Hi Everyone,
I am planning to make a small shop in my basement when I move (1 month) to make a couple of pieces of furniture. TV table, coffee table, hall table, outdoor bench… bookshelf and other. In aproximatively this order. I am looking to have a handtool (except drill) shop. What are the most important tools to be able to make furniture? What are you’re favorite handtools?
Thanks
CLaude
Replies
In order of use (sort of):
Sharpening stone of the type you prefer (I use diamond stones - others prefer water)
Rulers, marking gauges, squares
Bench with vice(s) and hold-downs
Bowsaw for cutting to length & shaping (i. e., a manual bandsaw)
Scrub plane, jack plane for sizing and truing
Long plane for jointing (how long depends on the size of your work)
Tennon saw, Carcass saw & dovetail saw
Chisels & mallet
Block plane
Shoulder plane
Smoothing plane
Cabinet scrapers
Do you consider sandpaper a tool?
A few nice files/rasps
A sharp knife (for marking, whittling, cleanup, etc.)
About 10,000 clamps of various sizes/designs
Misc. ordinary tools such as hammer, pliers, wrenches, screwdrivers, brushes, etc.
I also find a pocket hole jig useful, since you'll have a drill. <G>
I'm sure I forgot something. But that's just an excuse to think of more tools to buy later!
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Moleculaire,
Workbench
Planes....#7,#5,#4..hand scraper
Crosscut saw
chisles....1/4,3/8,1/2
clamps
6,12" combination square
sharpening stones
glue
pencil
As soon as your version of hand tool use excludes power saws you pass a bright line. Not many people have actual experience building furniture without power saws. So step one, rethink everything you think you know about woodworking and 99% of what you have read.
Step two is to learn to saw by hand and build saw horses that will actually work for sawing. Workbenches and planes are nice, but most of your stock prep and all of your joinery will be done with saws. So its right to concentrate on them.
I'd start with a very coarse, long western rip saw. You can find really good saws very inexpensively at flea markets. You may need to learn to sharpen saws yourself. Next, you'll need a cross cut saw. I like a 20" long "tool box" or panel saw. You can do a lot with those two saws. Based on your list of things to make, you'll be cutting a lot of mortise and tenon joints. I like to have two backsaws for that; a 14-16" backsaw filed cross cut and a saw that no longer exists, an 18" backsaw filed rip. A bow saw is an excellent substitute for this saw. You can make one yourself pretty easily.
Next you'll need a long plane to straighten rough sawn edges. Choose the longest plane you can get. You don't absolutely have to have a work bench for this. But once you know how to saw to a line accurately, building a workbench will be no problem.
You'll need other things like chisels right away, but my advice is to start with saws and recognize that very very few woodworkers have actually done what you are attempting.
Adam
When I first moved to my house, I only had room for a very small shop in a corner of my basement. I had no room for large staionary machines, nor the dust and chip collectors they require. By necessity, I bought and learned to maintain and use handtools. One of the best books I found on the subject was this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393322769/sr=8-1/qid=1143506240/ref=sr_1_1/103-9538402-2688630?%5Fencoding=UTF8
Mr. Watson provides plenty of really good no nonsense information, instruction, and advice.
I also found that for the money, older tools - like pre WW2 - are far superior than most of what you can find today. Disston and Atkin saws; buck, witherby, swan, pexto etc. chisels; old stanley planes (SW vintage from the 20's-30's is a personal favorite); etc.
One new tool I used an awful lot was a Nobex miter saw.
I also found my bench and block planes to be invaluable.
The 5 or 7 point disston rip saws are a revelation if to that point you've only ever tried to rip a plank with a cross cut saw.
Sharp chisels are also a revelation.
Where I found that this set-up was somewhat limiting was in stock preparation. Buying rough lumber was not something I did often as milling it by hand was a very strenuous and time consuming exercise. I tended to work with available finished stock thicknesses (e.g., lots of nominal 3/4 stuff).
