Power Tool vs Hand Tool Users

[Frederick Skelly]

Stealing a good idea from Pat Barry here. I'm personally a mix of both, depending on the operation at hand.

[Brian Henderson]

I use the right tool for the job. I don't get people who don't. In fact, I see people on YouTube who will literally apologize to their audience for daring to even touch a power tool. These people have problems.

[Ben Rivel]

I have a few hand tools, but Im mostly power tools.

[Bruce Page]

I'm mostly a power tool guy but will use Neander when called for.

[andy bessette]

Though I own and regularly use a lot of hand tools my power tools produce most of the work. So I voted mostly power tools.

[Jim Koepke]

There are not that many power tools in my shop; bandsaw, drill press, lathe, hand sanders and DeWalt hand drill is about it.

I like listening to music while working and power tools tend to drown out the music.

jtk

[Scott A Bernstein]

I'm a "hybrid" woodworker.... I use a combination of stationary and hand-held power tools. I do have one old rusty chisel, which I use to open packages of new power tools or power tool accessories...

[Bernie Kopfer]

As a progressive I'm embarrassed to say, I'm into ---POWER.:)

[rudy de haas]

If I had a sig it would be "Everything I know about tools. I learned from Tim Taylor"
---
However, I had to cut corners (45 degree) on some very thin (3/8th wide, 1/8th thick) maple strips recently and used a Stanley #246 classic mitre saw I got for $5 at a garage sale to do it. Power tools just splintered the wood - so it's horses for courses for me but I'm mosty on longer, cruder, courses where power works.

[steven c newman]

About 70% hand tool, and the rest a few power tools.....quite forgotten what a "Tablesaw" even looks like......

[James Pallas]

Most always hand tools unless it is something I have to do or just plain lazy like resawing. Even then it depends on the size of the work.
Jim

[Wayne Lomman]

I fully agree with Brian. I use the right tool for the job. There is no ideology here. Doing a job the best way is what counts and that is not even the same way each time necessarily. If you are stuck on one way, it's time to open your mind and experience a fuller life. Cheers

[John K Jordan]

I use the right tool for the job. I don't get people who don't. In fact, I see people on YouTube who will literally apologize to their audience for daring to even touch a power tool. These people have problems.

Same here. Some jobs are so much easier with had tools. Some are easier with power tools. Some with portable cordless vs corded.

Sometimes the right tool for the job is whatever the guy I've hired to do the job is using. :)

Two good reasons I can see for absolute power tool abstinence: 1) when none are available, 2) when there is no power.

JKJ

[Yonak Hawkins]

I think I used a chisel once .. can't remember what I used it for. The distribution of answers was pretty predictable.

[Phillip Gregory]

My preference is using large, heavy stationary power tools if that is suitable for the work being done. A large stationary machine is generally going to be more solid, quieter, have better dust collection, faster, and yield more consistent results in my hands than a portable or jobsite power tool, a handheld power tool, or a nonpowered hand tool. I also prefer corded to cordless unless the cord is really a hassle or there is no power. For example, a drill press is going to be much more accurate and quiet than using a handheld corded drill. A handheld corded drill of the same size as a cordless unit is going to be more powerful, sometimes considerably so, and be faster in drilling larger holes as a result. A cordless drill is going to be much faster to drill holes than using a hand-cranked drill, although the hand tool in this case IS quieter. But using a cordless drill-driver is just the ticket if you are say, up in a ladder at a jobsite driving screws to put in a downspout.

[Bill Orbine]

Whatever is the fastest....... power wins most of the time. Hands tools does have its place often times.

[Pat Barry]

Great idea to make a poll here Frederick! I'm a complete mixture of hand and power tools. I suppose I might be migrating more to hand tools for joinery, but for basic ripping, cross-cutting etc it is table saw, possibly miter saw or bandsaw for me. I also have a planer for surfacing and thicknessing. Got no interest in making life more difficult when I have nice tools of convenience that can do the job far more accurately that a hand tool could do (in my hands anyway LOL).

[Larry Frank]

I like using hand tools but my body does not. My hands and wrists have arthritis and I have worn out my wrist joints. Thankfully, my wrists were repaired but now avoid strain and impact on them. So, while I use hand tools, I predominantly use power tools.

