good youtube video series?

[Bob Riefer]

Hi!
This is my first post in this section of the forum, and I'm sure in the archives this answer is lurking.. but if you can give me a head start I would greatly appreciate it.

I have been, and expect to at least partially continue to be, a machine-based woodworker. But, I am finding that some tasks would be better/faster/easier/more enjoyable/cleaner/quieter to do with hand tools... and am open to having there be more of a balance between the styles of working in my shop.

As such, I've purchased a few basics from Lee Valley:
- One nice chisel (and I already had cheapie chisels that would be good to learn on before further investing)
- Sharpening / honing equipment
- block plane
- shoulder plane
- jack plane
- tenon saw
- coping saw
- dovetail guide


But, and this is embarrassing... I'm really unsure how to use these tools, and so they literally sit just staring at me (I'm pretty sure the block plane even mocked me the other day).

I would love to get hooked into youtube series of vids that could help me build some basic understanding.. how to setup a plane, do's and don'ts, saw types and techniques etc. BASIC stuff.

Let me repeat.. BASIC :-)

Is there a generally accepted youtube "teacher" that will get me started on the learning curve?

Thanks!

Bob R.

[Joshua Lucas]

Wood by Wright
Paul Sellers
Rex Krueger
Bob Rozaieski

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

Finally a topic I feel I have expertise in on this site (I have way to little experience with actual woodworking)

on Youtube try:

Paul Sellers
Rob Costman
Rex Krueger
Wood by Wright
Matt Estlea


hope they help!

[Bob Riefer]

Awesome, thanks guys!! I'll get busy watching and trying! :-)

[Prashun Patel]

Shannon Rogers.

[David Bassett]

I'd throw in Roy Underhill's The Woodwright's Shop for general background and basic instruction. And inspiration. The show was filmed for PBS. PopWood used to sell the DVD's, though I don't know who got the rights when PopWood was liquidated. And the series is on PBS's website:

https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/woodwrightsshop-bento-live-pbs/basic_page/77be21172d_wws_header_graphics.jpg (https://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/)

I've also heard his books are more detailed and good sources of "how to". I haven't checked them out.

Also check out Lost Art Press, if you'd consider books, they have high quality reprints of classic handtool woodworking texts, e.g. Roubo in English, Nicholson, Moxon, several volumes of Charles Hayward, and Wearing. They also have more contemporary writers on traditional techniques Follansbee & Alexander, Becksvoort, Langsner, Jogge Sundqvist, and John Brown. Plus all of Christopher Schwarz writings where he documents historical practice, teaches those skills with modern tools, and yes, love him or hate him, philosophizes about craft.

[Jim Matthews]

+1 on Wood by Wright.

No paywall.
Clean editing, focus on tasks rather than tools.

[Gordon Dale]

I started my hand tool journey about 3 years ago. The YouTube recommendations you have received so far are good, but you will find variation in the techniques they recommend (dovetail technique anyone?). I would advise you to pick what looks good and stick with that for a while. As you gain experience, the subtle differences have more meaning, at least they did for me. And I would strongly advise attending a hand tool course (post-pandemic) at a reputable school, if there is one near you. Personally, I found that very helpful. I can't promise you won't still be mocked by your block plane (they're mean spirited little buggers) but you should soon be able to give back as good as you get.:)

[Bob Riefer]

I started my hand tool journey about 3 years ago. The YouTube recommendations you have received so far are good, but you will find variation in the techniques they recommend (dovetail technique anyone?). I would advise you to pick what looks good and stick with that for a while. As you gain experience, the subtle differences have more meaning, at least they did for me. And I would strongly advise attending a hand tool course (post-pandemic) at a reputable school, if there is one near you. Personally, I found that very helpful. I can't promise you won't still be mocked by your block plane (they're mean spirited little buggers) but you should soon be able to give back as good as you get.:)


:-) There are multiple tools in my shop that mock me from time to time, so my skin is getting pretty thick.

