Turning from power tools to hand tools

[Bill Sutherland]

Thanks Derek. I do have a 14" Bandsaw and I think I would keep the drumsander. I also have a Kapex for crosscutting. I've heard the LN 62 is very good as a shooting plane and you can get a frog for it from LN. I have the LN 62 so I'd probably set it up for the shooting board. I'm hoping to be able to eliminate those power tools that can be replaced by a hand tool that willl give me a more enjoyable experience. As an example, I have a great router setup but I honestly don't find much satisfaction/enjoyment using it. I have the LN router plane and the times I've used it have really been satisfying and enjoyable. Same with the jointer and planer. Yes, they get the job done but when I compare the actual experience compared to the times I've used my planes and enjoyed them, I wonder why I use machines. I'm not producing anything to sell, nor am I needing any more furniture for me or anyone in the family. If I was a good enough woodworker to produce quality furniture, I'd probably hang on to everything. I guess at my age I'm looking for the most enjoyable experience.

[Matt Lau]

I'm one of the less experienced guys here, but here's my 2 cents:
1. Keep the sander. If you work really figured woods or are ever thinking of building a guitar/ukulele, it will make your life much easier. While you could get a really sharp blade and overcome with technique (look at Derek Cohen and his Aussie torture wood), sometimes it's easier to just chuck it in the sander.
2. Enjoy the journey! I feel both types of tools have their place.

[Brandon Speaks]

It would be a tough call for me to give up power tools, on the other hand I make more than boxes and time at work limits lime in the shop. For any given operation it comes down to what options do you have to do it, what is most efficient, what will give the best result, and what do you like doing.

For example today I plan to build and install two shop made vices in a bench and also make two saw benches (the Mike Siemsen design).

For the vices one operation will involve squaring some construction lumber (dont want the round over that it comes with). The good news is that I have lots of options to do this but the bad news is that I dont have a joiner

I can do a rip with a table saw, bandsaw, circular saw, or hand saw and clean up the surface with a disc sander or hand plane. Or just dimension it with either the disc sander or hand plane.

The sander is out because I dont want to deal with the dust in the garage, this time of year in MN is not conducive to opening the doors more than needed or running an air mover to clear the fine dust from the air. The circular saw is out because to cut it straight enough would require a guide and on a narrow bard that requires a jig. The hand saw is out because that sounds like a pain and with my skill on a longer rip cut I dont think it would save much time over just planing it out. The band saw is out because the TS will do better and because while during the summer my TS is usually tucked away to make room for the mower right now it is set up and would be slightly better for this operation.

So I will either rip with the TS and finish with the hand plane, or just plane it down. Either is reasonable because it is just a couple short boards and my decision will likely come down to if I feel like a lot or a little planing at the time. If I needed 20 if them instead of two I would curse myself for not having a joiner and use the TS and hand plane.

The saw bench will be all hand tool even though power might be easier in some cases but just because I want to do it that way.

So I guess I took a really round about way to say that more options is better than less and lets you work how you want to when you want to. All of that being said if you know your projects and how you like to work and selling power tools will fund the hand tools you need or want by all means go for it.

[Brian Holcombe]

Bill, have a look at my website, the majority of the projects I’ve made are near entirely by hand. I have some serious equipment now becuase I’m setting myself up for chair making with scale and a short lead time. However living without power tools is both enjoyable and a wonderful teacher. It has been invaluable to me.

www.brianholcombewoodworker.com

[lowell holmes]

Come on guys, a died in the wool woodworker must have one of each.

Actually, it's good to have hand tool and power tool skills. I do. I don't like ripping long boards with my Disston saws. I have seven of them.
I also have four backsaws including a 4"x20" rip saw made from a Bontz kit.
I also have a Jet bandsaw and a 10" Delta table saw with a carbide Forrest blade.

[Oskar Sedell]

Why did you buy seven rip saws if you don't like hand ripping?

[Bill Sutherland]

I’m almost done taking down a construction grade 2x10 left over from a deck structure rebuild. It came from Lowe’s and is Douglas Dir. I know one thing for sure. I won’t be using a handsaw. I’ve been using my Scrub and my old Sears to get close and then finishing up with my 62. I’ve had a lot of fun. Somehow I Planed the second board too thin at one end and have almost 1/4” to plane down. I made a mistake and didn’t put a scribe line around either board.

[Patrick Chase]

[QUOTE=Bill Sutherland;2765229I've heard the LN 62 is very good as a shooting plane and you can get a frog for it from LN.[/QUOTE]

Nit-picky, but... Like most bevel-up planes the L-N 62 doesn't have a frog. The iron rests directly on a machined surface that is integral to the body casting. Perhaps you're referring to the possibility of swapping in different-angled irons?

[Bill Sutherland]

Sorry about that. It’s the “Hot Dog” that you can get.
One thing I noticed when researching the 19-38 was that everyone who had one made the remark that they never knew how they got along without it. I find I feel the same way. I find I can take two boards that are almost perfect in dimensions and run them through a few times side by side and end up with identical dimensions. To me the 735 is like a scrub plane.

[Patrick Chase]

Sorry about that. It’s the “Hot Dog” that you can get.
One thing I noticed when researching the 19-38 was that everyone who had one made the remark that they never knew how they got along without it. I find I feel the same way. I find I can take two boards that are almost perfect in dimensions and run them through a few times side by side and end up with identical dimensions. To me the 735 is like a scrub plane.

Ah, but if you're hand-finishing then a "motorized scrub plane" to do the drudge work of thicknessing is exactly what you want. Final dimensioning is done by hand.

I acknowledge that a drum sander can get you closer dimensionally, but the surfaces they leave are so torn up (IMO, I'm well aware that this is a bit of a holy war) that you have to do significant remedial work regardless.

[Bill Sutherland]

I guess they’d be pretty torn up if you were using 80 grit but at the 120 I am using it was really pretty smooth. Didn’t take that many passes and if I had a smoothing plane I guess I’d take a pass with it.

[brian zawatsky]

Once you start finishing surfaces with a smoother - or even a card scraper for that matter - a 120 grit sanded surface will will seem like the surface of a cinder block.

[David Eisenhauer]

I realize that you like the drum sander and that it works well for you. But, you have stated that you like working with hand tools and want to move towards doing more hand tool work and will sell power equipment from your shop as you go that direction. The reason the drum sander has come into question by some in this thread is that it is not a machine that fits in comfortably with a hand tool approach as well as a planer does. Hand planning after bringing your stock close to final thickness with a planer is fairly standard for hybrid (combined machine/hand tool) woodworkers. As Brian Z said, the drum sander will not leave you a satisfactory finish after you get up to speed with hand planes whereas a planer can always be used. Again, it is your shop, your wood and your $, so take our answers to your question however you wish. Main thing is, have fun.

[Bill Sutherland]

I find with my planer I have a lot of blade marks running the length and width I’d the board. This is seems to be common with the DeWalt 735. My blades are sharp and no nicks. My experience today was to use my Scrub to dimension the board flat on both sides and then use my 62 to flatten and smooth it. Worked well and was a lot more fun than the planer. I then ran it through the drum sander. If I had a true smoother I would have finished with that.

[Brian Holcombe]

Use a jack and try plane to face joint, follow up with a pass through the planer using jointed side as a reference. Finish up with a well tuned smoother and you will wonder why you own a drum sander.

Drum sand before finish planing and you will return to sanding. Embedded grit from sanding is brutal on tool edges.