch other videos on building with hand tools. Chris Schwarz has a good selection, as has Paul Sellers.

Buy a few tools - get a Stanley #5 and a couple of blades. Set up a sharpening area and practice getting your blades razor sharp. Buy 2 or 3 Narex chisels (1/4", 1/2", 3/4"). Then vintage 12" rip and 12" crosscut backsaws that are freshly sharpened. You can do a lot with these, and learn to appreciate the more expensive backsaws you will purchase later on. Look on eBay for a 12" Starrett combination square. This lot may set you back about $150 - $200. That is enough on tools when starting out.

Regards from Perth

Derek

+1. Agreed.

[Matthew Hills]

I live in Phoenix. I want to start with ...

Not sure how young you are; I'd be highly surprised if any woodworking club in your area wouldn't be thrilled to have young blood.

Look for other woodworkers in the area who might be open to showing you their hand tools or who have a shop full of power tools that can help with stock prep, leaving you to enjoy the joinery part at home. (even when paying a premium for S4S boards from local sources, I still had trouble finding boards that hadn't warped)

Can you share a photo of the workbench you have now?

Also, you might enjoy reading Paul Sellers' blog. He tends to advocate a few-frills, handtool-centric approach.

Some quick thoughts:
- combination waterstone (e.g., 1k/6k) is a good starting point
- modest-quality chisels are probably fine (usually less refined look and worse edge retention, but not inherently limiting at this point)
- japanese saws are fairly cheap, cut very well, and you can postpone the entire saw-sharpening rabbit-hole for a little while
- make your own mallet -- good practice
- vintage plane if you have a known good source or a local handtool guy who can help with setting it up; otherwise premium planes can help remove some uncertainty, but much more expensive.



Matt

[Hovey Moore]

I say avoid eBay until you know what to look for. But starting out you don't know what to look for and so are far more likely to get had then to find a good deal. Later once one has the experience to know the difference between a good tool and a bad one eBay does have its gems but a newbie is most likely going to waste money learning the hard way or give up because their tools don't work right and they don't have the skills/time/inclination get them working properly.

I said buy a LN/LV plane but should have added a good well turned user as another option. This is useful as a reference when trying to get other tools to work properly. Yes with time and experience or a good teacher this isn't needed. You should also notice I suggested a small block plane to keep costs down.