I had attended Jeffry Lohr's woodworking course years ago when I first started this hobby, and it definitely gave me so much confidence on working safely with power tools, so I can definitely imagine the value from taking a hand tool course. On the list of things to research! Thanks!

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Bob, welcome to the Cave by the Creek.

You mentioned looking through the archives. Have you looked here? > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?103805-Neanderthal-wisdom-FAQs

Roy Underhill as David mentioned is also a good source of information. There are episodes specifically focused on the use of hand planes. Even his use of molding planes may offer insights in to using a block plane or Jack plane.

Reading through other folk's build threads will often give details of prefered techniques. There are different ways of starting a saw, different strokes for different folks. The best way is the one that works for you.

Many different ways to sharpen tools. Again, the best way is the way you find to be best for you.

Hope you enjoy your stroll through Neander World.

jtk

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Any Lie Nielsen video. Yeah, it’s about their tools, but a lot of basic info common to all metal planes and spokeshaves about setting up and the proper techniques to use them.

Stumpy Nubs
Richard Leon
Curtis Buchanan. Focused on chair making and a bit more advanced but a pleasure to watch and lots of great hand tool techniques that you might not think of which can be applied to woodworking in general.

Wood and Shop
Any Phillip Lowe instructional video. You may have to dig for these but they are on YouTube.

[Jeff Bartley]

Mr Chickadee on YouTube.

[Michael J Evans]

For me.
Paul sellers is the best hands down.

[Alan Riggs]

For grinding, honing, and more recently buffing, check out David W.

[Jason Buresh]

A lot of good channels have been mentioned above, but one of my personal favorites is the third coast craftsman. He hasn't put out much new content recently as he has moved his shop and is in the process of putting it back together, but he has plenty of videos on his channel that you could spend a good amount of time watching

[Rob Luter]

Many great suggestions here. I'll add Rob Cosman. I've learned some good things from his vids. Lots of sharpening and tool setup content. I'll second the Paul Sellers suggestion. Take a look at Fine Woodworking too. They have a great video library.

You'll find that YouTube makes short work of figuring you out based on what you watch and will make other suggestions.

[Peter Mich]

In addition to Curtis Buchannan, Peter Galbert for all things related to Windsor chairmaking.

[Mark Hennebury]

You will learn a lot more if you spend a day in your shop using the tools and paying attention to what you are doing.

There are three basic things that you need to understand in woodworking; Wood, Tools and You.

1. Study wood; read a book on wood structure. Look at different woods, look at it with a microscope or jewelers loope, handle it, feel it, smell it, examine it and describe it in minute detail. Then cut it, bend it, break it, crush it, twist it, split it, slice it stab it, cut it from every direction, soak it in water, dry it out, soak one side. Do everything that you can think of; experiment, observe, analyze, learn.

2. Tools; only two things that you need to understand here;
( 1.) how a chisel cuts wood from different angles in relation to the cell orientation.
( 2.) how and why a chipbreaker functions.

All cutting tools, whether hand or machine tools are simple applications of this knowledge.

3. You; well now you get to the difficult part. The first two are easy, but this part takes some work; a journey that you will have to take on your own. Good luck.


Learn these basics of woodworking, then the rest is simply applying them to different jobs.

It is then about what type of quality you demand of yourself. what effort and value you want to put in. It's about applying your knowledge, developing a system, making a plan and having the patience and discipline to follow it.

Thoughts to ponder;

Trust no one, least of all yourself. Your brain lies to you. Test, Check and verify everything.

The internet is the place to find information, and lots of it, Good and bad, with no way to tell the difference.

