Ever feel dumb about asking questions?

[Dennis Peacock]

Since I've been getting into more and more "unplugged" tools in my shop (thanks a lot Zahid...:D ) I'm finding out just how much I'm lacking in the proper skills to work with chisels and handplanes in a well controlled manner. I've been holding off on asking questions because I don't wanna ask dumb questions since I've really been working with wood for over 30 years now and all of it has been with power tools. I'm liking the vairous aspects or working with handtools and handplanes, but I need to learn how to better use each one with more skill and control.

I guess I just need to learn to suck it up and ask all the dumb questions I can so I can learn more about working with handtools hugh. :o

[James Mittlefehldt]

Gosh yes but I have never been treated as being dum here, even though some of my questions once answered were the sort of doh, type that i realized had I thought about it I probably could have answered myself with some research.

Someone once told me the only dum question is the one you don't ask, so ask away I am sure no one will think the less of you for it, and besides I think some of the locals here enjoy spreading the word so to speak.

[Javier Gonzalez]

There's alot of very knowledgable people here. But fortunatlely they'll also very friendly
and helpful and enjoy helping us newbies to handtools.

[Ed Nelson978]

I think this is a wonderful forum. A great many of us have grown up using power tools and have just recently "discovered" the pleasures of using hand tools, not only the dB levels, but I am finding it is ofted quicker and more accurate to use a hand tool vs. going through all the set-up and jig building necessary with power tools! Wood shop was available at school when I went, although I opted for auto mechanics, but I don't think it is even offered any more! I'm quite thankful to have a group that is willing to share their knowledge and experience with the rest of us. So go ahead and ask teh "dumb" questions, it'll help the rest of us better understand the art!

[Mark Singer]

There are some good books that have pictures which I think are excellent. Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking is one such book. The pictures show how he holds and uses various tools....very helpful. Also there are videos of him and other woodworkers...A lot is trial and error. I don't think I have ever built a piece of furniture and not learned something.....so the more you build the more you learn. Skills like sawing just take practice ....many things are best done by hand....if you have a full range of skills you can chose the best technique for the task at hand...and as stated there are many here to help with specific questions

[Tyler Howell]

Dennis,
As I tell all my students," The only dumb question is the one that isn't asked"
This is such a valuable resource. thanks to you all.:cool: I counsider SMC to be one of the most prized tools in the shop.
A place to go for information. The great thing is there is more than one way to skin a cat and you'll usually get every method out there from this group.

[harry strasil]

No such thing as a dumb question, if you don't know the answer. Avoid those who say you have asked a dumb question, they just don't want to admit they don't know the answer.

[Jeff Horton]

Dennis, I have always loved hand tools but only in the last two years have I had a decent shop and been able to really pursue hand tools. So I still think of myself as new to hand tools. But I will share the two (obvious) things I have learned and made the biggest difference for me.
Learn to sharpen your tools! (not saying you don't know how) Sounds obvious but once I finally could shave hair with my plane blades and chisels it was like a revelation. Heck it was like using a new tool! After all this time I am still amazed at what a difference that makes.
Practice, practice practice. No substitute for it. Did you see the photos of my dinning room walls? I had fits with my power planer tearing the grain on the wood. I ended up hand planing/finishing almost ever board that went on the wall. It was a huge job but when I got done I knew how to use a plane!I don't think there is any better basic advice than those two things. I am still learning to use chisels well. I am still learning to cut with a dovetail saw, but I notice the more I do the better I get.

PS Nothing against the people here at SMC! But you may want to check out the Hand Tool Forum over at WoodNet. Unlike the rest of the boards there, the Hand Tool guys are a really great group. Extremely knowledgeable. I have gained a lot of knowledge from them.

And there are several guys that are tool dealers and extremely honest. I have traded with several of them and never been cheated. One of the guys will even send you his wares on Old Tool Terms. Pay me when you get it and are happy.

