Jointer question for the transitional neanderthal

[daniel lane]

Okay, I admit it - I'm actually a transitional neanderthal, what with having a complement of power tools alongside my ATC full of hand tools. I enjoy the hand tools, but I'm slow with them, and sometimes it's not fun to use them when the old neck injury is acting up (pressure on nerves = pain + loss of strength...story for another time). I am intending to continue my neander self-training, but I'm not 100% neander yet.

Anyway, I'm settling into a new workshop, and this one is much smaller than the last. Plus, there's no 220V, so the jointer's gotta go. I'm trying to decide whether to replace it [and deal with space issues, dust collection, etc.] or to go neander completely cold turkey, and I thought I'd ask others how they've made the transition. Now, this isn't meant to ferret other secret transitional neanders out of the woodwork, so feel free to PM if you've a reputation to uphold, but I'd really like the advice of this group. Has anyone else made this decision? How did it work out? I'm a bit frightened that I might sell the jointer, give the money to Rob Lee, and then discover that I actually do need a (powered) jointer to keep working...


daniel

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I'm neander out of necessity rather than pride or purity, and have little power tool experience. That said, I wouldn't throw out a pricey, good power tool even if I couldn't use it, until I was sure I didn't need it. You can get a great jointer plane for a decent price if you go vintage.

But do you have a planer that you can still use in the new shop? You can easily and quickly get a board flat enough to run through a planer without too much fuss and muss, and then flip it to clean up the hand worked side. It doesn't need to be perfect, which cuts down on the effort required.

I actually enjoy surfacing lumber by hand, but there's something to be said for having assistance when you can get it.

[Winton Applegate]

Plus, there's no 220V, so the jointer's gotta go.

Piece of cake !

First off you won't need a power jointer. Unless we are talking for flattening the first / reference face of the board as well. I find planing those a pleasure but a lot of work. I don't have a power jointer or power planer. I also have no serious physical injuries. (come on guys he is talking skeletal not cranial ).

You can always buy a smaller power jointer as you said if the face planing doesn't work out. Or a power hand held planer and then finish plane by hand.

Speaking strictly about jointing now I don't even find a jointer plane essential HOWEVER I do say a high quality REAL straight edge is indispensable. You will need that for other work once you get the planks too big to run through a jointer or power planer anyway. See photo of straight edge.

I find edge jointing interesting and fun. Even joints on the order of five to eight feet. And with practice and care they can come out BETTER than power jointed. See the definition of the " rubbed joint".

NOW . . . you can cheat. See photo of clothes washer and electrical dryer plug socket in the wall. (I am experimenting with an orange flash light I have. long story. )

[what ? ? ? You don't keep an angle grinder next to your cloths washing machine to get out those "tough" stains ?]

There is a corresponding "extension cord" behind one of my work benches at my home work shop. Put two and two together, as it were, and viola . . . one minute your work shop does not have 220 and the next minute it does.

Or you can have your shop wired. Can be a huge project if your shop is a detached building. I ran that same "extension cord" from my basement, long ago at another house , across the back yard to the one car detached garage so I could run my TIG welder.

Hey . . . an obsessed shop rat has got to do what an obsessed shop rat has got to do.
Am I right ? Am I right ?
You bet !
(PS: I priced flexible conductor cord off the role to make up my extension cord and also looked into a second meter and all that to run the rental shop. Back in the day. Well . . . plan on selling that second car or your first born to pay for one of those options.

I wound up buying this cable off the roll that is specked for under ground buried cable duty. A bit stiff but has done the job.
If electricity is one of your studied subjects then go for it.
If not . . . don't even think about it. Get a pro and pay the nut.

[David Weaver]

I don't have a jointer, but do have a thickness planer, a bandsaw and small ts. I use power tools on projects that I don't like that much, but I haven't missed the jointer at all. I'd hate to give up a bandsaw and thickness planer for "commodity" work, though.

[Bryce Adams]

I had a 6" jointer that I struggled with. It was touchy to adjust and re-setting the knives after sharpening could take a couple of hours. It was short enough that I couldn't joint large boards and keep them flat on the infeed table. I bought an old Stanley #7 to joint long boards so I could bring the tool to the work instead of the work to the tool. Didn't take long to learn that I could joint boards by hand better than with the jointer.