[john zulu]

Lie Nielsen has a series of videos on utube. Very good and well documented. On sharpening the best material are still books:
The Complete Guide to Sharpening and
The Perfect Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Sharpening for Woodworkers

[Bob Riefer]

Thanks again guys!! Lots of great info



Mark - agree with everything you wrote.. just a note, that I do a lot of woodworking already and am deep into the hobby for a bunch of years already... I am just wanting to expand my skills set to include hand tools (whereas, I currently joint, plane, rip, etc. using an electric 8" jointer, electric 12" planer, 3 hp cabinet saw etc.). I still think everything you wrote is spot on, just wanted to make this clarification as additional advice rolls in :-)

[Bob Jones 5443]

Bob, start with something you want to make. Then plan the woodwork the piece requires. Following that plan will take you through a focused use of some — but not all — hand tools. That will show you where to apply your attention.

Repeat.

[Mark Hennebury]

Thanks again guys!! Lots of great info



Mark - agree with everything you wrote.. just a note, that I do a lot of woodworking already and am deep into the hobby for a bunch of years already... I am just wanting to expand my skills set to include hand tools (whereas, I currently joint, plane, rip, etc. using an electric 8" jointer, electric 12" planer, 3 hp cabinet saw etc.). I still think everything you wrote is spot on, just wanted to make this clarification as additional advice rolls in :-)


Hi Bob, Glad to hear that you have some background as the internet is a scary place to go in green. I certainly wouldn't want to learn bomb disposal on the internet; you have just as many people telling you to cut the red wire as telling you to cut the black wire.

[Bob Riefer]

Bob, start with something you want to make. Then plan the woodwork the piece requires. Following that plan will take you through a focused use of some — but not all — hand tools. That will show you where to apply your attention.

Repeat.



I agree - I've always been of the mindset that learning woodworking while also creating something useful or beautiful is a satisfying way to learn. Not that I haven't done a lot of practice techniques on scrap / pine over the years, but... all practice and no product can get very boring, so I tend to do as you have noted.. pick a project, pick a path to creating it.

The nuance now, is that there are spots where I can look to insert hand tools more regularly.

In my latest build (split top roubo) I did use chisels, tenon saw, a rasp, and a block plane... Mostly because I really couldn't think of another way to do some of these tasks. The bench turned out nicely (I think) but boy was I clumsy with those hand tools... some of it technique, some of it because I hadn't nicely sharpened tools etc.

452898

So, I want to keep on producing, but reduce the "clumsy factor" and I think all these vids will help me learn. :-)

[Bob Riefer]

Hi Bob, Glad to hear that you have some background as the internet is a scary place to go in green. I certainly wouldn't want to learn bomb disposal on the internet; you have just as many people telling you to cut the red wire as telling you to cut the black wire.


lol, I damn near cut the red wire I think!!! :-)

I find necessity allows me to learn more easily. As the story above notes, my recent project had a few steps that were painfully ugly in terms of how I went about doing a task with hand tools. I'd like to enjoy the ride, not simply get to the destination... and the good news in this case is that this is driving my brain to want to gobble up hand tool information finally after all this time.

[Ron Kanter]

Bob,
Many good suggestions. Maybe too many to check out. As someone suggested, find one video series that appeals to you and stick with it until you have enough experience to decide you want another approach.
There was a surprising lack of emphasis on sharpening. The difference between sharp chisels and planes and not-so-sharp chisels and planes is the difference between pleasure and frustration. How sharp is sharp? You will know it when you slice through wood easily and smoothly instead of fighting with it. And sharp tools are safer to use than dull tools because they are much easier to control.
There are two woodworking schools in Philadelphia that would be worth checking out if you want to take a course.