[Jim Becker]

The most important thing you need to know about working with these potentially silent tools is...keep your flesh out of the area between the cutting edge and the workpiece at all times. Any deviation in that results in the tool becoming extremely non-silent. In fact, the tool starts shouting profanity and also starts the finishing process early with a nice, red, water soluble dye. :D (DAMHIKT!!!)

Seriously, I learn a lot from just reading the threads here in the Neander space as well as chatting with folks who are more experienced in the tail-free world...no question is stupid!

[Bill Grumbine]

Dennis, I can really relate to your position here. I have been a woodworker as a hobbyist since 1984 or 85, and in the business since 1993. But the more I learn, the more I realize there is to learn. I came up self taught reading the magazines that were available. Most of them were dedicated to power tools, and encouraged buying the latest and greatest motorized monster to cut that joint. The only mag that really addressed hand tools to any degree was Fine Woodworking, and it was so snooty that it put me off hand tools completely. It is only in the past couple of years that I have really come to appreciate the versatility of the hand tools I already owned, and to begin to build my collection and use them more.

I don't think it is inaccurate to say that I have gotten to be somewhat accomplished in other areas of woodworking. But that accomplishment does not translate into accomplishment in all areas of woodworking, and so I am not worried too much about asking questions of these neanders here. I consider myself a beginner in a lot of ways.

I have also really begun to enjoy the attitude evinced by the staff at Popular Woodworking magazine, that there is a place for power and a place for hand, and they can exist together without one being superior, morally, or otherwise.

Bill

[Jerry Palmer]

Methinks you might be more used to the tailed tool areas where folks can sometimes get a bit rude on occassion. I used to think it was an ego thing on their part, now I think it is probably stress induced by being around all that noise and fast spinning steel.

For the most part, every handtool area I've ever frequented has been filled with the salt of the earth as far as helpful, polite, and just plane old nice folks.

So forget you ever visited those tailed tool places and ask away. If you've got a question, chances are there are a dozen or so others with the same one. We're just plane nicer folks in the laid back world of quiet tools.:D

[Ken Garlock]

Dennis, you hit my position dead on. I have been learning and learning, but I still need to know the details of proper handling and care of the basic hand tool. For example, the other day I posted a question about what planes use bevel-up.

I am a confirmed electron 'beater'. ( You never 'burn' up electrons, you just push them around in the wires.:) ) Even so, I still need to get down the basics from time to time, and that is where all you hand tool gents are a great resource.

[Mike Wenzloff]

Hi Dennis--as you know and has been said, there's no dumb question. Just questions asked about things we don't know. And a lot of times, we don't know what we don't know and questions will often spark thoughts on related issues. So ask away.

Another introduction to hand tool skills are the tutorials which Harry is doing. They are practical skill builders. Consider working through some of them.

Take care, Mike

[Don Baer]

Dennis,
I'm a Newbie Niender also and have always found that no matter how silley a question I asked, I have always gottent the help I nneded from this group. I remember the first time I tried to tune up my #5 and after sharpening it I inadvertenly intalled the chip breaker wrong and had trouble getting it to make shaving. I came here and asked some questions and these folks were able to help me out in no time. I will never hesitate to ask a question of these good folks and some day I may have enough knowledge to be able to offer some help also.

:D

[Zahid Naqvi]

Since I've been getting into more and more "unplugged" tools in my shop (thanks a lot Zahid...:D ) I'm finding out just how much I'm lacking in the proper skills to work with chisels and handplanes in a well controlled manner. I've been holding off on asking questions because I don't wanna ask dumb questions since I've really been working with wood for over 30 years now and all of it has been with power tools.

Hey that's only fair pay back (or revenge whatever you want to call it) as you got me into this wood chips/shavings business to begin with. I have several books, including the Tage Frid books that you are welcome to borrow. I'll bring them along on my next visit. If you like we can pool money to rent some videos from this site (http://technicalvideorental.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=118&zenid=789c39bda9c4746f6b33c5f5b490cc04). I've looked at this site several times, I am sure we can both view it with the week they allow. I am a very visual learner, and seeing someone do it teaches me more than anything else.