Since my jointer was only 6" wide, it often wasn't useful for flattening the 1st face of a board, so I learned how to flatten with a jack plane before running a board through the planer.

Wasn't long before the jointer was just gathering dust and being in my way, so I gave it to my brother and haven't ever missed it.

The key thing to hand planing is having a decent bench with some means to hold your board while you plane it. Before I built my bench, I was clamping boards to my table saw to plane them, which was an exercise in frustration. After I had a bench, planing became much easier and enjoyable.

[Steve Voigt]

I'm not a purist, but I don't use a jointer. I think it's the easiest power tool to do without, because jointing by hand is a moderately skilled operation that doesn't take long and doesn't involve a lot of grunt work. Giving up a thickness planer is a bigger committment.

[Matthew Hills]

Before you sell your jointer, I recommend getting a used #5, putting significant camber on the blade and using that to flatten. This is what you want to use for initial flattening -- not a #7.
As others have suggested, you can go from there to a powered planer.

For your neck issues -- I'd recommend paying a lot of attention to your work positions, and particularly the height of each workstation. (i.e., the knuckle-height workbench often suggested for planing isn't as comfortable for chopping out dovetails)

Matt

[Judson Green]

Not knowing the extent of your injury....

The jointer is the one machine I don't miss at all. Big ones, at least 12", are rather expensive, take up lots of room, are heavy, noisy and often with large power requirements. The task of hand flatting/thicknessing is physically tasking, no doubt about it, especially with harder woods- you'll not enjoy working hard maple as much as cherry. Perhaps a lunch box planner might be in your future- one might be in mine, too. These aren't too heavy, run off of 120v @ 15 amps (your average household outlet), are really loud, but might allow you to continue enjoying woodworking. And I've heard of folks making sleds to face joint with a planer.

Edge jointing by hand takes a little finesse, but once you get it you'll enjoy it and its not physical tasking. You could make or buy a jointer fence to help you get there, I kinda think of one as training wheels.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?190436-Shop-made-fence-for-7-jointer-plane-ideas

Lee Valley sells a magnetic one.

[daniel lane]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. Sounds like it's not as big a leap as I've feared it may be. I realized as I read through the replies that I could have shared a little more detail to focus the question, so:


I definitely can't use the jointer - it's 220V and there's no 220V in the house except the AC units, I believe. Laundry is nat gas, and is on the 2nd floor, so no way to even use an extension cord, which by the way @Winton, is what I did before - I made a 220V extension cord and ran it from the laundry room. Great idea! :)
I do have a planer, and would be loathe to give it up. Thicknessing by hand does not appeal to me, in part because of the old injury. Which leads me to...
Back in my early teen years, I suffered an injury that severely wonked up (for lack of a more appropriate term) my neck. Decades later, I've got bone growth pinching on nerves which results in a loss of strength (at its worst, I can't lift a dinner plate over shoulder height), partial numbness in ring and pinkie fingers on both hands, and stabbing pain in my triceps that feels like an ice pick. Luckily, it's not all at once, and it's not all the time, but you can imagine how thicknessing something by hand would not be fun with such issues.
I have a fairly decent array of hand planes that I've been working with. Relevant to this discussion (no need to list them all, right? ;)), I've a Bailey #5, LN #62, and LV #6 and BU jointer with magnetic fence.

Now, regarding #3, I have hopes that neander work will provide me with a form of therapy, but I'm also concerned that if it's too hard to flatten boards by hand, I'll get frustrated and lose interest. I guess that's the root of my fear, as I really enjoy woodworking and would hate to be so discouraged as to walk away from it. David, I agree with your power tool philosophy, but have yet to make the full transition to neander for the projects I like. I'm working on it, though!

Given the discussion so far, it sounds like it may be worth selling the jointer and use the funds for workbench hardware and other tools. Hmmmm.....maybe I should peruse the LV web site some more and convince myself there are things I'd rather have than a jointer. :)


Thanks again,

daniel

[Judson Green]

I do have a planer, and would be loathe to give it up. Thicknessing by hand does not appeal to me, in part because of the old injury.