Philadelphia Furniture Workshop, 5212 Pulaski Ave., 215-849-5174

and


Philadelphia Woodworks, 4901 Umbria St, Philadelphia, PA 19128 267-331-5880

Both of them are minutes from me. Give me a shout if you have any questions.
Ron
(https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=woodworking%20school%20philadelphia&tbs=lf:1,lf_ui:2&tbm=lcl&sxsrf=ALeKk02V8fiuveD4uJaMOfI6Dq3Da44DDA:161417754 4227&rflfq=1&num=10&rldimm=6615499534592718635&lqi=Ch93b29kd29ya2luZyBzY2hvb2wgcGhpbGFkZWxwaGlhSI GorOfngICACFpDChJ3b29kd29ya2luZyBzY2hvb2wQABABGAAY AiIfd29vZHdvcmtpbmcgc2Nob29sIHBoaWxhZGVscGhpYSoECA MQAJIBGHdvb2R3b3JraW5nX3N1cHBseV9zdG9yZZoBJENoZERT VWhOTUc5blMwVkpRMEZuU1VONWNVdG1lVE5uUlJBQqoBGhABKh YiEndvb2R3b3JraW5nIHNjaG9vbCgA&ved=2ahUKEwiTz4L534LvAhUkw1kKHSj9CK8QvS4wAXoECBAQT Q&rlst=f#)

[michael langman]

Someone mentioned Phil Lowe passing, and I just spent the past few days watching him teach his wood working skills ,"The Art of WoodWorking", on youtube.

I like the way he teaches and his work habits. He explains the nuances in using hand tools effectively, and is one heck of a cabinetmaker.

[Bob Riefer]

Bob,
Many good suggestions. Maybe too many to check out. As someone suggested, find one video series that appeals to you and stick with it until you have enough experience to decide you want another approach.
There was a surprising lack of emphasis on sharpening. The difference between sharp chisels and planes and not-so-sharp chisels and planes is the difference between pleasure and frustration. How sharp is sharp? You will know it when you slice through wood easily and smoothly instead of fighting with it. And sharp tools are safer to use than dull tools because they are much easier to control.
There are two woodworking schools in Philadelphia that would be worth checking out if you want to take a course.

Philadelphia Furniture Workshop, 5212 Pulaski Ave., 215-849-5174

and


Philadelphia Woodworks, 4901 Umbria St, Philadelphia, PA 19128 267-331-5880

Both of them are minutes from me. Give me a shout if you have any questions.
Ron
(https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=woodworking%20school%20philadelphia&tbs=lf:1,lf_ui:2&tbm=lcl&sxsrf=ALeKk02V8fiuveD4uJaMOfI6Dq3Da44DDA:161417754 4227&rflfq=1&num=10&rldimm=6615499534592718635&lqi=Ch93b29kd29ya2luZyBzY2hvb2wgcGhpbGFkZWxwaGlhSI GorOfngICACFpDChJ3b29kd29ya2luZyBzY2hvb2wQABABGAAY AiIfd29vZHdvcmtpbmcgc2Nob29sIHBoaWxhZGVscGhpYSoECA MQAJIBGHdvb2R3b3JraW5nX3N1cHBseV9zdG9yZZoBJENoZERT VWhOTUc5blMwVkpRMEZuU1VONWNVdG1lVE5uUlJBQqoBGhABKh YiEndvb2R3b3JraW5nIHNjaG9vbCgA&ved=2ahUKEwiTz4L534LvAhUkw1kKHSj9CK8QvS4wAXoECBAQT Q&rlst=f#)


Nice, thanks Ron! The consultancy I work for is located by Love Park (16th/Arch) so as covid lifts, I'll be in the city more often and will definitely look to check those out and connect with you too!

[Ethan Lorden]

peter follansbee started posting videos on youtube recently if you're interested in his work.

[Joe A Faulkner]

I agree that there are several good suggestions here. I’d suggest you checkout a couple of videos from each and see if one appeals to you more than the other. I didn’t see Tom Fidgen mentioned. He is the author of the Unplugged Woodshop. I’ll bet your local library has a copy. He operates a school in Toronto, Ontario. As a power tool user, do you have a workbench? If not, maybe that would be a good first project to blend power tools with hand tools. Given your kit, the only thing I think you would want to add to do a bench build is a smoother, though a jointer would be useful as well. If you decide to build a bench, you may decide you want to add hold fasts to your kit. In my opinion a decent workbench is one of the most important tools. As you get into hand tools you will discover the benefits of several bench accessories - shooting boards, bench hooks, moxon vises.