[Eric R. Smith]

I own a table saw, band saw and a drill press. They get me close to where I need to be. My hand tools get me where I need to be.
Eric

[glenn bradley]

I use both. I'm not on a campaign for the exclusive use of either. I wouldn't feel the need to apologize for using either but, people are free to approach the craft in the way they choose.

[Joe Tilson]

I use both in my work. I like to use hand tools, but a bad back hinders sometimes, so I use power tools as well. Until I need it, the table saw stays covered with leftovers and tools that need to be put away. From some of the pictures on SMC you use it the same way. Same with a drill press table. Hummmm, Let's face it I've got stuff stuck everywhere including the ceiling.

[John Piwaron]

If I had a sig it would be "Everything I know about tools. I learned from Tim Taylor"
---
However, I had to cut corners (45 degree) on some very thin (3/8th wide, 1/8th thick) maple strips recently and used a Stanley #246 classic mitre saw I got for $5 at a garage sale to do it. Power tools just splintered the wood - so it's horses for courses for me but I'm mosty on longer, cruder, courses where power works.


So you've figured out how to use a Chevy big block V-8 to power your thickness planer?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I responded "Mostly Hand Tools." For me it's two things: (1) I don't have room for a bunch of power tools, and (2) I enjoy using hand tools. There is no bravado. I see some sites for hand tools with warnings at the top (I'm not kidding here) "This is a hand tool only site- mentioning power tools will result in your being banned." Wow- really? I think there are extremes to everything. The same I would say if someone had a power tool only site with hand tools being forbidden.

For me, I can joint a board fairly quick with hand tools and I love the workout I get. That said, planing and matching thickness is much easier for me with a thickness planer. I usually joint by hand and run it through a thickness planer, then final finish by hand. I do this even for 13' long by 18" wide boards, except I rip them to 12" width first. Oh, and absolutely I use a power saw for ripping. I'm not so much of a purist that I am going to build a pit and use a pit saw to dimension large timbers. I'll gladly kill some electrons for that.

I hate sanding, and I almost 100% scrape now. I love chopping mortises, but I have my limits, so for mortices I usually drill out the waste first- but not for small mortices. Whacking a mortise chisel is therapeutic. Even if I drill out, I always chop the first bit by hand so that I can easily see where I am going to be drilling and also because I just like doing it. I love planing by hand, and I love the finish I get from planing followed by scraping. Shop cleanup is 50% by broom, and 50% by vacuum- simply because sometimes a broom is actually quicker. I say all this to say I use hand tools, and I use them more than power tools, but I'm not a purist. I have done entire projects start to finish by hand only, but that was for the challenge and enjoyment of playing with hand tools. I will one day have a shop big enough for an array of power tools, and I will probably get a Felder or similar multi-use tool.

[Robert Engel]

It depends on the project and/or the task.

For me, milling stock by hand wold be to simply prove a point. Its way too much work and time for me. That being said, almost every top I do is flattened by hand because I like the look and feel.

But I can't imagine building cabinets with hand tools.

And I can't imagine telling people I carved something if I used a CNC.

[Edwin Santos]

80/20 here, meaning 80% power tools for the heavy lifting, 20% hand tools for refining and details.

It seems like the 20% hand tool part is often what makes the project special, and sometimes more satisfying.

[Brian Henderson]

I responded "Mostly Hand Tools." For me it's two things: (1) I don't have room for a bunch of power tools, and (2) I enjoy using hand tools. There is no bravado. I see some sites for hand tools with warnings at the top (I'm not kidding here) "This is a hand tool only site- mentioning power tools will result in your being banned." Wow- really? I think there are extremes to everything. The same I would say if someone had a power tool only site with hand tools being forbidden.

That's the observation I made early on. There's a point where hand tool work goes from being an interest into being a religion. I'd never go to such a site, even if I was a primarily hand tool user, just because I have no interest in being around fanatics.

[Frederick Skelly]

Just a bump to bring this poll to the top again...

[Rich Riddle]

As a wood butcher, I prefer power tools but will use a hand tool every once in a while. I really tried to incorporate the Neander into the workshop, but after planes sitting in boxes for years, I sold them.

[andy bessette]

...after planes sitting in boxes for years, I sold them.

Keeping planes in their boxes seems to be a self fulfilling prophesy. They need to be ready to hand, I think, so they are easy to use.

[Joel Cress]

Keeping planes in their boxes seems to be a self fulfilling prophesy. They need to be ready to hand, I think, so they are easy to use.
I would add that you need to sharpen them once finished with them, so that they are ready to go when you need them; otherwise, they will be too much trouble to use.