I also was not fanatical about not using power tools. Over time, I bought several small tools, like a jig saw, a circular saw, a router, a bench top drill press, and yes, even a benchtop table saw I could haul out onto my deck on sunny days.
A few years back I added an addition and now have a roughly 500 sq. foot room to work in. I've added all the standard power tools, and don't regret one. The lunch box planer is very very handy for thicknessing stock; the jointer for truing it. The bandsaw for resawing, the table saw for ripping, and SCMS for crosscutting etc.
I love hand tools, and you can make anything using them alone, but the power tools have their place too, especially for taking care of the rough milling work that the apprentices tended to in the olden days.
Hope some of this helps.
Just to bounce off of what Samson said, there's no indication that apprentices were used for stock preparation. There are ways around "thicknessing" stock- its rarely required. And as I'm sure Samson would agree, a well tuned hand saw can cut very very quickly. Some of my saws can cut as much as 1" per stroke, some considerably more. Sawing IS strenuous, but its quick work and there are several benefits of NOT having stationary tools.I'm not particularly disagreeing with Samson (except for the part about apprentices), but I want you to hear both sides. I've only ever used a table saw once and a bandsaw the same night. I wasn't particularly impressed with either. You can do what you want to do with hand tools and you can do it very quickly. It just takes a few different approaches and skills, but its surprising how useful and flexible those skills can be. Adam
"there's no indication that apprentices were used for stock preparation."
Uh, I haven't done any historical research on the subject, but I do possess a bit of common sense and have been in the work-a-day world for long enough to know that crap rolls down hill and it's the lowest people on the totom pole that tend to be given the lower skill - dirtier, and sweatier jobs. I have been an apprentice piepfitter and an apprentice laborer in my life, and I have absolutely no doubt that the journeymen cabinet makers didn't spend a lot of time pitsawing logs or sceub planing planks. It's just not the way of the world, not to mention, it's an inefficient use of skill resources.
"There are ways around "thicknessing" stock- its rarely required."
Every log has to be cut into boards. Often the boards you have on hand are not the thickness you need for a given project. To make them the right thickness, you have to either resaw them or plane them or both. It's something woodworkers must routinely do unles they have unlimited supplies of wood already sawed to all possible thicknesses.
"And as I'm sure Samson would agree, a well tuned hand saw can cut very very quickly. Some of my saws can cut as much as 1" per stroke, some considerably more."
Hand saws are not particularly slow, depending upon what you are doing. Adam, how fast could you, working alone, resaw an roughly 8/4 thick 10" wide plank 6 feet long into two 4/4 thick 10" x 6' boards? I bet my bandsaw could do it faster and give a better result, John Henry.
"I've only ever used a table saw once and a bandsaw the same night. I wasn't particularly impressed with either."
I don't think that really gives you enough experience to judge, quite frankly. These tools can do a multitude of things very well and very efficiently. It's not that there are not other means to the same ends, it's just these these two tools can be very very efficient means to those ends.
HI everyone,Thanks for all the response. I won't be in any rush once I start woodworking, and good exercice is a plus! We are suppolsed to do 1/2 to 1 hour exercice per /day. No I don't plan on getting an electric saw int he next few years. I know electric tool have a place in a woodworking environnement but, I don't plan on using them (except drill) for the near future.I was thinking on getting japenese pull saw, one dozuki for fine cuts and one rip/crosscut japenese saw. They have a thinner blade and are easier to control, because when pulling we are not forcing the blade to pass where we want... Chisels, scraper, set of 4 chisels. Burnisher for a scrapper, and stone and honing guide. Low angle block plane (this I am not certain), a drill guide and a pocket hole guide. I'll be building a workbench using 2x4 for a base and a woodcore door for the top.I was wondering how does one make dadoes by hand?
Thanks everyone.
Why are you going electric for the drilling? Eggbeater and bit and brace type hand drills work very well.
