What Handtool would you never give up?
mikkimel
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
Subject line is my question.
What non-powered hand tool will they have to pry from your cold dead hands?
Replies
since I got two hands, I would hold any of my handplanes in them. Probably my LN block plane and the Low angle smooth plane.
Hard to pick just one since they are designed to work together in sequence. My favorites are my homemade frame saws, homemade planes, swedish bench chisels and carving chisels.
With this grouping you can make a bunch of nice stuff and not use any electricity.
Wayne
I'd hold onto my #7 Stanley.....hit phillip over the head with the #7 and take his LN's..lol...
While it is not one of the tools that I am passionate about, if I had to give them all up but one, I would probably keep one of those scredrivers that has all of the bits in the handle, even though I really hate those things.
petemoss, i hate those things to.
I've gotten several as gifts, and the bits end up everywhere.
Just give me a set of regular screwdrivers.
I love me LV Low angle smoothing plane. And my Sorby Mortising chisels. It's to hard to choose just one.
my 6" scale.....and my 4" machinist square
Darkworks: Its all 'bout da squilla
I'll agree I'm not too crazy about the screwdrivers with all the loose bits in a hollow handle. But, I've got several Crescent screwdrivers. The type that you pull the shank out and flip it over, and each end has a bit that flips over. It's 4 screwdrivers and 3 nutdrivers in one little package. All the bits snap in so they don't get lost easily. Love those things. Beats carrying 3 or 4 screwdrivers in a tool belt.
As far as hand tools I'd hate to give up, my axe, sledgehammer, and wedges. Love to go out and split firewood once in awhile. Good exercise, and just the thing when I'm about to explode at one of the kids.
My seven year old nephew gave me one of those things. I thought that was kinda cool but never thought I'de use it. (didn't tell him that of course). Think I've found myself using it about a million times!
My Bridge City Toolworks TS-1 square, the first decent tool I ever purchased. It was the first tool that began to make what I build the product of someone who has some clue.
Kell
I'll go with the generic tools... Hammer, crosscut saw, a square, any tape-measure over 12 ft in length, a bench plane, a knife and a rasp. A brace and set of bits to complete the set. A chalk-line, file and sharpening stone would be handy too. Remember, Duncan Phyfe and all those 'good old furniture makers' did not have LN planes and look at the beautiful stuff they turned out.
SawdustSteve
A hammer.
As a highschool woodworking teacher's aide, the tools are my foolish leatherman, a 4" combo square and my Makita reversible drill/driver thing.
Not electric! Thats tough! Does a rechargable screw gun count, its not electric most of the time, guess not.
I'll go with a 16lb. framing hammer.
Enjoy, Roy
My wooden mallets. More fun than a (wooden) barrel of monkeys (i can't really say much about being quieter).
my record block plane. the first real hand tool i ever bought. it's held up to many years of hard use (now being abused by children at the school where i teach) and i once cut a continuous shaving 1 1/4 inches by 40 feet with it.
it showed me what good tool scould do
Can I just keep my hand tools and my band saw and get rid of a lot of dead weight cast iron power tools?
I like Tooldoc's approach, just just just my 3 tool boxes, full, OK! Oh, and my 10 drawer chest, please!
Enjoy, Roy
ROY: sorry cant help it I earn a living working with my hands & Tools..
Lufkin 6ft folding rules, Disston D26 handsaws, Klein pliers,craftsman wrenches & screwdrivers,Channelock pliers, Stanley framing square,Stanley 60 series chisels,Stanley 601/2 block plane..
My 1 3/4" socket firmer with a 2" oak handle (the whole thing is 12" long). It'll take a razor edge but I can beat it with a rock into a knot, drop it onto a cement floor, still use it to square up a replacement window, chop out a half lap in pressure treated 6x6, lift up a 500# entertainment center for shims, pry a stud wall to plumb, chop a mortise in a log, shave chamfers, pare a Paralam for a pocket, square a tenon shoulder and still throw it 20' into a tree. Thank you grandad...
My first block plane..a cheapo Stanley. Absolutely love it.
Hand Tool?????
What's that?????
Rob Kress
...My hands actually...that's where it all starts....almost lost a finger years ago, .....kept it ,thankful, cheers,Phil.If it is to be.... 'twil be done by me.