[Jim Koepke]

I would add that you need to sharpen them once finished with them, so that they are ready to go when you need them; otherwise, they will be too much trouble to use.

Howdy Joel and welcome to the Creek.

I do try to keep my tools sharp and ready to go, but sometimes when things are going full throttle planes are set back in their home. Sharpening is usually a bit of a relief for me to take a break, listen to the music and rub a blade across the stones. If SWMBO hasn't just rung the dinner bell the end of my day is spent touching up a few edges. Though likely just as often they get touched up at the beginning of the day or mid day.

I can think of only two or three of my tools that are kept in their boxes. One is a Stanley #55 because the box is a convenient way to keep it together. Another is a saw set with an identical one sitting on top of the box. Finally a Stanley #95 butt gauge because the box is a convenient place to keep it and its instructions. Of course my micrometers and precision calipers are also kept in their boxes.

Some of my tools have their own drawers. Here is one for a few drafting tools:

363410

jtk

[Julie Moriarty]

Since moving and still not being happy with the shop setting (part in the house/part in the garage) I find the hotter the garage is, the more likely I am to choose a tool from the inside workshop.

[Jon Shank]

I've been moving farther and farther towards hand tools for the last couple years. I'm not a purist by any stretch, I still have a band saw for some flat woodworking tasks but mostly for readying turning blanks. Which leads to the next one, I have a lathe as well. I've used a pole lathe before and it's a cool experience, but umm, no. Also have a drill press and an assortment of cordless power tools but I basically use the hand tool version for anything that is doable. The cordless tools sit on the shelf allot more that get used. I do actually still own a table saw, but since we moved 2 years ago it hasn't been plugged in and is just serving as horizontal work space. Still have several corded hand tools as well, drill, circular saw, router, etc. They are in the same camp as the table saw, collecting dust.

There's a couple of reasons why I've been moving in the hand tool direction, noise (the router, geez I hate running that thing), dust, space considerations. My current shop is in a second story bedroom, so space and dust are both pretty important considerations. But at the top of that list is the fact that I just find the hand tool woodworking experience more satisfying, more relaxing. I'll say right out that if I was starting on a whole kitchen worth of cabinets there would be more power involved, but that's not the kind of work I do. For my hobbyist volume of work, the hand tools are fine most of the time and more enjoyable to use, for me. Your mileage may vary widely, just do your thing and enjoy.

Jon

[Jon Shank]

Oh I hear you on that one. I'm currently out of work, and mostly out of the shop with back issues. 3 damaged disks in the lumbar, 1 really bad, but 2 more they are trying to decide if they address at the same time. Pretty much a given they will need addressed sometime down the road if they don't now. Picked up my No 7 the other day to pull the iron(sharpening is one of the few things in the shop I can handle right now), and the weight damn near broke me.

Jon

[Frederick Skelly]

But at the top of that list is the fact that I just find the hand tool woodworking experience more satisfying, more relaxing.

Jon

Dude, you have broken the code. It aint necessarily as good as winning the lottery (new tools!), but you have found as good a reason as there is. Woodworking Nirvana!

Good for you!
Fred

[Shawn Pixley]

I use mostly hand tools but I am no purist. The garage is my shop - cars live there. Often it will be faster to grab a hand saw and cut the board vs. pulling out the cabinet saw and DC. However, if I needed to rip a lot of wood, the table saw would be out in a heart beat. I also resaw most boards rather than use the planer. Flattening and all joinery is done by hand tools. Veneer is made on the drum sander (often offcuts from a resaw). Weird huh?

[Frederick Skelly]

So. There are more than twice as many folks who describe themselves as using all or mostly power tools compared to those who use all or mostly hand tools. But I guess I'm personally surprised that nearly half of us describe ourselves as using a mix of both. I didn't realize so many of us do.

We're still only getting a 9 or 10% response rate though - sure wish more folks who "open" the thread would take a minute to respond to the poll. But I guess 10% isn't uncommon for surveys and polls. :)

[andy bessette]

So. There are more than twice as many folks who describe themselves as using all or mostly power tools compared to those who use all or mostly hand tools. But I guess I'm personally surprised that nearly half of us describe ourselves as using a mix of both...

