Discovering the joy of hand tools

[Eric Sink]

I suppose I really shouldn't be posting here in the Neanderthal Haven. I lurk here a lot, but I don't know much about how to do woodworking without a power cord. Most of my woodworking has been accomplished by big machines that make lots of noise and dust. I still can't imagine giving some of them up.

But lately I've been getting interested in hand tools, and I am just starting to glimpse the magic of this particular kind of woodworking.

This evening after a particularly satisfying session with a hand plane, I looked across the shop at my 8" jointer and envisioned all the space I could save if I got rid of it. :)

Recently I tried to explain to someone about the joy of using a nice plane. He asked, "Aren't the power tools a lot faster?"

"Sure", I said, "but they're not as good for the soul."

Anyway, I am just starting to experience something that many of you already know well. But every time I try to put it to verbal expression, people look at me like I'm some kind of idiot.

So although I don't have anything to add to this forum, I decided I would post here anyway, just to connect with people who understand why I'm so excited about the pile of fine curled shavings in my woodshop.

[Jim Dunn]

Hook--Line and Sinker.

[John Schreiber]

"Sure", I said, "but they're not as good for the soul."
Aint it the truth!

Either you understand or you don't, there's not much persuading.

[Ralph Dobbertin]

Welcome from a fellow "idiot". I tell you, it's like a fine wine or a great scotch. You can drink the $8 dollar bottle and wonder what all the fuss is about or you can buy a bottle that someone actually cared about. It's very different.

It's about the "soul" and all that implies. It's about quality in a world where mass production and consumerism prevail. It's about beating the waves back with a stick, one person at a time.

All the best and have fun

[James Mittlefehldt]

I have to warn you Eric you are poised on the brink of a slope from which you may never pull yourself back.

Seriously though there is no reason why power tools and hand tools cannot co-exist in the same shop, it does not have to be all or nothing, either/or. The one thing about the power tool crowd is that they seem obsessed with attaining industrial levels of efficiency when in fact they are hobbyists for the most part.

A good example of this is Jim Tolpin's Toolbox Book, in which he attempts to apply the principles of mordern time and motion study, pondering how to save seconds in the design of old style cabinet makers chests, a group of people who measured time in terms of seasons and days not minutes and seconds.

In my own case the only power tool I have, and rarely use by the way, is a 12 inche Ryobi bench model drill press. I started this hobby about seven years ago, as a result of a curiousity to discover how the old guys did all that stuff way back when. So my primary motivation was hand tools right from the start.

The internet has been a boon to me and I suspect many others as it is so easy to pass on information and knowledge in this medium.

You don't have to explain why you feel like you do, we understand I suspect, and the others, well they may come around someday.

[Zahid Naqvi]

welcome to the creek, or rather the slippery slope side of the creek ;)

[Mark Singer]

Eric,
I love your thread because it is as simple and pure and honest as the use of hand tools themselves.... I use machines as well...some things they cannot do as well....I can't hear my music when they are running...nothing lie an early Saturday at my bench marking and cutting hand joinery....the way it has been done for thousands of years....Beetoven in the backround and my mind is so focused I almost don't hear the 8;10 call from the kitchen..."Breakfast"....hungry as I am I could have waited.....some things you can't explain

[Louis Bois]

Eric, you've come to a very sympathetic place with regards to your experience. You've swung the hammer in a gentle arc and hit the nail firmly on the head!

I've converted some power tool fanatics into using, or at least understanding the benefits of hand tools. The best way to do it is to put a well-tuned plane into their hands and let them go at it. You'll be hard-pressed to get the plane back...

...seeing, or in this case "feeling" is believing.

Welcome to the "dark side"...where calls for help are met with a life preserver which consists of a #8 on a rope!!!:eek:

[Zahid Naqvi]

BTW Eric, if you haven't done so yet, read the neander interview in the sticky at the top, you will see a lot of cohorts