My Lee valley 12 inch hook rule that my old eyes can actually read because it's only graduated in nice clear 1/16 ths!
My pocket knife. it seems to be the one tool that I always carry with me and I'm pretty sure I've used on every project I've ever made. It's an old imperial with a carbon steel blade that holds an edge like no other knife I've owned. I picked it up at a rummage sale about ten years ago for a dollar.
Rule of thumb; Always finish the job with the same number of fingers you started with.
Would it be cheating to say - my (full) tool tote?
You guys are cheating...wish I'd though of it...
I'd pick my LN low-angle block plane and my 6" Lee Valley rule.
lp
A $35 Sandvik handsaw (all black, Teflon coated) I bought at the old Home Quarters stores. I've ripped with it, of course crosscut with it, resawn stock with it, cut dado joints with it, cut rebates with it, and even cut tenons with it (large ones, for doors). I even cut the piss out of my thumb with it.
With a can-do attitude, this saw can perform the function of several thousand dollars worth of power equipment.
mikkimel
Sandvik scrapers...
sarge..jt
My #5 Jack, it'll smooth & trim about anything.
My military issue "demo knife", always on my belt, cuts wire with a nonsparking blade, flat driver, can opener and awl. Apart from that, my Estwing 22 oz. frame hammer, is more often than not what I reach for first in my box.
mikkimel,
I think my choice of 'dead man's tool' would have to be my anabike ryoba noko giri- that is my Japanese combination rip and crosscut saw. Second choices would be my homemade lathe tools but they are fairly useless without a powered lathe as you did specify non-powered hand tools.
sawick
Hi, am somewhat familiar with a ryoba noko giri, but not with the "anabike" part. Is it differant in some way? Thanks, Brian
Brian,
I think that "anabiki" translates from the Japanese to mean the special method of sharpening and shaping of the teeth of a ryoba. I seem to vaguely remember that anabiki means 'mouse ears' (roughly translated of course) which does kind of describe the shape and set of the teeth of the saw.
sawick
I'll be the third person that says the pocketknife is the tool I wouldnt give up. You can carve something, surface it , make a hole in it ......its just got so many uses. You can cut a fishing rod, gut the fish you catch, carve out a plate to put it on, carve a spoon to eat it with and make a toothpick to clean your teeth after the meal!
Shane
Well, I think everyone is cheating here, and I'd do it too. don't want to give up any of my hand tools, but the ones I reach for most often is one of my Two Cherries chisels.Alan & Lynette Mikkelsen, Mountain View Farm, est. 1934, Gardens & Fine Woodworking, St. Ignatius, MT
Carried a pocket knife for about 50 years - couldn't live without it. But I fly a lot and with security as it is now the knife in my pocket is a thing of the past. I wonder how many others have lost this habit.
Interesting. Thanks.
It's a tough choice. I have a very nice 1950s era Disston D-23 panel saw that I use quite a bit for odd jobs. All the books will tell you that panel saws are barbaric and crude and that bowsaws, backsaws and Japanese saws are more accurate and refined, but I still find myself using it a lot. I like it so well that I learned how to sharpen crosscut profile with it. I have all the other handtools -planes, saws, chisels, drills, braces, marking and layout tools, etc., - but this is the very bedrock of my tools. You cannot buy a panel handsaw with this kind of quality today - try it - you can't.
A cabinet scraper - the most under-rated hand tool in the shop!
My L-N rosewood handled dovetail saw. Would just hang it over the mantle at my new digs like it was a John Daly over under.
Pencil and paper. That is the beginning of all my projects.
My old Stanley low angle block plane and my Starrett comb square.
WELLLL...... since you can't make wood work with just one tool, I'm gonna go with a pencil. Yes a pencil. With it i could draw the perfect cabinets, make a picture perfect deck, and draw all of those cherished tools i had to give up .
Teaspoon
my hands? Without them everything else would be pretty useless.
Aside from my hands, I'd be pretty reluctant to give up my pencil.
Credit card, lots of uses even a scraper for a while.
I have serval very old hand plans that were my great grand farther
If it were only one tool, it would be a single headed axe. A bit surprising since I no longer even own one, but in a pinch it could cut, split, shave, hammer, pry, turn a screw, and even serve as a formidable weapon.
Jeff
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