As for dados, there are several planes that can cut dados. They can also be made with a backsaw and chisel. That said, an electric router is fantastic for making accurate and smooth bottomed dados quickly and easily.
Hi Samson, I already have a drill, to get an egg beather I would spend more money..... I seriously considered it. It's a maybe for now. I'll check in a couple of months... or if I fry my drill. HAs for dadoes I was wondering, it's farther in the future (bookshelfs), but I have been reading a lot of article on FWW and I was trying to demystify how to make a lot of these basic joinery with hand tools... Friday I am getting tage frid woodworking book.Thanks for the responsesThis discussion is very interestingClaude
Claude,
For your book shelves -- depending on your design -- you might want to take a look at sliding dovetails instead of dados for the shelves. Even though it is a bit more work to build them, the advantage is that you get a mechanical locking joint on each end of each shelf that will strengthen and stabilize your book shelf.
On the early book shelves I built, I used dados for the shelves. They always were less stable than I wanted and racked a fair amount (lots more than I wanted them to....). Recent book shelves all have sliding dovetails on the shelves; they are rock solid, with almost zero rack.
Just a thought for you to consider, when it comes time to design and build your book shelves.
James
Hi,
you can make or buy second hand a router plane that will clean up the bottom of a dado ver easily. Just look at ebay or some of the other on-line sellers for a picture. Get an iron from StJames Bay if you choose a hag's toth design.
Handraulic drill presses from the past are also around and will help keep your holes in the right direction. What's more, they are often really beautiful pieces of industrial art (I want one)
I like Japanese saws. Their one huge advantage is that they are good to use without a workbench. You can hold stuff with your feet, don't need horses etc.
But I've not seen folks quickly rip 2" off an 8' oak board with them. I don't find them efficient at that, but it could be my saws or technique. I'm sure there are Japanese craftsmen who can do such things. I'd like to see their saws and work supports and posture before I commit to sawing that way. Don't assume that because their blades are thin they'll be easier to use or more accurate. That's just Japan Woodworker's advertising. Dig a little deeper and look into Tashiro Odate's books first. Keep in mind that because the western saw industry is dead, their is no advocate for Western style, though http://www.vintagesaws.com comes close.
Also, I don't know anyone who rips western style and cuts joints with pull saws. People I know who saw by hand (I can count them on one hand) tend to stick to one way or the other. Either you push your tools or you pull your tools. Few do both.
That said, I recommend the zeta saws. They are cheap and you can make your own handles if you want. Nothing lost by trying. But be prepared to abandon them when you need to rip that oak board. I did.
Adam
I use a wooden dado plane to cut dadoes. There is a different plane for each different width dado. These planes work fast and leave beautiful dadoes.
You can cut dades with a back saw and a chisel. But this is fairly difficult to do well. A router plane is helpful to get the bottom flat.
Using the dado plane I can cut a really long* dado in a matter of minutes. The other way is harder and takes long.
Adam
*I usually put the two carcass sides together and cut the dadoes through both pieces in one pass. So if you are doing a 12" deep bookshelf, you've got a 2' long dado. A 2' dado is tougher to saw than a 1' dado, so that's another reason why the planes are nice.
Adam,
Do you have any way of posting a photo of the dado plane? I'm curious what it looks like. Where could a person find one? Do you think it would be possible to make one if they are too hard to find?
Forgive me for butting in, but you can readily see several if you just go to ebay and search "dado plane". Metal versions can be found on Pat Leach's site http://www.supertool.com in the Stanley "Blood and Gore" section.
thanks, i didn't think of that.dave
"work-a-day world for long enough to know that crap rolls down hill"
I hear where you're going. There's lot to be said for common sense. But the data I've seen suggests otherwise. Apprentices probably did get crap work- like coffin making or hat box making. But there's never been any indication that 18th c or early 19th c apprentices were responsible for stock prep."Every log has to be cut into boards."
