Words of advice

[Steven Hsieh]

I’ve seen these threads come up all the time. Not here. But
Like Is Festool worth it? Lie Neilson chisel vs Stanley chisels? Which one is the best? So on..

But There is one thing I want to say that is no matter how much you spend on a tool. In the end, it is the person using it.
You can spend $60 on a chisel and not know how to use it properly. You can spend $400 sander that have these great features and still get swirl marks.
In the end, it is understanding and knowing the basics. If you cant sharpen a $20 chisel, you can’t sharpen a $60. I’m not saying don’t buy these tools.
What I’m saying get the basic right. Like What Randy Pausch coach said,
“Fundamentals, Fundamentals, Fundamentals, you got get the fundamentals down or the fancy stuff wont work”

[Van Huskey]

There is certainly truth in what you say but the whole picture is much more complex.

First, you have to be good to be good, it is as simple as that. Any skill must be fostered and repeated in order to be proficient.

However, skills that require tools require a certain level of quality to produce quality results even if you are a master. A poor tool in a masters hands can produce better work than a novice BUT it will still limit their ability to produce great work. A chisel that will not hold and edge is nearly as useless in a masters hands as in the hands of a novice. In reality the novice's work will likely suffer more from a sub-standard tool than the masters. The novice is also more likely to get frustrated and give up with a poor tool. My point in this is the novice still needs a level of quality in his/her tools and this quality level is at least as high as a master if not higher. This isn't to say either needs the best quality tools just a certain level, the level is somewhat vague to set though.

The second big issue is having the right tool. This again is more important for the novice than the master.

In the end skill is what you can not purchase but along with skill one has to have the right tool for the job (or the skill to work around an acceptable tool for the job) and that tool has to be of acceptable quality for the job. There is also the hobby aspect, those of us that do it as a hobby do woodworking for enjoyment and USUALLY using a finer tool makes the time more enjoyable a person doing it for a living must balance profit with the cost of their tools/machines.

So my final statement is similar to yours, buy the best tools you can resonably afford BUT spend the most effort on developing the skills to utilize those tools.

[Paul Sikorski]

Having the right tool doesnt make the job it makes the job easier. I have seen guys do amazing work with Harbor Freight tools and guys buildstuff not so well with Delta, festool and powermatic tools. I think your right with sound fundamentals you can do quality work regardless of the tools (within reason) now it will dramatically effect how long it takes you. I think to be a woodworker you have to be already have a strong desire to learning skills we would rather learn how to captian a sailboat then drive a boat. Most of us build projects out of a desire to learn how to make a new joint or use a new technique as much as the need to have something useful. My thoughts are the same though buy the best tools you can and work harder on developing your skills more than your projects.

[Jim Matthews]

When it comes to hand tools, you get what you pay for - up to a point.

When a tool comes from one of the modern makers in Maine or Canada - it works right out of the box.
I can sharpen a Harbor freight putty knife to scrape wood, but it won't stay sharp long.

The fun in hand tools is in finding the bargains that work as well as the boutique pieces.
Those are surprising, but rare.

I'm not into the high-tech power tools, so that's beyond my understanding (and budget).

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I’ve seen these threads come up all the time. Not here. But
Like Is Festool worth it? Lie Neilson chisel vs Stanley chisels? Which one is the best? So on..

But There is one thing I want to say that is no matter how much you spend on a tool. In the end, it is the person using it.
You can spend $60 on a chisel and not know how to use it properly. You can spend $400 sander that have these great features and still get swirl marks.
In the end, it is understanding and knowing the basics.


I remember when I first needed a hand plane. I had a door that I needed to adjust with a hand plane and I knew nothing about them. I started reading about hand planes and I was very overwhelmed with all the information about needed to sharpen the blade, flatten the backs, flatten the bottom, etc. I was very overwhelmed.

I called Lie Nielsen, told the lady what I needed to do, and she recommended a LN #4. Although they recommend some honing, I used it out of the box and was able to finish the job with no flattening or sharpening.

In other words, everything was workable out of the box.

I had some painful beginnings that would have been far less painful if I had a local mentor. Most of what I learned, I learned first by reading a lot and then significant painful trial and error. The LN was safe.

Somewhere in there I found a local woodcraft that offers some classes. Also, they offer very sound advice. I purchased a set of chisels taking a set that they claimed would be usable out of the box, and they were. It is much easier to keep a set sharp, than to sharpen from scratch.

I am much improved over what I was, but the start, I am very glad that I was able to purchase some nice tools. I did purchase some not-so-nice tools. Some of which I found usable, some not so much.



In the end, it is understanding and knowing the basics. If you cant sharpen a $20 chisel, you can’t sharpen a $60. I’m not saying don’t buy these tools.

I did a lot of trial and error with some of the cheaper stuff. Not so concerned about ruining a $20 set of chisels than I am a single $80 chisel. Ironically, depending on the sharpening set, the $20 set may be easier to sharpen than the $80 chisel.

My frustrations and many false starts is one reason that I actively look for locals that may have a problem where I am able to help.

[Kevin Bourque]

When I was in cabinetmaking school the first thing we learned how to do was sharpen a plane iron.
The second thing we learned how to do was plane a board perfectly flat on all six sides.
You learn very quickly the importance of sharp tools.

[phil harold]

Sort of true for woodworking too:

It's not what camera you have
it's clicking the shutter at the right time!

[Larry Edgerton]

I disagree.

Like owning a Colnago Masterlite made me ride a bicycle better so I could live up to Ernesto's vision, so does owning a hand forged chisel make me work to the same standards that the maker had in mind.

Larry

[Brian Kent]

Within limits…

My first little Lie Nielsen Block Plane taught me a whole lot about standards. Before that my Anant smoother was somewhat workable, but not excellent. When I got the Lie Nielsen, it taught me both how to tune up the Anant better and about the value of finer tools for finer work. Although the Anant is now a user, it is not close to my home-made infill or my $55 Mujingfang polish plane.

[John Pratt]

It is true up to a point, but "You can't win the Tour De France on a Huffy." It is true that someone may not be able to live up to the quality inherent in a good tool, but at the same time a poor quality tool could inhibit the quality within the craftsman.

[Lee Ludden]

I want my tools to be good enough, so that if there is a problem, I know the problem is with me, and not my tools. I want my tools to be good enough that I can spend my time using them to do what I bought them for, not spend that time getting them ready to use for what I bought them for.

[glenn bradley]

I want my tools to be good enough, so that if there is a problem, I know the problem is with me, and not my tools. I want my tools to be good enough that I can spend my time using them to do what I bought them for, not spend that time getting them ready to use for what I bought them for.

Couldn't have said it better.

[Myk Rian]

[LEFT][COLOR=#444444][FONT=Tahoma]I’ve seen these threads come up all the time. Not here. But
Like Is Festool worth it? Lie Neilson chisel vs Stanley chisels? Which one is the best? So on..
If you don't see those threads here, you aren't visiting enough.