I'm also concerned that if it's too hard to flatten boards by hand, I'll get frustrated and lose interest. I guess that's the root of my fear, as I really enjoy woodworking and would hate to be so discouraged as to walk away from it.


daniel

If you feel it not being fun anymore make a planer sled. You'll always have chatter marks to clean up with a hand plane and do final surfacing. Have the machines do the boring bull work.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Daniel

My most recent purchase has been a combination jointer-planer/thicknesser (Hammer A3-31), and it is a joy to use. My pleasure comes from the use of handtools, but there is no fun in preparing our local hardwoods. The decision to own and use power tools is simply an issue of what is practical and necessary for each person.

Given the choice of a jointer or a planer, I would go for the jointer every time. I believe that it is easier thicknessing a board with handplanes once one side is flat than flattening the side of a long board and then running it through a planer. Most small planers are terribly noisy. Jointers are much less so.

If all you plan to use is softwoods, then my recommendation to retain a jointer is less relevant.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Daniel Rode]

I use a cheap 6" 110v jointer. I've used similar ones for many years and have no plans to abandon it or my thickness planer. Like any tools, it requires proper setup and a feel for where and when to put pressure. Reading the wood is every bit as important as with a hand tool. With my cheap jointer and the planer, I can quickly and reliably create flat, square, parallel stock. I leave everything slightly oversize and finish up by removing the machine marks with hand planes.

I'm not suggesting that anyone should stop flattening with hand tools. For a hybrid hobby woodworker like myself, it reduces the time and effort of rough stock prep and allows me to maximize the time I spend doing joinery and such.

The power tools that get less and less use in my shop are my router and table saw.

If it were me, especially with the injury you describe, I'd probably look to acquire a smaller 110v jointer. Maybe sell off the 220v? Also, some tools can be wired for 220 or 110. Perhaps it can be converted?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I have a Ridgid 13" thickness planer that I use, and I have a 4" portable Delta jointer that serves as a weight to hold my bench down because I never use it. The current issue of Shop Notes has a sled for jointing on a thickness planer. You might check that out. Also if you don't have one, get a scrub plane, and just scrub the board flat, then use the thickness planer to do the rest. Finish with a #3 or #4 after final dimensioning.

As for edge jointing, I LOVE my Veritas low-angle jointer. The fence is a great option, and I like being able to change blade angles easily, or add a toothed blade. I buy lumber rough sawn. Typically it is very flat, but the edges are horrible. I use the low angle jointer to joint one edge, then I run it on the table saw with a 7 1/4" blade to match the other edge. For really crooked stuff I will make a pass through the table saw first, then joint that edge, then use it against the fence for the second pass.

I now have access to a "real" shop with all sorts of noisemakers, and unless I have a lot of boards to do, I will probably stick to my hand jointing one edge method because I enjoy it.

[Curt Putnam]

You've gotten a lot of good advice - to which I'll add what I think are a couple highlights.

Furniture seldom requires board lengths over 4'. You don't have to get a board completely flat on one side, you simply have to get enough flat that it does not rock when set on a flat surface. Run the non-rocking board through the planer until you have one side flat, then flip and you are done.

I'm slowly switching to buying rough lumber because buying nominal 4/4 S2S straightlined results in something significantly less than 3/4" after final planing. Just no room for error.

A good bench at the proper height for you can make all the difference in ease of planing.

JMO & YMWV

[Daniel Rode]

For power or hand thicknessing the board needs to be flat enough across the entire surface to resist being compressed by the rollers in the planer or the pressure of the hand plane. It doesn't need to be perfectly flat everywhere but lots of contact across the entire board is important.

It's easy remove twist such that the board does not rock but still has a significant cup or bow that can be compressed. Rather than a flat board, you make a thinner board that retains the cup or bow.


You don't have to get a board completely flat on one side, you simply have to get enough flat that it does not rock when set on a flat surface. Run the non-rocking board through the planer until you have one side flat, then flip and you are done.