True, but there's no indication that this work was ever done in a cabinetshop and lots of evidence to the contrary. This is specialty work done with specialty tools that look nothing like tools for making furniture. Nothing has really changed in this regard, except that our modern power tools are approaching the capability to do this sort of work. Maybe we assume that capability has always existed. It has not.Here's the point:
If we go back and really look at how people made stuff with hand tools alone, we can learn stuff that will help us today. Likewise, our modern sensibilities don't work well with hand tools. The lesson I can offer is that hand saws were important and expensive then and furniture was made quickly to exacting standards. I understand that this runs counter to popular beliefs. That's why I said earlier that its important to throw out a lot of our own preconceived notions. Adam
P.S. Samson- Its funny you mention about resawing- I've actually done the resaw you were talling about (and live to tell the tale) and I know exactly how long it took me! I resawed several 4/4 x12"x 4' pine boards (I wanted 3/8" stock). I have to think beause of the 11" width and narrow thickness this wouldn't be easy for most bandsaws. As you say correctly, I don't have the experience to judge. Anyway, it took 20 minutes per boar, which doesn't sound that bad now. But sawing like this is akin to running, physically. I can run for an hour. After that, I'm done!For the projects Claude wants to do, he's going to have that saw in his hand for 5 minutes at a time. Ripping 4/4 or 5/4 stock is pretty easy. If he has to rip up 8/4 for leg material it will be harder, but he'll only need 4 legs.
You've steeped yourself in learning the old ways, and I repect that. You clearly have insights you've gained from trying these things yourself for a good while now. But ... I can't get my mind around why a master cabinet maker making a dresser for example, wouldn't tell his apprentices to make him a stack of half inch drawer side and back stock, or three eight foot sections of molding, etc. Why do it yourself, when you could be cutting excellent joinery or carving intricate shells etc.?
As for milling, I guess it comes down to what you are thinking of when you are imagining furniture makers and their apprentices. You imagine a cabinet shop. I guess, in my imagination, I thought of folks like the Shakers who I'd always understood to mill as well. I also thought cabinet shops did plenty of resawing type work that comes close to milling as far as sweat and toil, like cutting veneer sheets? But my point was not so much initial milling of logs, as it was the need to resaw and or plane to thickness routinely - even in cabinet shops. Are you suggesting that cabinet shops did not do these things? Did they not have to four square stock and surface plane rough milled planks into useable boards for furniture?
I agree completely that there is alot to be learned from understanding the old ways as well as possible.
" I have to think beause of the 11" width and narrow thickness this wouldn't be easy for most bandsaws."
My 14" bandsaw ( a rather standard home woodworker size) with a riser block has a 12" resaw capacity. Thickness is no issue at all. Indeed, many folks cut veneer on their bandsaws. I resaw a 4' softwood plank very quickly (a couple of minutes at most), and hardwood not much slower.
"For the projects Claude wants to do, he's going to have that saw in his hand for 5 minutes at a time. Ripping 4/4 or 5/4 stock is pretty easy. If he has to rip up 8/4 for leg material it will be harder, but he'll only need 4 legs."
I agree. Been there, done that, got the till full of saws to prove it. It's fun and satisfying. The hardest part for me as newbie, was learning to clean up the saw cut with a jointer plane such that everything was square and the desired size.
