Hand tools

[Charles Wilson]

I would like to start some hand tool woodworking in the basement this winter. I have lurked on here and have heard people saying to look at yard sales, flea markets, auctions, etc for tools. I would not mind buying some of the stuff new though.

So - What stuff is good without getting crazy in terms of price?

What are the basics that I can get by with?

What would be a reasonable amount of money to spend on a start-up?

Thanks,
Chuck

[skip coyne]

you can never have enough tools ;)

by basics do you have any ?

starting at 0

basics really will vary depending on what you plan to do

I often buy what I need for a specfic task , justifing the purchase of a specility tool with the money Im saving .

[Paul Regan]

There is an article in this month's Popular Woodworking regarding Frank Klausz's basic tool set. It has all the important tools and his set seems to be make up of good readily available user tools. This should help

Good luck

[Deirdre Saoirse Moen]

As long as you realize that you may not need as many screwdrivers as are in Frank's basic set, but you definitely need more drills, because he had none.

[Maurice Metzger]

Hi Chuck,

What hand tools to buy is a big question, and it seems to me the answer depends on where you are coming from and where you want to go.

Do you already do woodworking with machines? If so, you can blend in some hand tool work on your projects - hand cut dovetails, a shooting board to clean up crosscuts, etc.

If you haven't done any woodworking at all, I would suggest just enough tools to do a project that interests you. I would not recommend anything very complex, though. For example, a lot of people suggest making a workbench for your first project, to me that seems like too much for a start. But I'm a lazy sod...

I would suggest taking a hand tool class (if one is available) before buying a lot of tools. There's a basic level of knowledge you need (especially sharpening) before getting a lot of tools. Having a huge pile of tools that you can't sharpen and don't know how to use is a bit self-defeating in my opinion. There are a lot of books about hand tools, and there's also a lot of info on the web - one example is here:

http://www.cianperez.com/Wood/WoodDocs/Wood_How_To/INDEX_How_To.htm


Maurice

[Charles Wilson]

The majority of what I do have is power tools. I terms of hand tools I have screwdrivers, measuring tools, nail sets, and hammers. I was thinking along the lines of chisels, saws, and planes.

Chuck

[tod evans]

charles,
i think what you`re lookin` for is something like this;
1] chisels, middle of the road, marples/stanley ect. 1/4, 1/2, 3/4
2] planes, again middle of the road, e-bay stanleys. #4,#93,#65 1/2
3] saws, middle again, gents saw, jap pull saw, e-bay back saw, flush cut

all told you should be able to come in under 3-400, with careful shopping under 200......02 tod

[Maurice Metzger]

Chuck, Tods list is good, but first we need to know - how will you be preparing your wood. Do you have a tablesaw, jointer and/or planer? If not, you will need a way to surface your boards or you'll have to buy S4S lumber (surfaced 4 sides).

If you want to prepare your stock by hand you'll need a few extra planes. I hate to be Mr. Negative, but I would recommend against that at first. Try making a box with dovetailed corners or a shooting board out of S4S lumber first.

Maurice

[Richard Gillespie]

I have a shop full of power equipment that I can use to fully prepare any stock I want to work with. However, I have problems with allergies to dust especially during the summer when I'm sweaty.

So now you have to ask yourself how much of the grunt work do I want to do? Ripping boards either for width or for thickness is a chore. Flattening stock with a scrub plane, a jack plane and a jointer is more enjoyable in my opinion. Using hand planes and scrappers reduces or even eliminates power sanding of the stock. Hand cutting for length and then using a shooting board for the exact length and squareness is another joy.

Then for real kicks you may decide to get into hand cut dovetails. After that there's mitered hand cut dovetails etc. etc.

So what am I recommending?

1. A 8 point cross cut panel saw.
2. A good sharp scrub plane. (I use a LV)
3. A good sharp #5 Jack Plane. ( I use a LV LA Jack for this and shooting)
4. A good sharp #7 Plane ( bought several from Ebay)
5. Several back saws or Japanese pull saws, your choice. Rip and crosscut.

This is for starters. If you choose to go this route, know this is called a slippery slope. The more you learn the more you want to learn and the more hand tools you want. For me, I'm in free fall.

[Henry Cavanaugh]

More info would be helpful as to what you have for power tools,hand tools,skills, past projects if any, future project desire. Suggestions like saws,chisels marking gauge, are good assumming you have clamps,square,etc. My first hand tool after the basics was a block plane, then a shoulder plane to better fit MT joints, hand dovetailing came after. I had #4 and 7 e-bay planes.The suggestion above to buy hand tools to fit the project is a good one. Good luck and dont forget to watch "The woodworking Channel"(web based)