All 3 categories describe a mix of both hand and power tools. It should be no surprise that virtually everyone uses both. What is truly surprising to me is that anyone at all can do everything with only power tools! Not even a hammer or chisel?!!!

[Gordon Eyre]

Love a good hand plane, chisels have there place, cutting with a handsaw is satisfying but my practical side has me turning to power tools for most things.

[Jesse Busenitz]

Being as I "try" and make a living at woodworking I use mostly power tools. Not saying you can't with hand tools, but that's more a niche market. I do like using hand tools and love it when the project calls for it. There's some thing where the hand tools still just outshine power.

[Prashun Patel]

I'm always puzzled that people can have a position on this. I make the decision project by project and often step by step.
I'm focusing more and more on design, less on method these days. Unfortunately, design is harder.

I will say that as my hand tool skills (sharpening, sawing, chiseling, planing) improve, there are many cases where the hand is faster than the cord.

[Pat Barry]

So. There are more than twice as many folks who describe themselves as using all or mostly power tools compared to those who use all or mostly hand tools. But I guess I'm personally surprised that nearly half of us describe ourselves as using a mix of both. I didn't realize so many of us do.

We're still only getting a 9 or 10% response rate though - sure wish more folks who "open" the thread would take a minute to respond to the poll. But I guess 10% isn't uncommon for surveys and polls. :)


Here are the percentages based on thread counts and postings in the various forums on this website for comparison:
Note: - I used the term interests as a way of characterizing both thread counts and thread postings.

45% of the interests are in General and Power Tools topics and discussions
23% of the interests are for Turning
12% of the interests here is in Neanderthal topics and discussions (probably half are sharpening ;))
10% of the interests are for Engraving
4% of the interests are for Finishing
2% of the interests are for Design
2% of the interests are for Woodcarving, Boat Building, Musical Instruments, Sawmill, CNC

I think these numbers are close to your poll percentages.

[Ole Anderson]

95% power tools here.

[Mike Henderson]

Here are the percentages based on thread counts and postings in the various forums on this website for comparison:
Note: - I used the term interests as a way of characterizing both thread counts and thread postings.

45% of the interests are in General and Power Tools topics and discussions
23% of the interests are for Turning
12% of the interests here is in Neanderthal topics and discussions (probably half are sharpening ;))
10% of the interests are for Engraving
4% of the interests are for Finishing
2% of the interests are for Design
2% of the interests are for Woodcarving, Boat Building, Musical Instruments, Sawmill, CNC

I think these numbers are close to your poll percentages.

If we only look at the interest in General and Power Tools and the Neanderthal topics, the 45% and 12% is 57%.

Further, of that group, approximately 79% are interested in the General and Power Tools and 21% in Neanderthal topics

Mike

[mostyn harvey]

I think in modern industry there are equal calls for both sets of tools, the more skilled workers should be able to adapt to both!

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks guys!

[Frederick Skelly]

I think in modern industry there are equal calls for both sets of tools, the more skilled workers should be able to adapt to both!

Mostyn,
Welcome to the Creek! Glad you've joined us. Thiis is a pretty good place to be for woodworkers - a ton of hobbyists, seasoned with many current or retired pros.

Hope to see more of you and also some pictures of your work!
Fred

[Jim Koepke]

Howdy Mostyn and welcome to the Creek.

jtk

[Michael J Evans]

I guess I would say mostly hand tools, but my ts will stay for long ripping tasks unless I get a bandsaw, My bench top lathe will also stay. If I had the money and space I would probably have more power tools. my journey into hand tools began because I had a table top I needed to flatten and didn't have money for a planer. Google led me to Paul sellers and now I love using hand tools. Some things have been very frustrating so far like exact dimensions of boards or getting my bench top flat, but I'm not giving up. Best part is my two little boys can be in the garage with me and I don't have any worries about it / they can help out.

[Chris Hachet]

As a wood butcher, I prefer power tools but will use a hand tool every once in a while. I really tried to incorporate the Neander into the workshop, but after planes sitting in boxes for years, I sold them.Still paying for your challenge to add more power tools to my shop...just picked up an Oliver 159 lathe.

[Jim Koepke]

Still paying for your challenge to add more power tools to my shop...just picked up an Oliver 159 lathe.

My shop just got a new bandsaw with a better re-saw capacity than my old one.

I have a few planes sitting in a box, but they are duplicates, in need of fettling or have no room on the shelves for them. Maybe I should sell some, but do not need to of yet.

jtk