[Tom Vanzant]

Daniel L.: from one wonky spiner to another, your most critical factor in transitioning to Neander is working height...if too high or too low, you'll know it. I use a #605/Hock to rough, 607/Hock to level and 604/Hock or 4-1/2/PM-V11 to smooth.
Daniel R.: Jet 6" short-bed jointer, Ryobi 10" planer. They come in handy within their capacity...my apprentices. A Delta contractor TS is sometimes used as well.
I am building a replacement base for a small but useful bench top, and decided not to use power tools. I found some very nice Doug fir 2x4s and have laminated & squared the legs to 3-1/4x2-3/4 so far, with 1-3/4x5 stretchers to follow. Joinery will be pinned M&T. The top will bolt to bearers. Pictures to follow later...

[Jim Matthews]

You may also get some relief pulling a hand plane, as you can get your legs to do more.
I would suggest that pulling directly toward you, rather than sideways - parallel to the bench, will help avoid twisting at the shoulders and neck.

To echo what has been said above, planing at your belt line will keep some flex in the wrist and elbows.

[ian maybury]

I guess that the sting in the tail in switching to heavier use of hand planes for jointing and the like may be that a decent bench with a flat top and effective workholding becomes pretty much a necessity...

[Jim Matthews]

True enough.

We have seen some slightly built, highly effective benches here in The Creek.
Stout and stable is preferable. Bolted to the floor works, too.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

You may also get some relief pulling a hand plane, as you can get your legs to do more.
I would suggest that pulling directly toward you, rather than sideways - parallel to the bench, will help avoid twisting at the shoulders and neck.

To echo what has been said above, planing at your belt line will keep some flex in the wrist and elbows.

This is good advice too - depending on what bothers your body, pulling may end up being much easier on you, or work both ways and trade off as needed.

Even with traditional western planes and a push stroke, I try and use my legs and core to do all the work rather than my arms. I can go much longer this way. It requires a lower bench to be effective, but if you're doing a lot of rough work, it really helps.

[paul cottingham]

I, too have a badly mangled neck. 1 completely missing disc, replaced with titanium, 2 more bad disks. I have horrific pain in my right hand all the time, mitigated with medication, so I can relate.

I found fiddling with bench height for planing of great help. I built a platform to "lower" my bench, and it really helped. Handles on planes make a big difference as well. Mybe try reshaping the handles on your tools, reducing the pressure on my palm helped.

i have also learned to pull planes, and use a left handed plow, which I can push left handed or pull right handed. I am going to replace my right handed rabbet with a left handed one. I have a good buddy with similar issues and he owns right handed tools so we swap, as needed.

i am a big guy 6'2" and 260, so i have plenty of mass for planing. It allows me to use my hands and arms less, and my mass and legs more. Your mileage may vary.

[Prashun Patel]

I too believe you can lose your jointer. Jointing an edge by hand is fairly straight forward. Jointing a wide face of a board, however, is both tricky to learn and hard on the back. It's no therapy; it's repeated stress that can ultimately be injurious until (and possibly even after) you become efficient at it.

So, I would get or retain a lunchbox thickness planer. You can build a sled for it, or even just roughly joint the face by hand and then plane/flip/plane to get a perfectly jointed board.

Personally I'd also retain a bandsaw. It is just so darn versatile and also saves the tedium, shoulder/back stress of hand sawing.

[Winton Applegate]

Daniel,

Hey, here is one other possibility; get in tight with your local woodworking club and perhaps they have some sort of shared shop with larger surfacing power tools that could get you in the ball park for your hand planing.

Also
My local wood supplier, small place not a big yard just a store front with some small choice stacks of wood etc.
. . .
well anyway they have a big O jointer and thickness planer that I have had them, way back in the day before I was a wood worker (I was a metal worker making bending jigs out of rock maple) they used to do some small milling for me and I could do the detail work.

Worth checking around.

[Winton Applegate]

Daniel,

Two more thoughts :
Do what the old dudes did in days of old; get an indentured apprentice, let him sleep under the stairs like Harry Potter and feed him on scraps. Of course if he survives the ordeal you will have to buy him some hand planes before you push him out the door to be on his own but you should get a good five or six years out of him before that time comes.