Technically, I'm supposed to be giving the standard academic answers "it depends" and "it varied". The very best furniture centers of the 18th century, London and Philadelphia, produced furniture made with nicely prepared boards. There may be many reasons for this including the complexity of the guts which required a good reference face. But by all accounts this furniture is the exception. Turn over the finest RI Goddard work and you'll see rough sawn surfaces, sometimes hastily prepared with a few swipes from a fore plane. So to answer the question: No, 4-squaring and thicknessing stock was not standard operating procedure.English craftshops used 1/2" drawer sides on chests of drawers. They are often oak as well. Lumber was expensive in England in those days. This was probably a cost cutting move like the use of veneers. In America, drawer sides remained 3/4 or so. Its not uncommon to see split roof shingles used in shaker and early american furniture drawer construction (especially bottoms).In my experience the effort of resawing exponentially increases with the width of the stock. So resawing a 6" wide pine drawer side is one thing. Resawing 12" is something else.Some craftshops did prepare their own veneer. It appeaars they had special saws for this and often employed two people. Veneer usage in early america was pretty restrained. Not a lot was needed and it was typically decorative. By the time veneers covered every inch of a piece, I would expect to see an industrry or a machine that prepared veneers (The French had such a machine in the 18th c).So here's the thing- the basic physics of hand sawing are such that if you stay in the 18th c box, ripping 4/4-8/4 lumber, and sawing joints you'll be fine. The work that just seems outrageously slow was outrageously and unacceptably slow then and not done (done some other way).Everybody else has some cutesy quote at their names. Here's mine:"Just because you're dead now, doesn't mean you were stupid when you were alive."Adam
P.S. I'll tell you guys all about my night in a modern shop another time. Its a good story.
I get the feeling that this separation of activity was not limited to stock prep.
As I understand the folklore, a chair might be made by a chairmaker, carver by a carver, sent to the polisher and then to the upholsterer. In a modern shop (we need so few chairs of this quality in todays market) All might be done by the same maker.
Dave
There's no question regarding the cooperation of tradesmen within the barter economy of 18th century america. We have good information outlining these relationships. The relationships within the shop are much less knowable. I caution anyone comparing their personal life experiences with those members of the 18th c. They were very different people with a world that ran differently. We often fall into the trap of assuming they were like us, only to find ourselves incredulous over the decisions and choices they made.
Ignoring my advice (!), here's an analogy that represents my theory about the workings of colonial shops: Colonial craftsmen were like modern auto mechanics.
If your car is damaged in an accident, you send it to "the shop". But the work may really be done in several shops, as the tradesmen "sub-out" work to specialists. You may never meet those people, and will likely only pay one (big) bill. Those individual tradesmen are working together on a single project. It was like that in the 18th c, where carvers and cabinetmakers and upholders worked together. This we know.
But within any of those craftshops, the level of cooperation is much less clear. The modern perception ("tailed apprentices") is that the inexperienced mechanics loosened the bolts for experienced mechanics, who then ceremoniously could remove the brake caliper, each sending their work down the assembly line to the next...
So stop right there. This is industrial revolution thinking, where many unskilled people, each performing a menial task, can build an aircraft or automobile. This wasn't know in the 18th c. The cooperation discussed earlier may have been the beginnings, but this was cooperation between skilled specialists.
In the Plumely inventory, everybody in the shop seemed to have the same set of tools. Why would you possibly supply tools for servants if they spent their day fetching? Clearly the implication is that everyone did essentially the same job. And this fits in with what we see in automotive shops today. The younger guys get easier, straight forward jobs (like brakes). Trickier jobs or fussier customers go to more experienced folks. But all the workers turn wrenches (or air ratchets!).
Unlike modern educations, the 18th c apprentice paid for his education with free labor. He wasn't just putting in his time. The sooner he was up to speed, working as an unpaid journeyman, the more money the master could make from him. The labor of an apprentice wasn't billed at a lower rate. So it was in the master's interests to get that boy working, billing customers, not helping him plane his stock.
So in terms of attitudes (pre-industrial craftshop v. industrial revolution assembly line), documentation (the well stocked Plumley inventory) and incentive (free skilled labor), I think its reasonable to suggest that each woodworker rough planed his own stock.
The point of all this is two-fold:
1) If they could do it (stock prep) quickly and easily, so can you.
2) It never took 7 years to learn basic woodworking. You should be able to become proficient with basic skills in months, not years. And with a little instruction and good tools, you can be pretty competent in a few years time, even part time.