[Dennis Peacock]

WOW!!!!!!! What a welcome and warm heartedness I've found here. I'm teaching myself about various aspects of sharpening and trying to figure out how to best adjust what handplanes I have to make them work the way I'm guessing as they should. But....I'll keep posting in here and asking away. I can test people's patience sometimes. :rolleyes: :D

[Mark Stutz]

Welcome to the dark side, Dennis. Though I am little more than a biginner myself, the one piece of advice I will add, is to jump in and just do it. (No connection to NIKE:D ). Pick a small project, and do as much of it with hand tools as you have tools. If tht means using a scrub, jack and jointer to prep the stock, great, but if it means cutting some dovetails by hand (and remember, I've seen you do that!) and smoothign the final surface, that is great too. I bit off a little much with my first project...a hand tool cabinet starting with rough stock and doing everything by hand, but I sure learned a lot and developed a lot of skills in the process. I think a small box is a great place to start. Be warned, though, this slope can be worse than the vortex!:eek: :D :D

[Maurice Metzger]

See Dennis, the beauty of it is that you've been so focused on whether you're asking dumb questions that you haven't noticed - sometimes we give dumb answers! Wait, that might just be me...

Anyway, enjoy the hand tools, I'm sure with Zahid around you'll get plenty of opportunities since he seems to turn out several planes every weekend.

Maurice

[Larry Gelder]

My biggest hurdle so far in WW is knowing what & how to start a project.

One reason why I asked this forum for willing teachers to tutor the new folks through hand tool projects is that I, and other newbies, would benefit from paint-by-numbers projects, until I/we could walk on our own.

I'm grateful that Harry Jr. answered my request with starting the sawbench project, and now the router project.

[Dennis Peacock]

Well, the good news is that I'm getting more comfortable with using chisels and I actually used my new Dozuki saw last night for the first time. What a world of difference it is when you use a nice sharp handsaw for the very first time. :D All of my other handsaws are so dull that I couldn't cut "hot butter in the middle of July with them". :rolleyes:

[Michael Gibbons]

Dennis, sometimes I ask what I think are dumb questions but the answers usually help me out many times more than I had originally hoped and sometimes answered questions that I haven't even asked yet. Get It?

[tod evans]

dennis, jeff hit the nail on the head...sharp tools! sharper than razor blades, as you know i use rouge on a homemade "power-strop" to bring the edges of my users up quickly. for my antiques i still sharpen with good ol` arkansas stones and hand strop, but any way to get `em sharp enough that the wood curls away in fear is the very first step to enjoying hand tool use. after that even practice becomes fun......02 tod

[Vaughn McMillan]

Dennis, I'm guessing the folks here will be nice to you and your questions, considering you're such a newbie to woodworking and all. ;) :D

I'm in the same boat as you (minus many of your 30 years of experience). Although there's a good dose of Tim Taylor in me, I find I reach for the neander tools more and more often. I don't post much in the Neander forum, but I do lurk and learn a lot. (It's often the little things I learn...like soot burning off steel at about 400 degrees.)

[Eddie Darby]

I would respond by saying that there is no such thing in the world as a dumb question, and the world is full of dumb answers!

The challenge with asking a question is finding the right answer to that question. I try first to get books written on the subject by a highly recommended author, and that should help to reduce a lot of the questions, then you will have a "mind set" from that book that should help you to narrow down the field of dumb answers to the questions you have left over after reading that book. Of course finding someone who is competent in the field of study and learning from them is invaluable. After a while you will develope your own sense and feel for what works for you and what doesn't work.....then you can write your own book! :D

Anyone know of a highly recommended book on the use of hand tools? :)