;)

The other thought is I bet you could convince your wife or significant other "How much FUN scrub planing flat surfaces is". :p

Well I wouldn't ACTUALLY put money, as such, on that bet but you might try it.
I got Queenmasteroftheuniverseandbabybunnytrainer (my significant other) to actually resaw with me on a two person frame saw. Purple heart yet.

Well that lead to the OK to spend the money on a nice bandsaw for resawing. Quite an enthusiastic OK and two thumbs up as I recall.

[Shawn Pixley]

I refer to myself as a blended woodworker. I have a tablesaw and bandsaw but do my jointing with a #7. No jointer in my shop. Joinery is largely hand work. But stock prep is done through the aid of electrons outside my body. I am happy with my approach and don't plan to change. Sometimes I work strictly by hand if it is more work to pull out the tablesaw. Thicknessing is mostly done through resaw as I hate to turn wood into chips or sawdust if it can be avoided. Cleaning up the stock is done with handplanes.

On the neck injury, PM me if you like. I just had two implants and 8 Titanium screws in my neck as I had issues (Parasthesia, pain, and loss of strength / sensation in my arm). When they operated, the nerve was crushed between bone on bone.

[Winton Applegate]

Derek,

a combination jointer-planer/thicknesser

Yah I had the hots for one of those pretty bad there for a while. Mostly because it was a wide jointer for doing the reference face that wasn't too long to fit in my shop.

There weren't any combo machines like that available in America at a realistic price back then though I kept admiring them in the books and magazines I was learning from.

I finally realized I needed "help" when I found my self studying brochures for nice eight inch jointers (which will not fit in my shop comfortably) and tuning and polishing my metal cutting Milwaukee deep cut hand held bandsaw (http://www.milwaukeetool.com/power-tools/corded/6232-21). I told my self that if I just removed eight or ten inches off the ends of the jointer "everything would be OK".

[Daniel Rode]

This is the main thing that has me thinking about a band-saw again. I dislike wasting wood; even cheap white pine. Economically, it's a tougher sell. One has to split a lot of boards to recover the cost of even a cheap resaw capable band-saw.

Thicknessing is mostly done through resaw as I hate to turn wood into chips or sawdust if it can be avoided.

[jamie shard]

I'm enjoying this thread. I just bought a thickness planer and will be building a sled. I'm also working on restoring a vintage 14" bandsaw for resawing. Kinda wish I did this earlier, but I also feel like I understand wood (and sharpening) a lot better by starting off neander.

[ian maybury]

That's no doubt true Daniel. There's a lot of mythology about bandsaws, but in the end it's one of those tools where if you pay enough to get one that built straight and sufficiently heavily that it doesn't deflect under blade tension the complications disappear and once reasonably set up it just works. One of the heavy duty big Italian models or something. Buying used is often a good idea, but it's better not to skimp on the spec..

[Judson Green]

And you'll soon, if not already, start sharping your own bandsaw blades.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I don't own a powered Jointer, but I wish that I did. If I had the space, I would purchase (in this order):



Drill Press
Band Saw
Jointer


I do own a thickness planer, so, if I want to use power, I use a sled. I may knock some of the really high spots with a scrub plane (they sure do remove a lot quickly), and then I can use shims or a glue gun to fill in the gaps so that the board cannot be pushed flat. This method works best if you can apply shims (and similar) while the sled is sitting ready to slide into the planer. I usually shim with the sled on my bench and then I need to transport the entire heavy assembly without knowing things loose. One other issue with this is that milling can change the stresses in the board, so, if you set everything and then mill it "perfect" while on the sled, things may have moved a bit. They will certainly be significantly improved but may not be perfect. I suppose that there is also the question of "was it shimmed properly".

[jamie shard]

One thing that's great about becoming a "blended" after being a "neander": you don't worry about snipe or boards moving because you happy about all the work that was done for you... and you know how to fix the little bit of work that is left! :D

[Winton Applegate]

One has to split a lot of boards to recover the cost of . . . a . . . resaw capable band-saw.