Adam
Edited 4/12/2006 3:44 pm ET by AdamCherubini
Adam,
No arguments from me, although my rationale for going this route might be a bit different, not only dont I really like the noise, but the cost just gets me down. I have reached the stage where most new tools I buy might make things easier, but they are mainly "wants" not needs. As a hobbyist it is necessary to recognise that there are very few "needs".
There is noe issue with power vs hand that rarely gets a mention, but was the topic of some conversation last year.
Exposed joinery has often been the mark of a confident maker. Some of the modern styles include joins that are really only efficient with a power tool (eg a through tennon with rounded ends - the hand tool variant would be square ends, equally valid but not the same 'style')
It seems that a maker might collect tools around the style they intend to build. Aside from the basics, many of the older styles seem terribly difficult with power tools.
David.
I would agree that not all dimensioning was done in the cabinet shops, but think that it would be needed on occasion. Fully dimensioned stock was available to the craftsman from lumber dealers who, no doubt, had their own grunts to do the hard work. It may have needed fine tuning, but it was probably close to what was needed.Resawing 4/4 x 11" x 4' isn't very hard on a decently tuned bandsaw. My bandsaw isn't a very expensive one and while I haven't needed to resaw 11" wide pine, I have resawn 8" white oak, <1/8" thick. It didn't take much time, either. You said you weren't impressed by the table saw you used. I'm not sure why, but the possibility exists that it needed tuning up or maybe a sharper blade. My saw gives me a smoother edge than my jointer and if I need it smoother still, I'll use my hand planes. I have no doubt that I'll use nothing but handtools for some projects, but there's no way I'll hand saw a whole pile of lumber when I can do it a lot faster and cleaner with my table saw.Still, working by hand is very satisfying.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Correct! I was a helper(in the 50's) then promoted to handyman in the Bethlem steel shipyards coppersmith shop. Talk about the dung falling down hill. The shop master was an old German from the north who belived that all helpers should have a broom or a rag in their hand at all times. We lugged and prepared all stock for the first class mechanics at every turn.
Adam, If you think in your academic revelations that any first class mechanic would have to prep rough stock, you need to get a job that puts hard skin on your hands. It WILL CHANGE YOUR PERCEPTIONS. Pat.
Ps. I did make 3rd class coppersmith and had my own helper.
Pss. Later made a BS. Management and worked as an Industrial Engineer.
Folks have mentioned handscrapers - I think I'd add the Stanley No. 80 scraper to a minimalist handtool set. If I had to pare everything down to a "Desert Island" minimalist set of hand tools, I'd have to go pretty deep before I'd throw away the No. 80. Consider it the "tearout fixer" and "planing mark fixer" for your bench planes and the "sandpaper saver" for finishing. You also need a mill file, some kind of stone, and the shank of a screwdriver to get the hook on the blade right.
Edited 3/27/2006 11:36 pm by EdHarrison
Claude,
Here are some recommendations for a beginning hand tool set. (This is copied from a reply post -- my text -- to a similar question, so I don't forget anything.) Some of this duplicates what others have recommended.
Hand planes: low angle adjustable-mouth block plane (probably the single most useful and versatile plane of them all); a #4 or a #4-1/2, a #5 or a #5-1/2, and a #7 or a #8 for bench planes; (a scrub plane, if you're going to do your woodworking exclusively with hand tools, otherwise it's more or less optional -- get a "real" scrub plane here; it works much better than a converted bench/smoothing plane.); a shoulder plane is also very handy. My recommendation would be either old (pre-WWII) Stanleys (be prepared to do some fettling with the older tools) or new Lie-Nielsens (a bit on the expensive side); others will suggest the LV/Veritas planes or Clifton (moderate $$ to expensive); special-purpose planes can be added, as required. If you prefer wooden planes, ECE, Knight, and Clark & Williams -- to mention just a couple of modern wooden plane makers -- make very nice ones, but they are not inexpensive. Old (antique) wooden planes are not my area of expertise, so I'll have to defer to someone else to advise you on them.