Stop thinking like that !
Spoils ALL the fun.
Just buy the dambed bandsaw (http://www.lagunatools.com/bandsaws/bandsaw-lt14suv#).

What ? I suppose women think "I wonder if I will recover the cost of this diamond ring by _____".
Nahhh they want it they buy it, or more likely get you to buy it, and . . .
enjoy it.

I never thought "recover cost". I needed to cut up some wood and Queenmasteroftheuniverseandbabybunnytrainer had had enough of helping me resaw by hand.
(actually she was still a tiny bit still game but . . .
frankly I had had enough of wasting so much time and energy trying to resaw longish planks).

Easy choice even for someone as obsessed with human powered work as I am.
Ride my bike every day to work, even in the snow ? NO PROBLEM. Resaw eight foot bubinga planks by hand by my self ?
Ha, ha, ha.
Nah dude, nah

[Don Slaughter]

Giving up or keeping the jointer will depend on what you want to build....and how long you want to spend building it. My hand tool enthusiasm has increased steadily for the past ten years but I've had absolutely no inclination to get rid of my Delta X5 6"Jointer. It is easy to adjust and works great (for nine years). I have a 13" planer but rarely use it. Often I will use hand tools only to build a project just for the satisfaction.....but the jointer is there if my mood changes or time becomes an issue. My shop is for my pleasure so I won't try to prove any prowess by eliminating something that has performed so well for me when I chose to use it. I also have and ECE jointer plane, a clifton #6, stanley #8 as well as a full compliment of jacks, smoothers and specialty planes.....because I enjoy using them....and they haven't diminished my appreciation of the Delta X5.
I just started a class making ladder back chairs from green wood....like the ones Brian Boggs & Jennie Alexander promote. I'll be using spokeshaves, drawknife, shaving horse, axe, froe but no jointer.....but it will be there just in case.
good luck,

Don

[daniel lane]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. And the PMs. (I received several, I may not have replied to all, but I do appreciate them.) I'm still sort of mixed on the idea; I've heard a lot of good reasons to go without (sled, jack plane, etc.), and a couple of other tools mentioned for work (I have them), but I've also heard several replies from others that have similar neck issues and recommend sticking with electrons for the stock prep phase. I suppose I was hoping to be convinced that I didn't need it and was looking for others to agree, and now I've waded deep into the pool of "you're right back where you started." *sigh*

Well, one way or another, the jointer is going - it won't fit, and I'm not installing 220V in this garage. It will cost far more than it's worth to me, since the landlord is pretty strict about how such a thing would be accomplished. Now I just have to decide whether to get a smaller one or not. Perhaps I've been looking at it the wrong way - perhaps the question should be, "If I'm forced to have no larger than a 6" power jointer, is it worth getting it, or should I just use a sled and hand tools?" And that's where I lean away from the jointer.

Anyway, once again, thanks guys. Feel free to continue the discussion/hijacking/whatever, I'm enjoying what I'm reading, too.


Regards,

daniel

[Shawn Pixley]

Obviously, I would vote for flattening with a Jack and Jointer planes. I don't think it takes that much time or effort. Both sides of a 16-18" wide and 5' long slab are an afternoon's work. but you wouldn't be putting them on a jointer in most shops. I find the toothed blade on one jack (LN LAJ) and a standard blade and another jack (Bailey #5, type 13) get the high spots out fast without too much tear-out. Afterwards hit it with the #7. Easy-peasey.

[Bobby O'Neal]

Daniel…food for thought, you mentioned building a bench. This can certainly be tackled with planes only, which is what I did, but it is A LOT of work. I would have gladly made use of power for dimensioning were it available to me at the time. I agree with others that the tools are determined by the projects.

[Fitzhugh Freeman]

I, too, have a severe neck injury. In my case at-times totally debilitating, always painful, though I'm sure not as bad as some here. I so hate to read of all the others of you living with such problems but I'm encouraged to see so many still managing to do what we enjoy.