Chisels: a good set of bench chisels (you'll get lots of recommendations from others here; I like the Japanese chisels sold by Woodcraft, but there are many, many other good chisels out there), and a good mallet.
Saws: A good rip and cross cut saw; a good tenon and dovetail saw. Take a look at the Japanese saws, as well as the western-style ones. I use both styles.
Layout tools: a good straight edge; a good marking gauge (I like the TiteMark); a marking knife; a bevel gauge; an accurate try square and a high-quality combination square (you could go with one or the other at the beginning -- the combination square is more versatile).
Drilling tools: a good "egg-beater" hand drill (get an old Miller's Falls or old Stanley, etc); a good brace (again, get an old Miller's Falls or old Stanley, etc); a standard set of brad-point bits; perhaps a 32/quarters set of auger bits for the brace.
Books: try these sites for books that you may find useful or interesting (you've already seen some of these recommendations):
http://www.astragalpress.com/
http://www.cambiumbooks.com/
http://www.woodworkerslibrary.com/
http://www.blackburnbooks.com/
And, of course: amazon.
Misc tools: a sharpening system (oil, water, or diamond stones); a couple of rasps and files (Nicholson #49 or #50, for example; Arious are very nice, but BIG $$$); some hand screws and bar/pipe clamps big enough to fit your work (you'll never have enough clamps...); a flat and a round sole spokeshave; a good, solid work bench (buy or make yourself -- there are several threads discussing the virtues and disadvantages of either course of action).
While it's by no means an all-inclusive list, there's not a lot that you can't do with a tool set similar to that listed above, and it's not too terribly expensive to set yourself up with, especially if you buy good quality older tools off that (in)famous auction site or from some of the old tool dealers. And, hand tools (except for the bench) have the advantage of not taking up very much room, either in use or for storage.
One last thing: buy the best quality tools you can afford, so you only have to buy them once......
_____
On the drill: although you already have an electric drill, you can pick up a good WWII or earlier era egg-beater for $5 to $20 (US) at a used tool store or yard sale; a good same-era bit brace can be had for approximately the same cost or just a little more.
If you're gonna go Neander, ya might as well go all the way... ;-)
_____
Hope that this is of some use to you. Good luck in your tool hunt and setting up shop; you'll have lots of fun with this!!! Let us know how it progresses.
James
Tons of good advise here already, but I'l add a couple of points...
Most important tools I have aren't in my shop.. it's too dusty through there.. hard to beat building a good reference library for them "how on earth did they do that" bits...
One book that's particularly invaluable is Making Woodworking Aids & Devices by Robert Wearing... hundreds of things in there that ya didn't even know you'd need..
I don't recall anyone mentioning shooting boards... if you're going handraulic you'll find a need for these before too long... I use 3 (one can take inserts for shooting end-grain angles other than square).. a squaring board, long grain mitre board and an edge jointing board that also properly dimensions my stock.
While these things don't take long to build, it's essential that you're real fussy with their construction; that time will be repaid time after time in use... there's dozens of designs available online; pick the ones that best suit your needs and build them to last...
Mike Wallace
Stay safe....Have fun
Hi everyone,All of your aqdvice is great! I made about 20 list of tools i needed and to have a final one:Marking and measuring tools:
engineer square
ruler
mortice gauge
level,
combination square
protractor
knifePlanes
Low angle block plane (veritas, altough maybe i'll get an apron plane instead)
medium shoulder plane
Bench planes ( I have found 2 old stanley plane #5 and a #20 and grandparents houses)Saw
ryoba
small rip dozuki
coping sawSharpening:
stanley guide
glass plate and sandpaper for sharpeningOther:
chamfer guide
drill guide
chisels
files
bunch of clamps
booksThank you everyone for your helpfull advicesClaude
You wantum hand tool shop?
Get
Tweezers.
Santa Barbara,CA
Huh?
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