I think it worth mentioning something that seems so obvious and basic - pacing - since that is what gets me in the most trouble in woodworking. I may be the only one dumb enough to keep making the same mistakes but something tells me I'm not. That something is probably just my ego, but still. (anyone else feel like Bart when Lisa wires up a cupcake to see if he can learn from afferent conditioning as well as a hampster >>
Bart: "Yum! [reaches... zap!] Ouch!" "Yum! [reaches... zap!] Ouch!" "Yum! [reaches... zap!] Ouch!" "Yum! [reaches... zap!] Ouch!" ....)

If I'm not really careful I end up so involved in a project that I work past the point of no return, or more often, just work wrong, and put myself out of the shop - or worse - for days or longer at a time. Some pain you can't miss when it comes on but surprisingly I find the worst by far I'm all too able to block out until way too late. My regular, non-chronic pain doctors, family, etc., never understand this. They take it to mean that particular pain isn't all that bad. In truth I handle the shooting type pain better than the one that creeps up on me like water behind an overfilled damn. Once it breaks through I'm done for. I can always tell in hindsight that it was building with me tooling away unawares, then I find I'm sick with pain AND can look back and see that it started much earlier. I'm sure that it is not as bad as what some of you experience - I really don't mean this as a gripe session - I just think it worth considering. A lot of pain we have no say over. Other pain we may and in spite of how distressing I find the pain I know I'm rotten at doing basic things to avoid it like pacing myself and being truly mindful of how I work. My partner has taken to peeking in as she walks past and often catches me working in dumb positions. She has to remind me to pay attention to such things.


As for machines....
Wow, and here I've been thinking all along I was going to be banned from the treefort if I admitted my recent forays into the land of powertools (just kidding) ((sorta)). Since it's all in the form of a used shopsmith it wasn't like I was going to be welcomed in the

I work with hand tools because of all the usual reasons. Started with money, then space, noise, dust, safety, but ultimately I realized I love it, even when it approaches mild insanity. I'm doing all this for fun, not profit, so I don't have the pressures some do to work fast.
I've been really looking for the past year at what my main roadblocks in either working well or actually progressing as a woodworker are. Some examples of what it has been at different points: lack of precision straightedges, lack of a jointer plane, not knowing how to use or sharpen handsaws well, not having decent enough workholding, or having to break out my sharpening kit and set it up, sharpen everything, put it away, then work until I can't find anything left that will cut melted butter - instead of just having a nice sharpening space out at the ready...

Most recently I'd noticed that two perennial problems on the list are resawing and precision drilling, and that I was just not getting around to making a frame saw for resawing anytime soon and was having no luck finding a hand cranked drill press I could afford. I broke down and shopped for a used bandsaw and drill press. All the ones I saw were junk or too pricey. On a whim I finally called a guy with a shopsmith for sale, turned out he had a nice shopsmith with bandsaw, lots of extra blades, extra steel sanding disks, the lathe stuff, plus a planer. It also came with a second shopsmith (old 3/4 HP mk 5) that was "broken" - turned out the old style toothed gimler belt had snapped, otherwise in good shape, and a beat-up scrollsaw-like jigsaw - for $250. I know all the reasons many hate them and I went through a bit of buyers remorse but I've secretly wanted one since I was a kid. All the remorse disappeared when I stripped everything apart, cleaned and lubed and managed to reassemble with no "extra" pieces left over. I'm impressed by the engineering but in love with the quality of manufacturing involved.
I went from being a 100% pure neander to owning a bandsaw, disc sander, drill press, somewhat iffy lightduty lathe, seriously terrifying tablesaw, and planer all in one fell swoop, with a jointer on the way. I figured I was destined to be one lonely woodworker since the neanders would walk right past without speaking to me while the powertool people wood all join in and taunt me for not owning a shop full of separate stationary "real" tools and instead owning a giant erector set that does nothing well but takes forever to do it, and all that. But am I glad to see I'm not actually all alone out here in the demilitarized zone between the two camps. And I'll say one thing for shopsmiths: Still built to last forever since first made in the 1950s + replacement parts available new and used + roundly mocked and derided by real men everywhere = super cheap. Once I new to look it seems half of craigslist is made up of used shopsmiths for sale.